“The Origin of Life on Earth, “ a multi-disciplinary composition for soloists, chanters, chorus and dancers, explores and capitalizes upon specific contributions the Yoruba people of West Africa have made to New Orleans and Louisiana culture and history. “The Origin of Life on Earth “tells the story of Obatala, the Yoruba creator of the earth and human beings and, Orunmila, the Yoruba god of divination (the peaceful god of the past, present, and future.) Louisiana maintains continuous ties to African culture, ties that go back centuries. A “cultural retention” is a tie to a specific culture, the act of retaining the culture of a specific ethnic group of people. Examples of “African Retentions” are all around us and can be found in our food, architecture, wrought-iron metal working and music. “African Retentions” that exist in local foods include gumbo (based on the African tradition of soup,) okra (from the Bantu nkombo) and Creole tomatoes, which originated in the West Indies. “African Retentions” in architecture can be found in shotgun house construction and Adinkra symbols in ironwork designs. Research traces the shotgun house from Haiti to New Orleans "where it spread across the southern United States." Ironwork designs found around the New Orleans’ French Quarter and other parts of the Mississippi delta can be traced to a combination of “African Retentions” and “European Retentions.” Ancient Egyptians in North Africa began the art of metal smithing around 3500 B.C. Smiths have worked with copper and brass since the 1200’s in West Africa. Many enslaved Africans from this region were metal workers who brought their metal working traditions and their symbols with them. African retentions in music can be found in several modern cultural traditions. Brass band processions, jazz and “the Blues” all share the roots of African musical traditions. A Commentary: African Cultural Retentions in Louisiana, By Charles E. Siler (originally published as a 2001 Louisiana Folklife Festival booklet) provides an excellent overview of African Retentions and their influence in modern-day Louisiana and Mississippi Delta cultural practice: http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/afri_cult_retent.html
Negro Iron Workers in New Orleans, 1718-1900, by Marcus Christian: Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Co., 2002 is one of the few books to detail African metalworking. Forging from sun-up to sun-down: African symbols in the works of Black ironworkers in New Orleans (1800-1863), by Eva Regina Martin: Temple Univ., 1995. (9600046) is another book detailing metalworking in Louisiana.
West African Adinkra Symbol Matching Game
Prior to this game, photo copy the symbols comparing Adinkra symbols from West Africa and French Quarter ironwork. On the symbol sheets there are nine sets of pairs; for this game students will be working in pairs to match the symbols, so enough copies need to be made so that each pair of students will receive one set of the symbols; once the symbols have been copied, cut out the symbols. Introduce the game by explaining “The Origin of Life On Earth” is a creation myth that comes from the Yoruba who live in Nigeria in West Africa. Read “The Origin of Life On Earth” by David “Sankofa” Anderson to the class. Explain Sankofa is an important Adinkra symbol, and, that the Akan/Yoruba people create Adinkra symbols to express things important to their culture. Some of the things these symbols represent that are important to the Yoruba are the importance of learning from the past or the importance of being strong and humble. Explain this game will assist students in learning a little about Sankofa and the other symbols found in Louisiana ironwork. Ask students to pick a partner and sit together. Pass out one set of the pre-cut rectangles with symbols comparing Adinkra symbols from West Africa and French Quarter ironwork to each pair of students. Review the photocopied pairs of symbols with the class. (30 minutes) Ask the student with symbols comparing Adinkra symbols from West Africa and French Quarter ironwork to shuffle them and then place them face down on the table in any order. Now ask the other student in the pair to flip over the symbols two at a time to try and match them. Time the class and see which pair of students can match all five symbols the fastest. Repeat this exercise and ask the students to switch roles so other student in the pair has a chance to match all five symbols. (15 minutes)
West African Adinkra Symbol Movement Game Prior to this game, photo copy the symbols comparing Adinkra symbols from West Africa and French Quarter ironwork. On the symbol sheet, there are nine sets of pairs; for this game students will be working in groups of four to create the symbols, so enough copies need to be made so that each group of four students will receive one set of the symbols comparing Adinkra symbols from West Africa and French Quarter ironwork. Read “The Origin of Life On Earth” by David “Sankofa” Anderson to the class. Explain the character Sankofa is also an important Adinkra symbol, and, that the Akan/Yoruba people create Adinkra symbols to express things important to their culture. Some of the things these symbols represent that are important to the Yoruba are learning from the past or the importance of being strong and humble. Explain this game will assist students in learning a little about Sankofa and the other symbols found in Louisiana ironwork. Divide students into groups of four. Pass out one set of the pre-cut symbols comparing Adinkra symbols from West Africa and French Quarter ironwork to each group of students. (15 minutes) Ask each group to work together to create personal shapes to represent symbols found in New Orleans wrought iron. These shapes can be kinetic. An example would be creating a kinetic shape for Sankofa, “Fly like Sankofa between the past and the future.” Have students present the shapes they come up with to the rest of the class. (30 minutes)
Origin Bingo Game Prior to this game, photo copy the Origin Bingo Game bingo cards. Students will be playing this game individually so enough copies need to be made so that each student will have their own bingo card (there are six different versions.) Make an extra copy and cut out all the vocabulary words; fold them up so the words are not visible. Place the folded words in a container. Also, dry macaroni will be needed for “bingo chips.” Introduce the game by explaining “The Origin of Life On Earth” is a creation myth that comes from the Yoruba who live in Nigeria in West Africa. Read “The Origin of Life On Earth” by David “Sankofa” Anderson to the class, including the vocabulary words found in the glossary in the back of the book. Explain this game will assist students in learning a little vocabulary from the book and the play. (15 minutes) Pass out one Origin Bingo Game bingo card to each student and a pile of dry macaroni “bingo chips.” Use the container of pre-cut out folded up vocabulary words. One at a time, draw a folded vocabulary word, read it and call it out to the class. Continue to draw and call out words until someone shouts “bingo!” (30 minutes)
Origin Poems Introduce the lesson by explaining “The Origin of Life On Earth” is a creation myth that comes from the Yoruba who live in Nigeria in West Africa. Like the Greeks and the Romans, the Yoruba have a pantheon that includes many gods and goddesses called Orisha or Orishas. An example would be Elegba, the road opener and trickster (similar to Hermes or Mercury.) Unlike the Greeks and the Romans, the Yoruba Orishas are both male and female. Begin the exercise by reading “The Origin of Life On Earth” by David “Sankofa” Anderson to the class. Next, explain the book features the Orishas Obatala, Orunmilla and Ogun and their father Olorun. Olorun is at the top of the Yoruba pantheon, most supreme, similar to Zeus or Jupiter. Ogun is the blacksmith, Orisha of iron, wars and labor. Orunmilla is Orisha of wisdom and has the ability to see into the future. Obatala is the Orisha of the mind, and father of all humanity. Also introduce other Orishas and their properties. Other Orisha include Oshun, Yemaya, Shango and Oya. Oya is Orisha of wind and rain, guardian of the winds of change. Shango is the Orisha of lightning, thunder, fire, drums and dance. Yemaya is Orisha of seas and lakes. Oshun is Orisha of brooks, streams and rivers. Ask students to select an Orisha and write a poem about them. (45 minutes)
Adinkra Symbol Matching Game: Match the design with the photograph Sankofa: Learning from the Sankofa: Learning from the Past Past
St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans
Ram’s Horns: Dwennimmen Ram’s Horns: Dwennimmen
Xiques House, 521 Dauphine Street, New Orleans God is in the Heavens God is in the Heavens
2408 Chartres Street, New Orleans
Unburnable: Hye Won Hye Unburnable: Hye Won Hye
The Pontalba buildings, New Orleans
Conservation: Asase Ye Duru Conservation: Asase Ye Duru
710 Royal Street, New Orleans
Slavery/Handcuffs: Epa Slavery/Handcuffs: Epa
2408 Chartres Street, New Orleans
The Power of Love: Odo Nnyew Fie Kwan The Power of Love: Odo Nnyew Fie Kwan
St. Charles Avenue Balcony, New Orleans
Devotion: Mpuannum Devotion: Mpuannum
Latter Library, St. Charles Avenue New Orleans
Tree of God: Nyame Dua Tree of God: Nyame Dua
713 Camp Street, New Orleans
Origin Vocabulary Bingo Game: Bingo Card
Adinkra Akan Cast Chameleon Diaspora
Divining Baobab Benin Elegba Free
Forge Ife Maize Nigeria Ogun
Free Fermented Free Obatala Free
Olorun Orishas Orunmila Oshun Oya
Sankofa The Egg Free Yemaya Free
Free Shango Vow Free Yoruba
Elegba Yemaya Cast Oya Free
Divining Orunmila Free Adinkra Fermented
Forge Ife Yoruba Nigeria Ogun
Diaspora Free The Egg Free Obatala
Olorun Orishas Baobab Oshun Free
Sankofa Chameleon Benin Akan Fermented
Free Shango Vow Free Maize
Origin Vocabulary Bingo Game: Bingo Card
Yoruba Akan Elegba Chameleon Diaspora
Divining Obatala Benin The Egg Free
Forge Ife Maize Shango Ogun
Free Fermented Free Baobab Free
Olorun Orishas Vow Oshun Oya
Sankofa Cast Free Yemaya Free
Free Nigeria Orunmila Free Adinkra
Adinkra Elegba Forge Chameleon Orunmila
Divining Free Benin Yemaya Free
Yoruba Ife Maize The Egg Ogun
Free Fermented Free Obatala Baobab
Olorun Orishas Diaspora Oshun Oya
Sankofa Nigeria Free Akan Free
Free Shango Vow Free Cast
Origin Vocabulary Bingo Game: Bingo Card
Adinkra Orishas Cast Free Diaspora
Divining Free Benin Elegba Baobab
Forge Ife Maize Nigeria Ogun
Free Fermented Chameleon Yemaya Free
Olorun Akan Shango Oshun Yoruba
Sankofa Obatala Free The Egg Free
Free Orunmila Vow Free Oya
Adinkra Maize Free Chameleon Ife
Orunmila Baobab Benin Elegba Free
Forge Diaspora Akan Sankofa Ogun
Free Fermented Free Obatala Free
Olorun Orishas Divining Oshun Oya
Nigeria The Egg Free Yemaya Cast
Free Shango Vow Free Yoruba