1,721,410 research outputs found
On the Borana Calendrical System: A Preliminary Field Report
Full text linkThis article addresses the astronomical functioning of the lunar calendar of the Oromo Borana (Ethiopia and Kenya). It is based on the participant observation method, observing the night sky over a time of about one year with Bante Abbagala, a Borana expert in time reckoning. Differently from previous ethnographic accounts and hypotheses, the author suggests that the Borana implicitly add an intercalary month that allows keeping correspondence between season and the name of the lunar month, even if they do not acknowledge it. They do not consider the declination of the moon, sun or stars. They rather apply a complex devise that allows the direct evaluation of the relative right ascension position of the moon on the background of selected stars or constellations
Il caso Diigalu Tiiti. Strutture sociali e processi produttivi presso i Borana dell'Etiopia
No full textThis paper concerns the social elements which are relevant in relation with some important productive features of the Borana of Southern Ethiopia. Recent field-data seem to indicate that the structure provided by descent is particularly significant with regard both to economical mutual assistance and to management of wells, the crucial natural resources.Cet article concerne les éléments sociaux importants par rapport à des procédés de production des Borana du sud de l'Ethiopie. Le système de parenté semble particulièrement significatif aussi bien en ce qui concerne l'assistance réciproque que pour la gestion des puits, la ressource naturelle cruciale
Primary identities in the lower Omo valley: migration, cataclysm, conflict and amalgamation, 1750–1910
Full text linkThis article applies the notion of primary identity to explore the emergence of ethnic identities in the southern-most tract of the lower Omo valley. Current
identities here are the result of two correlated patterns of movement that have occurred over the past 150 years: migration to the valley by organised pastoralists and scattered groups, and a general movement down the river and into the Omo delta, where the ecological niche generated by the regular flooding of the Omo River provided a rich variety of livelihood alternatives. The major migrations reported here were connected to great population movements that occurred in East Africa from the nineteenth century, often provoked by cataclysmic events: thus, Daasanach recall the occurrence of large floods, Nyangatom stress the destructive impact of the Ethiopian conquest, while Kwegu and Kara were hit by sleeping sickness epidemics. These cataclysms led to the disappearance of some of the primary groups whose existence and prosperity were recorded by earlier explorers, and to processes of assimilation. The historical reconstruction presented here shows that the notion of primary groups needs to be linked to an understanding of ‘‘clusters’’ of peoples, gathered in localities characterised by high interaction and co-presence of different primary groups. It will be argued that these ‘‘clusters’’ were the crucial nodes for the elaboration of culture and identity
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