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Kwanzaa*

The Seven Princilples in Folktales

Here are some stories I've chosen or adapted for use in discussing the seven principles with children.

UMOJA - Unity - Anansi and his Sons

KUJICHAGULIA - Self-Determination - The Three Tests

UJIMA - Collective Work and Responsibility - The Great Drum

UJAMAA - Cooperative Economics - The Feast

NIA - Purpose - The Name of the Tree

KUUMBA - Creativity - Anansi Writes a Song

IMANI - Faith - Damon and Pythias (While not an African Folktale, has always been one of my favorite stories and it demonstrates the principle very well.)

To download sheet music for my Kwanza Song, click here

To download an MP3 file for my Kwanza Song, click here

*The word Kwanza refers to the first fruits of harvest. When Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga and members of his organization held the first Kwanza Celebration in the mid sixties. there were seven children in the group. They decided to change the spelling to Kwanzaa to give each child a special place in the ceremony. So if there is an official spelling it would be Kwanzaa.