illustrated village including buildings and a woman

Glossary

hut pictograph
Ancestors
a previous person in the family line; often more than two generations earlier
Betrothed
engaged to be married
Blacksmith
a person who creates and repairs things made of iron
Calabash
the dried, hollow shell of a gourd
Cereal Crop
grains such as wheat, oats, rice, etc.
Colony
a territory distant from the government having control over it
Colonial period
in the case of Burkina Faso, the period of time when the country was controlled by the French
Compound
the walled area in which one extended family lives
Condiments
a seasoning for food
Cowry Shells
a mollusk shell formerly used as money in parts of Africa and South Asia
Dialect
the form or variety of a spoken language peculiar to a region, community, social group, occupation group, etc.
Domestic
tame
Drought
a prolonged period of dry weather
Fallow
land left unplanted for a period of time to make the soil richer
Fertility
the ability of animals to reproduce and the ability of land to produce crops
Fixative
a substance that makes something permanent or prevents fading
Hereditary
being passed down from generation to generation
Hierarchy
a group of persons or things arranged in order of rank, grade, class, etc.
Infertility
the inability of animals to reproduce and the inability of land to produce crops
Intermediaries
people who serve as a go-between, giving messages from one person to another
Kinship
family relationships or connections
Land-locked
entirely surrounded by land; cut off from the sea
Lineage
all the people who can trace their origin back through one common ancestor
Millet
a cereal grass whose small grain is used for food
Okra
a tall annual plant grown for its slender, ribbed, sticky green pods, which are cooked and used in soups or stews
Rural
Of a characteristic of the country (as opposed to the city)
Savanna
a treeless plain or a grassland characterized by scattered trees
Smelting
to melt ore for the purpose of separating the impurities from the pure metal
Sorghum
a grass grown for grain, syrup, fodder, etc.; also the syrup created from the juices of the grass
Staple food
the chief food of an area
Tubers
the short, thickened part of an underground plant stem; yams and potatoes are tubers for example
Votive objects
objects used as a mediation between the living and the dead when asking for protection, prosperity, favors, good health, etc.