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HOOK 
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Josh: ‘the best way to eat an elephant is to take one bite at a time” This is a famous proverb from ancient 
Africa. At this time you are probably wondering what proverb is?? A proverb is a short saying that uses things 
from everyday life to teach us lesson or give advice. The people of ancient Africa used proverbs as a way to 
show what they valued. Proverbs are one of the many different types oral traditions that were passed down in 
Africa. 
 
What's an Oral Tradition 
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Jamie: Hi, I’m jamie 
Josh: And I’m Josh 
Jamie: And We're here to teach you about Oral traditions in Africa… An oral tradition, is a tradition that has 
been passed down orally generation to generation. We probably know oral traditions as our parents reading us 
stories as we fall asleep, or singing lullabies. Although the oral traditions of Africa ranged from things like 
proverbs, folk tales, dances, written traditions, songs, etc. But why are these traditions important? Oral 
Traditions are important because they make it possible for a society to pass knowledge across generations 
without writing. 
 
  
 
Folktales 
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Josh:​ ​Most of us have probably heard of the Brer rabbit. But did you know that this was one of the many 
folktales came from Ancient Africa.. Here are some facts about these folktales. ​African folk tales are passed 
down through a group that is usually based on superstition. In Africa, most folktales were passed down orally. 
These oral traditions were usually used to teach socially accepted behavior and values within African society​. 
All african folktales had a protagonist, antagonist, and a meaningful moral to go along with it. 
 
PROVERBS 
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Jamie: ​The people of ancient Africa used proverbs as a way to show what they valued. ​Most african proverbs 
teach lessons, and are metaphors that can be life skills and advice. For example, “No matter how long the 
night, the day is sure to come.” This proverb is trying to tell us that in all of your hard times there is light, and it 
will get better. To teach these proverbs and other oral traditions, the ancient African had people named griots.  
 
 
GRIOTS 
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Josh: That a great way to transition to the next topic. Let’s talk about griots. A griot was a person who was in 
charge of passing down oral traditions from generation to generation. ​Most African communities had their own 
griot.​ Anyone could tell a story, but there was only one official Griot per village. If a village tried to steal or take 
away a griot from another village, war could break out. ​A griot didn't only use words to transmit traditions, but 
gestures, singing, facial expressions, and body movements. ​Although they were up higher on the social 
hierarchy, they weren’t paid so much for there job. You may be wondering what they did to get so high on the 
social hierarchy?? The griots taught different dances, folk tales, proverbs, and were wedding officials. ​A griot 
also had the ability to recite accounts of births, deaths, hunts, the succession of kings and even battles and 
could be looked at as a rabbi in a way.  
 
 
Music 
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Jamie: Wow, that's very interesting, but let’s move on to music in Africa. Music was known to ​transmit 
knowledge and values, and it is way of celebrating important community and personal events. At these 
personal events, the main instrument they played was the drum. Drum playing functioned as an important role 
at religious meetings, weddings, parties, funerals and other ceremonies. Western African music always 
portrayed one's feelings ideas and values.  
 
 
Dance 
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Josh:​ Most of us have probably heard the American square dance, but this was nothing like the amazing African 
dances. Most African dances were deeply connected to rhythm and energy. They danced with bent knees and 
torsos inclined forward moving their legs, hips, shoulders, hands, and arms simultaneously to the polyrhythms 
of the Drum to show that there are many different dances to different rhythms and beats of the drum. Some 
dances celebrate the different rites of passage and some celebrate the sacred deities.  
 
  
Summary 
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Jamie: In summary, oral traditions in Africa could be passed down in many different ways, such as dance, 
music, written traditions, proverbs, etc. All of these ways of transmission had different responsibilities, but non 
was a better way of transmitting traditions than another.