An abridged version of the 1937 an-thropological study of the Azande of the southern Sudan, the theoretical insights of which have proven increasingly influential among both anthropologists and others

Tshiremba, the great witchdoctor, has a ruthless scheme to subjugate the Zulus of kwaZulu — Natal to his own ends in the “New” South Africa. Dr. Philemon Thlabati, is a thorn in his side, and Tshiremba is not above using ancient witchcraft to destroy his enemies. But the life of Philemon Thlabati is also influenced by powerful forces; and centuries old Zulu stories foretell of a destiny that must be fulfilled. Philemon and his friends set out on a quest to solve the mystery of a lost tribe; and along the way they find adventure, unexpected romance, and the legacy of a princess. The setting for this tale is the beautiful rolling hills, mountains and rivers of Zululand, South Africa — Shaka Zulu’s former domain. There, an epic battle between good and evil is fought with clubs, spears and cunning; and by summoning the precocious spirits of the ancestors.

"This work makes a much-needed contribution to teaching and learning about the various forms of religious belief and action in our world." - Kevin J. Christiano, University of Notre Dame

Few will dispute the profound influence that African American music and movement has had in American and world culture. Dancing Many Drums explores that influence through a groundbreaking collection of essays on African American dance history, theory, and practice. In so doing, it reevaluates "black" and "African American " as both racial and dance categories. Abundantly illustrated, the volume includes images of a wide variety of dance forms and performers, from ring shouts, vaudeville, and social dances to professional dance companies and Hollywood movie dancing. Bringing together issues of race, gender, politics, history, and dance, Dancing Many Drums ranges widely, including discussions of dance instruction songs, the blues aesthetic, and Katherine Dunham’s controversial ballet about lynching, Southland. In addition, there are two photo essays: the first on African dance in New York by noted dance photographer Mansa Mussa, and another on the 1934 "African opera," Kykunkor, or the Witch Woman.

As soon as Europeans set foot on African soil, they looked for the equivalents of their kings – and found them. The resulting misunderstandings have lasted until this day. Based on ethnography-driven regional comparison and a critical re-examination of classic monographs on some forty cultural groups, this volume makes the arresting claim that across equatorial Africa the model of rule has been medicine – and not the colonizer’s despotic administrator, the missionary’s divine king, or Vansina’s big man. In a wide area populated by speakers of Bantu and other languages of the Niger-Congo cluster, both cult and dynastic clan draw on the fertility shrine, rainmaking charm and drum they inherit.

Two traditionally divided strains of American dance, Modern Dance and Negro Dance, are linked through photographs, reviews, film, and oral history, resulting in a unique view of the history of American dance.