Tales from Africa are wondrous and many. This week, we discuss the stories of some very interesting tribes that emerged from the continent. This, of course, is a continuation of our tales from Africa. Other tribes are represented in episodes 16, 11, 7, and 3. There's also the ancient Egyptian creation myth that we covered in the 17th episode.

Hi there and welcome to Stories That Made Us. This week, we tell tales of the Ekoi, Fan, Fon, Fulani, Bakuba, and Basonge. The stories have been inspired by David A Leeming's amazing book, "Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia."

We begin with the origin story of the Ekoi.

The Ekoi is a common name that is given to a combination of southeastern Nigerian tribes. They live near the Efik people, whose tale of origin we covered in the 16th episode! Under the religious leadership of high priests called Ntoons, the Ekoi are best known for their ritualistic many-faced skin-covered masks. 

The Ekoi story contains a two creator motif that is perhaps expressed in the multi-faced masks for which the tribe is famous. Keen listeners may also find the closeness in names between the Ekoi and Efik creators. 

The next story is of the Fan. The Bantu-speaking Fan inhabit parts of what are now Gabon, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea. Their creation myth is a story of human origin. There's a sense of an element of evil inherent in the world. The Fang creation myth emphasizes the fall of Fam, a creature that represents original mankind. The evil was so incorrigible in him that the deities had to create a new Fam who became the ancestor of the present humans. Their story possesses an element of the flood myths where the god destroys the old creation with thunder and lightning. Interestingly, the myth purports the idea that the world has inherent evil that is in the buried old and original Fam. It also speaks about the potential spiritual power in the existence of the Soul. 

We now move on to the Fon. The Fon is a large West African group of peoples living in Benin, southwest Nigeria, and Togo. Their short creation myth, which exists in various forms, features a moon goddess. The Fon is a patrilineal people whose creation myth is dominated by apparently female forces. In all likelihood, this arises from the obvious creative power of women as birth-givers. Of interest, too, is the presence of a positive force in the body of a serpent. 

The final story is of the Basonge. A Bantu tribe of the southeast Congo region, the Basonge, tell creation myths that feature, like so many other myths of Africa, the theme of enmity between two creators. 

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The music used for the episodes are either free to use, or under creative commons license. Below are their links and attributions:

Isolated by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100792

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Over Time by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Comfortable Mystery 4 - Film Noire by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Rolling Hills

Artist: Sir Cubworth

Source: YouTube Audio Library

Dark Alley Deals

Artist: Aaron Kenny

Source: YouTube Audio Library

Darkest Child A by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Anamalie by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Alone

Artist: Emmit Fenn

Source: YouTube Audio Library

Sharp Senses

Artist: Ugonna Onyekwe

Source: YouTube Audio Library

Waking to Reality

Artist: Unicorn Heads

Source: YouTube Audio Library

The Big Decision by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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