ABSTRACT
Introduction 235 Sources and resources 238 Indigenous religions 238
Islam and Christianity 239
The missionary impact 240 Interactions with modernity 242 Ancestors, elders and community 243
Masquerade, spirits and embodiment 245
Spirit possession and cults of affliction 248
Sacred kingship 250
Witchcraft and the ambivalence of power 252
Africanization of the world religions 253
Recent renewal and innovation 256 Looking to the future 260 Summary 261 Key terms 262 Further reading 263
conditions produced by colonialism. Localized forms of religious expression are often distinguished as ‘traditional’ or ‘indigenous’ in contrast to these world religions to reflect their claims to precolonial antecedents and legitimation (despite the fact that some may have originated in the twentieth century). These indigenous religions include a complex and variable range of social phenomena which do not easily match or correspond to Western institutional and conceptual categories of the religious, political, economic, judicial and social. Whilst the focus of this chapter is on indigenous religions their range in Africa is such that it will only be possible to consider a few salient regional examples that illustrate major themes, issues and debates.
