Most Americans have probably only heard of a small fraction the many African countries, and even less have heard of the tiny country of Sierra Leone, and most likely do not know anything about it. Those people are missing out on knowing all of the vibrant culture the country has to offer. And the glue that holds the cultures together is the Secret Societies of Sierra Leone, who created all the traditions that are in place today. Secret Societies were always a part of the Mende people’s culture and have influenced the entire country in many ways.These secret societies are just as mysterious as they are well known, and have existed for over a thousand years, but people still know so little about them today.
World leaders of Sierra Leone are
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Sande are a group which are much like the Poro, and the Sande are also known as the Bundu, Bundo, Bondo, and the ZadEgi. The society is made up entirely of girls and women, and are responsible for preparing the girls for adulthood. (Sande, Heritge) Today the Sande society can be found in the same countries as the Poro, and “is not a centralised institution, but rather is numerous more or less independent local lodges with common practices and traditions” according to Henry M of mytholyoke.com. Higher ranking members of the Sande are known as the Sowei, and the most recognizable Sande public figure is the masker called Ndoli Jowei which means the Dancing Sowei, who wears a black-dyed wooden helmet above a costume of black dyed raffia and cloth. (Sande, Heritage) Members of the Sande can also wear special masks and helmets that are sacred to the Sande people. These masks can symbolize many different things about the member, or the initiate. Some of the masks can mean beauty; which is special to the Mende people, and is said to represent an idealized image of female beauty and dignity. Another Sande mask design is the womanly characteristic of wisdom, which is represented with showcasing a high forehead. All Sande members believe that all women should become Nyaha, which means to become initiated within Sande. (Henry,
“History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples ' environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves” (Jared Diamond). In the book Guns Germs and Steel he accounted a conversation with Yali, a New Guinean politician that had asked “Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?”. Diamond tries to answer this by describing the difference in use of government throughout history by bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states.
Being located in the west coast of Africa and between Guinea and Liberia, “Sierra Leone has an abundance of easily extractable diamonds”(BBC News). The diamonds had brought “encouragement” for violence in the country in 1991. Attacks of the Revolutionary “United Front (RUF) ,led by former army corporal Foday Sankoh”(Encyclopedia Britannica), were on government military and civilians. In response to a corrupt government, the RUF performed violent and terrorist acts that scarred many. “The RUF captured civilians and forced them to work”(Analyzing the Causes) in their army to gain control over Sierra Leone. The savages went a...
The opening of the novel places the reader not in Falola's shoes as a child, but rather as an adult scholar attempting to procure information from his own family. This proves easier said than done as Falola takes us through the process of obtaining specific dates in a society that deems them irrelevant. By examining the difficulty that Falola has in this seemingly simple task, the reader begins to understand the way in which time and space are intertwined and weighed in Africa. This concept of "connections between words, space, and rituals" encompasses the way that Africans perceive the world around them - as a series of interrelated events rather than specific instances in time (Falola 224). This approach also stems from the concept that the family unit, the village, and the elders come before the individual in all instances, making a detail such as a birthday unimportant when it comes to the welfare of the whole. Introducing the reader to the complexities of African conventions, Falola expands their minds and challenges them to view the forthcoming narrative with untainted eyes.
Think of the term ‘globalization’. Your first thought may be of people from all corners of the Earth exchanging ideas, views, products, and so much more. Appiah introduces his article by describing a scene of a traditional Wednesday festival in the town of Kumasi. He allows the reader to visualize the traditions held by those in attendance, but begins his case by providing details of men on their cellphones and holding conversations on contemporary topics such as H.I.V/AIDS. When Appiah speaks of “contamination,” he highlights the way one culture is influenced by another accepting an exchange of ideas. In his article he asks, “why do people in these places sometimes feel that their identities are threatened?” (Appiah). This question raises a topic that is central to the unification of peoples’ ideals and cultures...
Some common themes of 17th-19th century African social and political history span these three stories despite their distinct historical contexts and characteristics. In each society, warlords vied for control without being able to unify small disintegrating states, and political strife led to social mobility and fed the slave trade with war captives (Lovejoy, 68-70). The struggle between competing definitions of orthodoxy and orthopraxy became crucially important when religious causes were allied with political causes, especially seen in the cases of Beatriz and Uthman. Another common feature, best illustrated in Guimba’s story, is the tradition African belief that spiritual power, whatever its source, is good when used in the interests of the community, but bad when used for personal gain (Thornton, 43-44).
"Sierra Leone." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1-3. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 November 2013.
Zahan, Dominique. The Religion, Spirituality, and Thought of Traditional Africa. Trans. Kate Ezra Martin and Lawrence M. Martin. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1979.
Kandiyoti, Deniz. Invisible to the World? Rep. no. 49842. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 2009. Print.
In John Barker’s Ancestral Lines, the author analyzes the Maisin people and their culture centered around customs passed from previous generations, as well as global issues that impact their way of living. As a result of Barker’s research, readers are able to understand how third world people can exist in an rapid increasing integrated system of globalization and relate it not only to their own society, but others like the Maisin; how a small group of indigenous people, who are accustomed to a modest regimen of labor, social exceptions, and traditions, can stand up to a hegemonic power and the changes that the world brings. During his time with these people the author was able to document many culture practices, while utilizing a variety of
In the early beginnings of this mysterious group many people believed that they were running the US government and that alleged members were Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. It is said that the society
John Lawrence Reynolds efficaciously persuades his readers that the secret society of the Skull and Bones is one that is based in Germanic roots and produces members that achieve roles of prominence and power. Reynolds uses Aristotelian rhetoric to convince his readers that the affluent members of this society retain close bonds with their fellow bonesmen throughout their careers creating a façade of intrigue and conspiracy whose existence is verifiable and history is linked to Masonic traditions and possibly to the Nazi parties belief in a new world order.
There is belief that there is a secret society that is even more precarious than the Freemasons. May 1,1776, Europe, during the American revolution there was a man named Adam Weishaupt who was a professor at the University of Ingolstadt in Bavaria. Weishaupt was the founder of the organization called The Illuminati. The Illuminati was a secret society set up in a very secluded way. The organizations main purpose was to infiltrate the Freemasons and take over the world.
"The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies." Secret Teachings of All Ages: , Part Three. N.p., 30 June 2007. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.
The Illuminati is not a conspiracy theory; it is a real thing that is happening today. With all the facts and information about the illuminati, it cannot still be considered a conspiracy theory. The illuminati symbol can be seen all over the place in all parts of the world, including famous entertainers that have Illuminati symbols tattooed on their bodies. With all the turmoil on this planet, it will soon collapse. When it does, who is going to take over? The illuminati will take over. The illuminati has been an organization for a long period of time and they are just hiding out and waiting for their opportunity to take over. A secret society is what they are right now, and there are many questions that can be asked about them. What exactly is the Illuminati? Who is involved in the illuminati and who is taking charge? There are various rumors that the Devil has influence and power in the illuminati, but is this really true? These are all questions that can catch one’s attention. The illuminati is a broad subject in which there are many theories about it. Those questions will be answered in the remainder of this paper.
Achebe opens his lecture, "An Image of Africa," with the story of a student who sent him a letter saying how he was "particularly happy to learn about the customs and superstitions of an African tribe," not realizing that "the life of his own tribesmen in Yonkers, New York, is full of odd customs and superstitions" as well (1784). Western thou...