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A call to the Black Guys

Snake House

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Fear and respect of various animals is cultural, not genetic or hereditary like someone thought in this forum. It has nothing to do with skin colour, geographical roots, past exposure of your ancestors to snakes, etc. There are some dangerous snakes in West Africa too (vipers), but culturally the people of some ethnic groups there learned to respect and interact with the less dangerous snakes that brought good to the villages and towns by eating pest like mice and rats. They also admired the calm and beauty of the pythons who they thought people could learn from and had strong symbolic value: enough to be used as part of spiritual life.
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Mainly what they call there "pythons royals" (because kings would have them as pets) and are called ball pythons here. They have such houses all over West Africa in Nigeria, Benin and Togo, but the only one that has become a tourist attraction is in Ouidah, Benin. Tourists can go there and the guide would pick the snakes he knows to be the most docile in the house for them to touch them and wear them. Tourists can then pay to have the right to take pictures. Not as much of an authentic cultural experience, but it would probably still be interesting.
 
I wonder if those are ball pythons. Because balls are also called royal pythons, and I guess I thought it had something to do with a European term for them! Learn something new every day!!
 
Yes, they are ball pythons! In French (the main language spoken in Benin and Togo) we call them Pythons Royals. I think the Brits (who colonized Nigeria) might also call them Royal Pythons. They were called like that because when the Europeans visited these lands and first saw these snakes, they were on the shoulders or arms of kings (and queens). There, rules would have them as pets and wear them as part of their official ceremonial attire. It is also easy to forget that Ancient Egypt is part of Africa and that snakes were also considered to be a noble symbol there (they were on the Pharaoh's crowns). Following the end of the Ancient Egyptian Kingdom (with invasions coming from Europe and the Middle-East), the religious and local leaders dispersed accross all of the continent. Today, some Ancient Egyptian terms can be found in traditional languages as far as in West Africa.
 
Thank you for sharing. I wasn't sure why this thread was ressurected, but I appreciate that it was for this reason. As you know, West-Africa is the true birthplace of most African-Americans. But, sadly, through slavery and colonization, so much of their original culture was lost. I think it's amazing that you have such a close and connected idea of your West African heritage.
 
I am lucky to have a father who was very much into learning as much as possible about his culture on his own (schools in his home country were very Euro-focused). In Haiti, Cuba, Brazil and even in Louisiana, some aspects of the West African cultures that admired and respected snakes survived through songs, traditional dances and rituals. Here are dancers in Brazil doing a dance in honour of the spirit of the snake Oxumare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69zR_ai0XfA
 
Sadly, Euro-focused schools are just about the only schools, at least in America. Most people have never been taught about Patrice Lumumba (Africa's Abe Lincoln), or Idi Amin (Africa's Hitler). Many don't even realize that slavery still exists in Africa, or that people still die for the precious diamonds they wear on their fingers.

I won't get off-topic, though. I think it's great that you have that strong cultural ambassador in your life. My grandfather is much the same to me. My appreciation for reptiles came out of spending most of my childhood catching and releasing toads, salamanders, frogs and snakes. Which essentially was passed down from my grandfather, who's spend a majority of his life studying, recording, writing about -and creating art of- the reptiles (mostly turtles) native to my area.
 
Thank you for posting. I teach a mythology/folklore class for homeschooled kids preparing for the National mythology exam, and one of the sections for high school students is African mythology/folklore, so I'm always looking for things to expand the learning beyond reading a half dozen folktales on the syllabus. My daughter is especially interested in snakes and snake-characters in mythology, and there are a lot of them.
 
Fascinating.

Thank you for the posts, and pics!, Ayidah. (More pics, please, lol.)

And for the magic of transforming a thread created with intent to be a trainwreck into something rather more full of..well...enlightenment.

Dang....now Africa has the Ark of the Covenant (link) ANNDDD Snake Houses.
 
Snake Mythology

Wow Michael, your grandfather sounds like a really neat man. Do you know where HE got his passion for reptiles and amphibians? In what area did he live?

I think I will start a new thread focused sharing snake mythologies from around the world!
 
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