The Others!

The "others" was our main topic and discussion this week. The "others" are defined as people of foreign places, most like of a Caucasian decent. They are depicted in many ways through different cultures in Africa through their art. One of the cultures I would like to focus on is the Sapi and how they depict the "others."

First lets talk about what the "others" are in the Sapi culture. The "others," to the Sapi are the Portuguese because they are the people who came from the sea. This is significant because they believe that the "others" from the other world come from the sea and come back as white people. The reason the people are seen to come back as white instead of black is because white is associated with death and the other world. This makes sense then to why they saw the Portuguese as the other people because the fit the description of how the saw the "others," from the world beyond. But I also must state that the Sapi are the one culture that had little or to no interaction with the Portuguese. They got most of their information about these people from stories that got passed down to them. So their images of the Portuguese are somewhat altered which I will go more in depth how this is significant later.

Most of the Sapi items that depict the the "others" are through their ivory salt cellars. These items depict many of their beliefs of how they saw or represent them. One of the things that could be on these salt cellars is a person in a bent knee position, reason for this is because it represents the way they bury their dead. Also another item that maybe on these salt cellars is a serpent which is seen as a water spirit to the Sapi. Crocodiles may also appear on these because they stand for wealth. Another animal depicted on these salt cellars are birds because the are seen to be communicators between the two worlds. Birds are also able to talk in their language and human language which makes them good communicators within these worlds. The egg shape of the salt cellars are another important feature of these items. The reason for this is because the egg shape signifies fertility and where life all comes from. The Janus forms are also present too. These are double head forms which represent people with extraordinary powers. These are just some of the items that could show up on these ivory forms. There are many more objects that could show up. But all these items that I listed here are significant in the representation of the "others" or the Portuguese, such as the serpent is important because the "others" are seen to come from the sea and the serpent is a water spirit which obviously relates to water. The bent-knee positions of people are important for the representation of the Portuguese because the "others" are closely related to death and this how they bury their people. Basically, for each meaning of each of these items that can be depicted on these salt cellars is tied in somehow to how the saw the Portuguese and their beliefs of the "others."

As I stated earlier, the Sapi never interacted with the Portuguese or if they did it was very little. They got told what they looked like and what not. This is a significant fact because the Sapi depiction of the Portuguese would be slightly altered because they barely or never saw them. It's kind of like the phone game by the end of the game the saying has been switched around to say something totally different. This is kind of applies to the Sapi because they altered the images to what they may have thought the Portuguese looked like so a lot of the items still included their African ideas and looks. An example of this is the face features of the people depicted on them. They showed more African like features in the face then it did for a Caucasian person.

Basically this shows that each culture is going to adapt their beliefs and images on what they see or hear. They are going to alter these items to match up with their beliefs within their societies. So it goes back to the whole idea that cultures are going to adapt items and integrate what they pull out of a culture.