IntroductionThe beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse, including various ethnic religions. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural and are passed down from one generation to another through folk tales, songs, and festivals, and include beliefs in spirits and higher and lower gods, sometimes including a supreme being, as well as the veneration of the dead, and use of magic and traditional African medicine. Most religions can be described as animistic with various polytheistic and pantheistic aspects. The role of humanity is generally seen as one of harmonizing nature with the supernatural. In the past, African religion used to be referred to as 'traditional' but this is no longer appropriate. 'Traditional' was used to distinguish African religion from Abrahamic religion which came to the continent as a result of proselytism. Colonialism supported the false view that Africa had no religion. (Full article...) Selected article
The Kumpo, the Samay and the Niasse are three traditional figures in the mythology of the Diola people in the Casamance (Senegal) and in Gambia.
Multiple times in the course of the year, i.e. during the Journées culturelles, a folk festival in the village is organized. The Samay invites the people of the village to participate with the festivity. The Kumpo is dressed with palm leaves and wears a stick on the head. Selected imagesFestivalsThere are several religious festivals found in the various Traditional African religions. Some of these are listed below next to their corresponding religion :
Selected biographyMarguerite Dupire (born in Roubaix - 12 October 1920) is a French ethnologist who specialises on African people, and had worked extensively on the Fulani of Niger, Cameroon, Guinea, Senegal, and then after a mission in Ivory Coast, on the Serer people of Sine (in Senegal) since 1965. Selected quote
On the influence of African religion on art, Aloysius M. Lugira (2009), quoting Ladislas Segy (1975), Source: African Traditional Religion, Third Edition, 2009 by Aloysius M. Lugira, quoting Ladislas Segy, "African Sculpture Speak",Da Capo Press (1975), p. 118, ISBN 9780306800184
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Related portalsTopicsFor more Traditional African religion topics, see Category:Traditional African religions.
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