Today’s Agenda:

CULTURE DAY!
 Turn in maps??
 Warm Up: Why is it important to study
different cultures?
 African Tribes – Fast Facts
 Culture Activity
 Tribe Research
 African Music Listening Party

 Learning Target: I can learn about African

culture to understand how culture impacts a
society.
African Tribes
INTERESTING FACTS
There are over 3,000 tribes in Africa.
There are over 2,000 languages
spoken in Africa.
Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism are
the main religions practiced.
The shortest people in the world,
the pygmies, live in Africa.

The average
height of a
pygmie tribe
member is 4 feet
11 inches.
Some Sudanese people are among the tallest people (on
average) in the world. In some of the tribes the average
height of a man is six feet and four inches, where as for
women it is six feet.

Manute Bol, the

tallest NBA player
ever at 7 feet 7
inches.
The Surma tribe in southwestern Ethiopia is
famous due to their women wearing lip plates.

A tribute to the tribe portrayed in Black

Panther.
The Wodaabe people do not name their
children until they reach twelve years old.
African Tribes Activity
 Download: Tribe Activity Worksheet from
OneNote
 Choose ONE of the following tribes to
complete the questions:
 Arab • Fula
• Akan
 Berber • Amhara
 Hausa • Somali
• Hutu
 Yoruba
• Ijaw
 Oromo • Mandinka
 Igbo • Kongo
• Shona
• Zulu
Class Share Out
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
African Music

 Part of everyday activities in some tribes – everyone joins in

clapping, singing, and dancing to the music.
 Part of rites and ceremonies
 Not normally written down but passed on through oral tradition
 Traditional African music has influenced contemporary styles such as
blues, gospel, and jazz.
 Modern African music still relies on traditional sounds, but combines
them with modern music styles we are used to hearing today.
African Music Listening Party!
 Song 1: Senzeni Na?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MztK1bXbhIA
Questions to consider while
listening:
 Does the song remind you of anything?
 How does this song make you feel? Happy? Sad? Worried?
 What do you think it means?
 How does this song compare to music you currently listen to?
 What themes can you pull out of the song?
 Rhythm? Repetition?
African music was/is often used
during political movements.
 Senzeni Na? in English “What have we done?”
 Created during anti-apartheid movements
 Apartheid was a series of institutionalized racial segregation that existed
in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s.
 Sung in the Zulu language
 Some lyrics:
 What have we done?
 Our sin is that we are black?
Representation of Africa through
movie soundtracks
 The Rainmaker – Hanz Zimmer from “The Power of One”
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFp_puk7cRs
 Have you seen any movies that set in Africa?
 What is the music like? What do you think it is trying to convey?
Salif Keita "Tekere"

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhPZ8StErSE
 Tekere means “clap your hands”
 Combines traditional African rhythms with a dance groove
 How does this song make you feel?
 Do you notice any similarities between this and the other two songs
we’ve listened to?
Modern Song: A Celebration of
Gambia Independence
 Sona Jobarteh – GAMBIA
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtmmlOQnTXM
 Celebrates Gambia’s Independence
 What do you hear? What themes are you picking up on in African
music?
Modern African Pop

 WIZKID - OJUELEGBA
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7QiLceJSLQ
 Sung in Yoruba and English
 Tells stories about his life living in Nigeria
 Common themes?
African Music Debrief

 What is the main instrument? The “driving” sound?

 How does it compare to music you listen to?
 Opinions?

 Tribes have their own styles of music too, using unique instruments

 If time, grab some headphones and look up traditional music from

the tribe you researched!