West Africa Trade Networks
Goods and ____ were traded between West Africa and Europe.
slaves
What were women and other dependents in the palace called?
AHOSI
(East) True or False. The women in Gikuyu could own land, inherit land, and transfer land to others.
False. All land-holding concerns were handled under male control.
True or False, South African women often persuaded their husbands to remarry and enter into a polygamous relationship.
True!
Why did the Ethiopian royal women resist Portuguese priests entering their kingdoms?
The priests tried to convert the royal family to catholicism.
What did multiple African governors try to legalize, arguing that prohibiting “____ forced Christian men into illicit arrangements”.
Interracial marriage
What were special tasks that only the AHOSI could do? (Multiple Answers)
-Messengers -Performers -Spies -soldiers -ministers of state
(East) True or false, women were able to rise through the ranks as warriors and become elders with real power in Gikuyu society.
False, only men
True or False, Women were able to gain positions of public political authority and improve their own economic situation.
False. Despite women’s efforts, they did not gain or rise through their ranks for the most part.
What did the King of Dahomey often distribute to his followers as gifts?
enslaved women
How did Indigenous women act as a resource for European men? (Multiple answers)
They were familiar with the local languages, the trading and markets, and with the military.
Why were women encouraged to accept marriage to the king?
Due to the decline of men, if women were to marry the king they would enjoy a recognized status and personal stability
In Ethiopia, who were the key components in the defeat of the European Roman Catholic advances?
The royal Ethiopian Women
What was the benefit of polygamy?
-The mian wife or other women could share and distribute tasks that required a lot of labor.
What was unique about Dahomey’s military and the king’s entourage?
It consisted of armed females, either in the military or protecting the king.
How did marriages between indigenous women and European men help with the business of trading? (Multiple Answers)
European men were able to form close personal connections with locals and have a homestead in the trading area, which benefited their trading capabilities.
Why was life not as comfortable in the palace as it is made out to be? (Multiple Answers)
-The women were still enslaved
-Had to serve as prostitutes
-Still had to do labor
-Were vulnerable and restricted
Men restricted women by controlling their sexuality because they feared what in them? (Multiple Answers)
-Fear about their reproductive activities
-Menstruation being unclean
-Women were responsible for bad events because they practiced witchcraft
What tasks were women mainly responsible for?
- Cultivating crops
-Preparing food
-making items such as pottery for proper cooking and storage
-Collected water and firewood
What were the “secret societies” in Sierra Leone?
They were the prolonged training programs that girls and boys entered into after starting puberty. It involved secluding the individual from the rest of the community.
How were indigenous women benefit by forming relationships with European traders? (Multiple Answers)
They gained wealth, developed more comfortable living situations, and gained status in their African societies.
True or False, the KPOJITO is the royal mother, and she was the king’s real mother.
False, the Kpojito was not the actual mother of the king, she was from the cohort of royal co-wives and was considered to be the royal mother
(Central) Who was Nachituti? What happens in her story? (Answers May Vary)
She was a women who came to the Luapula Valley in Central Africa whos’s story has been passed down to provide context for the origin of a community.
-Her tale also shows the tensiosn between matriarchy and patriarchy
What products did high ranking South African women show interest in, that helped support its market in the trading economy?
Cloth and beads
What was the role of the “public women” in the Asante communities?
They provided themselves to men in order to relieve sexual tension and prevent any disruption in the community.