AFRICAN CULTURES AND MUSIC

Ibibio

There are 1 million Ibibio people located in southeastern Nigeria. They have lived in the Cross River area of modern day Nigeria for several hundred years. There are little written material about them, but they have a rich oral tradition. They where strong and resisted colonization, until after World War l. Then the British got a foot in the area. Even then they managed to have some control over their own land. The main economic staple in the region is the palm tree, the oil of which is extracted and sold to external markets. Amama, the people with highest rank in the Ibibbio culture, control the majority of the community wealth. Individual villages are ruled by a group of village elders. Ibibio religion is based on paying tribute to the village ancestors. 

Igbo

There are 8 million Igbo people living in southeastern Nigeria. They are probably originated 100 miles north to their current location. The language are connected with their neighbors the Bini, Igala, Yoruba, and Idoma, but they probably split 5-6000 years ago. They came to their current area 4-5000 years ago. The majority of Igbo are farmers. The Igbo are disorganized people, this means, with no central leadership. But the villages have their own council of elders, titled men and men with strong economy. Before the influence of Europeans and Christian missions, however, most Igbo practiced some form of ancestor worship. 

Igbo people are reseptive to cultural changes. They are fast pick up new things. Thats the reason for the variety of instruments they use: drums, flutes, lyres and lutes and xylophones. They also uses European brass instruments in an important brass tradition. The obo, a 13-string zither can be heard in palm wine music. This music style is from Sierra Leone, but it is popular among the Igbo. Igbo also play royal music, i.e. is the local chief waked every morning by the ufie slit drum. 

Kongo

There are 2 million Kongo people living in southwestern Congo (Zaire), Angola and Congo. They came to their current area in the 13th century. 

Lobi

Lobi people are disorganized and independent people living in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Ghana. They are farmers. Lobi villages are spread out and mixed, but each village are independent. Lobi people believe that they once lived in the "Garden of Eden". but there they started to fight, and god turned his back on them. Each village now have a thila (a spirit) that takes care of them. They also have bush spirits. 

Lobi people play solo xylophone music, and xylophone and drum encembles. The dancers use finger and ancle bells. 

Luba

There are 1 million Luba people living in southeastern Congo (Zaire). The Luba people started an uncompromising expansion around 1500. The empire started to fall after the death of a chief in 1870. Then Arab slave traders and European invaders challenged notions of Luba supremacy. Local customs and art styles still reflect a strong Luba influence. The Luba empire was characterized by centralized authority vested in a sacred king. The primary religion was based on veneration of the ancestors and involved paying tribute to the spirits. The position of the Luba king was seen as divinely inspired and directly correlated with the genesis myth for the people. 

Lunda

Today there are 175.000 Lunda people located in Congo (Zaire), western Zambia and northern Angola. Lunda influence was considerable from Lake Tanganyika almost to the Atlantic Ocean, from the early 17th century until the late 19th century. Then the Chokwe took over regional power. 

Luvale

There are a small population of Luvale living in eastern Angola, western Zambia. Luvale (Lwena in Angola) peoples are closely related to Chokwe. Between 1600 and 1850 they were under considerable influence from the Lunda states. Their economi are mainli agrocultural. Slash and burn techniques and crop rotation are practiced to naturally conserve the land. Luvale do not recognize a paramount leader, but instead they have local chiefs, and a committee of elders and ritual specialists. Luvale recognize a god of creation and supreme power (Kalunga) and a series of nature and ancestral spirits (mahamba). 

Luvale have rhythm and dance encembles playing the kachacha beat. They use up to six drums, and the dancers uses shakers and jingles at their feet. 

Mande 

Mande also called Mali, or Mandingo, are generic term referring to three related languages and cultures: Maninka, Bamana and Mandinka. There is mande cultures in several states in West Africa: Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. The origins of Mande are hard to find, but the languages belong in the Niger-Congo language family. There are traces of an agrocultural Mande culture 3000-4000 B.C. Rural Mande people are still argocultural people. Out of this grew some of the earlist and most complex civilizations of western Africa: The Soninke state of Ghana (4th - 10th century) and the empire of Mali, which reached its height early in the 14th century. 

The Mande empire, was founded in the year 1240 by Sunjata Keita. This events are described in the old epic mande song "Sunjata". It tells how Sunjata made the empire by uniting the small kingdoms, and making one strong army. This song is essential in the mande repertoire. 

The Mande empire lasted for about 400 years. Then it was destroyed by the Songhai empire. 

In western Mali and eastern Senegal the mande language is maninka. In maninka music the women are the preferred singers, and the vocals are heptatonic (seven-note). The accompanying instruments are Ngoni lute, Tamani (talking drums) and Doundoun drums in Mali, and Guitars and balafon in Guinea. 

Bamana is the music style and the mande language in central Mali. Here the vocals are pentatonic (five note) and slower, closely linked to northern dessert music. 

The "thing" in Gambia, southern Senegal, and western Guinea-Bissau is Mandinka. The favorite instrument here is the Kora. This is more uptempo music, and the do the singing. They sing with a so-called high-pitched, nasal voices. 

Griots. 

There are griots in many societies in West Africa, Mossi, Songhai, Tuareg, Wolof, and others, but we describe the phenomena here under Mande people. 

Griots (gree'-oh) are a storytelling caste. 

Traditionally Mande societies are hierarchical with three castes, first the noble, then the griots (this caste also include blacksmiths and leartherworkers), and last the hunters: The musicians comes from the two lowest casts (there is some exemption from this rule, the noble birthed Salif Keita is one example). The main occupation or role for the griots praise singing. They praised the nobles and generals to encourage them to protect the society from it's enemies. Another not less important task was to entertain with epic songs like "Sunjata" and epic stories about mande history. They where historians and journalists, making comments of important events. Nowadays griots still have the role as storytellers and social commentators. There where strong mutual bonds between nobles and griots. The nobles needed the griots services and the griots was living at gifts from the nobles. A good noble was praised as a "hundred-giver", a man who "paid" well, or gave hundred of everything. 

In post colonial time there where new leaders, politicians took the place of the nobles. The praising tradition was followed even though the nobles lack of power, griots praised the new leaders, politicians. It is pretty obvious that this phenomena comes from the "return to folklore" campaigns, now the government paid the musicians. 

Mande music. 

We have already talked about the griots and the hunters. Instrumentation is another important thing, the three main instruments in Mande are the Kora, the Ngoni lute and the Balafon. These three instruments are in use in most of West Africa, but they are essential in Mande traditions. The Djembe drum also have an important role, but this instrument are in use in other parts of Africa too.

Mambila

Mambila are a small population living in northwestern Cameroon, eastern Nigeria. The language are split from the Bantu languages about 2000 years ago. Descendants from this Bantu people have expanded to the eastern coast and to the Cape in south. Their religion are a mix of belief in ancestor spirits and Moslem influences from Fulani people. These two directions live side by side. 

Maninka

Maninka are also called Malinke, Mandingo, or Manding people. Malinke are a part of the Mande culture, a are generic term referring to three related languages and cultures: Maninka, Bamana and Mandinka. 

Their main area are western Mali and eastern Senegal, but there are also Maninka people living in Guinea, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. 

The Maninka are an agrocultural people. One group, the Kangaba, has one of the world's most ancient dynasties; uninterrupted for 13 centuries. It started as a small state, and became the Mande empire, located in western Sudan.

Massai

The nomadic cattle herding people Massai are living in north central Tanzania, southern Kenya. Maasai are nomading herds and have resisted the urging of the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle. This resistance has led to a romanticizing of the Maasai way of life. The cattle are rarely killed, but instead are accumulated as a sign of wealth. They used to steal cattle to. The yong men live in camps looking after the cattle. Massai people live in a age-separated and age-graded society. The young ones live together and have sex, thats no problem. Young women marry elder men to prevent birth outside marrige. But the women often continnue their relations with the younger warrios. Massai have ceremonies when they move from one age-grade to another. Then they offer cattle. 

Maasai are often portrayed as people who have not forgotten the importance of the past, and as such their knowledge of traditional healing ways has earned them respect. Massai healers today often work in modern towns, using their knowlegde. 

Nomadic people travel light, that why they dont use advanced instruments. They have a sophisticated polyphonous multi-art-singing. Some of this music is call and responce, and some of it is warrior, morani, songs, each warrior sings his part of the rhythm, often as a throat song. There are also ceremonial singing in Massai sociteies. 

Mende

There are 700.000 Mende people living in southern Sierra Leone. Mende language are clocely related to Mande language, this may indicate that they came from Sudan. Other things indicate that they may have diverse origins. According to oral traditions this happend between 3th century and 16th. Mende people are mainly rice farmers. Education are divided in two, They are the Poro, for men, and the Sande, for women. Such organizations function to institute community morals and act as a very efficient means of social control. Ngewo is the creator and ruler of the universe and is assisted by the ancestors and other spirits (Nga-fa). 

Mossi

There are 3,5 million people living in southern Burkina Faso. The Mossi state was made around 1500. They came riding from the north (Ghana), and defeated the tribes living there. The invaders was chiefs and the conquered became commoners. Between 1500 and 1900 the Mossi were a major political and military force, and were effective in resisting the movements of Muslim Fulani armies. In the passing 60 years Burkina Faso was a French colony, exploided as a source of labour. 

Mossi people are basically farmers. The Mossi are unique in Burkina Faso for their centralized and hierarchical political system. The creator god Wennam is associated with the sun and with the political hierarchy (nakomse). The spiritual power of the nyonyose based on nature spirits is in direct opposition to the secular power of the nakomse. The Mossi people have living griot traditions

Ngbaka

There are about 400.000 Ngbaka living at the Gemena Plateau in northern Congo (Zaire). They came to this area in 1920 from Lake Chad. They are mainly subsistence farmers. The blacksmith is an important man in Ngbaka culture. He makes tools for farming and arrowheads for hunting. Ngbaka have no centrelized political power, but they usualy have local headman. Before they can make a desition all family heads must agree. Polygami are common in Ngbaka