africa vocab apah

Oranmiyan

legendary Edo people (kingdom of benin) founder of the dynasty. oba (king) was believed to be the direct descendent of him.

coral was symbolic of

obun: ruler of land

obukun: ruler of sea

archieropoieta

an object with divine origin (e.g. ashnati people’s golden stool aka sika dwa kofi when it fell into the lab of osei tutu)

sumsun

one’s individual spirit for the Ashanti people

ibol

personal symbol chosen by king to signify his reign (Kuba peoples, e.g. drum for King Mishe in Ndop)

sowei

water spirit from the mende people

chi

an individual’s personal spirit (igbo people)

onye uwa

soul that has returned to physical world after death (igbo people)

bana baluei

'“MEN of memory,” only people who can read lukasa boards (Luba people)

Mbudye

council of men AND women who interpret the political and historical aspects of society (Luba people)

luba people founders

Kongolo Mwamba: tyrant

Mbidi Kiluwe: cultural hero

luba people interdependent leaders

kaloba: chief

kikungulu: head of mbudye

kuosi

elite male group that performs ceremonies to maintain kings power and social order (Bamileke people)

iya oba

“queen mother,” Yoruba peoples