Cattle and African Agricultural Practices
Cattle arriving at a water pit in Africa, Courtesy of The New York Public Library
I looked up words in my West and Central African archives such as cattle and cows to compare and contrast the traditions of African-Americans like the Fultons’s of Tennessee with their African ancestors who came from these two regions. Among early 20th century African-Americans in Tennessee, in terms of techniques, what African agricultural continuations do we see vs new practices? In cattle raising African societies, people viewed cows as valuable and as a result, cows served as one's principal source of wealth. Cattle raising societies had members who trained as artisans in rope making, slaughtering and butchering meat, making jerked meats, tanners, saddle makers, smelters and black smiths. We for example, people butchered and salted cow meat then bartered it for iron. People then commissioned Artisan black smiths to use the iron to make fishing and agricultural tools and weapons such as bows, arrows, harpoons, and lances. Sources on West and Central Africa provide evidence that African-Americans are practicing the agricultural techniques and practices of their ancestors as cattle raisers and the artisan crafts associated with owning and selling cows.
