ceremonies, is given a young baby to hold as she
enters the household compound to signify the
importance of procreation. Even long before mar-
riage, girls, in some societies, prepared for procre-
ation by carrying carved fertility dolls. Such dolls
are said to be imbued with a special kind of magic
and must be protected and cherished if they are to
fulfill their purpose. Among the Ashantis of
Ghana, a fertility doll with a flat moon-shaped
disk is carried in anticipation of a male while a
smaller headed doll with other particular features
is kept and carried for a female. Death rites in
Africa also reinforce the centrality of procreation.
Abortions, miscarriages, and still births are all
given special burials to prevent the mother from
becoming sterile in the future. It is notable that a
person, no matter what contributions he or she has
made to society, is said to lose a place among hon-
ored ancestors if he or she dies childless. The
salience of procreation in the African belief system
is best captured in this summary of a Nupe
(Nigeria) folktale. According to this story, God cre-
ated the tortoise (turtle), men, and stones. Of each
he created male and female. God gave life to the
tortoises and men, but not to the stones. Neither
turtle nor men could have children, and when they
became old, they did not die, but became automat-
ically rejuvenated—becoming young again! The
tortoise, however, wished to have children and
went to God. But God said: “I have given you life,
but I have not given you permission to have
children.” But the tortoise came to God again to
renew his request to procreate, and finally God
said: “You always come to ask for children. Do
you realize that when the living have had several
children they must die?” But the tortoise said: “Let
me see my children and then die.” Then God
granted the wish. When man saw that the tortoise
had children, he too wanted children. God warned
man, as he had the tortoise, that he must die. But
man also said: “Let me see my children and then
die.” That is how death and children came into the
world. Thus, the desire for procreation and the abil-
ity to achieve posterity is so high for the living, in
this case the African (as exemplified by man and
tortoise), that they are willing to undergo death.
Kwame AkonorSeealsoAncestors; Birth; Children; Fertility; Marriage;
Rites of Passage
Further Readings
Mbiti, J. S. (1969).African Religions and Philosophy.
London: Heinemann.
Schapera, I. (1987). Some Kgatla Theories of
Procreation. In J. Argyle & E. Preston-Whyte (Eds.),
Social Systems and Traditions in South Africa
(pp. 123–141). Capetown, South Africa: Oxford
University Press.PROVERBS ANDTEACHING
Proverbs play a crucial role in the education of
people in the path of wisdom. There are more
than 1,000 written collections of African
proverbs, and scholars estimate the sum total of
African proverbs at more than 1 million. This is
an incredible body of wisdom. Proverbs are the
repository of the most precious philosophical
and religious ideas of Africa. Proverbs are mem-
orable sentences of traditional wisdom reflecting
a keen observation of human existence and con-
duct and a long experience of life throughout the
ages. African proverbs transmit fundamental val-
ues of life. They deal, among other things, with
education, moral teaching, the concept of God,
marriage, government, the relationship between
individuals, and the meaning of life and death.
Proverbs are a particular form of a skillful liter-
ary genre. They tend to be a compact statement
of wisdom expressed in a poetic and enigmatic
fashion. The meaning of a proverb is often hid-
den, cryptic, or elliptical. They can take various
modes of expression. Some take the form of a
short maxim, dictum, adage, aphorism, or
apophthegm. Others take the form of a riddle or
even an allegory, legend, or song. The words for
proverbs among the Baluba (nkindi, bishintshi)
emphasize the esoteric and enigmatic aspect of
their message or meaning. Among the Akan,ebe
(pluralmme), the word used for proverb, is ety-
mologically linked toabe(pluralmme), the word
used for palm tree. It highlights the richness of its
meaning in reference to the tremendous wealth
of a palm tree, which produces palm oil, palm
wine, palm-kernel oil, broom, salt, or even soap.
Because these products are a result of a process
of distillation, the proverb stands as a refined
product of the reflective process; it is the result ofProverbs and Teaching 541