Ethnomathematics Snapshots [Previous Snapshot | Contents | Next Snapshot]
Sona are networks that are drawn in the sand by the Tchokwe people of Angola. They are drawn without lifting the finger or retracing any line segments. Singly they are called lusona.
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| Some sona depict pictures. |  Leopard with Five Cubs |
Sona are often used as a memory device for telling a story.
The Hunter and the Dog
An old story teller said that a certain hunter, named Tshipinda, went on a hunt leading the dog Kawa, and caught a goat. Upon returning to the village, the hunter divided the meat with Calala, the owner of the dog. Kawa was left with the bones.
After some time, Tshipinda again asked for the services of the dog, but the latter refused to help him. He told the hunter to take Calala since it was with him that he was accustomed to dividing the meat.
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The Tchokwe Story of the Beginning of the World The figure at the top is God, at the left is the Sun, at the right is the Moon and at the bottom is a human. The lusona represents the path to God. One day the Sun went to visit God. God gave the Sun a chicken and said, "Return in the morning before you leave." In the morning the chicken crowed and woke the Sun. When the Sun went to God, God said, "You did not eat the chicken I gave you for supper. You may keep the chicken but return here every day." That is why the Sun circles the earth and rises every morning. The Moon also went to visit God and was given a chicken. In the morning the chicken crowed and woke the Moon. Again God said, "You did not eat the chicken I gave you for supper. You may keep the chicken but return here every twenty-eight day." That is why the Moon cycle is twenty-eight days long. The human also went to visit God and was given a chicken. But the human was hungry after such a long journey and ate part of the chicken for supper. The next morning the Sun was already high in the sky when the human awoke, ate the rest of the chicken, and hurried to see God. God said, "I did not hear the chicken crow this morning." The human replied fearfully, "I was very hungry and ate it." "That is all right," said God, "but listen: you know that the Sun and Moon have been here, but neither of them killed the chicken I gave them. That is why they themselves will never die. But you killed yours, and so you must die as it did. But at your death you must return here." And so it is. |
References
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