Chapter 1 introduces the study by means of its aim, scope, methodology and terminology. It also hosts summaries of all the folktales that are analysed in this study. Chapter 2 is a study of parenthood and its portrayal in Zulu folktales. Motherhood and fatherhood will be scrutinised separately. Chapter 3 concentrates on girl characters as siblings, brides and companions to old men. Chapter 4 analyses boy characters as herd boys, villains, tricksters and companions to old women. Chapter 5 concentrates on the status of the Zulu folktale. The influence of urbanisation, gender, and the media will receive attention. The lessons that folktales teach will be noted. Chapter 6 concludes and summarises this study and hosts recommendations on the promotion of Zulu folktales / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

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Fostering collaboration among people of diverse ethnicities is vital to improving our relationships with Nature and with each other. All knowledges known to humans have their limits, including Western scientific knowledge. This study argues that Indigenous elders have a wealth of nature-based wisdom which is urgently needed. The Thirteen International Indigenous Grandmothers have been sharing their wisdom with the world and meeting them inspired this work. Two Grandmothers, one Mazatec and member of the Thirteen Grandmothers who follows in the healing tradition of curandera María Sabina, the other Taíno (Caribbean Arawak), and several members of their families in Mexico and in Cuba kindly agreed to be research participants so that I could bring attention to their gifts and share with the world. Embodying their ancient wisdom they do not see themselves as separate from Nature but as integral part of her. Their relationships to all beings, humans, animals, plants, minerals, and spiritual entities, are imbued with love and care. They can be role models for people who have forgotten the most basic premise of respect, reciprocity, responsibility, and empathy for all our relations. The methodologies underlying this investigation are Indigenous. I used strategies of inquiry such as storytelling, participant observation, and reflexive self study. Relationality and accountability are its pillars. Being of European descent, doing research with Indigenous elders required great vigilance on my part. I had to challenge my own conventional Western views and question the truths I am surrounded with to gain an understanding of my research participants’ worldview. Even with the best of intentions all I could hope for was an approximation. As I immersed myself into the worlds of my participants the great significance of plants as part of their physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing became evident. Maize, tobacco, and the plant teachers cohoba and psilocybe mushrooms were, and for the most part still are, essential and closely knit into their cultural fabric. Coming from a background where the written word is placed high above the spoken one, and Nature is seen as separate to us, it is important to acknowledge that much rich understanding of the world is beyond pen and paper, even beyond words. / Graduate / 0727 / gabriela@uvic.ca

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The US Bureau of the Census (1999) projected that by 2004, 14 million people in sub-Saharan Africa will develop full blown AIDS, making this region by far the largest disease burden in the world (World Health Organization, 2002). The United Nations AIDS Programme judged South Africa to have the leading number of people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide (World Health Organisation, 2002). To date there has been extensive research conducted on the socio-economic impacts of HIV/AIDS on families in Africa. However an area of investigation that has remained largely underreported is the inquiry into the psychological impacts of HIV/AIDS on elderly caregivers. In African families older women increasingly have to provide care to their adult children with AIDS and their orphaned grandchildren. However few research studies have assessed the experience of parental caregiving and its psychological impacts on these women. This qualitative research study hypothesised that the role of primary parental caregiver in fact causes a range of psychologically distressing states, which serve to compromise the psychological well-being of these caregivers. To investigate this hypothesis three Xhosa speaking women living in informal settlements in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were selected for the study. The women were interviewed by means of semi-structured interviews, which consisted of questions related to their caregiving experiences, their experiences of loss, their choice of coping strategies, the role of support networks and their experiences of foster care responsibilities. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using a grounded hermeneutic approach. The research results confirmed the working hypothesis. The research revealed that although it was considered culturally appropriate for older women to care for their children and grandchildren, their caregiver roles caused significant psychological distress. Their distress was related to: emotional and physical exhaustion, complicated grief reactions and ongoing emotional and physical upheaval related to foster care responsibilities. Based on the results, the research recommendations emphasised the need for continual awareness of the psychological implications of caregiving for older African women with the aim to preserve their capacity to function as the primary caring resource to families struck by HIV/AIDS.