African origin legends

African Creation Myths by Stephen Belger Publisher: Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Center for Arabic Language, Kalima Translation Project Type: Paperback with artistic cover Publisher's note: "This book was published in English in 2005, and it contains seventy-one chapters, each of which includes a number of myths that Africans still pass down today about the origin of their kingdoms, peoples, tribes, livestock, crops, or how they learned this craft or that. These myths were originally oral stories until Westerners (initially traders and colonizers, then ethnographers and anthropologists later) came into contact with Africans, and they began documenting these stories. During the colonial period and afterward, Africans themselves recorded these myths in the language of the colonizers, which was imposed on them, in order to preserve their rich oral heritage. Not all of these myths are just for entertainment or passing time; rather, they explain in a mythic style how the world of African groups was formed, how they differentiated from each other, and how their cultures were established: either as gifts from spirits, or through unfortunate adventures, pure coincidence, or conflict and competition. Although the content of these stories is generally known to every member of the community, not every individual is authorized to narrate the story, and it is not a subject for ordinary storytelling; only specialists with knowledge and authority should handle it. The tales in the book span the entire African continent, except for the Arab African countries (excluding Pharaonic Egypt). This exception is likely because Islam and writing significantly hindered the spread of myths that Africans orally transmitted about their imagined history. However, some African Muslims fabricated myths about well-known Arab or Islamic figures, and they borrowed stories from Arab historical and storytelling heritage and adapted them for their purposes. The translator pointed out these similarities and borrowings in the 'Notes' section."