Thursday, December 9, 2010

References

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Part k: Conclusion

Tourism is very important to Africa for its growth and economy. Although tourism has been a culprit in changing the culture of Masai, it can also bring in benefits. For example, Masai boost their economy and income by selling beads, marks and carvings to tourists. In this way, tourism helps the Masai to retain and develop their culture by transforming their beliefs into a business. Tourism can have both positive and negative impacts depending on how you see it. http://www.africancraftsmarket.com/Maasai_people.htm



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Part j: Tourism, a culprit in commodifiying cultures and traditions

I agree to a large extend that tourism is a culprit in commodifying culture in Africa.


Nowadays, more and more tourists visit Masai as cultural tourism. Thus the Kenyan government decided to create a wildlife parks in Masai to attract even more tourists in order to boost their economy. Hence, the government took away the Masai tribe lands to develop the wildlife park. As a result, the loss of land has forced the Masai to change their way of life as they no longer have huge tracts of lands to herd their cattle. http://www.kenya-advisor.com/masai-culture.html



Masai culture has further been threatened and commercialized due to negative western values affecting the Masai youths. The youths are now more exposed to the outside world and get influenced. These lead to a loss of traditional culture, prostitution and spreading of AIDS and other diseases. Thus, tourism can have negative impact on Africa. http://html.rincondelvago.com/impacts-of-tourism.html
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Part i: Changes brought about by growth of tourism

For positive impacts, tourism can increase employment rate in Africa as more African can go to the outside world to work. Also, new business will be created such as selling of merchandises and country tour. This would help to improve the living standards of the Masai as they have more incomes. Additional, accessibility will be improved as a result of transport infrastructure by upgrading of roads which will benefits both locals and residents.
Also, when more tourists come in to Masai, they will interract with each other and this would promote cultural exchange and improve understanding of different communities.


There are many problems arising due to the influx of tourists.
Firstly, the ecological system has been destructed. Due to the rise in tourists arrivals, there will be increased in deforestation, pollution and disruption of the environment. For example, trees have to cut down because of demand of firewood.
Secondly, tourists with their vehicles may destroy the grasslands and affecting the animals and plants.
Thirdly, destruction on landscapes may occur in order to make way to build hotels for the tourists. Then, hotels built for the tourists may cause pollution such as sewage and pollution in the area. There may be destruction of properties by wildlife.
Lastly, there may be competition of resources such as water, land and energy.

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Part h: Spotting the “Disney”


Due to rapid globalisation, Africa can spot some traces of "Disney" characteristics. Using the abstract of the book: The Disneyization of Society by Alan Bryman, I will elaborate about the Disneyization.





1. Theming
By creating a theme for a certain environment, it tends to attract more people to the area than other usual places. In Masai, there is Masai Mara National Reserve, which is the most popular of Kenyan parks and reserves. It themed itself as the only wildlife park that gives better options to see all the Big Five (elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos and buffaloes) in one place. In addition, the world-famous wildebeest migration can be watched there every year. http://www.kenya-advisor.com/masai-mara.html
Also when people view the African arts and craft, there tend to be a few themes coming up over and over. These themes include couple, a woman and a child, a male with a weapon or animal, or an outsider. These themes are representations of different things that are significant to the African culture. http://www.africaguide.com/culture/artcraft.htm




2. Dedifferentiation of consumption.
This simply means that there is a general trend whereby the forms of consumption associated with different institutional spheres become interlocked with each other and increasingly difficult to distinguish. For example, there is hardly any distinction between shopping and theme parks and visitors now are forced to go through shops selling merchandise in order to exit. When visiting Masai, the Masai people will tend to treat tourists as cash cows. They will often pressure tourists to buy all kinds of things. Also merchandises made by them are placed at the entrance of hotels.




3. Merchandising.
This means that promotion of goods in the form of or bearing copyright images and logos. Masai people will have merchandising like woodcarvings displayed at the entrances of some hotels as special attraction. Merchandises must have a glossy finish to make it more appealing. http://www.safariweb.com/safarimate/masai.htm




4. Emotional labour
Postcards and photographs deliberately portrayed the Masai tribe in their traditional costumes abound in the area. This may be because it is the interest of the visitors as they want to see the exotic tribes with exotic practices. Thus, i feel that the indigenous people do not have the freedom to voice out their unhappiness.
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Part g: What is the country known for?

To me, Africa is well-known for its natural sceneries and wildlife. There are many famous landmarks worth visiting in Africa. These landmarks are the hot spots for tourists and are visited by many people across the globe. One of these landmarks is the Mosi-oa-Tunya meaning “The smoke That Thunders” and often known as Victoria Falls. This natural wonder is made by thousands of years of erosion. One can have activities such as the Victoria Falls bungee jump which is regards as the highest commercial jump in the world. Next in the north-eastern part of Africa, you can find Egypt and the famous ancient pyramids. There are also many more beautiful landmarks available which are the “must-visit” in Africa. (Drifting on Foot) http://www.driftingonfoot.com/

(Pictures taken from: http://www.q2travel.co.za/et-victoria-falls.html)

There are many wildlife parks in Africa. In Tanzania, there are about 14 wildlife parks in the area. One of the most famous and largest is the Serengeti, with a massive concentration of migratory animals. Serengeti means “endless plain” in Masai language. One can try the Hot Air Ballooning where you can have a bird’s eye view of the whole place on a hot air balloon. (Game Reserve) http://www.game-reserve.com/tanzania_serengeti_np.html


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Part f: Types of leisure programmes






















1. Nairobi Marathon (Standard Charted Nairobi Marathon 2010) http://www.nairobimarathon.com/
This is a sport event held in Nairobi, Kenya during October. The Nairobi Marathon has become the signature annual sport event that brings runners and supporters from all over the world to Nairobi, the beautiful capital of Kenya. This event is a charity fundraising event directed at Seeing is Believing and the main sponsor is Standard Chartered Bank. I think that this event is a wonderful platform to showcase the country Nairobi and will definitely attract more visitors than usual. There is an article about the marathon titled Nairobi Marathon moves a notch higher in this link: http://www.nairobimarathon.com/downloads/22.pdf



2. The Masai tribe love to dance and sing during any events. The Masai has a traditional dance called the Jumping Dance. Each young man will jump as high as he can while the others standing in a circle and sing. This is to show their strength and stamina. They will sing as they dance and their voices get higher as the jumping increases. In the Masai language, they called it the “adumu”. Though the jumping dance is the most unusual and best known, there are also other traditional dances that the Masai perform. There are different dances for different celebrations such as when the lion is killed by the warriors, a dance for the blessing of cattle and a dance performed during a wedding. The Masai people also love to sing. They never use musical instruments when dancing, all their music is vocal. As they dance, there are also jingling sounds created from the beads that they wore. (Kenya-Advisors) http://www.kenya-advisor.com/masai-dance.htmlw.kenya-advisor.com/masai-dance.html. Videos on the Jumping Dance can be watched through this website. (World News: Kenya Masai Tribe Singing and dancing. ) http://wn.com/kenya_masai_tribe_singing_and_dancing


3. Now I will zoom in to the tribe, Masai. According to (McQuail, 2002)The Masai of Africa, it states that the Emoratra ceremony is one of the most important Masai festivals. It marks the coming of age of Masai boys. Planning for this festival takes two months. First the boys give away everything they own. This is because they cannot take any old belongings into their new lives as men. Villages collect honey to make honey beer for the elderly who will attend the ceremony. They gather ostrich feathers to make special headdresses for the boys. On the day of the ceremony, the boys will shave off their hairs and paint their heads with white chalks. Then the village elderly will perform the initiation rights on each boy inside a small tent.


4. Wildebeest Migration Seasons. This event is also known as “The Great Migration” takes place between Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park and Kenya’s Masai Mara and is one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the planet. There are thousands of zebra’s migrate between Serengeti and the Masai Mara to search for fresh grazing. It is a very unpredictable and spontaneous natural event, with calving season taking place between January and mid-March. The best time to watch is between June and August when the wildebeest congregate and prepare to cross the famous Grumeti River. If you are interested in visiting the country Tanzania, you can view the itinerary from this website: ( Africa Guide 2010) http://www.africaguide.com/travel/index.php?cmd=5&pid=1691



You can also watch a video regarding the Wildebeest Migration Season in this link: http://www.kenya-advisor.com/index.html

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Part e: Mode of education


In this book: Traditional African modes of education: their relevance in the modern world (Omolewa, 2007) http://www.springerlink.com/content/xh2r453k6q024464/, it states that traditional African education is passed from one generation to the next by word-of-mouth and cultural rituals. Traditional African education includes agriculture, health care, food preparation and conservation. This mode of education is largely been used as a way of acquiring lifelong learning.
In many places in Africa, children are taught from a very young age about the core values and family importance. In addition, children are to get married by 13 to 15 years old as they are considered to reach the physical adulthood. Thus, young girls are also trained to be good wives from an early age and there are specific chores for them to do. All are expected to work for the welfare of the tribe and contribute by doing their assigned chores and obeying the scared customs and cultures of Africa. (World Wedding Traditions 2004) http://www.worldweddingtraditions.com/locations/african_traditions.html


Masai children’s education revolves around learning tasks related to various roles to be performed in the Masai society. For example, they learn how to look after young lambs, herding cattle across pastures and drawing water from well. Common methods of education are observation, direct teaching and participation. (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3614/is_200204/ai_n9044738/ )
Next, I will give you an introduction of the history of education and the school systems in the 1990s.
Reorganizing of education by the African government happened during 1993. The government stressed a need for school systems with enough flexibility to allow communities to preserve their religion, cultural values and home languages. President Frederik W. de Klerk established new education officers and gave them responsibilities within the reorganization plan. When the new school year began in January 2995, all government-run primary and secondary schools were officially integrated. Education was compulsory for all children between ages 7 to 16.
After Kenya attained its independence, the government began advocating the need to educate all Kenyans regardless of their ethnic background. Despite the government’s efforts, very few Masai went to school.
In Masai, the parents detested western education as they have the perception that western education erodes the Masai culture. They are afraid that once their children receive education, they would forget about their Masai community and seek to live in urban places. Thus, the parents are reluctant to send their children to school.
In the last two decades, due to the lack of education in Masai, it suffered more badly than the other ethnic groups in Kenya. Today, the Masai community realizes that education is essential in understanding and finding a place in the increasingly modern world. Education, however, has become so expensive that few can afford. http://www.maasaieducation.org/maasai-culture/maasai-education.htm
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Part d: The language in Africa

Africa is a continent with high linguistic diversity. There are estimated 1500 to 2000 languages in Africa. Out of all the languages, there are four main groups. First is the Afro-Asiatic, which consists of approximately 200 languages covering nearly Northern Africa (including the horn of Africa, Central Sahara at the top Nile). Second is the Nilo-Saharian, gathering about 140 languages with some eleven millions speakers scattered in Central and Eastern Africa. Third is Niger- Saharian or Niger- Congo which covers two third of Africa with more than 1000 languages and 200 million speakers. The Bantu languages of Central, Southern and Eastern Africa form a sub-group of the Niger Congo branch. Lastly is the Kohisan that gathers about 30 languages in Western part of Southern Africa. Below is a map to show the distribution of Africa languages. Below shows a map of different languages in Africa. (Picture is taken from NationsOnline from http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/african_languages.htm )



Maa is the language spoken by the Masai. Maa is classified as a Nilo-Saharan form of language, and a variety of it is shared with the Samburu and the Chamus people. There are many places names in Kenya come from Masai translation, such as capital of the city Nairobi. (Kenya-advisor) http://www.kenya-advisor.com/masai-translation.html
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Part c: Traditions of Africa

Depending on which part of Africa you are in, wedding ceremonies can be extremely elaborate and can last for many days. In the wedding, bright festive colours, songs, dance and music are vital elements. In many customs, weddings are held at night under the full moon. This is because if the moon is not full or bright enough, it is considered to be bad luck. The wedding celebrations are not joyous event for the parents of the bride, thus the bride’s parents do not attend the long celebrations as it is a sad event for them.



















Polygamy, which means often married, is practiced in many Africa places. This means that the man can marry as many wives as long as he can support them. For example in Somalia, a man is allowed to marry four wives. It is also common for a girl to get engaged even before she was born.
One very unique tradition is the people of Labola follow an interesting custom. The groom has to pay the bride’s father a compensation for the “loss” of daughter by giving cattle. A wife may cost about 30 to 40 head of cattle. This helps build mutual respect between the families and also showed that the groom is capable of providing and supporting his daughter,
On the other hand, divorce in Africa is rare as often the whole village will join in to help the couples to solve their problems. (Buzzle.com 2009) http://www.buzzle.com/articles/culture-of-africa.html
Next I will talk about the lifestyle of the Masai tribe. The Masai people live in small settlements of 8-15 huts per village. Their traditional hut, called Kraal, is surrounded by a thorn bush fence which acts like barbed wire, protecting the tribe and animals against enemies. The huts are built using tree branches, grass and cement of cow dug and urine. The mixture is so strong after it dried in the sun and does not smell. The entrance of the hut is very small and narrow, thus they need to bend their bodies in order to get in the hut. The family sleeps on beds of woven branches cushioned with dry grasses and animal skins. (Maasai People Traditions & Culture 1998) http://www.africancraftsmarket.com/Maasai_people.htm



Below shows a picture of Masai huts (taken from Africa Safari Journey Photo Blog August 2010 http://goafrika.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html.)




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Part b: Culture of Africa

Every country has its own culture. Culture in Africa is rich and diverse as it is constantly changing from country to country. This is why I feel that Africa is so mesmerizing and attractive as compared to other countries. Most of the culture in Africa centers on the ethnic groups and their family.

There are many tribes, ethnic groups and communities in Africa and each of them follows its own culture and tradition. Thus, I am going to illustrate more about the tribe that I chosen- Massai tribe.

Masai culture has been over thousands of years. A large part of Masai culture is the role of the warrior, which is a period of life when all the men go through between boyhood and finally become men. In Masai, a warrior is responsible to protect the herds of cattle and the whole village. There are many steps to become a warrior. When the boys reach 12 years old, they will go through painful rituals of circumcision to become Masai warriors. They will leave the village for several months for training. After that, the mothers of the young warriors will shave their sons’ heads to mark their graduation to Masai warriors. (Kenya- Advisor) http://www.kenya-advisor.com/masai-warrior.html (The ceremony will be explained under Types of Leisure Programmes)

Secondly is their religion. The Masai call their god Enkai, who believed to appear in many forms and objects, among which are the moon, mountains and colours. They also believed that Enkai is both man and woman, which is uncommon to many other religions. A religious leader of the Masai is called a Laibon. They are believed to descend from Enkai and therefore have religious authority where they are believed to have the power to heal.

The center of all Masai culture is cattle. This is because the majority of Masai diet is made from what they get from their cows. They eat the cattle’s meat, drink their milk and even the blood collected from the liver. The entire Masai way of life revolves around the herds of cattle. In fact, they believed that their god specifically created cattle for them. (Kenya-Advisor) http://www.kenya-advisor.com/masai-culture.html
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Part a: The indigenous group

The indigenous group that I have chosen is Masai. Masai, can also be spelled as Maasai, is the most famous tribe in Africa. The Masai live in Kenya and Tanzania. Unlike other Kenyan tribes who have adapted more western lifestyles, Masai has remained their traditional lifestyle as they are living like their ancestors.

Masai people can be recognized by their bright red clothing and beaded jewellery. They herd cattle and live in huts made from mud and cattle dung. (See picture on the left)

The roles of sexes are pretty balance, the Masai men protect the villages and cattle, while the women build the houses, cook and maintain the household. To the Masai people, the herds of cattle are the most important thing to own. They live almost exclusively off their cattle by eating the meat, drinking its milk and even blood of their cows.
The Masai people are very independent and their society revolves around each generation of men becoming warriors.

Here are some facts about the Masai tribe from BellaOnline by Jeanne Egbosiuba Ukwendu (http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art2641.asp ):
• Masai tribe is traditionally a seminomadic tribe.
• They have a reputation of being a fierce warring tribe.
• A Masai village is called an enkang.
• Women and children keep their heads shaved.
• They eat custard made from the blood of their cattle.
• They pierce and stretch their earlobes and wear large metal hoops at the tops of their ears. It is a sign of beauty for women to have longed stretched earlobes. (See image below)

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Tourism, Culture and Society Individual Assignment

Africa
Brief introduction of the country
Africa is the 2nd largest continent on Earth, following Asia in size. Africa measures 11,730,000 square miles (30,370,000 square kilometers). It comprises 20.4% of the land area on Earth and 6% of the Earth's surface. Africa consists of 53 countries, some of which are among the poorest in the world. The Sudan is the largest country in Africa, and Seychelles is the smallest.

Africa is divided into several regions which are marked by striking climate variations. The continent features highlands on both the East and West coasts and plains in the middle. Africa has two deserts — the Sahara and the Kalahari. http://www.world-atlas.us/africa.htm (World Atlas, 2005)There are many tribes in Africa, estimated 400 tribes in Africa. You can view the map of different tribes in Africa from this website: http://www.african-tribes.org/map-of-african-tribes-2502x2984.jpg (African tribes).
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