The African Initiated Churches (AICs) are the custodians of the African Traditional Religion (ATR). In the South African census, the AICs are classified as Christian. Africans claim that long before the Christian faith came through missionaries there was some form of worship of God by Africans. This means Africans practiced ATR outside Christianity and after Christianity came through missionaries, they started practising it as Christians One of the reasons given for the Africans moving out of the missionary churches to start their own was a search for an African identity. There was a hunger for a place where the African culture could be accommodated. One of the features of African culture is the worship of ancestors. The question of monotheism encountering polytheism does arise in this kind of discussion. The doctrine of the Trinity is uniquely Christian. There is a historical background concerning the teaching and the foundation thereof. As the AICs responded to a situation, so did the Early Church Fathers who faced question of monotheism encountering polytheism. There was a need to redefine Jewish monotheism within the Christian faith in reference to the event of Jesus Christ. The Church Fathers struggled to defend and grappled with the Christian faith with reference to the scriptures in the light of Jesus Christ. They took the gospel from the Jewish setting into the Greek setting. Their efforts benefited the church throughout history. One may say the writings and the teachings of the early church stood the test of time. One may also say the writings and the teachings were based on the solid foundation being of Jesus Christ and the authority of the scriptures. Juxtaposition is the approach employed in this thesis. Two traditions are being critically assessed based on the notion of Perichoresis by the Cappadocian Church Fathers and the notion of Ubuntu in the ATR. Chapter one deals with the theological background with specific focus on the African church and contextualisation. Chapter two, deals with the debate concerning the position and nature of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It also investigates the origin of the Nicene Creed. Chapter three investigates the terminology within the doctrine of the Trinity, while Chapter four explores the term ecumenical and communion with reference to Ubuntu. Chapter five analyses the work of Zizioulas, and the conclusion attempts to find an appropriate approach for the African church. Therefore the study concludes that the reference for Ubuntu should be found in the relationship with God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and not in the veneration and worship of the ancestors. The benefits of the relationship with God through Jesus supersede all other relationship with any deity in the now and the future. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / unrestricted

In this dissertation, the researcher discusses the topic: “The Communicative Power of Sacrifices: A Predominantly South African Perspective with Special Reference to the Epistle to the Hebrews”. It investigates blood sacrifices among Xhosa people, and includes some Zulu and Tsonga thoughts, as well as a few examples from elsewhere in Africa. The research findings support the fact that both animal and human blood sacrifices are still performed today. The comparison between biblical blood sacrificial rituals and African ones reveals striking similarities and a few differences. The existence of such similarities poses a pertinent question: to determine whether or not African traditional religious sacrifices, like biblical sacrifices, could also be acknowledged as originating from God. This seems indeed difficult, because such an affirmation would suggest that God has revealed Himself through African traditional religious sacrificial rituals, and would therefore call into question the unique and exclusive biblical claim to revelation. Neyrey’s (2005) model of benefactor-client, benefactor-patron has been instrumental in illustrating the mutually influential communication and exchange existing between deities and their worshippers. In order to obtain benefactions from superiors, subordinates have to use inducement and influence - inducement has to do with all sorts of gifts and services, while influence refers to reasons for doing what one does, hence requests, petitions and the like. In religious terms, inducement is called sacrifice, and influence is called prayer. The intensification of the materialisation of anticipated benefits by worshippers entails the multiplication of interactive contact through blood sacrificial rituals, as well as the strengthening of ties between deities and their worshippers, creating a seemingly unbreakable bond. The results of this study’s qualitative, empirical research in Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal and North West provinces have substantiated the above ideas. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the communicative power of the blood sacrifice of Jesus provided worshippers with eternal salvation, forgiveness of sins and the removal of guilt feelings. Unlike Old Testament animal blood sacrifices, Jesus’ once and for all blood sacrifice has communicated powers for soteriological, psychological and sociological benefits. This superior power should be scholarly defended through amicable dialogue. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / There has recently been a lot of interest in the role of traditional healers in various cultures. This study explores the merit of an integrative approach between western based psychological practices in South Africa and what is known as traditional African healing. In order to do so, this study aims to present the epistemological views of Jungian analytical theory and African healing practices. The purpose is to ascertain whether or not there are sufficient commonalities to allow for relatedness between these two worlds. Jungian analytical thought and practice is reviewed with particular reference to the collective unconscious, archetypes, complexes and dream interpretation as a pathway to individuation. The traditional healer's pervasive role within the context of the African cosmology is explored with particular reference to the understanding of the role of the ancestors, the causes of illnesses and the use of dreams, symbols and rituals in the healing process. The importance of the sacred in both healing modalities is presented. The study employs a qualitative research design with the phenomenological approach as an example of one of the traditions of this design. Interviews with five traditional healers comprise the data for the study. The data is analyzed according to the procedure recommended by Moustakas (1994). The interviews focused specifically on eliciting information regarding the calling and the training process of the traditional healer. It is proposed that the two approaches to healing investigated in this study present possible mechanisms to bridge the divide between the westernized approaches to healing and that of the non-technical practitioner. It is further proposed that this will have implications for the broadening of the training and implementation of psychology in South Africa today.

This essay examines the incentives and notions behind the practice of genealogy, in terms of how discourses and notions of kinship, identity and history is expressed against the setting of genealogy as a cultural and social phenomenon that is gaining a growing interest amongst the general public. Through qualitative interviews with six amateur genealogists, the study explores how notions of kinship and history shape the way in which genealogists come to understand themselves and their place in the world. Furthermore, the study explores how genealogists make use of the specific knowledge that they have acquired through their engagement with genealogy. Through analysis of discourse and the logics approach, the essay shows that lack of specific knowledge about one’s ancestry is seen as an inherent reason for seeking knowledge through genealogy. The essay indicates that the notion of understanding oneself can be seen as a significant incentive and driving force in the practice of genealogy, where kinship is made meaningful through identity formation. The essay also shows that genealogy is made meaningful through notions and desires of belonging and affinity, and that genealogy can be seen as a way for genealogists to either create or maintain links between generations, to places, or with the past in general. Furthermore, the essay shows examples of how genealogy can be seen as a way to explore alternative aspects of history, and that the knowledge that is acquired through genealogy can be employed to challenge understandings of “real” and “authentic” history. Lastly, the essay shows that genealogy offers a backdrop of historic knowledge that can be used by genealogists to contrast notions of the past with notions of the present, in order to express criticism towards society, convey moral messages, and to make sense of the present time.

This document represents a holistic account of two years’ work thinking about place-based learning at Ye’yumnuts from a Quw’utsun Mustimuhw perspective. In acknowledging individual and collective responsibility, and accounting for the slowness of work in place over time, this document signals the need for specific careful conversations about Quw’utsun ways of being in place. Some of the topics highlighted for subsequent engagement include prioritizing Indigenous futures over settler futures when constructing and imagining Indigenous land; the need for a strengthening of Quw’utsun community engagement at Ye’yumnuts in support of further local public-school learning at the site; the potential for a deeper recognition of Quw’utsun protocols to ensure safety for Indigenous and settler visitors at Ye’yumnuts, and a nuanced understanding of visiting a place such as Ye’yumnuts in a public school-setting. This work affirmed my own commitment to thinking through the ways in which Quw’utsun Mustimuhw and their futures can be prioritized at Ye’yumnuts – how this place can be appropriately reintegrated into Quw’utsun territory and into our daily lives. This document indicates a shift in my research and personal intentions, shifting from a focus on public-school resources to an attention to the importance of Ye’yumnuts’ unique connection to its people, and the ways in which this strengthened connection will one day best support public-school learning at Ye’yumnuts and other places in Quw’utsun territory. / Graduate

Vave is generally defined as a corpus of agricultural songs as they are sung and performed by Bajuni farmers - an ethnic subgroup of the Swahili - on the eve of burning the bush, a stage of slash and burn cultivation. Although the song’s main theme is agriculture and each cultivation step in particular is given attention, an analysis of the aesthetics of Vave from the viewpoint of oral literature unearths the secret and sacred dimension of Vave performance. Death, bereavement, resurrection, and spirituality are, besides agricultural cultivation, the basic aspects of the Vave. Indeed the Vave performance may be more correctly recognised as an ancient religious rite which has ancestral worship as a central issue. Although the worship of ancestors is irreconcilable with the Islamic belief system, Vave is still performed by the Muslim Bajuni farmers today. This essay attempts to outline in which way the ancestors are annually remembered, revived or actualised in the present by Bajuni farmers through the performance of an oral tradition.

Understanding the Huari Phenomenon: A Northern PerspectiveThe lack of large scale storage in Huari sites contradicts the interpretation of Huari as an empire modeled on the Inca empire. We highlight the fact that at the end of Middle Horizon 1B, the Huari phenomenon was focused on an ancestor cult. In part, this cult was derived from northern antecedents, and we review data from Huamachuco that document the roots of the cult. Two architectural forms from Huamachuco, long narrow galleries that served as living space and niched halls that served as places in which to feast the ancestors, were the models for the orthogonal cellular architecture of Middle Horizon 1B at Huari. Although evidence does not support the interpretation of Huari as a state that expanded by the use of military force, Huari did play a critical role in the synthesis and diffusion of ideas that resulted a profound reorganization of the social landscape. / La ausencia de almacenaje de gran escala en sitios huari no apoya la interpretacion de Huari como imperio al modelo de los incas. Se señala también que el fenómeno Huari se enfocó en un culto a los ancestros a fines del Horizonte Medio 1B. En este trabajo se presentan datos que demuestran que este culto derivó parcialmente del norte del Perú y se revisan los datos de Huamachuco relativos a sus raíces histórico-sociales. Asimismo, dos formas arquitectónicas huamachuquinas, galerías largas y angostas para espacios domésticos y galpones nichados que servían como ambientes para fiestas en honor de los ancestros, fueron los modelos para la arquitectura ortogonal celular del Horizonte Medio 1B en Huari. Finalmente, y aunque la evidencia no apoya la interpretación de Huari como un estado que se expandió por fuerza militar, Huari jugó un rol crítico en la síntesis y difusión de ideas que resultaron en una profunda reorganización del paisaje social.

Orientador: Ricardo da Fonseca / Resumo: As raças ovinas deslanadas são parte do patrimônio genético do Brasil, formado por animais adaptados ao semiárido nordestino e com potencial de produção de carne e pele. No entanto tratam-se de raças de recente formação, ainda com poucos programas de melhoramento genético, e consequentemente, carente de estudos da estrutura populacional, variabilidade genética, endogamia e grau de conservação. Diante disso este trabalho teve dois objetivos: 1) analisar a variabilidade genética da raça Santa Inês no Brasil com base em informações de pedigree utilizando registros de animais da raça Santa Inês, provenientes da Associação Sergipana de Criadores de Caprinos e Ovinos (ASCCO) criados na Região Nordeste do Brasil e 2) avaliar a estrutura genética e variabilidade genética do núcleo de conservação da Embrapa Caprinos e Ovinos, localizada na cidade de Sobral, região do norte do estado do Ceará, controlado pelo Sistema de Gerenciamento de rebanho (SGR) dentro do dentro do programa de melhoramento genético de caprinos e ovinos de corte – GENECOC®. O arquivo de pedigree da raça Santa Inês (ASCCO) continha 29080 animais e os arquivos de dados genealógicos pertencentes ao GENECOC 904 indivíduos da raça Santa Inês, 972 indivíduos da raça Somalis e 1372 indivíduos da raça Morada Nova. Para a primeira análise dos animais Santa Inês a média da integridade do pedigree nas últimas quatro gerações foi maior que 50% e o número de gerações completas equivalente foi igual a 4,89. O valor do coeficient... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The wooless sheep breeds are part of the genetic heritage of Brazil, formed by animals highly adapted to semi-arid Northeast and high capacity of production of meat and skin. However it is of recent formation breeds, still few breeding programs, and consequently lacking in studies of population structure, genetic variability, inbreeding and degree of conservation. Therefore this study had two objectives: 1) to analyze the genetic variability of Santa Ines in Brazil based on pedigree information using animal records Santa Ines, from the Goat Breeders of Sergipana Association and Sheep (ASCCO) created in Northeast of Brazil and 2) evaluate the genetic structure and genetic variability conservation nucleus of Embrapa goats and sheep, located in Sobral, northern region of the state of Ceará, compiled by Management System for Livestock, part of the within the Breeding Program of Goats and sheep - GENECOC® . Santa Inês breed pedigree file (ASCCO) contained 29080 animals and genealogical data files belonging to GENECOC 904 individuals Santa Ines, 972 individuals of Somalis breed and 1372 individuals of Morada Nova breed. For the first analysis of animal Santa Inês the average pedigree integrity in the last four generations was greater than 50% and the number of full generations equivalent was equal to 4.89. The value of endogamic coefficient (F) was 0.32% and the obtained relationship coefficient was 3.1%. The generation interval was 5.75 years. For the results of the parameters bas... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Ghana is undertaking strenuous efforts to make organ transplantation a routine surgical procedure by the end of 2014. Thus far, some 20 test kidney transplants using living related organ donors have been carried out in Ghana. However the current practice of retrieval, retention and use of (deceased) human organs and tissues following pathological services is not done in accordance with the requirements of existing law. Also, the time of human death, its relationship with obtaining organs for transplant as well as the sociocultural sensitivity Ghanaians attach to death and dying are not explored in that context. Furthermore, there is no coherent examination of the various interests and rights recognised by Ghanaian law in deceased human bodies despite that fact that progress in medicine and biotechnology has recast the value in human biomaterials. Consequently, given that organ transplantation is new to Ghana; that there are no ethical, legal and professional governance frameworks specific to the sector; that there are concerns about a systemic culture of inappropriate retention and use of human body parts following pathological services; that there is illicit trade in human body parts (ova, sperm etc.); and that Ghana is undertaking test kidney transplants in the absence of specific ethical, legal and clinical guidance addressing the controversies surrounding the permissible uses of human organs and tissues; this doctoral thesis argues that examining these ethico-legal controversies within the Ghanaian socio-legal setting constitutes an essential step in the quest for context-appropriate and practically workable regulatory and governance frameworks for the emerging transplant sector in that country. Towards this end, the thesis discusses indigenous thinking around death (Post-mortem Personality Identity Renegotiation (PPIR)), ancestorship and the position of Ghanaian customary law on ownership interests and rights in deceased bodies and their parts and points policy makers to how the socio-legal peculiarities of the Ghanaian regulatory context could be exploited to achieve the dual aims of finding an adequate balance between, on the one hand, protecting individual, family and societal interests, and on the other hand, promoting the social utility aims of organ transplantation and science research. It concludes by proposing that i) the desired regulatory balance could be achieved through legal foresighting, and ii) that any such regulation must affirm the recognition of property interests in (deceased) bodies by Ghanaian customary law as that reflects the cultural, social and constitutional values of the regulatory context.

This study is an investigation into the use of an African indigenous narrative game, Masekitlana, which I used as a therapeutic medium for four children, aged eight to 12 years. The participants are of Zulu origin and culture and were affected and orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS. The game involved the participants in activities, such as hitting stones together or arranging them at will, that they felt familiar with and that enabled freer verbal expression from them. I employed a single-system research design that consisted of mixed methods approaches in the form of a qualitative thematic analysis and a quantitative graphic presentation of the results. The research design was a time series design that involved using, at four different times along the process of therapy, the measure of the Roberts-2 test (ethnic version). Therapy consisted of three sessions of standard of care therapy (therapy that was routinely being used in the psychology clinic) and three intervention therapy sessions of Masekitlana. I found the mixed-methods approach to be a practice-friendly form of research as it helped to describe the concerns of the participants in depth and enabled a concrete, quantitative conclusion about the efficacy of Masekitlana as an intervention. Syncretism of both approaches meant that qualitative data helped to clarify and confirm the findings of quantitative data and vice versa. Qualitative analysis showed how Masekitlana helped participants to express their traditional African beliefs, such as belief in the guidance of their ancestors, in the influence of bewitchment in their lives, and in the animation of the natural world. Thematic analysis also revealed the anger that participants felt resulting from the sense of disempowerment they experienced in Children’s Homes and from their separation from their biological families, and their need to sublimate this anger into future careers in the police force or alternatively to resort to crime. Thematic analysis also revealed the strategies employed by participants for coping with peer conflict in the Children’s Homes, and the challenges they face with schooling difficulties. Quantitative analysis revealed how participants progressed to complex forms of adaptive functioning and explanation of situations in their lives as a result of Masekitlana therapy. Recommendations arising out of this study are that psychologists strive to use forms of therapy that are familiar to the cultural backgrounds of indigenous children, and that training psychologists learn about the cultural beliefs of their patients and be exposed to the rituals used in traditional environments in order to understand indigenous clients. Psychologists should also be aware of the fact that, with the effects of television on children, and with present globalization and ease of international travel, children of African origin and culture are a mixture of traditional African and modern Western values. Therefore an integration of Western and indigenous forms of psychology might be considered. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted