2. You can tell the story of human history as one of
settlement or one of migration.
You can emphasize permanence, or you can
emphasize change.
You can focus on continuities, or developments.
3. We are presently at a moment in world history
where there is more contact between cultures
than ever before.
This contact is physical—facilitated by modern
transportation technologies—and virtual—
facilitated by the modern mass media and the
postmodern, interactive medium of the internet.
5. We live, work and write in this reality.
At the moment, we have become more interested in telling stories
about how traditions evolve and change through cultural contact.
6. Terms
Hybridity (hybrid—adj.)
Syncretism (syncretic—adj.)
Creolization (creolized—adj.)
These are all essentially synonyms, pointing to
cultural situations that are of hybrid origins,
mixing together elements of two or more
traditions.
7. Bantu Migration
•Begins around 100
B.C.
•Continues until the
third or fourth century
A.D.
•One of largest
migrations in human
history.
8. Bantu migration:
West Africans moved
across the center of the
continent where they
surrounded the Pygmies,
then continued into
regions of the east and
south originally inhabited
by the San people.
Pushed southward into
the territory of the
Khoikhoi, the San
intermarried with them so
extensively, these peoples
eventually became one,
known as the Khoisan.
9. The Bantu migration took place over several centuries. Similarly, the re-location of millions
of Africans to the Americas as workers and slaves during colonial times occurred over
period lasting from 1501 to 1868.
10. The Yoruba Diaspora
The Yoruba created a vivid and
Africans from many nations distinctive presence in the New
were exported as slaves.
World.
11. The Yoruba have a concept of diaspora and
believed, well before slavery, that their
culture would spread throughout the world.
They were to prove massively influential in
the creation of the “African Atlantic.”
12. Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs &
Steel
European invaders of the Americas brought
with them potent military technology, and
deadly germs.
A significant percentage of the indigenous
inhabitants of the Americas perished quickly.
For Europeans eager to exploit the rich
natural resources of the Americas, this
created significant labor shortages.
13. In Jared Diamond’s view of
world history, geography is
destiny. In green type are place
names; in black type
are tribal names.
Based upon this map,
which tribes would you
expect to find dispropor-
tionately represented in
the New World?
24. Some unique cultural
characteristics of Bahia
Candomblé:
Basis is Orixà religion of the Yoruba (gods like Ogun,
Shango, Eshu, Yemanja)
incorporating a variety of other African faiths,
including Fon, and Bantu elements, as well as
recognizably Catholic aspects such as worship of saints
(Known in Cuba as Santeria)
A highly “syncretic” faith!
Capoeira: martial art based in Yoruba dance
forms
25. 3 examples of syncretism in North
America
Watercolor painting known as The Old
Plantation, c.1800
“Vernacular” architectural style known as the
“Shotgun house”
The evolution of Seminole beadwork
27. African traditions survived in the
New World despite deliberate attempts
to stamp them out.
Characteristic art forms of West
Africa are present here,
including:
•styles of dress and self-
presentation
•music and dance
•specific musical forms
• Drums and stringed instruments
brought from home
• Precursor of the banjo
•women dancing with strips
of cloth
•dance is called the “juba”
Anonymous, The Old Plantation, c, 1800, watercolor, 11 ¾ x 18 inches
28. Thomas Coram, View of Mulberry House and Street,
1805, oil on paper, 4 1/16 x 6 11/16 inches
37. How do these different styles relate to the street and the
neighborhood? Where would you rather live and why?
38. "This house type is one room wide, one story tall
and several rooms deep (usually three or more) and
has its primary entrance in the gable end. Its
perpendicular alignment breaks with the usual
Euro-American pattern, in which the gables are on
the sides and the entrance is on the facade or long
side. Although gable-entry houses occur in some
parts of central Africa, the shotgun house is a New
World hybrid that developed in the West Indies and
entered the United States via New Orleans in the
early 19th century."
— John Michael Vlach, America's Architectural Roots: Ethnic Groups that Built America.
(Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press: National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1986), 43.
39. The form of the house:
Derives in part from the West African “long house.”
Derives in part from Arawak building types in the
Caribbean.
Derives in part from French techniques of frame
construction imported to the West Indies.
The name of the house derives from the Yoruba
word “togun,” meaning “place of assembly”.
40. House in Haiti, present day, showing entrance on the gable end.
41. Plan of a shotgun house
What key features do you notice?
42. Plan of Shotgun House
•No hallways
• maximizes
usable space
• Great for
ventilation
• Less privacy
•Utter simplicity
• Keeps costs low
• Simple
carpentry means
you can do-it-
yourself
51. WHO ARE THE “SEMINOLE”
INDIANS?
•They are Creeks, who fled Georgia to Spanish-controlled
Florida to escape English rule and attempts to enslave
them.
•The Spanish called them “Cimarrón” (wild, unruly,
untamed).
•In English, this became “Seminole.” Runaway slaves
seeking freedom frequently joined them in the Everglades
to escape capture. They became known as “Black
Seminoles.”
52. Is this history visible in the
representation of the FSU mascot?
What is the relationship between the
actual Seminoles and the FSU
“Seminoles”?
