Patterns of Life

Lesson #3

Click on Mursi Tribe, Ethiopia

Is this tasteful?

Is this tasteful?

How about this?

Or this…

Get ready…

Ethnocentrism

Definition: When we judge others based on our own opinion of what is “right”

We need to avoid judging.

Individual cultures have their own ideas of BeautyJusticeFoodEtc.

Family Ties

• Hunting Societies – lived in NUCLEAR families– (MASAI WARRIORS)

• Farming Societies – lived in EXTENDED families– (read p. 14 for differences)

• People associated into • TRIBES• CLANS• LINEAGES

TRIBES, CLANS, LINEAGES

• LINEAGES – People in the same family• CLANS – groups of lineages living in same area• TRIBES – several clans loosely organized

together

TRIBE

CLANS

LINEAGES

TRIBES, CLANS, LINEAGES

TRIBE

CLANS

LINEAGES

COUNCIL ROCK SCHOOL DIST.

CRHS SOUTH

OUR CLASS

Commercial Break• Look at two pictures on p. 86-87; Read captions• Why would Farming Societies need to live in

extended families?

• Why would herding societies prefer to live in nuclear families?

Patterns of Government

• Villages had their own justice• THE MASK was used for an

individual to become a village judge

• The guy who wore the mask would BECOME THE JUDGE, but only while wearing the mask

The Mask

Click on picture

Economic Organization

• Farming societies – No one OWNED land– Everyone worked farm together

• Herding societies – saw the animal as valuable, and land was NOT owned– Everyone owned all cattle– Example: Massai people

Click on picture

The Massai camp I went to in Kenya

Lives of Women

• Married VERY young (14-15)– Men sometimes purchased a wife– “bride wealth” – purchase price– POLYGAMY sometimes allowed• (men could marry more than

one wife)

• Women ran the homeIn charge of building the homeIn charge of childrenIn charge of food & water

Where I was in Kenya,Women did all the farming

The Age Grade System

• An AGE GRADE is all people of the same age• Each age grade would go through rituals

together to learn the values of society

Lion hunting is viewed by Maasai society as an act of bravery skill, wisdom, and achievement.

Click on pictureJust use first 30 sec.

Commercial Break• What is an age-grade you are now in?

• What is an example of a societal ritual you have, or will go through?

African Religions

• Traditional Beliefs– believed in a single, distant God (MONOTHEISTIC)– Believed ancestors could help connect to God– Believed all creatures had a spirit

• Diviners – Connected the living with the dead

• Healers– Looked for behaviors which caused illness– Provided “medicine”

Click on picture

African Religions• Death– Very careful to provide a proper funeral• To help person find next life successfully• Avoid a wandering ghost• Believe the dead have power over the living

– Remove body through a hole in the wall• Avoids return of the dead

• Medicine– Sometime herbs– Sometimes “created” and blown into a statue

Commercial Break• Why would Africans be so careful to care for their

dead?

• What is medicine?

Final reviewList 5 new things you learned about culture in Africa.