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During the ceremony, around 500 prisoners would be sacrificed. As many as 4,000 were reported killed in one of these ceremonies in 1727. [5] [6] [7] Most of the victims were sacrificed through decapitation, a tradition widely used by Dahomean kings, and the literal translation for the Fon name for the ceremony Xwetanu is "yearly head business". [8]
In 1803, a slave ship landed in St. Simons Island, Georgia, with captive Africans from Nigeria carrying a cargo of Igbo people. The Igbo people took control of the slave vessel, and when it landed in Georgia many of the Igbos chose suicide than a lifetime in slavery by drowning in the swamp.
Figurative palanquin; drawing by Ataa Oko from Ghana. Among Christians, the use of custom coffins is relatively recent and began in the Greater Accra Region around 1950. They were formerly used only by Ga chiefs and priests, but since around 1960, figurative coffins have become an integral part of the local funeral culture. [4]
Direct images of African deities are relatively infrequent, but masks in particular are or were often made for traditional African religious ceremonies; today many are made for tourists as "airport art". [2] African masks were an influence on European Modernist art, which was inspired by their lack of concern for naturalistic depiction.
The beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse, and include various ethnic religions. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural and are passed down from one generation to another through narratives, songs, and festivals.
Kwanzaa (/ ˈ k w ɑː n z ə /) is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called Karamu, usually on the sixth day. [1] It was created by activist Maulana Karenga based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West, East, as well as Southeast Africa.
Nine-Night, also known as Dead Yard, is a funerary tradition originating in West Africa and practiced in Caribbean countries (primarily Jamaica, Belize, Antigua, Grenada, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Trinidad, and Haiti). It is an extended wake that lasts for several days, with roots in certain West African religious traditions. During ...
Thompson was an African Art historian who found through his study of African Art the origins of African Americans' spiritual practices in certain regions in Africa. [140] Former academic historian Albert J. Raboteau in his book, Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South , traced the origins of Hoodoo (conjure, rootwork ...