African culture on greetings and hand gestures

Greeting people in Africa is one of the most important things you can do.  A quick “hello,” paired with a handshake is a sufficient way to make a positive first impression with anyone. 

(Greeting is a way to address the existence of others)

Handshakes

African countries have their own variations on the traditional handshake. A handshake should be firm and is often prolonged.

 In Namibia, thumbs are locked in the middle of the handshake. 

In Liberia, people slap hands and then execute a complex finger snap. In east and southern Africa, holding your right elbow with your left hand during the handshake is a sign of respect.

DON’T Offer a limp grip. Do not pull your hand away (African handshakes can go on a long time). If you are male, do not try to shake a woman’s hand unless she extends hers.

African cultural values are based on a foundation of the past and present, a leading reason why elders are so well respected.  Always acknowledge an elder, let them ask questions, and during mealtime elders should be served first.

(Ogechi is very disrespectful and rebellious)

https://migrationology.com/african-cultural-values-travel-africa-17/

rarely use left hand- considered dirty and impolite

prolonged eye contact is threatening- look slightly over to the person

do not expose the soles of your feet

 Rather, African people would lower their head, look down to the floor (or somewhere else to the lower left or right side), while speaking to a person of respect.

Cooling down is expressed by the gesture of “f’ọwọ́ wọ̀’nú”, putting one hand (“ọwọ́”) on the chest and “letting it fall” (“wọ̀”) downwards to the belly. In the same direction points the verb “farabalẹ̀”, literally “put the body touch the ground” it means “to calm down, to be patient”. A double faced person in Yorùbá is a “a person with two mouths”, “ẹlẹ́nu méjì”, being burdened by something literally means “yín lọ́rùn”, having the weight rest on the neck (as loads are carried on the head). 

http://www.orishaimage.com/blog/yoruba-gestures

Kneeling down (women) or prostrating (men) is considered the basic form of greeting. 

ÌKÚNLẸ̀ (KNEELING, FOR WOMEN)

Òrìṣà figures in wooden statues, even the ones for male Òrìṣà like Ṣàngó or Èṣù, are often carved in this sacred position. It is related to the power of women, abundance, reproduction and receiving. This is (or was) a posture to give birth among the Yorùbá women. 

 The right hand, “ọwọ́ ọ̀tún”, is used for positive actions like eating, drinking, receiving. The left hand, “ọwọ́ òsì”, is reserved for more passive tasks and in idiomatic expressions is called a “spoiled and pampered” hand, like in “ó bajẹ́ bí ọwọ́ òsì”. Dirty tasks (in the bathroom) should be performed with the left hand, as we know it from Islamic cultures, but also spiritually dangerous tasks. 

GBÀ ÌKÍNI, GBÀ Ẹ̀BẸ̀ (ACCEPT THE GREETING AND PLEADING)

TẸ́WỌ́ (SPREADING THE HANDS)

One might clap the hands together (or not) and open them up, arms bent, holding the hands in front of the body, horizontal or a bit more vertical, with the palms facing upwards or a little bit towards the body. This is a pleading gesture that shows the need or want to receive something, literally “into your hands”. With empty and open hands, the person is asking for mercy, almost like a beggar in the street would do it with one hand. This is often used in rituals, e.g. while consulting Ifá, and shows the status of pleading or begging for something, asking for help while being open to receive the answers to come, faithfully. In a variation one hand can also be placed on top of the other, both palms remain facing upwards. A variation with the palms of the hands in a vertical position in front of the face is more related to Islamic traditions.

The difference comes in when a person is a child. In this case, the child has to bow their head and the adult would place their right hand on their heads.

Family

For black South Africans, the structural pattern of the family is even more variable depending on the tribe to which they belong. Some households are multigenerational while others are horizontal (in which men and their families live in the oldest brother’s household). Furthermore, some tribes condone polygamy, offering a different family pattern entirely. In others, there is no concept of a family unit. One man in the community is considered the ‘King’ and rules as the patriarch. Men then have children with any woman they choose, and those children are raised communally or by their blood-related mother. These tribal orientations give a more communal understanding of kinfolk for many black South Africans. Like the blood-related family does for other cultures, the tribe gives emotional and financial support to the individual, provides a network, and defines one’s responsibility.

There is also a specific greeting between children and elders, where the child must be the one to initiate the greeting by asking ‘Shikamoo’ and the older person has to reply with ‘Marahaba’ before they can go ahead and find out more about the other person.

According to language professors, the word Shikamoo comes from shikamu, which refers to nashika miguu yako (I touch your feet), which was an ancient form of greeting between Bantu elders and the youth. The response, Marahaba’ is derived from Arabic, and means ‘I give you my blessing’.

In some places in the country, people would greet each other using totems, depending on their totem and their level of influence.  In some cases, parents would be greeted with the name of their firstborn children.

https://face2faceafrica.com/article/greeting-styles-and-gestures-you-need-to-learn-when-you-visit-these-african-communities/7

Apart from being time-determined, greeting was also situational. It could be that one would be working in the field, and to acknowledge the fact, a passer-by would say “Vashumi!”/ “Those at Work!” Meeting somebody from a fruitful hunting excursion, one could say “Vadzimba!”/ “ The Hunter(s)!”

greet by status