African Creation Stories :: African Culture Creation Tales Essays

Afri eject Creation StoriesSince the beginning of humankind, there has been one common ramble that ties together each cultures and religions of the world an attempt to explain their origins. this holds true for the many religious groups existing on the African continent. In the absence of science, they resorted to creating stories to reputation for what they did not and could not understand. While similar in their basic flesh and theory, these stories varies greatly in their content and meaning. By studying them, much can be learned about the African people of the present and past. The Shilluks of the Nile region, for example, demonstrate a story in which humankind is fashioned out of clay. In each region of the world in which the creator traveled, he created gentlemans gentleman from the materials available, making some white, others red or brown, and the Shilluk black. He then took a piece of earth and gave them arms, eyes, etc. This story says much about their set and cul ture. In distributing the characteristics to man, he chose first to give them the ability to do go bad through the use of their arms and legs. They were then given the ability to larn and taste their food. Finally, they were given speech and hearing with which to entertain oneself (An African twaddle). This shows the order system at work among the Shilluk, that work comes above all else. It also attempts to explain the differences between men of various races by tattle of how they came about. A West African concept tale explains how two tincture people were accidentally sent down to earth by the flip out god. Lonely, the people decided to create children from clay, but feel they must deal them when the sky god comes down. Because they are hidden in fire, the children soon change form to various shades based on how long they had been exposed to the heat. all over time, these clay children grow up and move to various regions of the earth, ultimately populating it (Fader). a good deal like that of the Shillu k people, this story serves a two-fold purpose it explains both the creation of man as well as accounts for the differences among him. This tale shows the West Africans value these differences because they feel that all men are created equal and should be handle as such. The Boshongo, a central Bantu tribe of the Lunda Cluster, aver a different story.