Ngubane, H. (1977).Body and Mind in Zulu Medicine:
An Ethnography of Health and Disease in Nyuswa-
Zulu Thought and Practice. London & New York:
Academic Press.
Truter, I. (2007, September). African Traditional Healers:
Cultural and Religious Beliefs Intertwined in a
Holistic Way.SA Pharmaceutical Journal, 74 (8),
56–60.
SANKOFA, CONCEPT
Sankofa is an Akan (West African) word made up
of three parts:san (“return”), ko(“go back”),
andfa(“fetch/retrieve”). It is a symbol and prin-
ciple that serves to remind us that the past is a
“resource” and not merely a “reference.” It is ripe
with meaning for Africans. One interpretation,
among several, is “Go back to the past and
recover it.” Yet another one is “Return to the
source.” Similarly, sankofa may be interpreted as
an injunction to “learn from the past” and finally
as an order to “never forget the past and path you
made when moving ahead.”
The typical visual form is a bird standing or
walking forward while reaching back with its head
into its feathers. The bird is said to be taking some-
thing off its tail, searching through its tail feathers,
or grooming itself. There are at least five meanings
associated with this representation of Sankofa.
First, it suggests the value of reflecting on the past.
Second, it also suggests a person who self-con-
sciously reflects before moving forward with a
decision. Third, it represents self-definition, iden-
tity, and vision. Fourth, it represents an under-
standing of personal destiny and collective
vocation. Finally, fifth, Sankofa is said to represent
the repossession of something forgotten, mis-
placed, or lost. In addition, the head of the bird
appears to be picking up an egg, thus further sug-
gesting that the path we have made holds the poten-
tial to understanding the present and the promise of
the future. It describes an ongoing process, princi-
ple, and value of historical and cultural recovery.
Although valuing the past is part of the general
African tradition and heritage, going back to the
Nile Valley, as part of a process of historical
recovery, has particular relevance for Africans
today, especially having undergone the holocaust
and its subsequent mutations into other forms of
oppression. Many writers, leaders, and intellectu-
als see cultural and historical recovery as essential
to the forward development based on the cultural
integrity of Africans as a people. The term denotes
historical recovery and is ripe with metaphors
ready for one to decipher. In an age when African
descendants are told that their pasts are at best
irrelevant to the present and at worst nonexistent,
unworthy of discussion, or having no bearing on
the present, this profound concept serves the use-
ful purpose of reminding African descendants of
their moral obligation to remember and recognize
the sacrifices of the past, the countless number of
souls and ancestors who worked and suffered
tremendously on plantations, so that we could live
the lives we want and deserve to live. Sankofa as
a process and principle of recovering history func-
tions as a reminder that the past is not merely a
referential source of origins and artifacts, but a
source of paradigms, that is, exemplary models of
thought, reason, morality, and practice. The past,
then, offers us a model of excellence, whereas his-
tory provides us with many lessons that inform
our current self-conception and social identity.Khonsura A. WilsonSee alsoAncestorsFurther Readings
Karenga, M. (Ed.). (2002).Introduction to Black Studies
(2nd ed.). Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press.
Niangoran-Bouah, G. (1984).L’univers akan des poids à
peser l’or. Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire: Nouvelles Editions
Africaines.
Willis, W. B. (1998).The Adinkra Dictionary:A Visual
Primer on the Language of Adinkra. Washington,
DC: Pyramid Complex.SANKOFA, FILM
Released in 1993, Sankofa is a film written,
directed, and produced by Howard University
professor Haile Gerima. Considered one of the
most important contributions to cinema, the film
derives its name from the important AfricanaSankofa,Film 587