bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Migration and Expansion of the Tiv
Authors: Bohannan Paul
Published: April 2006

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One of the most obvious social situations in the middle Benue Valley is the expansion in all directions of the Tiv, who number some 800,000 and are the largest pagan tribe in Northern Nigeria. One of the most puzzling aspects of Tiv expansion has been that, although it is obviously connected in many areas with land shortage and accompanying economic factors, it is precisely in those areas in which land shortage is least severe that the rate of migration appears to be most rapid.

Centrifugal expansion is intimately associated with the social and political structure of the Tiv people—is, in fact, a facet of it. In order to analyse this association, and incidentally to explain the paradox of the rate of expansion, it is necessary to divide the movement into two sorts: expansion and disjunction. Expansion refers to that type of movement which leads to the enlargement in area of a lineage's territory. It may eventually lead to a change in geographical location of the lineage territory; it does not affect the over-all juxtaposition of lineage areas. Disjunction, on the other hand, characteristically brings about a separation of groups in space and affects not only the geographical position of a lineage territory, but also the juxtaposition of lineage territories.

The first section of this article will set forth briefly the relationship between movements of lineages, territorial organization, and the structure of political lineages. The second section will examine expansion; the third, disjunction. The fourth will show that the two types of migration are both present in all parts of the country, and that it is the primacy of one or the other which gives rise to an apparent difference in rate of migration.
The Social Context of Cewa Witch Beliefs
Authors: Marwick M. G.
Published: April 2006

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Most Cewa believe that certain persons are witches (mfiti, sing, and pl.) who impoverish, harm, or kill their fellow beings by using destructive magic and by performing supernatural feats of various kinds. That they are greatly preoccupied with this belief and its various implications is shown by the frequency with which they attribute death and misfortune to witchcraft, and by their related tendency to take precautions against possible attacks by ‘witches’, e.g. by having their bodies and huts magically protected.
A Preliminary Note on a New Series of Pottery Figures from Northern Nigeria
Authors: Fagg Bernard
Published: April 2006

The archaeological material described in this note is the result, like many other finds, of mining operations. Other collections of prehistoric human and animal figures have been found in Nigeria, usually in circumstances offering little evidence of their origin: these specimens, though there is as yet no concrete evidence of their age, origin, and cultural significance, have come to light in conditions which give good reason to hope that the further investigations contemplated will reveal associated evidence contributing to the solution of some of these problems.
Notes on Kambatta of Southern Ethiopia
Authors: Leslau Wolf
Published: April 2006

The Cushitic group of languages belonging to Oriental Sidamo is spoken to the west, south, and partly to the east of the Gurage domain. The Sidamo languages and dialects are insufficiently known and, with a few exceptions, rather inadequately described. Those known as belonging to this group are Sidamo, Gudella (called Hadiya by the Ṭəmbarro, Kontoma by the Alaba), Kambatta, Ṭəmbarro (a close dialect of Kambatta), Halaba or Alaba, Darasa, and Qabenna (called also Womba by the natives of Qabenna, and Adiya by the Galla). It seems doubtful to me whether Moreno is right in considering Burǧi as belonging to this group.
Marriage Customs among the Barolong
Authors: Matthews Z. K.
Published: April 2006

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The Barolong belong to the Western cluster of the Sotho group of the Bantu-speaking tribes of South Africa. The Western Sotho, who are commonly called the Tswana, are scattered over a considerable portion of South Africa, including the whole of Bechuanaland Protectorate, the portion of the Cape Province known as British Bechuanaland, the western Transvaal and a portion of the Orange Free State. Although the Barolong are to be found mainly in British Bechuanaland, they are in the peculiar position of being strongly represented in all the political divisions of Southern Africa referred to above, for they have important settlements in the Lobatsi district of Bechuanaland Protectorate; in the Lichtenburg district of the Transvaal, and in the Thaba Nchu district of the Orange Free State as well as in the Vryburg and Mafeking districts of British Bechuanaland (Cape Province).
Nutrition in East Africa
Authors: Culwick G. M.
Published: April 2006

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Broadly speaking it is true to say that the Colonial Empire woke up all of a sudden, some eight years ago, to the fact that it was faced with nutritional problems of considerable magnitude. In 1936, as part of the outcome of a debate on world nutrition at Geneva in the previous September, the British Colonial Secretary asked for a report from each colony on the state of nutrition within its borders. The chorus of woe evoked by this was startling in its unanimity and showed that the little heeded scientific voices of the preceding years had after all been saying something of the greatest importance.
Food as a Basis for International Co-Operation
Authors: Mead Margaret
Published: April 2006

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In this paper I propose to describe in some detail how the particular mechanism in which I am interested in the United States is working inside the food situation, and then to go on from that to a consideration of the more general problems involved.

The United States began a nutrition campaign just before the war. It is, perhaps, an interesting example of the different effects of timing in the two countries that so many of the measures which we took in connexion with nutrition among our own people were associated with the period of the depression, and with measures of recovery from the depression. In Britain the same kind of measures have been associated with the war, and have been subsequent to the height of the British war effort; they are therefore associated with the crest of a successful war effort, whereas we associate them with the less uplifting feeling of coping with the depression.
Numeration in the Languages of Guiné
Authors: Wilson W. A. A.
Published: April 2006

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During a recent survey of the non-Mande languages of Guiné (Portuguese Guinea), the writer took notes on the systems of numeration, and observed some of the ways of counting and indicating totals on the fingers and hands. It was found that a comparison of the numeral stems gives a fair index of the degree of lexical affinity between any of the languages.
A Prefix ḥ in Egyptian, Modern South Arabian, and Hausa
Authors: Leslau Wolf
Published: April 2006

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The language families of Semitic, Egyptian, Berber, and Cushitic are generally recognized as belonging to the Hamito-Semitic group. As far back as 1844 Hausa was also occasionally compared with one or another language family of Hamito-Semitic or with Hamito-Semitic as a whole. I should like to mention only the studies of R. Lepsius, A. H. Sayce, L. Reinisch, F. Lexa, G. A. Barton, and particularly W. Vycichl, and recently J. Greenberg. Personally, I have no definite opinion on the relation between Hausa and the Hamito-Semitic group. However, in the course of my work on various Semitic problems I have come across a feature that occurs in Ancient Egyptian, Modern South Arabian, and Hausa. I have in mind the prefixed element ḥ that occurs in the above-mentioned languages and that so far has defied any explanation, at least in the Modern South Arabian group.
War-Towns in Sierra Leone: a Study in Social Change
Authors: Siddle D. J.
Published: April 2006

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One of the most interesting features of the cultural landscape of Sierra Leone is the very large number of settlements which still bear the marks of the long period of anarchy which preceded the colonial era. This is reflected both in the choice of sites and in the internal structures of settlements. Such influences are still to be found despite the impermanence of mud and wattle buildings and the sixty years which have elapsed since pacification. These settlements are interesting not only by the fact of their survival, but also for their wide distribution and their small size. There are probably more than a thousand defensive villages in the country, an average of one for every twenty-eight square miles, and reaching a maximum density of one for every four square miles in parts of Mendeland in the south. Most of them have populations of between two hundred and a thousand inhabitants. It is the aim of this paper to reconstruct the original character of these ‘war-towns’ as they were described by nineteenth- century explorers; to attempt an explanation of their wide distribution; and finally to show how social and economic changes are gradually causing a breakdown of this nucleic and defensive rural settlement pattern.
A Comparison of African Kingdoms
Authors: Vansina J.
Published: April 2006

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It has long been recognized that there is a distinctive category of African political systems, which is characterized by centralized authority. The preliminary analysis and classification of African kingdoms proposed in this article are based on comparison of most of the States in Central, South, and East Africa. Only a few data on West African kingdoms have been incorporated, but we feel that the classification will prove generally valid for West Africa as well.
Economic Development and the Heritage of Slavery in the Sudan Republic
Authors: McLoughlin Peter F. M.
Published: April 2006

A. Introduction—General

This paper suggests that important economic problems in the Republic of the Sudan (the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan until independence in 1956) arise from attitudes associated with the heritage of slavery. After briefly outlining the nature of indigenous slavery, and the essential interrelatedness of its economic and social characteristics, it uses primarily official documents to analyse the economic effects of slavery abolition in the northern Sudan. Present-day economic ramifications of the slavery heritage are then discussed.
Matriliny and Pawnship in Central Africa
Authors: Douglas Mary
Published: April 2006

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New field material should give an opportunity for reappraising old research. Thus Father de Sousberghe's latest report on the Pende (1963) stimulates a radical revision of assumptions about Central African ethnography. Is there a recognizable type of kinship organization which we can call ‘Central African’? The question was first raised by Gluckman in his introduction to The Lamba Village before any intensive field-work had been reported. At that stage his answer was that the typical Central African social system was characterized by lack of corporate lineages such as are found among the southern Bantu. These were the early days of post-war anthropology, and since he was using a negative criterion, he denned the sense in which he used ‘lineage’ as a genealogical structure whose members shared corporate rights and responsibilities. Before the ink was dry, however, Clyde Mitchell was sending in the first reports on the Yao, who are culturally much akin to the Maravi peoples, Nyanja and Cewa, among whom they live. According to Mitchell, the Yao were organized in distinct corporate matrilineal lineages. Gluckman did not tear up his introduction and write a new one. In an addendum he hoped that the unexpected discovery of corporate descent groups among the Yao would stimulate further inquiry.
Occupational Prestige and Social Status among Urban Africans in Northern Rhodesia
Authors: Mitchell J. Clyde , Epstein A. L.
Published: April 2006

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A significant aspect of the newly developed towns of Central and Southern Africa is the degree to which social relationships in certain situations are being organized in terms of social strata. It is not always easy, however, to secure data on the nature of the system of stratification—there are, in fact, very few substantial studies available. One method of approach, which promises to be fruitful, is through the study of the ranking of occupations by their social prestige. This method has the advantage that the techniques are fairly simple. They can be applied at successive times, thus yielding some measure of change, and they can be applied at different places, thus yielding comparative material.
!Kung Bushman Religious Beliefs
Authors: Marshall Lorna
Published: April 2006

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My purpose in this paper is to describe some of the religious beliefs held currently by the !Kung Bushmen of the interior bands of the Nyae Nyae region of South West Africa. I shall limit the paper to a description of their concepts of the gods, the problem of evil, supplication, the spirits of the dead, and the ceremonial curing dance, but leave for another paper a more detailed account of medicine men, how they become medicine men, and more about their practices and beliefs. We gathered the information which I present principally on our expeditions of 1952–3 and 1955.
Yoruba Responses to the Fear of Death
Authors: Morton-Williams Peter
Published: April 2006

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The certainty of the individual's extinction as a human being contradicts so outrageously the value and effort of living that most cultures minimize the confrontation with this certainty, or cushion it with assurances of some form of immortality. I am going to describe some of the ways in which the Yoruba express their fear of death, and the response they make to it, especially through their traditional religion, which is still the religion of a good proportion of the five million Yoruba in South-West Nigeria and Southern Dahomey. These examples show the wide range of their attempts to cope with this recurrent fear.
Aspects of Nyoro Symbolism
Authors: Beattie John
Published: April 2006

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Like other African peoples, Banyoro have a rich and complex symbolism, and there are numerous references to aspects of this in both older and more recent writings about Nyoro traditional culture. But until the publication in a recent issue of this journal of a paper on the significance of right and left in Nyoro symbolic classification by my colleague Dr. Rodney Needham (Needham, 1967), no systematic analysis of Nyoro symbolic categories, or even of the more important of them, had yet been attempted. I hope myself to take up this theme in a forthcoming monograph on Nyoro ritual, though I believe that to do it justice will require some further detailed inquiry through the Runyoro language in Bunyoro itself. In the meantime Needham's interesting essay, based on most of the available written sources, is a significant contribution to the subject. There is certainly much research to be done on the symbolism of right and left and of other complementary oppositions in African cultures, and it is to be hoped that his pioneering efforts will stimulate further researches in these fields.
The Hunter in Igala Legends of Origin
Authors: Boston J. S.
Published: April 2006

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Many local communities in Igala tell the story of their origin in the form of either a clan or a lineage pedigree going back to a founder who is described as a hunter by profession. Typically in these legends the founder is said to have come to the locality from elsewhere and to have found it so good for hunting that he decided to remain and make a new home. His hunting camp becomes a permanent settlement in whose affairs the hunter's family play a leading role, and after his death his descendants form the dominant clan or lineage in that area. The theme of the actual arrival and settlement of the hunter is often woven into stories telling of his hunting exploits and describing the unusual success that he had in the hunting field.
The Iconology of the Yoruba Edan Ogboni
Authors: Williams Denis
Published: April 2006

Introduction

The anthropomorphic brass staff of the Yoruba Ogboni Society—the edan Ogboni—holds a position of isolation and aesthetic distinction within the Yoruba plastic. Whereas traditional wood-carving is humanistic in its identification with life, is spontaneous, descriptive, and experimental in idiom, Ogboni art is iconic—archetypal, hieratic, and conservative, a manifestation of eternal principle. Where the formal theme of Yoruba carving is abstract, dynamic, architectonic, Ogboni art is absolute, static, and linear. Frequently the edan Ogboni is little more than high relief—a non-sculptural projection of drawing in wax. Though art associated with Orisha is often religious it is not generally held to contain a spirit, and is never worshipped as a spirit. Orisha art is most typically symbolic of the spirit, where Ogboni art, in contrast, is sacred and worshipped as the actual vessel of the spirit. This difference in function, besides affecting the resulting form, determines the attitude of the artist to the object rendered. Yoruba wood-carving is therefore free to be naturalistic and spontaneous, where Ogboni art is rigidly traditional and conservative.
Marriage among !Kung Bushmen
Authors: Marshall Lorna
Published: April 2006

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Because within the area we indicate by shading on the map the !Kung Bushmen intermarry among themselves, by custom and preference, members of the Harvard Peabody Smithsonian Kalahari Expeditions needed a convenient way of referring to that area as a unit and arbitrarily called it the region of Nyae Nyae.

Nyae Nyae is a corruption of the !Kung name //Nua!ei. The name Nyae Nyae refers strictly to a group of pans in South West Africa (S.W.A.) centred approximately at Gautscha Pan at about 19° 48′ 30″ S, 20° 34′ 36″ E. We extend the application of the name to an area around the pans of about 10,000 square miles, lying for the most part in S.W.A. but reaching some miles over the border of the Bechuanaland Protectorate (B.P.). There are no strictly conceived boundaries around the area. We can only vaguely define it by saying that it does not include Karakuwise to the west or Chadum to the north. It does not, we think, reach eastward much farther than Kai Kai, or southward much beyond Blaubush Pan (40 or 50 miles south of Gam).
‘Normative’, ‘Recollected’ and ‘Actual’ Marriage Payments among the Lowiili of Northern Ghana, 1951–1966
Authors: Goody Jack
Published: April 2006

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Given that one is attempting to collect information as an academic observer among a people other than one's own, the data on many aspects of that society presented in standard ethnographic analyses must inevitably be thin and inadequate by the current standards of the social sciences. This situation tends to make for a one-sided approach. With a paucity of material at one's disposal, there is an overwhelming tendency to stress the analysis of ‘norms’ (and the more abstract ‘structures’ based upon them) since verbal statements of ‘expected behaviour’ are often more easily gathered than observations of ‘actual’ transactions. On this level, too, the limited number of one's respondents can be bolstered up by resort to linguistic parallels (‘from one informant you can analyse a language’) or by the comforting assumption, nourished by much sociological theory, that simpler societies are more ‘homogeneous’.
The Farmer in Chaha Song
Authors: Leslau Wolf
Published: April 2006

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The songs presented here were collected for me by Wäldä Sänbät Bänti. In my experience of collecting linguistic material in Ethiopia, Wäldä Sänbät deserves special mention. He is about twenty years old, a speaker of Gyeto which is a slight variant of Chaha. When I asked Wäldä Sänbät whether he would be willing to work with me on the Gyeto vocabulary, he readily agreed in terms that I at first considered rather boastful. He told me indeed that he was the most knowledgeable man in the dialect of Gyeto, a statement that I did not hear too often from my Ethiopian informants. The truth of the matter is that Walda Sanbat was the best informant I encountered in my linguistic work in Ethiopia. Not only did he know his language admirably well, but he was also a born field-worker. Without my prompting, he brought me all kinds of plants, cereals, and grasses and gave me their native names. He knew how to illustrate difficult terms with appropriate gestures and stories which explained the difficult word in context. Thus, having noticed his ability as a fieldworker, I asked him to collect Chaha songs dealing with any subject. Here again he showed that he knew the technique of a professional. When he presented me with the bill agreed upon in advance, he had added to it an item for which I gladly paid. Indeed, on several occasions he had found it necessary to offer the singer a bottle of native beer to put him in the mood to recite the song. So it was that he brought back to me at Addis Ababa a considerable collection of Chaha songs.
Ecology and Social Structure among the North Eastern Ibo
Authors: Jones G. I.
Published: April 2006

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This paper is concerned with the North Eastern Ibo and specifically with its four principal tribes, the Ezza, Ikwo, Izi, and Ngbo. I hope to show by a comparison of the structure of these four tribes with that of more typical Ibo tribes that distinctive features of their social structure are the result of a modification of this typical structure in response to the conditions of a new environment.
Dual Symbolic Classification among the Gogo of Central Tanzania
Authors: Rigby Peter
Published: April 2006

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Since the work of Durkheim and Mauss on systems of classification, it has generally been recognized that there is some structural relationship or ‘concordance’ between the social and symbolic orders of any society. The present analysis establishes a system of dual symbolic classification for an East Africa people and further indicates the widespread incidence of this type of classification in Africa (cf. Needham, 1960a; Beidelman, 1961; Wieschhoff, 1938; Werner, 1904; Evans-Pritchard, 1953, 1956; and others). It also provides a closer ethnographic comparison with the neighbouring matrilineal Kaguru, with whom Gogo share some linguistic and cultural features, and whose system of symbolic classification has been described by Beidelman (1961).
Some Structural Aspects of the Feud among the Camel-Herding Bedouin of Cyrenaica
Authors: Peters E. L.
Published: April 2006

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When a Bedouin kills another in Cyrenaica, one of a number of consequences ensues. According to the Bedouin, the particular consequence is determined by the genealogical positions of the persons or groups concerned. In the first part of this article an analysis of the disturbances in social relationships precipitated by homicide is made, using a lineage model as a framework. In this part of the discussion the arrangement of the information corresponds closely to the view the Bedouin give of their relationships. Additional information is then presented to show that this lineage model neither covers several important areas of social relationships nor enables an accurate prediction of events to be made. This raises the issue: can the comprehensive power of the model be increased by complicating it, or does complexity destroy its utility? The argument advanced is that the lineage model is not a sociological one, but that it is a frame of reference used by a particular people to give them a common-sense kind of understanding of their social relationships. For sociological purposes this means that the lineage model, with its supporting theoretical presuppositions, must perforce be abandoned. In the latter part of this article some of the implications of adopting this position are discussed.
Social Change on the Kru Coast of Liberia
Authors: Fraenkel Merran
Published: April 2006

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The Kru people of Liberia are well known as deck-hands and fishermen all down the west coast of Africa, and they have established ‘colonies’ in most ports from Dakar to Douala—as well as in such distant centres as London, Liverpool, and New York. Little, however, has been published on their history and social structure, and the first part of this article is a contribution towards filling this gap. The second part concerns socio-economic change in one Kru town, Grand Cess, during the present century, and in particular its fission into two geographically and culturally distinct sections: the traditional town and the modern Municipality. The outline of the development of Grand Cess, of present interrelationships between its two main sections, and of the status of each vis-à-vis the central government, serves as an illustration of the Republic's unusual system of local administration. The account is based on three weeks' stay in Grand Cess in 1958, and on discussions with Kru people over a period of a year in Monrovia (1958–9).
Quelques Faits de l'Organisation Sociale des ʽAfar
Authors: Chedeville E.
Published: April 2006

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Le peuple qui se nomme lui-même ‘Afar occupe entre la mer Rouge et le golfe d'Aden d'une part, et les premières pentes du plateau Abyssin d'autre part, un triangle dont les sommets sont en gros Obok, le pont du Chemin de Fer Franco-Éthiopien sur la rivière Awâch, et la pointe nord de la péninsule du Bôri, au sud-est de Massawa. La superficie en est voisine de 150.000 kilomètres carrés.
The Social Structure of Modern Bamako
Authors: Meillassoux Claude
Published: April 2006

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According to a partial census taken in 1960, Bamako city has about 130,000 inhabitants. Small by Western standards, it is still by far the largest city in Mali. At the time of the French conquest Bamako had only between 800 and 1,000 inhabitants; it was the capital of a Bambara chiefdom, grouping about thirty villages on the north bank of the Niger river, with a total of about 5,000 people. The ruling dynasty was that of the Niaré, who, according to their traditions, came from the Kingi eleven generations ago (between 1640 and 1700). For defence against the neighbours and armed slave-raiders fortifications were built around the town and a permanent army of so-fa (horsemen) was raised. Soon after its foundation Bamako attracted Moslem Moors from Twat who settled as marabouts and merchants under the protection of the Niaré's warriors. Among them, the Twati (later to be called Touré) and the Dravé became, alongside and sometimes in competition with the Niaré, the leading families.
Sacred Kingship and Government among the Yoruba
Authors: Lloyd P. C.
Published: April 2006

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Interest in African sacred kingship has for long been centred upon its ritual aspects; descriptions of highly colourful ceremonies have provided a convenient introduction to the study of a people's religious beliefs, yielding also examples of the ritual sanctions by which the ruler enforces obedience. As a result the constitutional aspects of kingship have been largely ignored.
Labour Emigration among the Moçambique Thonga: A Reply to Sr. Rita-Ferreira
Authors: Harris Marvin
Published: April 2006

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(1) Sr. Rita-Ferreira disagrees with the ‘cultural identification’ which I am said to make between Thonga and Chopi. I cannot imagine what he disagrees about since my text merely states that Thonga and Chopi are ‘ethno-linguistically related’, which is, of course, irrefutable. (2) He claims that I dismiss the principles of agnatic kinship solidarity and the obligation of senior sons on behalf of the welfare of junior sons. The reader is given the impression that I argue that such norms do not exist, when in fact, the only issue in the text is the extent to which actual behaviour corresponds to the ideal principles. Apparently, Rita-Ferreira is not acquainted with the concepts of ideal and actual culture. (3) He says that I do not hesitate to contradict Junod on point (2) while I give no evidence from other reliable sources. Those who have not seen my article will no doubt be surprised to learn that my evidence consists of citations and quotes from Junod. (4) Rita-Ferreira's readers cannot help but gain the impression that I am ignorant of the basic similarity between Thonga social organization and that of other South-eastern Bantu peoples. Nothing in my text entitles Sr. Rita-Ferreira to harbour such illusions, especially since the sources which he uses to correct me are to be found in my own list of references.
The making of men: the relevance of vernacular psychology to the interpretation of a Gisu ritual
Authors: Heald Suzette
Published: April 2006

INTRODUCTION

In 1909 the Rev. J. B. Purvis wrote of the Gisu people of Eastern Uganda that they ‘distinguish themselves as a race apart from others by the name Basani, i.e., men, whilst all men of uncircumcised nations are called Basinde, i.e., boys’ (Purvis, 1909: 271). In modern Uganda the idea of the Gisu as a nation of circumcised men remains as strong as ever. The biennial circumcision ceremonies act both as a focus for such sentiment and as a dramatic display of its power. From the blowing of horns which ushers in the circumcision year to the final aggregation ceremonies during the following December the entire ritual cycle takes about a year. The actual operations are performed in August, in strict order of clan precedence, with the clan where the practice is believed to have originated cutting their boys first. The day after, the circumcisors move to the next clan territory and so on throughout Bugisu. At their height it would be no exaggeration to claim that the festivities involve the entire population of the District– some 500,000 people– from the young children carried along with the circumcision dancing parties to the elderly who are visited as relatives of the novices, approached for guidance on ritual matters or who act as spectators. At the centre are the novices, with the ordeal of circumcision acting not only to validate their own claim to status as adult men but also to demonstrate the values of the entire community.
Agnatic and uterine relations among the Fante: male/female dualism
Authors: Chukwukere I.
Published: April 2006

INTRODUCTION

One of the outstanding features of Akan social organisation emphasised by ethnographers since Rattray's monograph on the Asante (1923: Chap. 2 esp.) is the interlacement of fundamental matriliny with prominent patrilineal traits. With particular reference to the Fante, on whom this paper is based, Christensen (1954: 5, 107) claims, on some wrong premiss though, that his study of 'the role and importance of the paternal line' leads him to conclude that ‘the Fanti manifest a system of double descent’. My own fieldwork (1966-70) on the Fante asafo – the most distinct social manifestation of their patrilineal tendency– indeed confirms the fact that the Fante still lay strong stress on agnatic descent groups, which in Asante and other Akan sub-groups have become more or less ‘obsolete’ (Fortes 1950: 265f, Busia 1954: 207, with reference to ntoro). This notwithstanding, the combination of patrilineal and matrilineal principles of reckoning descent remains a fundamental attribute of Akan culture as a whole. That is to say, the so-called Fante peculiarity is in fact only a slight variation of a general Akan type.
Female farming and the evolution of food production patterns amongst the Beti of south-central Cameroon
Authors: Guyer Jane I.
Published: April 2006

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In his Economic History of West Africa (1973) Hopkins points out that relatively little attention has been paid to the history of food production by contrast with export crops, even though it has been clear since early research on African food systems (e.g., Johnston 1958) that patterns of production have been changing. The determinants of shifts in land use and crop rotations are complex but two major factors have been suggested: population pressure on land resources, and the relative prices of different crops. The population pressure argument tends to assume that subsistence is maintained, so that any change in the relationship of population to food land requires shifts in farming practice to allow the maintenance of the same level of living (Boserup 1965). The price argument tends to assume that the agriculture system is penetrated by the market principle, so that farmers' decisions to maintain subsistence production patterns depend on projections about the prices of the cash crops available for sale and the food items needed to purchase (Chibnik 1978). From work on African farming systems comes a modification which suggests that the management of both these constraints depends to some extent on the broader social and economic context in which decisions are made. In particular it has been suggested that the position of women farmers in both indigenous social organisation and national economies is different from men's; they work under different constraints in their farming and have different opportunities for alternative employment (Boserup 1970; Meillassoux 1975). If the sexual division of labour is an important aspect of farming, men's and women's differential access to resources might be expected to have an independent effect on cropping patterns.
Land and food, women and power, in nineteenth century Kikuyu
Authors: Clark Carolyn M.
Published: April 2006

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It has only been in recent years that anthropologists have begun to investigate women as actors with resources important in the political field and to broaden the concept of political system to include the activites of women (see Collier, 1974 and Nelson, 1974 for another statement of the problem). The analysis of the political processes of the nineteenth century Kikuyu (Kenya) presented here lays the framework for the inclusion of women's subsistence activities and domestic decision making with the field of public or political relations.
Masking in Mende Sande Society Initiation Rituals
Authors: Phillips Ruth B.
Published: April 2006

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Public masquerades constitute extremely important symbolic forms among the Mende of Sierra Leone. Masquerades are a means of mediating between the secret Societies which dominate Mende social life and the general community. Through masking performances the public is kept informed of important events which occur in the secret domain and is allowed carefully limited participation in the experience of Society members. The masquerades make visible the powerful ‘medicines’ (haleisia) of the secret Societies without revealing their essential mystery. Maskers personify and dramatize the powers of the ‘medicines’ and exact respect and tribute from the spectators. At the same time, participants and audience are drawn into a common experience, which is aesthetically heightened by techniques of theatre, dance, music, and the plastic arts. The resultant feeling of unity and harmony helps to overcome the threat of disunity implicit in the division of the community into separate secret factions.
Eland Hunting Rituals among Northern and Southern San Groups: Striking Similarities
Authors: Lewis-Williams J. D. , Biesele M.
Published: April 2006

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The prominence of the eland in San thought is suggested by the frequency with which this antelope was depicted in rock paintings and also by the myths and rituals in which it features. In this paper we describe and compare certain eland beliefs and hunting rituals drawn from two San groups, the !Kung of Botswana and the now extinct \Xam of the Cape Province. The relevance of material obtained from the northern !Kung to the explication of the limited southern \Xam ethnographic record and rock paintings has been regarded as questionable in view of the ecological and linguistic differences between the two societies. Using the results of recent field work among the !Kung, we attempt to show that, in spite of the linguistic and ecological differences, there is evidence for a conceptual framework common to both groups.
Ethnicity in Rwanda: the Case of Kinyaga
Authors: Newbury M. Catharine
Published: April 2006

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The nature of ethnic interaction has been at the heart of a longstanding debate on the characteristics of Rwanda's precolonial political system. Until recently, the historical referents for such discussion, and in particular the origins of the Rwandan state and its social institutions have been seen as far too remote to base conclusions on empirical data. Consequently the debate has tended to be formulated in terms of logical constructs, rather than in terms of empirical reconstruction of the historical processes involved.
Some Aspects of Ọyọ Yoruba Masquerades
Authors: Ọlajubu Chief Oludare , Ojo J. R. O.
Published: April 2006

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The word egungun, masquerades, is often used to describe all masked figures found among the Yoruba of Nigeria. It is, strictly speaking, applicable only to those found among the Oyo Yoruba, hence Egungun Oyo, Oyo masquerades (cf. Adedeji 1969: 6; Beier 1958: 5). This type has diffused to other sub-groups where it occurs with local types such as Gelede in Egbado, Agemo in Ijebu, and Epa in northern Ekiti. Its ubiquity may be due to the movement southwards of Oyo Yoruba elements, the extent of Oyo and later Ibadan Empires, peaceful migration and cultural contacts with neighbouring sub-groups (see Fig. 1 inset).
Approaches to the Study of African Oral Literature
Authors: Beidelman T. O. , Finnegan Ruth
Published: April 2006

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Dr. Ruth Finnegan's studyOral Literature in Africa(The Oxford Library of African Literature. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970, pp. xix+558, £5) is likely to become an influential book. It surveys and summarizes much of our knowledge regarding the basic forms of African oral literature. Although there have been a number of essays published discussing some of the issues involved in recording, analysing, and appreciating such literature, as well as on the use of oral tradition for historical studies, this is the first modern attempt to take stock of our general knowledge in this field and to suggest how and along what paths future research should proceed.
Praise Poems as Historical Data: the Example of the Yoruba Oríkí
Authors: Awe Bolanle
Published: April 2006

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The importance of oral traditions in the reconstruction of the history of non-literate peoples has virtually ceased to be a matter for debate and is now generally acknowledged. Indeed, within the last few years, historical research, based on such traditions has made possible histories of many societies in Africa. But in spite of this general acceptance, the diversity of oral traditions has not been so fully recognized as to make possible the analysis of each type as historical data. In this regard, the history of the Yoruba provides a good example. Their culture has accumulated around it a rich variety of oral traditions whose study has made significant contributions towards the understanding of their past. For the earlier period of their history, their historians have had to rely mainly on oral traditions; even for the latter period, in spite of the existence of written documents, oral traditions have still proved very useful in giving a balanced view of events. The tendency, however, has been for the historians of the Yoruba people to regard oral traditions as no more than personal recollections and generalized historical knowledge. In the main, they have failed to give cognizance to oral literature; experience elsewhere, however, has shown that a meaningful utilization of oral traditions in historical reconstruction cannot afford to neglect this third category, which is for historians of non-literate societies what literature is for the cultural and social historians of literate societies. Moreover, the Yoruba themselves treat some forms of oral literature as quasi-historical records.
Rites de la Naissance et de l'Imposition du nom chez les Azza du Manga (République du Niger)
Authors: le Cœur Marguerite , Baroin Catherine
Published: April 2006

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Les Azza appartiennent au vaste groupe culturel formé par les Teda et les Daza, qu'on appelle communément Toubou, population islamisée dispersée au Nord du Tchad sur un territoire d'environ deux millions de km2 et que se partagent les deux Républiques, celle du Niger et celle du Tchad.

Artisans castés, les Azza dépendaient autrefois des Daza: émancipés depuis quelques années, ils adoptent petit à petit le mode de vie de leurs anciens maîtres, éleveurs de bovidés dans cette zone sahélo-soudanaise où ils côtoient d'autres populations pastorales: Arabes Choa, Arabes Ouled Sliman, Peuls.
Some Structural Features of Ingessana Marriage and Affinity
Authors: Jȩdrej M. C.
Published: April 2006

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The Ingessana represent one of the archaic pre-Nilotic cultures on the Sudanese margins of the Western Ethiopian highlands and may be regarded as belonging to that complex of ‘montagnards paléonigritiques’ extending west by way of, among others, the Nuba Mountain peoples, the Hadjeray in Chad and the numerous hill dwelling peoples of northern Nigeria. The customs with which this article is primarily concerned, such as the avunculate, brideservice, mother-in-law avoidance, the construction of a special bridal chamber, are prominent features of this complex but they are neither universally nor exclusively so. Thus, although the principal objective is to contribute to the documentation and comprehension of the marital customs of this ethnological zone, judged to be ‘ancient and probably prior to bridewealth systems’ by Froelich (1968: 202), the analysis necessarily engages with more general and often controversial issues. Perhaps the most pertinent and least distracting approach in these circumstances is that which confines itself to delimiting the set of structural features which the subsequent account draws upon in comprehending the ethnography.
Islamic Affiliations and Urban Adaptation: The Sisala Migrant in Accra, Ghana
Authors: Grindal Bruce T.
Published: April 2006

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This study sets out to explain the relatively high incidence of Islamic affiliation among traditionally non-Islamic Sisala migrants living in the migrant community of Mamobi in Accra, Ghana. In the course of the presentation, I intend to demonstrate that the migrants' relationship to Islam and the urban Islamic community is directly related to insecurities resulting from leaving one's native area and confronting an alien and often dangerous, urban environment, and that Islam provides the migrant with the instrumental means by which to facilitate his adjustment to urban life.
African Conversion
Authors: Horton Robin
Published: April 2006

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For nearly fifty years the Aladura or ‘prayer’ churches have been a prominent feature of the Nigerian scene. Their drumming and singing can nowadays be heard at almost any time of day or night in most of the larger southern Nigerian towns. Their prophets and pastors exert a guiding influence on the lives of an everlarger proportion of the population. And recently they have even been credited with an important part in bringing rebel resistance to an end in the Nigerian civil war. Similar churches, usually labelled ‘Zionist’, have been described and analysed by sociologists, social anthropologists, and comparative religionists working in many African countries. Hitherto, however, no full-length sociological monograph on the subject has appeared from Nigeria. So John Peel's Aladura, a full-length study of two of these churches in Yorubaland, meets a long-standing need.
On the rationality of conversion (Part II)
Authors: Horton Robin
Published: April 2006

Introduction

In the first part of this paper I began by dealing with those of Fisher's objections to the Intellectualist Theory which seemed to me to require short, sharp, and destructive answers. I then went on to consider an objection which seemed to require a longer and more constructive answer. This was the objection that the Theory did not account adequately for variation in the concept and cult of the supreme being in settings uninfluenced by Islam and Christianity. I suggested that, although the evidence was probably insufficient for a decisive verdict, the Theory appeared to give a rather good account of religious dynamics in such settings. A demonstration of its plausibility in this context was, as I pointed out, an important preliminary to my main argument. For it was crucial to the credibility of the thesis that Islam and Christianity were more than anything else catalysts for changes that were ‘in the air’ anyway.
Becoming Hausa: Ethnic identity change and its implications for the study of ethnic pluralism and stratification
Authors: Salamone Frank A.
Published: April 2006

Statement of problem

An interesting problem emerging from recent studies in complex societies is that of the relationship between ethnic identity and the interaction between various ethnic groups in a pluralistic society. In much of the sociological and anthropological literature, writers have treated ethnic groups as isolates and ‘givens’. Such categorization dismisses the potential investigation of factors responsible for permanence and change in ethnic groups. This paper will focus on a specific example of ethnic identity change, that of the Gungawa of Yauri Emirate, North-Western State, Nigeria, who have long had a pattern of ‘becoming’ Hausa. The paper will suggest some ways in which the possibility and mechanism for ethnic identity change functions to structure interethnic relationships and ease tensions resulting from such contact.
Some Observations on the Family Unit, Religion, and the Practice of Polygyny in the Ife Division of Western Nigeria
Authors: Driesen I. H. Vanden
Published: April 2006

Introduction

In an age so overwhelmingly dominated by the planner, statistics and statisticians have come to assume a crucial importance; and so seriously have the latter taken their new responsibility that, in recent times, a veritable flood of data on every conceivable aspect of socio-economic behaviour has engulfed us. In the newly emergent nations this task of collecting and collating information, spurred on no doubt by the knowledge that much remains to be done, has proceeded with a rare enthusiasm, and in all of them the periodic ‘Digest of Statistics’ has become a familiar document.
The Small Urban Center in Rural Development: Kita (Mali) and Testour (Tunisia)
Authors: Hopkins Nicholas S.
Published: April 2006

Introduction

This paper examines the role of the small urban center in promoting rural development through an analysis of two cases, one West African and the other North African. Kita (Mali) and Testour (Tunisia) are approximately the same size, have something of an urban atmosphere in contrast to their surrounding countryside, and play a roughly analogous role within the political economy of their nations. Both were in single-party states at the time of research; had had French colonialism for about the same period; and have modern institutions that owe something to the French pattern. Both have experienced attempts to build socialism.