▁sh irk , ▁the ▁sin ▁of ▁id ol at ry . ▁ ▁Col onial ism ▁and ▁academ ia ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁six teenth ▁century , ▁European ▁soci eties ▁began ▁to ▁conquer ▁and ▁colon ise ▁other ▁contin ents ▁around ▁the ▁world , ▁and ▁as ▁they ▁did ▁so ▁they ▁applied ▁European ▁concepts ▁of ▁" mag ic " ▁and ▁" w itch craft " ▁to ▁practices ▁found ▁among ▁the ▁pe op les ▁whom ▁they ▁encountered . ▁Usually , ▁these ▁European ▁colonial ists ▁regarded ▁the ▁n atives ▁as ▁primit ives ▁and ▁sav ages ▁whose ▁belief ▁systems ▁were ▁di abol ical ▁and ▁needed ▁to ▁be ▁er adic ated ▁and ▁replaced ▁by ▁Christian ity . ▁Because ▁Europe ans ▁typically ▁viewed ▁these ▁non - Europe an ▁pe op les ▁as ▁being ▁mor ally ▁and ▁intellect ually ▁inferior ▁to ▁themselves , ▁it ▁was ▁expected ▁that ▁such ▁soci eties ▁would ▁be ▁more ▁pr one ▁to ▁pract icing ▁magic . ▁Women ▁who ▁pract iced ▁traditional ▁r ites ▁were ▁label led ▁" w itch es " ▁by ▁the ▁Europe ans . ▁ ▁In ▁various ▁cases , ▁these ▁imported ▁European ▁concepts ▁and ▁terms ▁under w ent ▁new ▁transformations ▁as ▁they ▁merged ▁with ▁ind igen ous ▁concepts . ▁In ▁West ▁Africa , ▁for ▁instance , ▁Portuguese ▁trav ellers ▁introduced ▁their ▁term ▁and ▁concept ▁of ▁the ▁fe iti ç aria ▁( o ften ▁translated ▁as ▁sor c ery ) ▁and ▁the ▁fe iti ço ▁( sp ell ) ▁to ▁the ▁native ▁population , ▁where ▁it ▁was ▁transformed ▁into ▁the ▁concept ▁of ▁the ▁fet ish . ▁When ▁later