All of our classes are identified by African Nation names. Listed below are Khepera Nations and a brief history of each nation.
Nation Names and Ancestor Names
Kindergarten Akan 
Among the Akan-speaking peoples of southern Ghana and adjacent Côte d'Ivoire ritual pottery and figurative terracottas are used in connection with funeral practices that date at least to the 1600s. Much of what we know about ancient Akan customs comes to us in the form of oral histories which have survived for several hundred years. Many of the objects that have been recovered through archaeological methods are still produced in modified form among Akan peoples today. The rise of the early Akan centralized states can be traced to the 13th century, and is likely related to the opening of trade routes established to move gold throughout the region. It was not until the end of the 17th century, however, that the grand Asante Kingdom emerged in the central forest region of Ghana, when several small states united under the Chief of Kumasi in a move to achieve political freedom from the Denkyira. http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Akan.html
1st Grade YORUBA 
The oral history of the Yoruba describes an origin myth, which tells of God lowering a chain at Ile-Ife, down which came Oduduwa, the ancestor of all people, bringing with him a cock, some earth, and a palm kernel. The earth was thrown into the water, the cocked scratched it to become land, and the kernel grew into a tree with sixteen limbs, representing the original sixteen kingdoms. The empire of Oyo arose at the end of the 15th century aided by Portuguese guns. Expansion of the kingdom is associated with the acquisition of the horse. At the end of the 18th century civil war broke out at Oyo, the rebels called for assistance to the Fulani, but the latter ended up conquering all of Oyo by the 1830s. The Fulani invasion pushed many Yoruba to the south where the towns of Ibadan and Abeokuta were founded. In the late 1880s, with the help of a British mediator, a treaty was signed between the various warring factions. Yorubaland was officially colonized by the British in 1901, but a system of indirect rule was established that mimicked the structuref Yoruba governance. http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Yoruba.html
2nd Grade KMT 
Kemetic foundation for our project is the obvious influence Kemet had on the Mediterranean civilizations outside Africa. Certain similarities between the culture of Kemet and that of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer demand investigation. While the European archaeologists have tended to argue for a Mesopotamian cradle of civilization, thus challenging the tradition wisdom that bestowed that honor upon Kemet, the case for Kemetic influence on later Mesopotamian cultures and the remainder of the 'fertile crescent' is however hardly questionable. The cultural and military hegemony of the African nation resulted in several centuries of Kemetic preeminence in world affairs. The records of antiquity are replete with references to Kemetic tutelage of the various nations: Canaanites, Israelites, Hittite, Cretans, Babylonians and Greeks to mention a few. Even after the fall of Kemet, her influence continued to be awesome. The history of the early Christianity and Islam are indelibly marked with lower Nile Valley theological themes. Indeed, when one considers the continuous flow of intellectual self consciousness, one must conclude that history as well as civilization began in the Nile Valley. http://www.africawithin.com
3rd Grade Kongo 
In the middle of the fifteenth century, the Kongo Kingdom was the most powerful of a series of states along Africa's west coast known as the Middle Atlantic kingdoms. Kongo evolved in the late fourteenth century when a group of Bakongo (Kongo people) moved south of the Congo River into northern Angola, conquering the people they found there and establishing Mbanza Kongo (now spelled Mbanza Congo), the capital of the kingdom. One of the reasons for the success of the Bakongo was their willingness to assimilate the inhabitants they conquered rather than to try to become their overlords. The people of the area thus gradually became one and were ruled by leaders with both religious and political authority. http://countrystudies.us/angola/5.htm
4th Grade Kush 
The Kingdom of Kush (or Cush) was one of the most important in the history of the African continent. Its existence was closely tied to ancient Egypt. The kingdom of Kush was situated in what is the home of the Nubian people today. http://www.stockton.edu/~gilmorew/consorti/1iafric.htm
5th Grade Songhai 
After the decline of Mali, the kingdom of Gao reasserted itelf as the major kingdom in the Sahel. A Songhai kingdom in the region of Gao had existed since the eleventh century AD, but it had come under the control of Mali in 1325. In the late fourteenth century, Gao reasserted itself with the Sunni dynasty. Songhai would not fully eclipse Mali until the reign of the Sunni king, Sonni Ali, who reigned from 1464-1492. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAFRCA/SONGHAY.HTM
6th Grade Dinka 
The Dinka are a group of several closely related peoples living in southern Sudan along both sides of the White Nile. They cover a wide area along the many streams and small rivers, concentrated in the Upper Nile province in southeast Sudan and across into southwest Ethiopia. The Dinka are one of three groups that gradually developed from the original settlers. Dinka society spread out over the area in recent centuries, perhaps around AD 1500. http://strategyleader.org/profiles/dinka.html
7th Grade Nubia 
After 295 B.C., a shift in royal capitals from Napatan to Meroe is made for unknown reasons. Some scholars hypothesize that the Kingdom of Kush wished to gain control over Egyptian trade. The problem of determining the reason for the move is made all the more difficult by the beginning of the use of a distinctly Nubian language. This language is based upon the heiroglyphs of the Egyptians, but since no version of it is spoken today and there has not been an effective translation of the language, much of what is written in this Meroitic language remains a mystery. During this time (around 23 B.C.) Egypt fell into Roman control. The Romans attempted to make Nubia pay tribute to them. This led to the first confrontation between Nubia and the Romans. The Meroitic Period proved to be one of tremendous resistance to the forces acting on Africa at the time. Much of this resistance came at the hands of the number of ruling queens during the period. http://www.angelfire.com/oh/AncientKnowledge/NUBIA.html
8th Grade Zulu 
The Zulu are best known for their beadwork and basketry. There have also been some figural sculpture questionably attributed to them. Zulu architecture is quite complex, and the dress or fashion of the Zulu has been carefully studied… The AmaZulu believe that they are the direct descendants of the patriarch Zulu, who was born to a Nguni chief in the Congo Basin area. In the 16th century the Zulu migrated southward to their present location, incorporating many of the customs of the San, including the well-known linguistic clicking sounds of the region. During the reign of King Shaka (1816-1828), the Zulu became the mightiest military force in southern Africa, increasing their land holdings from 100 square miles to 11,500. http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Zulu.html
