In the beginning.... AFRICAN CREATION MYTHS
Cosmogony mythologies play an important role in West African societies; they set up the framework of the social, political, and even economic structure of society.
I. Mande Creation Myth
The creation myth of Mande-speaking people of southern Mali is an example of what is called a "cosmic egg myth." As reflected in their culture, the creation myth has elements of an imperfect creation as a result of incest. Here, we present one of many versions of the creation myth as told to us by Professor Bastain in our AFS/ANT267 class.
In the beginning, there was only Mangala. Mangala is a singular, powerful being who is perceived to be a round, energetic presence. Within Mangala existed four divisions, which were symbolic of, among many things, the four days of the week (time), the four elements (matter), and the four directions (space). Mangala also contained two sets of dual gendered twins. Mangala was tired of keeping all of this matter inside, so the god removed it and compiled it into a seed. The seed was his creation of the world. The seed however did not hold together well and blew up. Mangala was disappointed with this and destroyed the world he created.
Mangala did not loose hope; the creator began again, this time with two sets of twin seeds. Mangala planted the seeds in an egg shaped womb where they gestated. Mangala continued to put more sets of twin seeds in the womb until he had 8 sets of seeds. In the womb, the gestating seeds transformed themselves into fish. The fish is considered a symbol of fertility in the Mande world. This time, Mangala's creation was successful. This is important, because it illustrates the idea of dual gendered twinship, an idea that permeates Mande culture.
Mangala tried to maintain this perfect creation, but chaos crept in; one of the male twins became ambitious and tried to escape from the egg. This chaotic character is called Pemba. He is a t trickster figure who symbolizes the mischievousness of humans. Pemba's first trick was to steal the a piece of the womb's placenta and throw it down. This action made the the earth. Pemba then tried to refertilize what was left of the womb, committing incest against his mother, the womb.
Mangala decided to sacrifice Pemba's brother Farro to save what was left of his creation. He castrated him and then killed in order to raise him from the dead. Mangala took what was left of the placenta and transformed it into the sun, thus associating Pemba with darkness and the night. Farro was transformed into a human being and was taught the language of creation by Mangala. Farro's knowledge of words is very powerful and the tool he used to defeat Pemba's mischief. Farro and his newly created twins came to Earth and got married (not to each other) and became the horonw. This is the basis for the foundation of exogamy in Mande.
Next, an unknown being named Sourakata arrived from the sky with the first sacred drum, hammer, and the sacrificed skull of Farro. Sourakata began to play on the drum and sung for the first rain to come. Sourakata is a magical being who can
control nature, and he taught Farro and his followers. He is the origin of the nyamakalaw.
As one can see from the origin myth, the horonw are the people of the earth. They were destined to become farmers and well-bred aristocracy. The nyamakalaw, on the other hand, were destined to be primal and mysterious. They understand nature and are able to use it to their benefit. These roles are exactly what we see in the horonw and nyamakalaw relations in Mande society today.
II. Yoruba Creation Myth
This is just one example of how a cultures origin myths are embedded in the social framework. The Yoruba of what is now Nigeria also conduct their practices in accordance with their cosmogony.
The Yoruba creator is called Olurun or Olodumare and is often assisted by the lesser god, Obatala. In the beginning, there was only water and chaos. The supreme being sent Obatala or Orishanla down from the sky to create some land out of the
chaos. He descended on a long chain (umbilical cord) and brought with him a rooster, some iron, and a palm kernel. First, he put the metal on the earth and the rooster on top of that. The rooster scratched the metal and spread it out to create land. Then he planted the palm seed and from it grew the earth's vegetation. Olurun named earth "Ife" and the first city "Ile-Ife." Orshilana created humans out of the earth and got Olurun to blow life into them.
Yorubaland Mande World
Completely quoted from
Bastian, Misty. "West African Cosmogony." Ant
269. Franklin and Marshall College 14 Mar. 2004 <http://www.fandm.edu/departments/Anthropology/Bastian/ANT269/cosmo.html>.
More on Yoruba "African Literature: Myths: countries." African Writers Index. 2001 13 March 2005 <http://geocities.com/africanwriters/Myths_countries.html>. |
III. Central Africa - Bashongo
In the beginning there was only darkness, water, and the great god Bumba. One
day Bumba, in pain from a stomach ache, vomited up the sun. The sun dried up
some of the water, leaving land. Still in pain, Bumba vomited up the moon, the
stars, and then some animals: the leopard, the crocodile, the turtle, and,
finally, some men, one of whom, Yoko Lima was white like Bumba.
IV. Mali - Dogon
At the beginning of time, Amma (a supreme god who lived in the celestial
regions and was the origin of all creation) created the Earth and immediately
joined with it. But the Earth's clitoris opposed the male penis. Amma destroyed
it, circumcising his wife, and they had a child, Ogo, and the twins, the Nommo.
Ogo had no partner and was barren, so he introduced disorder into the world by
committing incest with his mother, Earth. The first menstrual blood came from
this union, as well as Yeban and Andumbulu, the spirits of the underworld.
Amma created the stars by throwing pellets of earth into space. He created the
sun and moon by modelling two white earthenware bowls, one encircled with red
copper, the other with white copper. Black people were born under the sun and
white people under the moon. (The latter paragraph is quoted in L.V.Thomas, Les
Religions de L'Afrique noire, Paris, 1969)
V. Ethiopia - Wak
Wak was the creator god who lived in the clouds. He kept the vault of the
heavens at a distance from the earth and covered it with stars. He was a
benefactor and did not punish. When the earth was flat Wak asked man to make
his own coffin, and when man did this Wak shut him up in it and pushed it into
the ground. For seven years he made fire rain down and the mountains were
formed. Then Wak unearthed the coffin and man sprang forth, alive. Man tired of
living alone, so Wak took some of his blood, and after four days, the blood
became a woman whom the man married. They had 30 children, but the man was
ashamed of having so many so he hid 15 of them. Wak then made those hidden
children into animals and demons.
VI. Nigeria - Efik
According to the Efik tribe from Nigeria, the creator, Abassi, created two
humans and then decided to not allow them to live on earth. His wife, Atai,
persuaded him to let them do so. In order to control the humans, Abassi
insisted that they eat all their meals with him, thereby keeping them from
growing or hunting food. He also forbade them to procreate. Soon, though, the
woman began growing food in the earth, and they stopped showing up to eat with
Abassi. Then the man joined his wife in the fields, and before long there were
children also. Abassi blamed his wife for the way things had turned out, but
she told him she would handle it. She sent to earth death and discord to keep
the people in their place.
Ekoi
According to the Ekoi tribe from Nigeria, in the beginning there were two gods,
Obassi Osaw and Obassi Nsi. The two gods created everything together. Then
Obassi Osaw decided to live in the sky and Obassi Nsi decided to live on the
earth. The god in the sky gives light and moisture, but also brings drought and
storms. The god of the earth nurtures, and takes the people back to him when
they die. One day long ago Obassi Osaw made a man and a woman, and placed them
upon the earth. They knew nothing so Obassi Nsi taught them about planting and
hunting to get food.
Yoruba
Every African tribe had its creator god. He was called Obatala by some and
Yansan, Olorun or Ogun by others. Some Yoruba tribes called him Shango. Shango
was the god of thunder and the ancestor of the kings of Oyo. He was virile and
virulent. He dispensed justice, punishing wicked people such as liars, thieves
and criminals. His favorite weapon was the thunderbolt. His emblem was a
two-headed axe. Shango had three wives: Oya, Oshun, and Oba (all three are
rivers). See Creation/Flood Myth for the creation myth.
VII. Gabon - Fang
In the beginning there was nothing but Nzame. This god is really three: Nzame,
Mebere, and Nkwa. It was the Nzame part of the god that created the universe
and the earth, and brought life to it. Whle the three parts of Nzame were
admiring this creation, it was decided to create a ruler for the earth. So was
created the elephant, the leopard, and the monkey, but it was decided that
something better had to be created. Between the three of them they made a new
creature in their image, and called him Fam (power), and told him to rule the
earth. Before long, Fam grew arrogant, he mistreated the animals and stopped
worshipping Nzame.
Nzame, angered, brought forth thunder and lightning and destroyed everything that was, except Fam, who had been promised immortality. Nzame, in his three aspects, decided to renew the earth and try again. He applied a new layer of earth to the planet, and a tree grew upon it. The tree dropped seeds which grew into more trees. Leaves that dropped from them into the water became fish, those that dropped on land became animals. The old parched earth still lies below this new one, and if one digs deep enough it can be found in the form of coal. Nzame made a new man, one who would know death, and called him Sekume. Sekume fashioned a woman, Mbongwe, from a tree. These people were made with both Gnoul (body) and Nissim (soul). Nissim gives life to Gnoul. When Gnoul dies, Nissim lives on. They produced many children and prospered.
VIII. Rwanda - Gihanga
According to one of the legends from rwandan oral tradition, Gihanga was the
father of the three ancestors of all rwandans.: of Gatwa, father of the Twa,
Gahutu, father of the Hutus and Gatutsi that of the Tutsis. Not knowing upon
which of the three to bequeath his inheritence, the old man set up a challenge
to determine the characteristics of each of his sons. He entrusted a gourd of
milk overnight to each of them. The following morning, at the end of the
ancestral night, Gihanga came back to see what the three men had done with
their gourd of milk. Gatwa was immediately disqualified and banished, for he
had struggled in his troubled sleep and knocked over his gourd of milk. Gahutu
was disinherited and condemned to work for Gatutsi, because he had become
thirsty during the night, drank the milk and gone back to sleep. Only Gatutsi
had remained sober and managed to preserve what had been entrusted to him.
Hence, Gihanga. designated Gatutsi as his successor, handed down to him the
entire herd of Rwandas cows, and exempted him from all manual labour.
IX. Uganda - Buganda
Long long ago, Kintu was the only person on the earth. He lived alone with his
cow, which he tended lovingly. Ggulu the creator of all things lived up in
heaven with his many children and other property. From time to time, Ggulu's
children would come down to earth to play. On one such occasion, Ggulu's
daughter Nambi and some of her brothers encountered Kintu who was with his cow
in Buganda. Nambi was very fascinated with Kintu and she felt pity for him
because he was living alone. She resolved to marry him and stay with him
despite the opposition from her brothers. But because of her brothers'
pleading, she decided to return to heaven with Kintu and ask for her father's
permission for the union.
Ggulu was not pleased that his daughter wanted to get married to a human being and live with him on the earth. But Nambi pleaded with her father until she persuaded him to bless the union. After Ggulu decided to allow the marriage to proceed, he advised Kintu and Nambi to leave heaven secretly. He advised them to pack lightly and that on no condition were they to return to heaven even if they forgot anything. This admonition was so that Walumbe, one of Nambi's brothers should not find out about the marriage until they had left, otherwise he would insist on going with them and bring them misery ( walumbe means that which causes sickness and death). Kintu was very pleased to have been given a wife and together they followed Ggulu's instructions. Among the few things that Nambi packed, was her chicken. They set out for earth early the next morning.
But while they were descending, Nambi remembered that she had forgotten to bring the millet that her chicken would feed on. "I have left my chickens' millet on the porch, let me return and fetch it," she begged Kintu. But Kintu refused and said, "Don't go back. If you do, you will meet Walumbe and he will surely insist on coming with you." Nambi, however, did not listen to her husband, and leaving him on the way she returned to fetch the millet. When she reached the house, she took the millet from the porch, but on her way back, she suddenly met Walumbe who asked: "My sister, where are you going so early in the morning? Nambi did not know what to say. Filled with curiosity, Walumbe insisted on going with her. Therefore Kintu and Nambi were forced to go to earth together with Walumbe.
It did not take long for Kintu and Nambi to get children. One day, Walumbe went to Kintu's home and asked his brother-in-law to give him a child to help him with the chores in his (Walumbe's) house. But remembering Ggulu's warning, Kintu would not hear of it. Walumbe became very angry with Kintu for refusing him the simple favor he had asked. That very night, he went and killed Kintu's son. Naturally, this caused a deep rift between them. Kintu went back to heaven to report Walumbe's actions to Ggulu. Ggulu rebuked Kintu, reminding him of the original warning he had disregarded. Kintu blamed Nambi for returning to get the millet. Ggulu then sent another of his sons, Kayikuuzi, to go back to earth with Kintu and try to persuade Walumbe to return to heaven or if necessary return him by force.
On reaching earth, Kayikuuzi tried to persuade Walumbe to go back to heaven but Walumbe would not hear of it. "I like it here on earth and I am not coming back with you" he said. Kayikuuzi decided to capture Walumbe by force, and a great fight broke out between them. But as Walumbe was about to be overpowered, he escaped and disappeared into the ground. Kayikuuzi went after him, digging huge holes in the ground to try and find his brother. When Kayikuuzi got to where he was hiding, Walumbe run back out to the earth. Further struggle between the brothers ensued but once again Walumbe escaped into the ground. The famous caves that are found today at Ttanda in Ssingo are said to be the ones that were dug by Kayikuuzi in the fight with his brother Walumbe. (Kayikuuzi means he who digs holes).
The struggle went on for several days and by now, Kayikuuzi was close to exhaustion. So he went and talked to Kintu and Nambi as follows: "I am going back into the ground one more time to get Walumbe. You and your children must stay indoors. You must strictly enjoin your children not to make a sound if they see Walumbe. I know he is also getting tired so when he comes out of the ground, I will come upon him secretly and grab him."
Kintu and Nambi went into their house, but some of the kids did not go in. Kayikuuzi once again went underground to find Walumbe. After a struggle, Walumbe came back out to the surface with Kayikuuzi in pursuit. Kintu's children who were outside at the time saw Walumbe coming and screamed in terror. On hearing the screams, Walumbe went underground once again. Kayikuuzi was furious with Kintu and Nambi for not having followed his instructions. He told them that if they did not care to do the simple thing he had asked of them, he was also giving up the fight. Kintu in his embarrassment had nothing more to say. So he told Kayikuuzi "You return to heaven. If Walumbe wants to kill my children, let him do so, I will keep having more. The more he kills, the more I will get and he will never be able to kill off all my children". Ttanda, where the fight between Walumbe and Kayikuuzi allegedly took place is figuratively referred to as the place of death (i.e. Walumbe's place).
So that is the legend of creation, and how sickness and death started. Nonetheless, Kintu's descendants will always remain as Kintu said in his last words to Kayikuuzi. Hence the Kiganda saying "Abaana ba Kintu tebalifa kuggwaawo". Which means that Kintu's children (i.e. the Baganda), will never be wiped off the face of the earth.
Kato Kintu the first king used this saying to his advantage, by taking on the name of the reputed father of all people in Buganda. However Kintu the legend and Kato Kintu the first king are distinct and should not be confused with one another. Kintu the legend was reputedly the first person on earth and therefore could not have been a king since he had no people to rule over!
X. South Africa - Zulu
The Ancient One, known as Unkulunkulu, is the Zulu creator. He came from the
reeds (uthlanga, means source) and from them he brought forth the people and
the cattle. He created everything that is: mountains,streams, snakes, etc. He
taught the Zulu how to hunt, how to make fire, and how to grow food. He is
considered to be the First Man and is in everything that he created.
XI. Zimbabwe - Hungwe
Maori created the first man, Mwuetsi, who became the moon. Maori gave him a
ngona horn filled with ngona oil and told him he would live at the bottom of
the waters. Mwuetsi objected and said he wished to live on the land. Maori
reluctantly agreed, but said Mwuetsi would give up immortality if he did. After
a while Mwuetsi complained of loneliness, so Maori sent him a woman, Massassi
(the morning star), to keep him company for two years. Each night they slept on
opposite sides of a campfire, until one night Mwuetsi jumped over the flame and
touched Massassi with a finger he had moistened with the ngona oil. In the
morning Massassi was huge, and soon gave birth to plants and trees until the
whole earth was covered by them.
At the end of two years Maori took Massassi away. Mwuetsi wept for eight years, at which time Maori sent him another woman, Morongo (the evening star), saying that she could stay for two years.
On the first night Mwuetsi touched her with his oiled finger, but she said she was different than Massassi, and that they would have to oil their loins and have intercourse. This they did, this night, and every night thereafter. Every morning Morongo gave birth to the animals of creation. Then she gave birth to human boys and girls, who became full-grown by that very same evening. Maori voiced his displeasure with a fierce storm, and told Mwuetsi he was hastening his death with all this procreation. Morongo, ever the temptress, instructed Mwuetsi to build a door to their habitat so that Maori could not see what they were doing. He did this, and again they slept together. Now in the morning Morongo gave birth to violent animals; snakes, scorpions, lions, etc. One night Morongo told Mwuetsi to have intercourse with his daughters, which he did, thereby fathering the human race.
Directly quoted in entirety from: "African Writers-Myths-Countries." African Writers Index. 2001. 14 Mar. 2004 <http://www.geocities.com/africanwriters/Myths_countries.html#rwanda>.