Indigenous Studies - African Anthropology
Reviewed Resources for Students and Teachers
Acacia Initiative: International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Centre de recherches pour le développement international (CRDI) (3.1) __ "The Acacia Initiative: Communities and the Information Society in Africa Program Initiative is an international program to empower sub-Saharan
communities with the ability to apply information and communication technologies (ICTs) to their own social and economic development." - From International Development Research Centre - http://network.idrc.ca/ev.php?URL_ID=5895&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201
African Art: Aesthetics and Meaning __ "African artifacts have generally been exhibited with reference only to cultural context and use. In view of recent studies of African aesthetic principles and related moral and religious values, there is
good reason to emphasize the formal aesthetic aspects of the objects and the moral and religious ideas they express." - photos - From University of Virginia - http://www.lib.virginia.edu/clemons/RMC/exhib/93.ray.aa/African.html
African Art museum. Major Collecton of Tribal Masks, Statues, Sculptures and Bronzes __ A commercial website but with numerous examples of art styles broken down by peoples. - illustrated - http://www.zyama.com/
African Forest Peoples __ "African forest people tend to be noticeably smaller than those from the savannas, the Pygmies being the most extreme example. Their small stature undoubtedly enables them to move about the forest more efficiently than taller
peoples. Additionally, their smaller body mass allows pygmies to dissipate their body heat more efficiently." that is only a small part of the information provided here about the forest peoples of Africa. - From Mangabay.com - http://www.mongabay.com/0702.htm
African Lives __ "This series of occasional articles chronicles the joys and struggles in the everyday lives of African peoples. - illustrated - From the Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/africanlives/front.htm
African Studies Center | K-12 Electronic GuideK-12 Electronic Guide __ "The aim of this
guide is to assist K-12 teachers, librarians, and students in locating on-line resources on Africa that can be used in the classroom, for research and studies. This guide summarizes some relevant materials for K-12 uses available on the African Studies WWW. The African Studies Web also contains information that is not listed in this guide. The resources included in this guide are accessible via
the African Studies Web server; or through 'hyper links' to other Africa-related databases at institutions worldwide." - From University of Pennsylvania - http://www.africa.upenn.edu/K-12/AFR_GIDE.html
African Voices __ In this remarkable site you can explore objects that demonstrate Africa's wide diversity and long history. - illustrated - From National Geographic Society - http://www.mnh.si.edu/africanvoices/
allAfrica.com: Home __ Online news and newspapers for Africa - illustrated - From AllAfrica.com - http://allafrica.com/
Anthropology Research - Africa | The Field Museum __ "The East African coast is among the optimum places for studying the long-term processes of urbanization and the development of complex society in Africa. Yet until the late 1980s, little was known about the role that indigenous peoples played in the
development of complex coastal polities." A good look at what has been happening since. - illustrated - From fieldmuseum.org - http://fieldmuseum.org/explore/department/anthropology/africa/research
Atlas Natural Agronomic Resources Niger Benin __ "Sustainable land use planning is an urgent need in Niger and Benin." Here is an excellent resource about all aspects of these studies. - http://www.uni-hohenheim.de/~atlas308/
Defining 'Indigenous Peoples' __ Explore the controversy about who is and who is not an indigenous person. - From NativeWeb.org - http://www.nativeweb.org/info/indigenousdefined.html
East Africa Living Encyclopedia __ "The Teaching & Learning about East Africa" Project (TLEAP) is a "living library"--a work in progress--of resources for teaching and learning about East
Africa and about Swahili, the most widely spoken language of that region. The educational resources are provided or recommended by East Africa experts on the faculties of the University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore and Haverford Colleges, and by Master Teachers of the School District of Philadelphia." - From University of Pennsylvania - http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/neh.html
Eloquent Elegance Beadwork in the ZULU Cultural Tradition __ More than a website only about beads. You will find history, an introduction to the 'bead language' and much more. - illustrated - From Stan Schoeman - http://minotaur.marques.co.za/clients/zulu/
Famine Food Field Guide __ "For many years the importance of wild plants in subsistence agriculture in the developing world as a food supplement and as a means of survival during times of drought and famine has been overlooked. Generally, the
consumption of such so-called 'wild-food' has been and still is being under-estimated. This may very well be the case for Ethiopia, a so-called 'biodiversity hot-spot' and known as a centre of origin for a significant number of food plants (Bell, 1995)." An excellent online report. - From University of Pennsylvania - http://www.africa.upenn.edu/faminefood/index.htm
Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria Index __ This is an excellent collection of tales from Southern Nigeria. Learn about the fat woman who melted away and a lot more. - By Elphinstone Dayrell - http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/fssn/index.htm
Food Security and Food Self Sufficiency in Africa __ "Not only more people go to bed hungry every day but a great number of the African population was brought into a state of insecurity and instability due to the breakdown in the social fabrics and to
the expansion of war, ethnic conflicts, political turmoil, crime and diseases such as the pandemic AIDS. It is becoming even harder for the international community to keep some countries in peace and in one piece." This is just a small part of this important website dealing with the current and future situation in Africa. - From University of Pennsylvania - http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/ECA/FoodSecure.html
G.I. Jones - S.E. Nigerian Art and Culture __ Collection of photos and text about the peoples of southeastern Nigeria. "The collection includes examples from Ibibio, Igbo, Ijo and Ogoni speaking peoples." All the photos are from the first
half of the century and portray these people before they were innundated with western norms. This is an inportant resource in the study of African cultural anthropology." - illustrated - From University of Cambridge - http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/jmccall/jones/
Harriet Tubman Resource Centre on the African Diaspora __ Website "...focuses on the history of the African diaspora and the movement of Africans to various parts of the world, particularly the Americas and the Islamic lands of North Africa and the
Middle East." - illustrated - From York University - http://www.yorku.ca/nhp/
The Kamusi Project -- The Internet Living Swahili Dictionary __ "The Internet Living Swahili Dictionary is a collaborative work by people all over the world. Together we are working to establish new dictionaries of the Swahili language - Kiswahili -
both within Swahili and between Swahili and English. We are preparing print-based dictionaries and multi-media computer applications, all accessible to you through this home page." You will find slide shows, history and more - illustrated - From Yale University - http://www.yale.edu/swahili/
Kenya Culture __ You will find links to various aspects of Kenya Culture, such as music, recipes, riddles, coins, etc. There are music clips and many pictures. - illustrated - By Timothy F. Bliss - http://www.blissites.com/kenya/culture.html
Medical Culture of the Ovambo __ Dr. Gwyneth Davies says it best. "This thesis focusses on the medical culture of the Ovambo peoples of southern Angola and northern Namibia, a group who have been little-researched anthropologically. Because health and
affliction are such poignant human concerns, the study of a society's medical culture can tell us much about their social and cultural organisation in general. It is for this reason that Ovambo medical culture has been examined in relation to the wider socio-cultural background, rather than in isolation; especially since Ovambo evidence has shown that concern about health and affliction is not
confined to the physical and spiritual wellbeing of individuals, but extends to include harmonious social relations, environmental and economic prosperity, and political stability." - From University of Kent at Canterbury - http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/csacpub/Davies_thesis/
Microbiological Perspectives on Nigerian Food Processing __ "Microbiological science has provided a basis for understanding the production and quality of some African foods and beverages..." Learn how and why. - By R. N. Okagbue - http://www.africahistory.net/okagbue.htm
Moja - Newspaper and Information Source for East Africa __ Newspaper and information source for East Africa. There is also a Swahili/English dictionary link. - http://www.moja.com/
Myths and Legends of the Bantu Index __ A full online book about myths and legends of the Bantu. You will find a considerable amount of detailed and well presented information. - By Alice Werner - http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/mlb/index.htm
Sacred Texts: African Religion __ An excellent source of information covering South Africa, the Bantu, West and Central Africa and the Carribean. - From sacred-texts.com - http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/index.htm
The Swahili Coast __ "...an 1,800-mile stretch of Kenyan and Tanzanian coastline, has been the site of cultural and commercial exchanges between East Africa and the outside world - particularly the Middle East, Asia, and Europe - since at least the 2nd
century A.D." This website covers history, culture, indigenous peoples and a lot more. - illustrated - From Wonders of the African World/PBS - http://www.pbs.org/wonders/fr_e2.htm
Zbigniew Kosc: Ababda Bedouins of the Eastern Desert __ "The home of the Ababda is the vast expanse of the Eastern Desert between the Red Sea and the Nile Valley, a region covering the land from Kosseir in the north down to the southern borders of
Egypt. From time immemorial the Ababda have been nomads, wandering through the desert with their flocks of sheep and goats. They were always on the move, looking for water and food for their animals." You will find a beautiful photo essay. - illustrated - By Zbigniew Kosc - http://puck.wolmail.nl/~kosc/Ababda folder/ababda.html
