Rather frequently, diversified indigenous civilizations of Africa appear indistinguishable in museums that structure their cultural exhibits through a Western hegemonic perspective. That is to say, each society’s cultural significance is presented solely in the dominate interpretation of a western ethnographer. The Hall of African People in the Museum of Natural History has transcended its ethnographic practices away from this in attempt to characterize the distinctive cultures in Africa through framing the norms, values, and achievements particular to each society African culture is not one culture but one of many. (quote).
The portrayal of a static and uniform African culture is as meaningless in value as it is inaccurate in truth. The museum’s hall decolonizes this notion of homogeneity by appealing to a more convoluted representation of African culture – the scope where Afro-societies lie as culturally divergent in religious beliefs, ideological values, and respected achievements but are nevertheless equally indicative of this manifestation. In reference to this explicit approach, defining African culture in singular terms does not connote totality of diverse lifestyles, but rather adheres to the individuality of the cultures within its multifaceted field.
While the Hall of African People succeeds in particularizing the diversity of African culture through the recognition of internal cultural borderlands, it fails to incorporate the borderlands between African societies and external forces into the perception of the culture’s dynamic heterogeneity. The foreign borderlands are relegated to the remote corners of the hall in regard to prioritizing the impact of internal borderlands on inherent ways of life, and in turn, on the intricacy of African culture. The ethnographic narrative of this hall centralizes the mixture of African culture in terms of internal cultural borderlands rather than also in relation to borderlands that exist between Africa and its myriad external influences.
Renato Rosaldo defines “cultural borderland” as an intercultural line, dividing two or more cultures in the same geographical region. Rosaldo’s term is acknowledged throughout this discourse. In internal and external borderlands, members of African society identify their particular culture to the extent to which they retain their origins and adopt foreign cultural characteristics. As a result, the development of their multicultural identity affected by borderlands is a key aspect of the complexity of African culture.
In terms of internal borderlands, political, economic, and religious aspects of distinct African cultures are present. In mountain grasslands of West Africa, the Northern Nigerian tribes adopted political authority for the centralization of its people through elections. There is a dynamically changing position of power to control dominance, unlike other eastern tribes. The museum shows that democratic political systems in other parts of Africa eventually adopted this form. Eastern upland tribes resisted this form and instead continued to practice forms of absolute power through a static passage of power through the lineage of seniority. This internal cultural borderland affects the two cultures in terms of their normative practice of ruling. Both are exposed to both types and they choose which to adopt and which to not. Both decided to maintain their origins. The political distinction between these two African subcultures can be seen as a representation of the complex entirety.
The economic aspect relates to the Nilotic culture of both the Pokot people and Masai people. In Northwest Kenya, Pokot people adopted cultivation, or farming, while continuing to practice their herding culture. “to keep the notion of wealth and prestige linked to their native values” (ANHM). Cultivation formed large, permanent settlements, aiming for a more profitable way of life – to link the people physically and spiritually to one place. Masai from the Nile valley stuck to herding observed by the herding artifacts: milk bucket, spear, and cattle whip. This borderland affected the Masai with limitations of where they can roam to and thus find difficulty in forming their culture of nomad.
Economically, the internal cultural borderland affected the Pokot tribe culture due to a drastic change in the tools needed as seen in the farming instruments. More appreciation for material culture grew since they had to recreate the tools, as well as new religious worships of fertility and revitalization. The culture as a whole confronts the integration of two economic forms of life that stand out because Pokot culture idealizes economic fertility through the sacred bonds with their land, while Masai culture holds migration to a higher value. These two may fuse through marriage to increase cooperativity in their bicultural identity.
Social interaction between herders and cultivators thrived in the medium of marriage practices in order to increase cooperativity between these two economic forms. The Kwele people, formally cultivators, adopted forest economic practices, including fishing and hunting. The forest work impacted their way of live, causing them to move from a large-scale society to one of autonomy (AMHN) to prosper. They idolized material culture even more now. The Mangbetu in same areas as the Kwele also have these practices but retained the centralization of a non-autonomous society.
Switching to external borderlands, they are placed on the outskirts of the hall and may be for their very disturbing attributes of foreigners instilling superiority. The impact is thus momentous. So why is it not included as part of the representation of African cultures? Dealing with Christianity in Nigeria, Yorban people partake in a slave wedding. This display shows that even though African people were exposed to hostility and oppression during slavery, while some of them continued to practice their cultural traditions of family ties, their native religion, and skills in agriculture and pottery. Others adopted Christianity to give them peace and unity which has influenced the religions within the African culture. North America today has a lot of African roots linked to dance, literature, and arts. “There is possibly a greater knowledge of the Yoruba religion in Harlem than in Nigeria.” (AMNH).
When Islamic influences emerges in Africa, another form of externally influenced culture borderlands existed. The Senegambians of the complex desert society adopted aspects of Islam into their own culture, causing a more intricate hierarchy system, and thus joined the people under a political unity as they learned about military defense. (as seen through the the luxury of religious jewelry for those of greater rank and power). Their lack of educational value was changed to the Islamic tradition of formal education. (ex: allowed the rise of ancient university). The Senegambians then created an internal cultural borderland with neighboring Bambara people, who retained their dependence on land and had less interest in status structuring and political authority (AMNH). Some North African societies differed from Islamic influence by not subjugating woman to a lower status.
References
- Rosaldo, Renato “The Erosion of Classic Norms”
- The American Museum of Natural History. “The Hall of African People” Exhibit
