1. What material items do you cherish the
greatest as a teenager?
2. How do you attain these items for use?
3. Could you live without these items for a
long period of time (are they needs or
wants)?
North and Central
African Societies
Chapter 15
Section 1
Mr. Amos
Influenced by Geography


Topography influences how a community is
often organized in Africa; Climate and Land
Forms
Some communities are bound by religion,
family ties, or close family units



Oldest form of social
organization in the
world
Rely on hunting and
gathering practices for
survival
Move from place to
place in search of
resources





Homes are temporary
Collect few
possessions
Women are gatherers
(yams, roots, berries)
Men are Hunters
(antelope w/ poisoned
tipped arrows)
Honey- prized delicacy

1.
2.
Turn to page 367 of your textbook and
read the excerpt entitled HuntersGatherers. Answer the following questions
in your notes:
What percent of the African population are
hunters and gatherers today?
What has happened as a result of
globalization to this lifestyle?



Respected older male serves as primary
leader
He does not give orders, every family has a
say in community affairs
Guidelines for share of food and resources

Families organized in lineages
- Belief that all descendants are from a
common ancestor (includes past
generations and future ones)
Stateless Society- cultural groups in which
authority is shared by lineages of equal
power instead of having a central Gov.



Most developed south
of the Sahara
Patrilineal Societytrace ancestors
though the father
Matrilineal- Children
trace ancestors
through mothers
Read in your textbook concerning Daily Life
on page 369 and answer the following in
your notes:
1.
2.
How do you and your kinship negotiate
family issues?
Do you think that this way of solving
problems would work in your family?



After Muhammad’s death in 632 Islam
spread across the NW part of Africa
Islam in the Maghrib- North Africa that is
today the Mediterranean coast (Morocco,
Tunisia, and Algeria)
Leaders ruled by Islamic Law (Sharia)


Following the law is a religious obligation
No separation of personal life and law;
Islamic law regulates all areas of human life
Because of the Sharia (the way) brought
order to North Africa and formed a common
identity.
Influence
- cohesion of ethnicity
- politically
- Socially
 One group influenced
by Islam were the
BERBERS- Nomadic
people of N. Africa




Dynasty of 11th
Century
Pilgrim brought Abd
Allah Ibn Yasin back to
N. Africa
Conquest to spread
Islam 1050’s
- Overran Ghana 1076
- Parts of southern
Spain (Moors)



Abd al-Mumin- Leader
Ousted the Almoravid
and fought to remain
true to Islamic beliefs
Lasted 100 yrs but
united all of the
Maghrib under one rule
Choose a society to form your group into
involving one of the three we have
discussed in class and answer the
following:
• Pick a leader.
• How would you gain resources to
support your community?
• How would you settle disputes? Create
some form of law to reside over the
community.
• What problems might occur? How would
you handle them as a group?
• Where would you live? What kind of
shelter might you have?
• What would be some key items for your
group to survive in Africa (Climate,
Geography)?