African Creation Myths

Hi Friends!We’re looking at African creation myths this month on the Mythological Africans podcast (Listen to part 1 here). In this episode, we examine stories of creation by emergence from underground. In these accounts, all that exists seems to emerge from under the earth or a body of water. Emergence accounts sometimes intersect with Ex nihilo accounts where an all powerful being makes creatures and puts them underground or in a cave. This occurs in two of the stories we discuss in this episode. We start with a version of the Mende (Sierra Leone) origin myth, and then explore similar myths from the Kabyle people of Algeria, the Tswana of southern Africa, the Akan of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, as well as the Babungo and Bamougong of Cameroon. We also examine the way European missionaries and scholars distorted or neglected some of these accounts leading to misconstructions which persist till today. Come for the analyses, stay for the drama!References* Brown, John Tom. Among the Bantu Nomads: A record of forty years spent among the Bechuana, a numerous & famous branch of the Central South African Bantu, with the first full description of their ancient customs, manners & beliefs. Seeley, Service & Company, 1926, pp. 162-167* Boeyens, Jan CA. “A tale of two Tswana towns: in quest of Tswenyane and the twin capital of the Hurutshe in the Marico.” Southern African Humanities 28.1 (2016):13.* Divine Che Neba, Julius Angwah, “Entry on: Myth of the Origin of the Babungo People by Eleanor Zofoa”, peer-reviewed by Daniel Nkemleke, Eleanor A. Dasi and Elizabeth Hale. Our Mythical Childhood Survey (Warsaw: University of Warsaw, 2019). Link: http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/613. Accessed 10 Jan. 2021.* Divine Che Neba, “Entry on: Bamougong Creation Myth by Pierre Keubou”, peer-reviewed by Eleanor Anneh Dasi, Susan Deacy and Karolina Anna Kulpa. Our Mythical Childhood Survey (Warsaw: University of Warsaw, 2019). Link: http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/876. Accessed 10 Jan. 2021.* Frobenius, Leo, and Douglas C. Fox. “African Genesis (1937).” New York: B. Blom (1966), pp 49 - 57* Masoga, Mogomme Alpheus. “Gabriel Molehe Setiloane: His intellectual legacy.” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 40 (2014): 33-52.* Parrinder, Edward Geoffrey. African Ideas of God. United Kingdom, Edinburgh House Press, 1950. p287* Setiloane, Gabriel M. “The image of God among the Sotho-Tswana.” Rotterdam: A. A. Balkema, 1976, p 82.Can’t Get Enough?* How Mokran Fetta Restored Indigenous Kabyle Folk NarrativesAlso* Listen to the episode about Cameroon’s exploding lakes.Still Can’t Get Enough?!The Watkins Book of African Folklore (…or The Mythological Africans Book) is out!The Watkins Book of African Folklore contains 50 stories, curated from North, South, East, West and Central Africa. The stories are grouped into three sections:* Creation myths and foundation legends* Stories about human relationships and the cultural institutions they created* Animal tales (with a twist…the folktales are about some of the most unlikely animals!)I thoroughly enjoyed digging into the historical and cultural context out of which the stories, their themes, and protagonists emerge. There is something for everybody!Mythological Africans is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Mythological Africans at mythologicalafricans.substack.com/subscribe