Midterm 2 Flashcards
Examples societies without states
Tiv
Yako
Nandi
An introduction to politics and law
- contemporary political crises due to adoption of foreign political systems and neglect of traditional African institutions
- onwuejeogwu explores traditional political systems that do not conform to the state model of political and legal organization
- ideally, knowledge of traditional systems can inform contemporary systems
Tiv: The lineage principle
- southern bantoid speaking horticulturalist a from the middle venue valley in northern Nigeria (roughly 2.5% nigerias population)
- social organization based on unilinear descent groups - patrilineal and agnatic
- minimal lineages have a depth of 3 to 4 generations and are the focal groups of daily life
Tar
- the land holding or territory of the Tiv agnatic ancestor of each minimal segment
- minimal segment associated with a Tar is the largest politically important unit
- through tar individuals gain right of citizenship
- the Tara both compete with and cooperate with each other
Ya
Tiv: minimal segment is divided into further compounds called ya
Tiv Tar
Ideally the tar of a minimal segment adjoins those of sibling segments and the segments merge upwards until all of the Tiv lands forms one indivisible territory
The political system includes four important cosmological factors:
- Akombo
- Tsav
- Swem and
- Tor
Akombo
Forces that interfere with the natural functioning of things and that can only be manipulated by individuals who have Tsav
Tsav
A force (witchcraft substance) which grows in the individual’s heart and gives him or her mystical power (can consume the souls of others as thereby increase his or her own power)
Mbatsav
(tiv) men with Tsav have their own society
- attempt to ritually transform deaths in the group into prosperity, health, and fertility
- positive results could either imply good work, or potential actions of self interest
Swem
- uses for taking oaths and making treaties (breaking oaths condemns and individual to death unless he/ she confesses)
Tor
- a dose of poison used to determine guilt (the guilty die while the innocent vomit it out)
Tsav and Akombo vs Swem and Tor
- Tsav an Akombo are ritual forces that define the locus of authority in the Tiv political system
- Swem and Tor are forces that provide checks and balances for the authority
Summary of Tiv political system
- political system is based on patrilineages that are defined genealogically and territorially
- rather than hierarchical control based on force (power, authority) the lineage system of authority is checked by mystical forces and ritual sanctions
Classic types of political systems & examples of each (Fortes and Evans Pritchard)
- Band level societies (Bushmen, Hottentots, Congo pygmies)
- Lineage system (Tiv, Tallensi, Nuer)
- Centralized authority based in fhiefship of kingship (Akan states, Hausa, Benin, Lozi, and Bantu)
What group did Forbe describe that didn’t fit the typology of Fortes and Evans Pritchard classic types of political systems?
Yako
Yako
- eastern Nigeria
- traditionally stateless, horticultural society
- speak Luko, a Benue- Congo langauge
- occupy Yakkur, a local government area with cross river state
- Bilineal (land inherited patrilineal, moveable property inherited matrilineal)
- population ~ 215 000 Yako
Yako political system
- doesn’t rely on lineages or centralized authority, but rather on membership of inter and intrawoven associations
- villages divided into wards each associated with political unit called a Yakemben, which had a head called Ognalia, and many other positions
- includes several associations that are independent of the ward groups
- these associations are made up of different cross sections of society for which they provide some form of political representation
Ebiabu
- yako association of hunters and fighters
- head of ward group has authority all other men’s associations according to ward group design without elimination association autonomy
- head of ward group recruits the middle grade of the Ebiabu to deal with offenders within the ward
Nkpe
(yako) a group that provides supernatural protection to its members
- protection against theft, deduction, and abuse of power by the men of the wars or by the village cult group
- leaders of wars look on Nkpe with suspicion
Okenga
- village leopard cult group (leaders of wards, deputies of Obalia, some members of men of the ward)
- membership conveys prestige
- leadership circulates betweeen men of one of oldest patricians
- failure to follow the cults directives lead to misfortune of offender and kin
- ward heads and other leaders use sanctions by cult spirit to settle disputes between ward, individuals, and groups
Yabot
(yako) council of village priests - the apex of governmental machinery with a yako village
- council speaker responsible for village drum and emblems of the village that symbolize unity and continuity
- ritual authority of village - jury for ritual offences and major disputes, controls external affairs
- disobeying cult orders can lead to excommunication, and cult judgements may entail punitive action by other associations
Okundom
(Yako) protects its members from theft
Ikpungkara
(Yako): made up of 40 people (including priests) from different parts of the village
- members concerned with land disputes
- backed up by priests council
Summary of Yako political organization
- government is based on cross- cutting cult spirit associations
- ritual authority is strengthened by physical coercion of
Recalcitrants - no centralized authority in ward or village
- government is achieved through overlapping of membership of various associations
Nandi
- pastoral agricultural people from western Kenya
- speak Kalenjin language
- inhabit Nandi hills and Kericho in the Rift Valley province
- number about 950000
Nandi geography territories
- 6 geographic territories (enmet), 16 porosiek, each further sub- divided into korets (smallest territorial unit)
- each Korea sub- divides into 20-100 scattered homesteads
- porosiek and Koret are territorial and political units - made up of members of different clans
Kokwet
(Nandi); coincides with Koret
- a council of
Old men past warrior age set
Porosiek
(Nandi); coincides with Pororiet
- a council made up of leaders from the korets, two senior military commanders, and two representatives of the Orkoiyot
Orkoiyot
(Nandi) a ritual official, he has 2 representatives in every pororiet - his office acts as a balance to the power of the military council in the pororiet
Military council (Nandi)
- consist of warrior age sets with control over the armies of the pororiet
Age grade system Nandi
- every male belongs to an age grade called Ipinda (7 of these)
- first two grades include small boys and initiates
- next grade warriors
- final four grades include old men
- system is cyclical
- each age- grade is cross- cut into 4 groups - this forms ties across generations
Summary d Nandi political organization
- based on an age grade organization which is cyclic and transcends lineage or clan
- territorial units coincide with political units, each dealing with specific matters
- age grade cuts across the territorial and political units
- political organization is centralized in the various councils but their power is checked by office of the Orkoiyot
3 ethno- geographical zones in west Africa
- coastal forest region: tan belt, not conductive to centralized states- poor communication
- deciduous forest regions - more centralized states than in coastal forest region
- sudan - savana scrubland zone - largest number of states
Persistence of segmentary unilinear stateless societies
- dispersal of population and segmentation of lineages inhibits internally the emergence of an overall leader and encourages resistance against imposition of an external authority
- there are cases where state system gets superimposed on a lineage system
Tiv
- politically acephalous, horticultural society in the middle venue valley of northern Nigeria
- Largest pagan tribe in northern Nigeria
- successful at gaining and retaining territory through collective effort and yet lack centralized political authority
Bohannan’s view of the Tiv
- counterintuitively, territorial expansion occurs most frequently in areas where there is no land shortage, or land shortage is a relatively minor problem
- the paradox can be explained by dividing the movement of the Tiv into two processes: expansion and disjunction
Expansion
- movement that increases the lineages territorial holding
Disjunction
- movement that separates groups in space and affects the juxtaposition of lineage territories
Tiv lineage system:
- a genealogical charter for the internal differentiation and external arrangements of lineage segments
- not possible to functionally classify lineages in terms genealogical depth
- segment 3-6 generations in depth and associated with smallest discrete territory is a minimal segment
Nawngo
- Tiv word for lineage
Ipaven
Tiv word for segment
- a lineage associated with a territory
Ipaven ken: you
- smaller lineages are “segments within the hut”
Tiv land rights
- 83% men live in territory of minimal segment which they belong
- individuals get rights to land held by other minimal segments, but only have right to sufficient land within territory of their own minimal segment
- compound heads grant land rights to their compound members - no centralized authority when it comes to granting land rights within minimal territory
Expansion of minimal segment
- every minimal segment is expanding
- expansion occurs towards land help by people from outside the segment from which individuals can draw the most social support
Expansion in minimal territory and larger lineage territeoy
- Segments within the hut move away from each other and thereby expand the minimal territory
- same process happens at scale of larger lineage territory
- every lineage knows where it is going as well as where it has been
- the system puts pressure on non- related peoples (Marshall salons said it’s predatory)
Fusion
- members of different smaller segments move together to settle new territory
Fission:
Segments split into two and territory is divided but not depressed
Expansion
Fission or fusion
- does not alter juxtaposition of lineages or the disjunction of sibling lineages
Disjunction
- a type of movement that does alter the juxtaposition of lineages and the disjunction of sibling lineages
- can occur as a movement of individuals and movement of groups
- individuals: ex compound head dies and compile splits - to avoid social unrest and conflict, individuals move away
- movement of groups involved a “man out in front” : a person who founds a new compound/ settlement in another area
- new settlements grow as other individuals emigrate in from territories where there are land shortages
- overtime, new communities are assimilated into larger social/ spatial pattern
Conclusions: Tiv
- expansion migration function of lineage and territorial systems
- disjunction is it a function of lineage and territorial systems
- rates disjunction and/ or expansion due to extraneous factors (cash crops = no land, land shortages people leave minimal territory)
- disjunction occurs more frequently within southern areas where there is high population density and land shortages
- in northern and eastern areas expansion is occurring at an increased rate even though there is less economic pressure (no land shortage) –> areas expanding for all Tivland, procinfinf locales for emigrants from other areas
Dirty smith:
- smell as a strategy of social discrimination, through the cultural definition of dirt and cleanliness
- complex social relations are expressed through definitions of odours
- social differences between smiths and non- smiths among Kaspiki/ Higi
Kapsiki/ Higi background
- live on western edge of Mandara mountains
- on the Cameron side they are kapsiki while on the Nigeria side they are Higi
- cereal farmers
Rerhe
- smiths
- views by non- smiths with ambivalence (dirty yet important)
- smiths have specific institutions and relations, and serve a variety of roles (particularly important in ritual belief and practice)
Being dirty
- Non- smiths definition of smiths as dirty stems from food habits
- smiths are dirty or polluted because they eat foods that are forbidden to non- smiths
- the food taboos of non- smiths extend to food prepared by smiths, dishes used by smiths, and to marriage
Why are smiths dirty?
- biased question
- rerhe have a different version of things, yet pollution, dirt and social hierarchy are also part of the rerhe world view
- how social hierarchy and pollution appear in smith view
- his method is to record how different groups within k/ h society perceive and conceive odour
Smelling in Kapsiki
- 14 lexemes referring to smell
- smells tend to be defined according to the criteria of edibility
- some differences in appreciation and connotation of smell can be found between melu and rerhe, often associated with a food taboo
- women’s definitions for smell are intermediate to that of men
- non- smiths cosider smiths to be malodorous because smiths are undertakers
- Ndaleke, the smell of the corpseC to non- smith; smell of
Rotting meat to both - corpse epitome of ambivalence and smith undertaker also symbolizes ambivalence
History of Nandi
- “pacified” by British in October, 1905 after 8 year period of resistance
- Oct. 19th Orkoiyot shot dead bu military of East African protectorate st peace negotiation: death many Nandi warriors
- next 30 years, British set up administrative headquarters, Christian missionaries set up shop, government school, European settlers colonize, Nandi lose land
Demography
-rough measure of population and population distribution, and a reflection of the difficulties in performing a census
Nandi physical environment
- hills
- plateau to east, escarpments to west and south
- high altitude
- two seasons: month of hunger (oct- feb.) and months of rain (march- September)
- temperature means January 18, max 26, mean July 9.5,15
Nandi main features of economy
- pastoralists who practice agriculture, cattle (tuka) are Central focus of Nandi life
- environment heterogeneous - no need dry season pasturage- no large scale movement
- access to land acquired through prororiet; family is basic economic unit
- division of labour by gender (many activities can be performed by both genders)
Cattle Nandi
- ritual relations are hindrance to economic practices?
- ritual inhibitions on eating meat and drinking mil in same day (sacred)
- kept in pens near living huts at night
- milked and watered twice a day
- avg side herd =30
- cow blood dietary staple: shoot arrow into jugular about distance of 4ft
- Nandi also keep goat and sheep (bridewealth) and fowls, dogs & cats
Kaptic system
(Nandi) people divide herds among friends and relatives (usually when go outside land unit as squatters)
- laptop means cattle place
- man looking after cattle gets milk, blood etc, but has no claim on cattle, man placing cattle dan recall them at will
- keeps parts of ones here safe from predation on part of Maasai, from disease, and conceals true # of cattle from tax collection
Status of cattle Nandi
- men inherit cattle from their seniors in the patrilineage
- cattle is not property for them to use as they want; belongs to original owner; improper disposal can lead to ancestor wrath and misfortune
- primary purpose inherited cattle is bridewealth
- cattle give purpose to life
Kamari
(Nandi): cow with one horn facing forward others facing back
Inheritance of cattle (Nandi)
- seniority matters
- inherited by sons (brothers, and son of eldest brother)
- sons basis seniority
- one cow to wife at her death to her oldest son, other sons get increase from cow
- elder brother can be trustee for very young brother
Agriculture Nandi
- land in a different territory & other land
- land possession of tribe: access to and movement on land relies on membership of pororiet or regimental area
- land is not sold (passive capital)
- economic unit family, each works with own cultivated plot
- no agricultural activities controlled collectively by the kokuet or parish council
- farming cycle follows wet and dry seasons (planting feb- may; harvest start September)
- cereal main crop
- men & women share in preparing and planting fields & in harvest
Squatters
Nandi
- go outside home territory to work for tiger and get access to land for farming and cattle grazing
- exchange labour for certain # days per year at certain rate for land
- squatter and labour rates protected by legal ordinance
Life cycle Nandi
three stages for each sex
- male: boy (netet) ends circumcision between 14-18; warrior (murenet) after circumcision - 30s; elder (poiyot) after term as warrior
- female: girl (cepto) prior to marriage, prior to circumcision (somnyet); married women (osotiot); old women (cepioset)
Tiliet
Nandi; individual’s focal kin group (like kindred)
- also means peace (Nandi put premium in goodwill or getting on with people)
- within a person’s tiliet people are stratified in generations
Nandi father’s side
Kapkuanit
Nandi mothers side
Kapimamet
Affirms Nandi
Kapkatun - group into which mother is married - wife’s teen for husbands people
Kapyukoi - father in laws group) - husbands term form wife’s people
Mii tiliet
Nandi term for relatedness
Mammi tiliet
Nandi term for not in tiliet
Kapyukoi
(Nandi); wife’s father and wife’s father’s brother
Karuco
Wife’s mother and wife’s mother’s sister
Pamuru
Wife’s father’s sister
Apulaiyo
Wife’s mothers brother
Pamonjet
Husbands father
Pokir
Husbands mother
Who has huge position over who in Nandi?
- mothers brother has an outstanding position over his sisters children (especially boys)
- must asked permission to be circumcised
- can curse undutiful nephews (who can’t curse him back)
- nephews must obey commands
5 resuppositions underlying Nandi behaviour
- respect to elder in terms of chronology, genealogy, and age set membership
- semi ceremonial approach
- partial avoidance (parents in law)
- restrictions on interaction with specific kin (eating, sleeping, or being in same house together)
- formality with some, informality with others
Oret
Nandi society is divided into 17 exogamous totemic clans - oret
- each clan has 1-2 totems
- dispersed throughout Nandi territory
- members mystically bound together and to their totems
Marriage Nandi
- members from clans with two totems may marry people who fall under a different totem from their own
- marriage prohibited between members of certain clans
- males avoid sex until after circumcision, females following puberty and can take special lovers through life called mureret
- marriage not allowed within tiliet, or within clan share same totem
- marriage ceremonies take place over 3 days
- husbands pay bridewealth
- female widows cannot remarry
- childless widows can take young women as wives
Circumcision Nandi
- vital to operation of age set system
- governed by series ritual observances 3-5 months
- rites broken down into: preparation, operation, and seclusion
- why do males dress in female clothing and vice versa?
Nandi Age sets
- society divided into 7 age sets (ipinda)
- sets further divided into 4 groups (mats) based on seniority
- sets hold power for 15 years during their tenure as warriors
- maturation of age sets relies on the flowering of a plant (setiot) and the performance f circumcision rites
At time of article Nandi age sets were
Kipkoimet - oldest elders Kaplelac - Kimnyike Nyongi - youngest elders Maina - warrior set Juma - set circumcised (1940-44) Sawe - small boys
Political structure of the Nandi
- land division: basic territorial unit is the lorry which has an administrative council called kokuet
- korets form larger units called porosiek
- 15 porosiek belong to emet (districts)
Kokuet
- most important Nandi council, only native legal assembly
- lead by old man of the council (poiyot ap kokuet) - acquired
- resolved cattle disputes, compensation cases, offences again individual, crimes against tribe, how combat natural calamities, government issues
Pororiet
(Nandi) made up leaders from each of kokuets, 2 senior warrior leaders, two elders called councillors
- council appoints 2 other members (maotik) who negotiate with the Orkoiyot on matters of war, circumcision, and planting
- the “real basis of residence”
Orkoiyot
- hereditary ritual expert
- immigrants from Masai
- responsible spiritual and material welfare for all Nandi
- diviner and rainmaker, authorizes planting and opening of circumcision, used to give permission to raid others
War organization Nandi
- each Pororiet is akin to a regiment
- fighting units (sorority) draw men from a number of parishes
- leader sititier is called kiptaiyat
- Nandi were in conflict with a number of groups
Nandi legal sanction
- kokuet political and legal authority
- kokuet implements both primary and secondary legal sanctions
- 4 types crime primary sanctions, and 5 met with secondary sanctions
Nandi main cultural features
- religion, an otiose high god (Asis) and intermediary ancestors (oiik)
- divination to determine when and what to offer spirits
- rain making performed by ritual specialists
- death and burial, young and elderly get shallow graves while everyone else gets left for hyenas
- witches as malevolent apprentices, diviners as witch finders
Fulani
- AKA Fulbe, Haalpulaar’en , Peul, and Fellata
- language = Fulfulde (niger- Congo), pulaar, and pular
- distributed from Senegal to Sudan
- 15 N to 7 N
History of Fulani
- indeterminate origins - language suggests homeland in the west
- settlement in the Sahel 4000 years ago (consequence of increased aridity and expansion of desert?)
- intoruduction and conversion to Islam (A.D. 1100-1300)
- cavalry, slave raiding, empire building
Fulani economy
- cattle pastoralism - trade of surplus with agriculturalists
- trade as an adjunct of pastoralism
- gendered dividing if labour - men tend cattle while women look after domestic sphere
- handicrafts
Pulaaku
(Fulani)
- a code of behaviour emphasizing self control, modesty, and reserve and a desire to avoid shame and show respect
- respect towards others to avoid shaming both them and oneself
- external observers may interpret behaviour as emotionally lacking, or as omitting expressions of need or discomfort
Pastoral Fulani settlement
- basic socio- economic unit is the compound family
- families own herds about 10-25 animals
3 factors disturb balance between family and herd: - regular seasonal variation
- irregular natural hazards
- social structure of the compound family
Regular seasonal variation Fulani
- alteration dry and rainy seasons
- southern part of exploited territory is home to the tse tse fly
- Rainy seasons spent in north, lineages congregate, marriages arranged, food plenty
- dry seasons spent in south, lineages disperse, divorces increase in frequency
Fulani structure of settlements:
Agnostic lineage groups: unit cooperation and defence; 5-20 compounds; endogenous, controls inheritance of cattle and widows
Settlements Fulani
3 per square mile
Homesteads Fulani
- circular homesteads face west
- large ripe divided male and female sides
- when clan congregates homesteads arranged southerly and westerly positions corresponding to genealogical seniority and age respectively
Igbo
- southern Nigeria
- a Kwa speaking culture of 17 Million people
- traditional economy = yam farming
- early evidence of sophisticated artistry
Igbo history
- origins near confluences of niger and benue rivers
- first settled 4000 B.C.
- major social developments (“civilization) by latter 1st millennium
- contact with European (Portuguese) during later 15th century
- 1914 British amalgamated northern and southern protectorates into a single administrative whole of Nigeria
- colony dominated by 3 groups Yoruba in SW, Igbo in SE, and Hausa- Fulani north
- pronounced political, social, and cultural differences between major groups hindered attempts at forming unified state
- civil war
Contemporary Igboland
- Igbo culture area roughly overlaps 5 states: Engu, anambra, ebonyi, imo, and Abia
- Biafra is still on many people’s minds
Igbo
- 5 major groupings: southern, northern, eastern , western, and northeastern
- groups differ butform coherent whole basis language, political systems decentralized authority and accompanying rites, central role or lineages of Umunna, economy, religious cults c cosmologu, arts and spirits
Igbo villages
Small: between 100-1000
- politically independent and autonomous
- homogenous: concept of oneness, kinship ideology binds residents together into one unit
- membership in birth, marriage, or naturalization
- three subtypes: simple, complex, and compounds
Simple villages
(Igbo) single units claiming origin and independence in many respects
Complex villages
- made up of several semi- autonomous units which claims varying origins
Compound villages
- made up of several semi- autonomous units which claim one origin
Village- towns
- up to 12000 residents; more heterogenous than villages
- formed from fusion of villages
- ideology of interrelatedness based in Kin relations, interdependence, and a long period of association
- three subtypes: amalgamated, federated, confederated
Amalgamated village towns
- villages fused together into one town, difficult to determine origins and identity of component parts is fused
Federated village towns
- villages of different origins maintain original identity and some political autonomy
Confederates village towns
2 types: formed before of after European arrival
- villages combine to fulfill common interest (political or
Economic urgency)
Towns
(Igbo)
- heterogenous, inhabited by Igbo and non- Igbo residents
- different moral values predominate
- 3 subtypes: hybrid urban towns, dials urban towns, and traditional urban towns
Hybrid urban town
-
Devoid traditional forms of organization or affiliation, but new forms organization are predicated on the old
Dual urban town
- typically a hybrid union mergers with a village town
- units are not integrated in terms of infrastructure and social affiliation
Traditional urban town
- known for a traditional outlook, village towns that have developed/ acquired urban characteristics
Two types: uni- nucleated (undergoing radical change) and multi - uncleated (many nuclei growing together)
Demographic circulation
(Igbo)
- a process of a constant flow of people from one settlement to another
- plots out possible movements between settlement types
- pints out main factors determine each type of movement
- when patterns of movement or circulation quantitative or qualitatively altered by environment, politics c or economics movement or migration takes place
Distribution of Bantu languages
- Bantu speaking populations occupy most of the southern half of the African content
- linguistic affiliation suggests a massive, sub- continental movement of people form a single source of origin
- the presently accepted point of origin is south central Cameroon
3 phases of Bantu expansion:
- Language diverge from bantoid languages and quickly disperse over a wide area as a single language (3000 B.C.)
- Expansion contributed and the languages differentiated into a western and eastern branch
- Western and eastern branches continued to spread southward and to differentiate (800 B.C.)
Interlacustrine Bantu
- populations that live between lake Victoria and lake Edward (counties Uganda, Rwandan, Burundi and Tanzania a
- relationships between Bantu speakers and other migrants into this area lead to emergence centralized polities
Historical sketch of Bantu:
- 1000 B.C. - sudanic and southern Cushitic speaking pop. Had settled in region
- A.D. 500-1000 Bantu populations expanded and assimilated these populations
- eastern sudanic pop migrated into region at later date
- A.D. 1800 - interaction between Sudanic and Bantu pop. Gave rise to pre- colonial polities
2 explanations Pre- colonial polities
- Impetus for emergence polities came with Leo who brought state model from north (Shilluk have political system based on kinship quite old)
- Political structure interlacustrine politics was based was Bantu origin, and was already present prior to migration of eastern Sudan if populations
Structure of Bantu polities
socially stratified based on subsistence practice : pastoral groups formed elite, farmers lower, and Twa (hunter gathers) occupied lowest stratum
- formation of states also depended on external trade relations
Sudanic Bantu contact
- Sudanic peoples adopted Bantu language
- Bantu agriculturalists adopted cattle (and idea centralized polity?)
- resulting states consist of 2 strata : a cattle owning aristocracy and a lower stratum of farmers
Where did the ruling elite come from? (Bantu)
- clues linguistic data and oral traditions/ legends
- linguistic data supports migration Nilotic populations from north
- oral traditions provide both historical info and rationalization for current events (cattle owning elites come from north - migration of the Luo)
Stories of legends (Bantu)
- Shilluk culture hero
- legends Chwezi and Bito
- Maia Lou gradually expanded territory through cattle raiding
Establishment political authority:
common descent as basis political authority:
- recognition of common leader
- establishment of kinsmen at the periphery of political power
- peripheral groups can break away from core and found new polities
Examples new polities breaking away:
- polities whose rulers claim descent from Vito clan at one time paid tribute to Bunyoro
- toro broke away from Bunyoro in 19th century
- further to the south, polities claim descent from Honda, a descendant of Bito (new founder means new polity)
The Caste System and the Interlacustrine states
- rigid social divisions reminiscent Hindu caste system
- divisions based on descent and occupation
- Maquets work on Ruanda
- lines between social divisions blurry, differ across polities
Rwanda
- society characterized by marked social stratification
- Tusi: superior social status, descendants of pastoral kings
- Hutu: inferior social status, descendants of client farmers
- Twa: not fully integrated but occupying the lower rungs of the social hierarchy
Buhake Institution
(Rwanda)
- from verb gukawka - ‘to pay ones respects to a superior in his court’
- a person of inferior social prestige and wealth offers his services to someone of superior social prestige and wealth
- Shebuja = ‘lord’ or ‘patron’ and garagu = ‘client’
Clients rights
- custodianship of the cattle he receives
- ownership of milk, male increase of cattle, meat and skin of dead slaughtered cows, could use cows to establish relations with clients of his own
- patron provided legal support financial aid, pays fines, seeks legal sanctions against murderers of client and helps family of deceased client
Clients obligations:
- personal service
- accompanying patron on trips
- delivering lords messages
- gifts
- replacing of patrons lost herds
Hutu only: working in shebujas fields, night watch in patrons compound - obligations not formalized
- typically asked to do services in which they specialized (not all)
Continuation of buhake relationship
- relationship could persist past death (heirs)
- new patrons could refuse client heirs who deemed to be lacking what makes a pod client
- new patrons could gather cows from all predecessors clients, take best if lot, and use them to establish relations with new clients
End of buhake relationship
- could be ended by either party (or agreement of both)
- need justifiable reason or rationale
- neither party could force or prevent other from ending relationship
- patron could seize all cows, no difference between imbata and inkazibit (merging more recent, colonial era due to changes in political rule: administrative chiefs norenpower)
- imbata cows could stay imbata, and patrons could not seize them
Inkazibiti
(Rwanda)
- cows the client acquired from the patron when the client was Hutu
Ingabane
Cows e client acquired from patron when client is Tusi
Imbata
Cows the client acquired from other sources:
- bridewealth, reward for bravery, exchange for other goods
Analysis clientage structure
- notion of feudalism: an agreement between two people who have unequal access to or control over the symbols of wealth and power in society
- cows symbol proof of agreement
- agreement not a contract
Usufruct
- right of using and enjoying all the advantages and profits of the property without altering or damaging the substance
3 ways in which agreements are different from contracts
- Entering into agreement is not entirely matter of choice for client
- Patron and client did not enjoy equal freedom in breaking buhake relation
- Reciprocal relations were vague and uncertain
Caste society
- composed of several graded groups, each of which is endogenous and practicing an hereditary occupation, members of which can be obtained only through birth
Function of the clientage system:
- protection by identification: protects lower caste
- Social cohesion
- maintenance of caste privileges: entrenches or reinforces superior social position of Tusi
