Benin was formed in 1960 when the colony of French Dahomey gained independence from France. Prior to that, it was divided between two coastal kingdoms that were Dahomey and Porto-Novo. Benin is made up of 43,483 square miles and extends about 420 miles from the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the Niger River. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo and the form of government is made up of a combined republic with one legislative house. In Benin, there are two climatic zones, the southern and the northern, which have four distinct seasons, two being wet and two being dry. The homes in Benin take the form of traditional African mud homes, markets, shrines, and statues that can be seen throughout the towns. There are many ethnic groups in Benin despite attempts for national …show more content…
The official language of Benin is French, but each ethnic group has it’s own language which is also spoken, with the most widely spoken languages being Fon and Gen. The predominant religion is Christian made up of Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, and independent Christian Domination while Muslim religion also has a place. One can’t speak of Benin without mentioning that it is the birthplace of voodoo. Voodoo is recognized as an official religion in Benin and is followed by more than 40% of the population. Voodoo in Benin isn’t seen as negative as it is in the West; in fact many who are officially Christian incorporate some Voodoo elements into their beliefs as it is seen not only as a religion, but also as a way of life. People in Benin tend to cook outside and generally cook two meals a day that are made up of a starch eaten with a sauce that contains meat or fish and vegetables. Smoked, dried or fresh fish are general
For the period 500 BCE to 1200 CE, the societies of Africa and the societies of Americas both developed primarily in isolation. The geography of these regions and environmental variations created great distance between the emerging civilizations within the two continents. For example, In Africa the civilization of Axum, located on the horn of Africa, emerged with ties to Arabia. The proximity to the Red Sea linked Axum with Egypt and subsequently Christianity.
10,000 Haitian immigrants flood Louisiana in 1809-1810 and bring their ancient African religion & Voodoo Their arrival marked the beginning of “organized Voodoo” in Louisiana. It gave a “pure” Voodoo stream as the Haitian blacks had retained their ancient worship almost completely.11 And they appeared to have strengthened the ranks of Afro-Creole spiritual practitioners by merging seamlessly into the already existing Louisiana Voodoo traditions.12 They also may have contributed to the fact that Haiti and Louisiana share the term “Vodou” (regardless of how it is spelled) as the defining term for their Africa-derived syncretistic traditions with French Catholicism.13 Interestingly, like the parallel Pentecostals, many of these Haitians were “snake worshippers” and devotees of Voodoo.14
The head was created at the commission of the current Oba of the Benin to honor his father who has passed away. Kings were the only ones allowed to ask for their creation and the only ones wealthy enough to pay for it. The head was a piece required for the shrine each king made for his predecessor and through this they would communicate with the deceased king (Metropolitan Museum of Art “Head of an Oba”). The Benin people believed that the head acted as a conduit in which the past king gave his power to his son and through this the new king is accepting the responsibilities of being the ruler (Metropolitan Museum of Art “Head of an Oba”). The people of Benin( the Edo people) saw the head as the focus of a man’s overall character, all that he knows, his authority, his success and leadership(Metropolitan Museum of Art “Head of an Oba”)..
Voodoo is widely practiced in Haiti. Voodoo consists of a mix of Central and Western African, European, and Native American (Taíno) religions. Misconceptions about voodoo have given Haiti a reputation for sorcery and zombies. Voodoo specialists, male houngan, and female manbo, mediate between humans and spirits through divination and trance. They diagnose illnesses and reveal the origins of other misfortune.
This essay will evaluate the question `why did the differences between Northern and Southern Nigeria become so evident in the fifteen years following independence from British rule? ´. To answer to this question, this paper will investigate areas directly affected by both the coming of colonialism as well as its departure, such as politics and leadership, religious and ethnic differences as well as economic difference between these regions. Furthermore establishing a concrete overview as to how Nigeria was run under the British
Because the first four chapters of Louisiana: The History of an American State create a vivid picture, producing illustrated summaries becomes easy. Illustrated summaries represent the understanding of a chapter. These are four different images that can represent Louisiana’s culture, geography, economy, and government. Chapter 1 in the textbook discusses culture, which includes festivals, regions, and people. The image that represents Ch.1, Louisiana’s culture shows the five cultural regions, Mardi Gras beads, and music notes.
A large portion of the population in Haiti follow the Roman Catholic Religion, however, there is an understanding that Voodoo may be the National Religion of Haiti. In the
My parents are both immigrants from Haiti. I was born in America. Growing up, my parents spoke Creole, the national language of Haiti, and English at home. As I got older my resistence to speak their native tongue began to grow. I don’t know why I began to reject the language as my own.
In the morning they had coffee, or boiled water with what looked like coffee beans. That is what they had for breakfast. Period. For lunch, the survivors ate a very watered down soup with the ingredients consisting of potatoes, rutabagas, and flower. To top it all off, for dinner the prisoners ate bread, a little piece of sausage, and a tablespoon of either marmalade or cheese.
With all the people in Mali it lead to many things, good and bad. There were three medieval kingdoms in West Africa, one of them was Ghana. In the 400s the Ghana empire was in existence as Arab merchants traveled to trade. Trading was not what created the Ghana empire, but it definitely made them richer. Another thing that made them richer was charging to protect the gold from neighboring networks.
The African kingdoms Ghana, Mali, Songhai The African nations of Ghana, Mali, Songhai, shared so many characteristics between each other. For one primary comparison is, all three ancient empires relied on the trans-Saharan trading routes and their lush amount of gold, copper and other natural resources. They established many political ties with many Arab countries and nearby African societies. These three nations shared abundantly cultural similarities from just the rise of Islam.
The rate of poverty and homelessness created a need for more economic opportunities. Colonies provided a chance for work and prosperity(Iweriebor, “The colonization of Africa”). Europeans lied to the Africans and made them sign what the Africans thought were peace treaties. Proverbs were among the many popular folkloric forms. Nigeria’s diverse past traditions provide many culture ideas(Gall, Hobby, “nigeria”).
The Early African Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai were established sufficiently and later met their demise. The Early African Kingdoms were able to progress in economy and political structure by the actions of their leaders, location, religious influences, and geographical features. Religion influenced the African economy, political structure, and cultural practices. All Early African Kingdoms took advantage of the gold and salt trade and used it to hike in power. Sundiata Keita, Mansa Musa, Sunni Ali, and Askia the Great abetted their kingdoms, economy, and society.
II. DIVERSITY IN NIGERIA DEFINED When we talk of diversity in the context of Nigeria, a number of criteria easily come to mind. Identified are six criteria which the typical Nigerian would consider relevant. • Ethno/Linguistic •
The author utilizes characterization to represent the people in the Nigerian society and what they experience in order to provide for their families. The theme is further developed