Explore Africa's rich cultural heritage: traditional ceremonies, festivals, indigenous practices, ethnic groups, diaspora identity, and the living traditions that define African peoples.
In many African societies, an important aspect of traditional education is concerned with teaching oral literature using folktales, riddles and proverbs, which aim at molding character and providing children with
Prior to the arrival of western, colonial Christianity, most African ethnicities made a clear distinction between a boy and a man. It was understood that a boy was an uncircumcised
Initiation rites are ceremonies performed when people take on a new role in life, ushering them into adulthood, secret societies or positions of leadership and so on. In traditional African
Choosing a name for an African child is a sacred event with overwhelming importance. Consequently, the arrival of a new baby or family member is a time when many African
Marriage is one of the most important institutions in society universally. This is no different in African culture, where marriage is widely seen as a way to assert one’s
In Setswana culture, practices like Botsetsi constitute a way of life upheld quite dearly and strictly. Botsetsi is the cultural practice in Botswana of placing a newborn baby and its
The custom of paying bride price is widely practiced in Africa and although the amounts and definitions vary based on the area, the practice is essentially the same. Bride price
In 1938 a Nigerian farmer called Isiah Anozie unearthed dozens of intricate objects made of cast bronze, while digging a cistern on his property. It was later discovered that his
Over a century ago there were many sacred groves in Yorubaland, Nigeria – every town had one. Most of these groves have now been abandoned or have shrunk to quite small
Death is an unfortunate and inevitable life event that is universally met with the same sentiments — pain, sorrow, shock, disbelief and eventually grief. The series of emotions experienced vary by
Within the last decade, African music has gained unpredicted relevance and dominance globally. Experts claim that this success can be traced to the adoption of Afrobeats by musicians from the
The concept of ‘human rights’ in its contemporary, universal and globalized understanding is arguably a new one. Yet, this is not to say that the rights of human beings have
