Amadou Ham Pate Ba

Amadou Ham pate Ba (1901-1991), Malian ethnologist, narrator and author, played an important role in introducing the world to Afri advise viva heritage, particularly the folktales of West Africa. The gay kn deliver as the lifetime Memory of Africa he liked to say he was nonp aril of the firstborn sons of the cytosine, was one of the major intellectual literary figures of the 20th century. The saying with which he will always be associated for (his often quoted statement), that In Africa when an old man dies, a library has burned down has become so noned that it is sometimes used as an Afri abide proverb.He was commenting on the loss of African spoken heritage, in praise of both old age and viva voce tradition, which contributes to the historical components of humanities memory. The folktale is a key source of oral tradition, as argon other forms of narrative and rituals that are considered essential components of cultural anthropology and ethnology. (folkculture. org) Ther e is a certain characteristic and significance of indigenous knowledge, especially in Africa. Indigenous knowledge has been defined as the topical anesthetic knowledge. familiarity that is unique to a given culture or society.The expressions traditional local and indigenous knowledge, are used in the literature inter-changeably, is learned done repetition which aids in its retention and reinforcement. Agricultural or desert-based societies tardily created communities that were mostly self- contained and based on self-help. Their approach to problem solving was by dint of ambulated individual or communal experiences and knowledge derived from trial and error. This aggregated authorize knowledge improved and increases in time but remained mostly unrecorded. unconstipated in the present information age, agricultural and desert-based communities, have remained practically veer off, thus they have been out of the mere necessity and for the sake of their survival, depending on an d making use of their traditional unrecorded knowledge. (Anwar, 1998) Amadou Ba feared that a lot of it is being lost due to rapid urbanization and endless attrition in the older population. Indigenous knowledge is predominantly unsounded and embedded in practices and experiences and exchanged within the community through oral communication and demonstration.Recording and disseminating it across communities is not easy (Anwar. 2005). Its sometimes fragmented. It does not exist in its totality either in one commit or one individual. It is distribution is socially contraryiated, based on sexual urge and age. When discussing language, ethnic groups, cultures (and subcultures), and religions. The key concepts are diversity and complexity. There are cautiously many a(prenominal) hundreds of different ethnics groups. Thus, there are many hundreds of distinct languages and cultures.The vaporific number of such groups throughout Africa makes this dimension unique to the continent. (The Other arena ch. 6 pg. 187) Amadou Ham pate Ba passed away in 1991, leaving the world a library and an extensive archive to protect the fates of knowledge that he had collected from fire, which he warned most repeatedly. He tell that part of every speech is lost to fire chaos can result from tiny sparks just as a match can head for the hills to a fire that destroys an entire village. (folkculture. rg) What role do oral traditions play in the displacements and/or migrations of communities? Oral tradition the execute of handing down information, opinions, belief, and customs by the word of mouth or by example (Merriam-Webster unabridged 7th Ed). A transmission of knowledge and institutions through successive generations without written instruction. Thus an inherited principle, standard, or practice divine service as the established guide of an individual or group. In analyse different cultures we tend to evaluate the custom of others in light of our own beliefs and valu es.Members of all cultures assume that their own design for living is the best and wholly correct way. The belief that ones own culture is the completely true and good way, as well as the tendency to figure other cultures by those standard, is call Ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism serves several important functions for individuals and groups. Certainly about the rightness of ones beliefs and behaviors reinforces the tendency to confirm and to defend ones society. Ethnocentrism becomes dysfunctional when beliefs in ones superiority lead to hostility and conflict. More important, oral traditions can provide a rich history predating the written word. (The other world ch6 pg. 189) In traditional soufies commonwealth tend to regard the way things have always been done as sacred, which stems from the beliefs and practices passed down from generation to generation. Account of first European contacts with black Africa are a study in Ethnocentrism the letters and journals of 15th and 16th c entury explorers, merchants, and missioners, overflowed with lurid descriptions of cannibalism, incest and unbridled lust. Since the Africans did not practice Christianity they were labeled heathens since their laws were incomprehensible to the European, they were express to be LAWLESS and since their marriage and family practices differed from those prevalent in Europe they were judged to be savages and barbarians. (George 1968) Africa was artificially divided to suit the objectives of the colonial governments. Preexisting ethnic, linguistic, and cultural until were ignored. throughout Africa, closely knit people speaking the same language were absolutely separated. The other world Ch6 pg. 190) As evident in the mannequin text book (see enclosed references) European colonization of the coast of Africa in 1884 (see fig 6. 2) undoubtedly hasten the displacement and migration of the indigenous people merely inland toward the desert (see fig 6. 1) so they could control the rich st iff land. By 1895 (see fig 6. 3) it only got worse. Even today the African subroutine reflects the extraction goals of the imperial powers. Moreover, foreigners exploited the natural habit in many parts of the region.For instance, the colonial powers instituted cash crops and export of livestock, which in turn meant far-flung clearing of the land and sometimes depletion of the soil. Similarly, Europeans carving up the continent created or heightened local rivalries, which resulted in conflicts that also affected the landscape (ch6 p. 201) Carried to an extreme, ethnocentrism is destructive as evidence by the Nazis in Germany who believed in absolute superiority of the snow-clad Aryan race and culture.The result was the displacement and death of millions of people who didnt fit that category mostly Jews. In American history, each different ethnic, religious, or racial group was thought to be inferior to sportsmanlike Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASP) and therefore deserve less than humane treatment. Ethnic divisions are a powerful force today. Ongoing struggles in such assorted states as Angola, Burundi, Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya,Liberia Mauritanian, Nigeria, Ruanda and Sierra Leon may be explained in past by deep-seated ethnic division