Cosmogonic Myths in African Folklore

The protagonists or auxiliary characters of cosmogonic myths are often animals. In some such accounts, animal or animal-like beings trod the earth before humans did, and it was they who established the first parameters of social life as humans would come to know it. The Dogon people of Mali speak of primordial, proto–human beings called Nommo, who shared attributes with mudfish and snakes—animals often considered “amorphous and virtual” and “everything that has not yet acquired form,” as Mircea Eliade (1959, 148) put it. According to the famous Dogon sage Ogotemmeli (Griaule 1970), Nommo had unarticulated serpentine members, undifferentiated gender, and other traits embodying all that is potential and not yet formalized. One Nommo decided to defy God by stealing a piece of the sun to bring fire to earth as the basis of human culture. The Nommo fitted out a granary (or silo) as an ark for his descent, with all categories of plant, animal, and human ethnicity necessary to the world that humans would come to know. As he began his trip downward along the rainbow, God discovered the Nommo’s betrayal and furiously hurled lightning bolts that so accelerated the ark’s trajectory that it crashed to earth. As it did, the plants, animals, and people it bore were dispersed to their present locations, and the snakelike arms and legs of the Nommo were broken at what would become the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles: body parts and appendages necessary for the Dogon agricultural lifestyle.

Animals in African Folklore

Animals are frequent protagonists and subjects of African folklore. There are several principal reasons why people are so likely to think about animals via narrative. As James Fernandez (1995) suggests, it is difficult to know how we would understand our own identity as human beings, were it not for “the ‘other animals’ that serve so conveniently and appropriately as a frame for [his] own activity and reflectivity.” In other words, what it means to be human is often understood by recognizing contrasts to, and similarities with, animals.
When people tell stories about animals, they are usually talking about themselves, or at least about animal/human relations. An important effect of this parallel thinking is that through animal proverbs, tales, songs, epithets, and other narrative forms, we humans can discuss ourselves and each other indirectly. Such an expressive device is an example of allegory—a term derived from two Greek particles: allos, “other,” or something next to or beside a point of reference, and gory, from the verb agoreuein, which is “to speak publicly,” but with specific reference to the agora or marketplace. “Speaking publicly” in a market implies bargaining, debate, and negotiation: in other words, politics. Such a sense is carried through to the word allegory, for as is illustrated by the well-known allegory Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945), the political messages conveyed by seemingly innocent little stories can be very trenchant indeed. Here is the point, then:
Using animals as the heroes and subjects of folktales allows indirection because the foibles or vices of some person or faction can be contemplated and discussed without outright confrontation. In the small, face-to-face communities that characterize much of Africa, avoiding conflict, while bringing attention to disharmonious behavior through narratives, is of critical importance.

Republic of Angola

Located on southern Africa’s west coast, Angola (including to the north the small former Portuguese enclave of Cabinda) is a large country of approximately 13 million people with a climate that ranges from tropical to subtropical. Angola’s capital and largest city is Luanda, which has a population of over 2 million. Thirty-seven percent of Angola’s ethnic population is Ovimbundu, 25 percent is Kimbundu, 13 percent is Bakongo, while one-quarter of the population consists of other unidentified groups. There is also a small population of mixed Portuguese and African heritage called mestiço. The major languages spoken throughout the country are Portuguese, Ovimbundu, Kimbundu, and Kongo. Nearly half of Angola’s people (47%) still practice their traditional indigenous religions, while 37 percent are Roman Catholic, and 15 percent are Protestant. After centuries of Portuguese rule and years of unrest due to its Fascist government, a national war of liberation began in 1961.

Angola finally won its independence from Portugal on November 11, 1975. Following the rapid process of decolonization, major conflicts arose between the three major parties that were vying for postcolonial power. The situation was further complicated by interference by countries such as apartheid-era South Africa and the United States, who supported UNITA, and the former Soviet Union and Cuba, who supported the MPLA during the Cold War period. Since 1975, more than 1,500,000 people have died and 2 million people have been either displaced or have fled the country. The situation has slightly improved since the end of the Cold War in 1991, but when UNITA lost the 1998 elections, their leader, Jonas Savimbi, continued the civil war allegedly funding his efforts with “blood diamonds”—illegally mined and sold diamonds. With Savimbi’s death in 2002 and the incorporation of many UNITA fighters into the government, reconciliation and peace now seem possible.

Although the economy of Angola has greatly suffered because of the war, early twenty-first century yearly oil revenues are 3.5 billion; nevertheless, since the end of the civil war corruption continues and currently 2 million people face starvation. Part of the problem is the thousands of remaining landmines, preventing the return to normal life and to the farming of the country’s fertile soil. (One in 415 Angolans has had a landmine injury.) In addition to crude oil, diamonds and minerals are important exports. Angola’s years of turmoil have prevented many cultural rites and celebrations. In addition to the historically important Kongo peoples, the Chokwe are perhaps the bestknown group, recognized for their extraordinary verbal and visual arts.

Ancestor Concept in African Culture

An important part of the cosmology of West African peoples, the belief in ancestors affirms that life continues after death, that the spirit realm is not an alien world inaccessible to humans, and that even after death, relationships are not eternally severed between the deceased and their living descendants. Among the major ethnic groups in West Africa such as the Akan (in Ghana and the Ivory Coast), the Ga (in Ghana), the Ewe (in Ghana and Togo), the Fon (in Benin), the Yoruba and Igbo (in Nigeria), those who have attained the status of ancestors are given honorific titles such as Nananom Nsamanfo (Akan), and Togbi Togbuiwo (Ewe). These titles literally mean “grandparents.”
To be an ancestor, a person must be a progenitor because the cult of ancestors is composed of one’s descendants. But there can be rare exceptions where a person who did not have biological children, but who cared for the extended family, is accorded the honor. Apart from having descendants, one must lead a moral life worthy of emulation and one of community service. Traditionally it is believed that an upright life is normally rewarded with old age. Such a person who is endowed with experience and wisdom then becomes an elder within the community. The person must die of natural causes. Some types of death are considered to be a curse in West African communities and negate the prospects of becoming an ancestor (Assimeng 1989, 60). At death the proper funeral rites must be performed for the deceased person to ensure passage into the spirit world of the ancestors. The invocation of such a person by name in ritual signals recognition as an ancestor by living descendants.
Ancestors form the spiritual segment of their families and are the most intimate spiritual link between their living descendants and the spiritual world of God, the gods, and other spirit powers. They serve as intermediaries and mediators between their descendants and the spirit world, promoting the welfare of their descendants. A wide range of requests are therefore put to them by their living descendants, including requests for children, prosperity, a good harvest, and general well-being. They mediate these boons for their descendants from God and the gods. The ancestors are particularly seen as transmitters of life who enable their descendants to procreate. As Dzobo (1992, 232) points out, their concern with sexuality reflects a desire to increase the size of the family, ensuring the continuity of the family line. The ancestors are believed to reincarnate in their own families; thus, an emphasis on procreation benefits past, present, and future family generations.
The ancestors also offer protection to their descendants from inimical powers. A good illustration of this belief is manifested in a special sacrifice known as the Sane (debt) sacrifice among the Naga of northern Ghana. In this sacrifice a person is made to replace through divination the items supposedly used spiritually by ancestors to divert a spiritual attack on the person. Ancestors are also concerned with healing and may reveal healing remedies to descendants through dreams, and so forth. The ancestral roles have an ethical basis. The ancestors are regarded as the guides and guards of the moral conduct of their descendants. Although they reward the good with boons, they punish or ignore belligerent and negligent descendants. They are also believed to provide spiritual sanctions to various traditional taboos, especially sexual taboos. Such taboos when broken destroy the moral fabric of the communities that they helped to establish. The filial bonds with their descendants also oblige the latter to act in a manner that does not tarnish their ancestral name.
Often the ethical role of the ancestors takes on a judicial aspect. This is implied in the belief that they reward or punish good and bad descendants respectively. They also serve as symbols of justice. Elders who adjudicate cases pray to the ancestors for wisdom and discernment and invite them to witness the proceedings. Anthony Emphirim-Donkor (1997, 125) notes, “This is to ensure that everything said and done is carried out in spirit and in truth.” The Egungun ancestral mask cult of the Yoruba of Nigeria also judges cases while the elders are masked as ancestors. Their decisions are regarded as those of the ancestors.
In performing all these roles the ancestors serve as important religious foci of social order and continuity. Among the Ewe, as Fiawoo (1967, 266) points out, “the values set on kinship find expression in the ancestral cult.” Filial piety as expressed in the ancestors and shared by others leads to a recognition of the social foundations of one’s life and fosters social cohesion, solidarity, and corporate identity. Ancestral links also engender the resolution to maintain the traditions of the ancestors for others yet to be born. This entrusts responsibility for the future in the hands of the living. The ancestors are therefore the key element connecting the symbiotic religious and social lives of the people. The ancestral beliefs partially account for the way religion is intertwined with various aspects of West African life. The links of the ancestor cult with economic and political life gives a sense of continuity and security to living descendants. As founders of communities, the ancestors are linked with land, a traditional symbol of identity for their descendants. The ancestral traditions of land use also affect economic life.
The legitimacy of political authority is also vested in the ancestors. In most West African communities those who hold political authority do so in proxy for the ancestors. They are responsible to the latter and regularly function in priestly roles, communicating and maintaining communion with the ancestors on behalf of themselves and those whom they lead. The ultimate role of the ancestors is to serve as symbols of an ideal after-life, and of the possibility of salvation for those still living (Dovlo 1993). Most West African peoples hold that after death one must cross a river between the world of the living and the world of the ancestors, so as to be integrated into ancestral spiritual segments of their families. This is the ideal after-life scenario, in which one finds peace in being reunited with the family. It reaffirms the sense of community that forms the basis for the entire cult of the ancestors. Those who do not cross this river become “wandering ghosts.” They remain restless in the world of the living and are considered hostile to the living. The roles that ancestors play generate a mixture of respect, filial love, fear, and reliance in their descendents. The latter perform various rituals of communication, communion, appreciation, remembrance, and consultation so as to be in harmonious relationship with the ancestors. The rituals involve libation prayers, offerings, animal sacrifices and festivals, as illustrated by, for example, the Adae Festival of the Akan of Ghana.
The rituals performed for the ancestors have led to a debate as to whether they are simply venerated, or actually worshipped. Peter Sarpong (1970) and Fashole-Luke (1980) argue that they are only venerated and not worshiped. Others (Sawyer 1966, Pobee 1979, 66) argue that though pietistic adoration may not be strong in rituals directed at the ancestors, many of the elements of ancestral rites are not different from those accorded to the gods or God. Bolaji Idowu (1973, 180) has also argued that the notions of veneration and worship are psychologically too close for a distinction to be made in the case of the ancestors. Moreover, some ancestors are apotheosized into gods, as is particularly the case among the Yoruba of Nigeria. Among the Mende of Sierra Leone, the Supreme Being is regarded as the great ancestor. It is therefore difficult to rule out the fact that the ancestors enjoy a level of worship and rituals pertaining to them that go beyond veneration.
It seems that insistence that the ancestors are venerated and not worshipped involves a level of apologetics that seeks to make them comparable to saints, so as to make them acceptable in a Christian context. This, however, involves imposing a Christian and Western template which insists that “only God deserves worship.” The position of West African traditional religions would be that “only God deserves ultimate worship.” In that case, the ancestors may be accurately seen as receiving veneration and a degree of worship in traditional West African religion.

The Northern Country of Algeria

One of Africa’s largest countries, Algeria is bordered by the Mediterranean to the north, Tunisia and Libya to the east, Niger and Mali to the south, Mauritania, Western Sahara, and Morocco to the west. Since the late twentieth century, Algeria has suffered from much politically motivated violence. As early as 1830, when the French first invaded, there was fierce opposition to foreign control. Algeria remained a province of France until the liberation movement arose in the 1950s. Independence was finally granted in 1962. Within several years, there was another revolution led by the Algerian military, which ruled for ten years until elections in 1976. Then, Colonel Houari Boumedienne, who had led the military government, was formally elected president. With his death in 1978, the Revolutionary Council took over once again until the 1990 elections, when the gains made by the Islamic fundamentalist movement were nullified by the military, which seized power in 1992. Virtual civil war has continued ever since, with thousands of Algerians being killed. Fortunately, a majority of the population accepted the elections of 2001 and a relative peace has been maintained.

The new constitution officially recognizes those of Arab and of Berber identity, the latter being the original inhabitants of the country. The Berber language is also officially recognized, although Arabic continues as the general language, and French is used in business and government. The current population is approximately 31 million. Islam is the major religion, with 98 percent of the population being Sunni Muslims. There are over a dozen institutions of higher learning, and an adult literacy rate of over 62 percent. Petroleum is Algeria’s main export. In 1991, foreign oil companies were permitted to acquire up to 49 percent of the oil and gas reserves. Oil and gas constitute nearly onethird of the country’s GNP. A variety of other mineral wealth is also exported including iron, lead, phospates, and zinc as well as marble, salt, and coal. Although little of Algeria is suitable for agriculture, it is known for its citrus fruits and wine. Industrial production is growing but increased urbanization and agricultural decline have led to increased migration to Europe.
Our best evidence of the ancient Saharan civilization, established as early as 6,000 BCE, is in the fabulous rock art at Tassili and other sites far into Algeria’s Saharan territory. These rock paintings and engravings, depicting elephants, giraffes, even cattle, prove that the Sahara was once fertile and supported an extraordinary civilization that must have had ties to North African cities, such as Carthage and ancient Egypt. Some scholars even speculate on links to other African civilizations to the south on the basis of these detailed paintings.