I'm Re-Posting This!

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Images of Nigeria (thank you Aaron and Maia!)

I have added these images to remedy some of our classroom technological deficit. Please continue past the pictures to view the homework update as well as other reminders.

The image above was requested by Aaron who couldn't picture the kinds of huts the family of Okonkwo were constantly tending to and later, when they are banished, building.

                                               Below you will see several images of the Kola Nut

 The Kola Nut symbolizes peacefulness and harmony. It is broken to offer of  friendship. This is very similar to the idea of "breaking bread" an act of sharing that is also deeply symbolic.

In case you didn't know... 

Below is an image of a Nigerian King as documented by a french photographer whose mission was to make a visual record of African Royalty.

Further Information : Between the years of 1988 and 1991, French photographer Daniel Laine spent about 12 months on the Africancontinent tracking down and photographing figures of royalty, and leaders of kingdoms.  During this time he managed to photograph 70 monarchs and descendants of the great African dynasties with his work on this series.

 Shell money is a medium of exchange similar to money that was once commonly used in many parts of the world. Shell money usually consisted either of whole sea shells or pieces of them, which were often worked into beads or were otherwise artificially shaped. The use of shells in trade began as direct commodity exchange, the shells having value as body ornamentation. The distinction between beads as commodities and beads as money has been the subject of debate among economic anthropologists.^[1]

Some form of shell money appears to have been found on almost every continent: America,Asia, Africa and Australia. The shell most widely used worldwide as currency was the shell ofCypraea moneta, the money cowry. This species is most abundant in the Indian Ocean, and was collected in the Maldive Islands, in Sri Lanka, along the Malabar coast, in Borneo and on other East Indian islands, and in various parts of the African coast from Ras Hafun toMozambique. Cowry shell money was important at one time or another in the trade networks of Africa, South Asia, and East Asia.