e summaries for Part 1 – Learning Unit 1 to 6

Learning Unit 1 – Go through the Diagram on page 4 it is repeated on page 10 and very important. Learning Unit 2 – General Indigenous law refers to the law of the Bantu Speakers in Africa. Indigenous law dates back to before people could read and write. The legal history was passed on from one generation to the next by telling stories. Pre – colonial era Legal history and oral traditions in pre-colonial Africa Until 7 decades ago no written record of the Indigenous Law it can therefore be said that it started as Oral Traditions. It was passed on through songs, legends and epic poems which was transmitted from one generation to the next. Historical research believed that you cannot only base history on written documents as unwritten historical facts could be distorted when recounted orally and human memory alone was regarded as unreliable. The objections to the pre-literate African History was overcome by: 1. Making use of an interdisciplinary approach by using source material of other disciplines such as ethnography and archaeology; 2. By critical analysis and comparison of various oral accounts to substantiate the information. Today indigenous law was to some extent been recorded through legalisation, codifications and restatement. The colonial period Indigenous law was