The Famous Trickster of African Culture, Re-introducing Gizo the Spider.

Folktales are stories passed down orally from generation to generation. The authors are usually unknown and the stories talk about everyday life.

 The trickster tales are short imaginative narratives that usually use an anthropomorphic animal that has magical powers and is characterised as a compendium of opposites. Trickster is an ambiguous and anomalous character.

The trickster figure is found all over the world. A good trickster should be mischievous, humorous and cunning and should have the ability to change between animal and human form.

 Gizo is the human acting spider who uses his cunning to overcome the best of bigger and strongest animals including humans. He is the king of tricksters in Hausa folktales. He comes from the northern part of Nigeria and speaks Hausa. Gizo has many stories to his name. He is married to Koki. He is usually a villain to the Hausa people. He is cunning, shrewd, greedy, wise and sometimes foolish.

He is known by many names across the world.

Gizo- Hausa tribe of West Africa.

Kweku or Kwaku Anansi- Ashanti and related Akan peoples of West Africa.

Ture-  Zande People Of Central Africa.

B’anansi-Suriname.

Aunt Nancy- in South Carolina America.

Annancy or Anancy- Jamaica, Grenada, Costa Rica, Coloumbia, Nicaragua.

 Gizo is not known to many children, in the past a famous song had been written about Gizo and his wife Koki.

Some of the folktales written about Gizo include :

The spider pays his debts.

The spider ,the old woman and the wonderful bull.

How the spider ate the hyena- cubs foods.

The spider, the guinea fowl and the francolin.

The greedy spider and the buds.

The spider, the Hyena and the Corn.

How the spider outwitted the Snake.

The Snake and the Dove outwit the Spider.

The SpIder has a feast.

The spider outwitted by the Tortoise

The greedy spider and the birds.

Spider deals with famine.

Botorimi and the Spider.

 Anansi proves he is the oldest.

Anansi owns all stories that are told.

Anansi borrows money.

Anansi plays dead.

How debt came to Ashanti.

The spider usually uses his wit to gain wisdom and to overcome his larger foes. The spider is creative in his ingenuity of thinking outside the box.

 Trickster tales help us to understand human behaviour and they teach us to think on our feet. They show us how to differentiate between the good and bad.