Azande Tribe

The Begging

• The first man able to correct broken bones fathered a child, but the child had no legs or arms

• People saw this child and new it was the child of the supreme being, Mbori.

• Ancestors had a dream that they were to burn the child and take his ashes and mix them with oils, and this they did.

• This mixture mad could be used to heal broken limbs

• Creating a clan that can heal the broken limbs of others.

Introduction and History

• The Azande people live in south western Sudan

• After the Azande fell victim to the sleeping sickness (spread by a fly), they were forced to relocate at risk of infecting others.

• Zande history tells of a single man, through wisdom and kindness gained power of his tribe, the Avongara. Eventually conquering more then fifty other tribes, melding all the tribes into one.

• Many French and Belgian expeditions went through Sudan influencing the people and tribes.

• In 1956 Sudan claimed independence inducing a strand of unsuccessful parliament and military regimes.

Settlements

• Each homestead consists of the couple and their children

• The homes are built of mud and grass framed on wooden poles thatched with grass.

• Houses are built around courtyards , providing a place to gather.

• Average court yard area is sixty-five feet.

• In a household with more women the courtyard would be larger.

Subsistence and Manufacturing

• Azande practice shifting cultivation.– Relying mostly on maize and millet, guards, pumpkins, manioc, bananas,

groundnuts and beans.– The consumption of meat is only done through hunting.

• Dogs and chickens only domesticated animals • The azande are provided with usable water almost year round.• Their year is split into two seasons: rainy and dry• Iron tools and spears were used as bride wealth but in general there is

not tradition of exchange between households• There is a sexual division of labor / no specialized occupations

• Wealth is possessed mainly by the chief

Kinship

• Except in the royal clan, genealogical relationships between clansmen were very seldom known and usually quite untraceable.

• More over each local

group was looked at more like a political unit.

Chiefdoms

• Azande were organized into a number of chiefdoms, each independent form the other.

• It was the Avongara that the chiefs lineage belonged to.

• Emissaries managed various sections of their territories.

• Chiefs function as military leaders, economic leaders, and political leaders.

• Governors and chief collected food from the people in their domain to be redistributed.

Warfare

• Many surprise attacks were order by the provincial leaders against other tribes.

• If the Oracle indicates that the time is not right for a victory then the plan is abandoned.

Marriage

• When a man wants to marry a woman, he asks an intermediary to approach her father with his offer. Unless the suitor was deemed undesirable, the father would discuss the matter with his siblings and then his daughter. If she was agreeable then the money sent with the intermediary would be accepted.

• After that the daughter would visit the suitors home foe a trail period after which she would make her final decision. Likewise the male would bring gifts to the women's house to demonstrate his respect.

• Along with the trial period the women would also consult the oracle. If both the oracle and women regarded the match favorable then the ceremony would take place.

Folklore• The most famous Azande tales center on the imagined activities of

the trickster ture. The character of a trickster is common to folklore throughout the world. Typically, the trickster is an animal or human hero who disobeys and makes fun of the accepted order of things by doing the opposite of the expected behavior.

• The Azande character of ture is also closely related to an important element of traditional Azande folklore known as sanza, or double-speak. Sanza includes ambiguous remarks or actions intended to have double meanings.

• Azande use sanza in conversations between princes and commoners, husbands and wives, at beer parties, and in the language of love.

Oracles

• Oracles are a way of determining from where the suspected witchcraft is coming and they were for a long time the ultimate legal authority, the one setting the action as how to respond to the threats.

• Many times the are asked for guidance about life events such as health and the future.

Witch Craft

• Witchcraft is believed to be an inherited substance in the belly which lives a fairly autonomous life performing bad magic on the person's enemies.

• Witches can sometimes be unaware of their powers and can accidentally strike people to whom the witch wishes no evil.

• Because witchcraft is believed to always be present, there are several rituals connected to protection and canceling of witchcraft that are

performed almost daily

Logic of the azande Witchcraft

• There ability to attribute all misfortunes to witchcraft helps them to keep going along on their path.

• While many do understand that nature has a great deal to do with their misfortunes they still believe.