Name: ___________________________________
African Tribes Response Questions
Argumentative Responses
1. Which of these myths is better?
2. Why is it better? Be specific.
3. List specific parts, phrases, sentences that make the story better:
a.
b.
c.
d.
4. If another person said that the opposite story is better (not the one you chose), what reasons could you
predict they would give for the story being better?
a.
b.
c.
5. Write an argumentative paragraph (8 sentences or more) describing the better story/myth. Include an
attention getter and thesis and the opposing views.
AFRICAN MYTHOLOGY
ELEPHANT
Numerous myths are told in Africa about its biggest animal, the elephant, whose very size makes it
unassailable in nature, except by man, who has weapons and magic to kill it. In the African fables the elephant
is always the wise chief who impartially settles disputes among the forest creatures. A hunter in Chad found
an elephant skin near Lake Chad and hid it. Soon he saw a lovely big girl crying, because she had lost her good
'clothes'. The hunter promised her new clothes and married her. They had many big children, for the son of an
elephant cannot be a dwarf. One bad day when the grainstore was empty, his wife found the elephant skin at
the bottom, where the hunter had hidden it. She put it on and went back to the bush to live as an elephant
again. Her sons became the ancestors of the clan whose totem was the elephant. They do not have to fear
elephants.
A myth of the Kamba in Kenya tells us how elephants originated. A very poor man heard of lvonya-Ngia, 'He
that feeds the Poor'. He decided to go and find Ivonya-Ngia but it was a long journey. When he finally arrived,
he saw uncounted cattle and sheep, and there, amidst green pastures, was the mansion of Ivonya-Ngia, who
received the poor man kindly, perceived his need and ordered his men to give him a hundred sheep and a
hundred cows. 'No', said the poor man, 'I want no charity, I want the secret of how to become rich.' IvonyaNgia reflected for a while, then took a flask of ointment and gave it to the poor man, saying: 'Rub this on your
wife's pointed teeth in her upper jaw, wait until they have grown, then sell them.' The poor man carried out
the strange instructions, promising his wife that they would become very rich. After some weeks, the canine
teeth began to grow and when they had grown into tusks as long as his arm the man persuaded his wife to let
him pull them out. He took them to the market and sold them for a flock of goats. After a few weeks the wife's
canine teeth had grown again, becoming even longer than the previous pair, but she would not let her
husband touch them. Not only her teeth, but her whole body became bigger and heavier, her skin thick and
grey. At last she burst out of the door and walked into the forest, where she lived from then on. She gave birth
to her son there, who was also an elephant. From time to time her husband visited her in the forest, but she
would not be persuaded to come back, although she did have more healthy children, all elephants. It was the
origin of elephants and it explains why elephants are as intelligent as people.
In Southern Africa there is told the tale of the girl who grew up so tall and fat that no man wanted her as a
wife because she was accused of witchcraft. She was exiled from her village and wandered into the wilderness
on her own. There she met an elephant who began speaking to her politely in good Zulu. She agreed to stay
with him and he helped her to find wild cucumbers and other fruits of the forest. She gave birth to four human
sons, all very tall and strong, who became the ancestors of the Indhlovu clan of paramount chiefs.
In the African fables, the elephant is usually described as too kind and noble, so that he feels pity even for a
wicked character and is badly deceived. The Wachaga in Tanzania relate that the elephant was once a human
being but was cheated out of all his limbs except his right arm, which now serves as his trunk. He paid for
nobility!
The Ashanti of Ghana relate that an elephant is a human chief from the past. When they find a dead elephant
in the forest, they give him a proper chief's burial.
How Anansi Became a Spider
There was once a African king who had the finest ram in the world.
When this ram happened to be grazing on Anansi's crops one day, Anansi threw a rock at it, hitting it between the eyes and
killing it.
Anansi knew that the king would punish him for what he had done to the prize ram, and he immediately schemed how to get
out of the situation. Needless to say, Anansi resorted to trickery.
Anansi went to sat under a tree to think of an escape when, all of a sudden, a nut fell and struck him on the head. Anansi
immediately had an idea. First, he took the dead ram and tied it to the nut tree. Then he went to a spider and told it of a
wonderful tree laden with nuts.
The spider was delighted and immediately went to the tree. Anansi then went to the king and told him that the spider had
evidently killed the prize ram; the ram was hanging from a tree where the spider was spinning webs. The king flew into a rage
and demanded the death penalty for the spider.
The king thanked Anansi and offered him a great reward. Anansi returned to the spider and warned it of the king's wrath,
crying out to the whole world that the spider had killed the ram. The spider was very confused.
Anansi told the spider to go to the king and plead for mercy, and perhaps the spider's life would be spared. Meanwhile, the
king had gone home for lunch and told his wife what happened. The wife laughed and said, "Have you lost your mind? How on
earth could a little spider make a thread strong enough to hold a ram? How in the world could that little spider hoist the ram up
there? Don't you know, Anansi obviously killed your ram!"
The king was angry that he had been deceived and told his court to fetch Anansi immediately. When the king's men came for
him, Anansi assumed that it was to bring him to the palace for his reward for turning in the spider. So Anansi went along
willingly. He walked into the palace as if he owned the place and then said to the king, "Well, what is my reward for the killer of
your ram?"
This enraged the king so much that he kicked Anansi, splitting him into two pieces; he was no longer a man, but a spider with
long legs.