Oral music traditions have been intricately woven into Africa’s cultural heritage for a long time. Whether important or trivial information is passed down through generations by word of mouth. These traditions serve not only for entertainment but also as crucial means of preserving history and imparting knowledge.

Oral tradition across the continent is not solely focused on music, although music serves as a vital vehicle for cultural expression. Other elements, such as proverbs, folklore, poetry, and rituals, also play a significant role in oral tradition. These elements provide a platform for transferring culture from one generation to the next.

In West Africa, oral tradition in music is closely linked to griots or jelis – musicians, storytellers, and oral culture historians by hereditary and from a particular tribe. While griots play a crucial role in the African oral music tradition, this tradition is not exclusively tied to them.

An African proverb says that when an old man dies, a library burns to the ground. This proverb reflects the key role elders play as custodians of knowledge and tradition in communities. They are the walking libraries of African cultural heritage and knowledge, sometimes tasked with teaching the younger generations through stories, songs, and wise sayings.

For example, among Nigerian tribes, children are introduced to moonlight songs and folklore during evening gatherings. These songs, taught by elders or older children, teach positive societal values like kindness, respect, and hard work, blending culture transmission and education with entertainment.

Among the Kikuyu people, the Kiama kia Athuri (council of elders) oversee rituals, share ancestral stories during gatherings, and are known custodians of the Agĩkũyũ ancestral land. This further underscores the role of elders in preserving oral tradition.

Further examples can be seen in Ghana’s Ewe dance-drumming called Agbekor, where older men guide the younger generation of dancers in learning the traditional war dance steps and drumming patterns and passing on the historical knowledge of the community’s struggles and victories.

However, retaining oral tradition faces tough challenges in the modern world. The spread of literacy, globalization, and the disruption of tradition due to modernization have all contributed to the depreciation of oral practices.

Akazehe, a unique form of greeting, exclusively performed by Burundian women, is at the risk of disappearing. This is due to modernization, public health concerns, and outbreaks like Covid-19. Older Burundian women have strived to pass the akazehe greeting down orally to ensure the continuation of this tradition.

There have been efforts to document and preserve African oral traditions in the face of globalization. Ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, artists, and scholars all play a role in ensuring this invaluable heritage is not lost in time.

The elders, on the other hand, stand strong as guardians, preventing a cutthroat of the African culture, and keeping it alive for the next generation. But still, the beauty of oral traditions lies in their performative nature and ability to connect people through shared experiences.

What role really do African elders play in the transfer of African cultural heritage and knowledge?

The Role of Elders in Preserving African Oral Traditions

What role really do African elders play in the transfer of African cultural heritage and knowledge?

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