Craft Organization in Yoruba Towns

Africa ◽  
1953 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Sewing Machine ◽  
Western Economy ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
People Today ◽  
Economic Agreement ◽  
Window Frames

Opening ParagraphEverywhere in West Africa contact with Western economy has brought changes in the technology of the indigenous people; today, side by side with the old man chipping away at a block of wood, making an image or a mask, and the weaver with his horizontal loom producing yard upon yard of narrow cloth strips to be sewn together into huge, flowing robes, sit the tailor making khaki shorts on his treadle sewing-machine and the carpenter nailing together planks for doors and window frames. In the traditional craft industries a father hands on his knowledge and skill to his sons; thus some crafts become the preserve of certain lineages. The sudden impact of the new technology did not give the craftsmen an opportunity to adapt their work to the new machines and tools; new men were recruited who had never been craftsmen and thus today the numerous tailors, carpenters, builders, and their like are not related to their fellow workers by blood ties; but, independent as these workers may appear, they are usually united to their fellow craftsmen by bonds of economic agreement whereby their work is strictly regulated. This study will attempt to describe the organization of the traditional crafts in some Yoruba towns and to show how the new crafts have formed guild organizations which preserve many of the functions of the older craft organization, but have a structure based not upon the lineage but upon the territorial divisions of society.

1787–1887–1987: reflections on a Sierra Leone bicentenary

Africa ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Fyfe
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Forest Belt ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Language Pattern ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphSeen in the widest perspective, 1787 is only one date among the uncounted tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of years during which the present Sierra Leone has been inhabited. Archaeologists have done disappointingly little work there. But it is clear from their findings (and by implication from findings in the rest of forest-belt West Africa) that people have lived there a very long time. Though traditional historiography always tends to present the peoples of Sierra Leone as immigrants from somewhere else, the language pattern suggests continuous occupation over a very long period. As Paul Hair (1967) has shown, there has been a striking linguistic continuity in coastal West Africa since the fifteenth century. Nor is there evidence to suggest that before that period stability and continuity were not the norm.

scholarly journals The recent rock drawings of the Lenggong Valley, Perak, Malaysia

Antiquity ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (328) ◽  
pp. 459-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mokhtar Saidin ◽  
Paul S.C. Taçon
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Hands On

The authors present and interpret rock drawings found in caves in the Lenggong Valley, Perak, Malaysia. The drawings, which begin by depicting ritually important patterned mats, and continue with images of cars, bicycles and figures with their hands on their hips, provide rare and precious insights into how the indigenous people of the area came to terms with changes that occurred as the result of the arrival of Europeans in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Patterns of Authority in West Africa

Africa ◽  
1951 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Brown
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Political System ◽  
West African ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
Comparative Review ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Size And Structure

Opening ParagraphThe development of large centralized states in West Africa has long been recognized. The complexity of organization of the few well-known kingdoms, but not their differences in size and structure, is constantly emphasized in the literature. The number and variety of West African groups which have not developed states have, on the other hand, frequently been underestimated. In a comparative review by Professors Fortes and Evans-Pritchard two types of political system, centralized and segmentary, have been described for Africa as a whole, with examples of each in West Africa. A survey of West African societies suggests, however, that finer distinctions are possible and that not all these societies can be placed in one or other of these two categories. In particular, this classification omits consideration of ‘stateless’ societies in which associations, rather than a segmentary lineage system, regulate political relations; and it fails to distinguish different types of authority and political structure in states.

Kinship, Emigration, and Trade Partnership among the Lebanese of West Africa

Africa ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuad I. Khuri
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Greek Orthodox ◽  
Kinship Structure ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Kinship Ties ◽  
Upper Volta

Opening ParagraphThis article describes the kinship structure of some Lebanese communities in West Africa, and the resemblances they bear to the communities from which they originated in Lebanon. It also shows the extent to which kinship ties promote emigration, and the kind of trade partnership normally practised by kinsmen. Two communities are considered: the Greek Orthodox community in Ouagadougou (Upper Volta), and the Shi'ite Muslim community in Magburaka (Sierra Leone).

Social Administration of the Kru. A Preliminary Survey

Africa ◽  
1937 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Scudder Mekeel
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
West African ◽  
Preliminary Survey ◽  
The South ◽  
North West ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Archaeological Work ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Physical Type

Opening ParagraphThe Kru, a West African Negro group, inhabit the central and southern part of Liberia. They are surrounded by the Basa peoples to the north-west, by the Grebo to the south-east and by the Putu to the north-east. The informant, Thomas Tarbour (Sieh Tagbweh), from whom the following material was derived, was a native of Grand Cess (Siglipo), a large coast town near the border of the Grebo country. The Kru, along with other related groups in that part of West Africa, have a tradition of having migrated from far to the north-east. The physical type is that of the short, stocky Bush negro. No archaeological work has been done in the region, and such ethnological material as has been collected is a mere beginning.

Sheep and Sheep-Herders in South Africa

Africa ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 432-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Willcox
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Hair Sheep ◽  
South West ◽  
South West Africa ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphIn a recent paper Mr. C. K. Cooke, F.S.A., discusses the questions of the introduction of sheep into Africa and their arrival in southern Africa (Cooke, 1965).Mr Cooke quotes Zeuner's conclusion (Zeuner, 1963) ‘that the first sheep in Africa were screw-horned hair sheep from Turkestan or Persia which reached lower Egypt about 5000 B.C. and Khartoum by 3300 B.C. This breed disappeared with the Middle Kingdom when it was replaced by a wool sheep and the fat-tailed sheep reached Africa only from the Roman period.’ Zeuner further asserts thatOne breed of sheep descended from the Egyptian hair-sheep had reached South-West Africa before the arrival of the Europeans. In these animals the profile is convex, the eyes are placed high on the skull and close to the drooping ears. The rams carry thick horns and a long ruff on the throat.

Proverbial Lore and Word-Play of the Fulani

Africa ◽  
1957 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Arnott
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
General Study ◽  
Word Play ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Tongue Twisters ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Selection Of

Opening ParagraphThe wit and wisdom of the Fulani, as of other African peoples, are expressed most characteristically in their proverbs and riddles. Their proverbs are amply illustrated by the collections of H. Gaden and C. E. J. Whitting, and a selection of riddles appeared in a recent article in Africa by M. Dupire and the Marquis de Tressan. But there are other types of oral literature—both light and serious—which various writers have mentioned, without quoting examples. So Mlle Dupire refers to formes litteraires alambiquées and ritournelles des enfants bororo, and G. Pfeffer, in his article on ‘Prose and Poetry of the Fulbe,’ speaks of jokes and tongue-twisters. The aim of this article is to present some examples of these types of proverbial lore and word-play—epigrams, tongue-twisters, and chain-rhymes—which were recorded, along with many more riddles and proverbs, in the course of linguistic research during a recent tour of the Fula-speaking areas of West Africa, and to consider their relation to proverbs and riddles. These types of oral literature are of course by no means peculiar to the Fulani, and a number of the examples here quoted may well have parallels in other languages of West Africa or farther afield. But an examination of such pieces in one language may perhaps contribute something to the general study of this kind of lore.

Modern technology and customary use of wildlife: the harvest of Sooty Shearwaters by Rakiura Maori as a case study

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 280-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.O'B. LYVER ◽  
H. MOLLER
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
Financial Investment ◽  
Financial Gain ◽  
Modern Technologies

Rakiura Maori (a tribe of indigenous people in New Zealand) continue a centuries-old customary use of Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus, titi, muttonbird) chicks from islands adjacent to Rakiura (Stewart Island). Some muttonbirders pluck chicks by hand, while others have recently changed to a plucking machine. We compared traditional and modern processing methods to see if new technology stands to increase the efficiency, size and cost effectiveness of harvest. On average, chicks were plucked 6 seconds quicker with a machine, which could potentially increase the catch by up to 4%. Innovation by using wax rather than water to remove down left after plucking saved muttonbirders 29–97 minutes per day, potentially allowing up to a 15% increase in the number of chicks harvested. Both wax and plucking machines increased costs, which led to a modest financial gain from using wax, but a net loss from using a plucking machine. Modern technologies have been introduced mainly for convenience and to ease labour in this customary use of wildlife. New technology may erode traditional skills, but does not necessarily pose a risk to the sustainability of a resource. Financial investment in harvest technologies might provide an incentive to increase harvest levels, but could equally provide an incentive to manage for sustainable use. Preservation lobbies are not justified in presuming that new technologies will always threaten wildlife traditionally used by indigenous people.

N!ow

Africa ◽  
1957 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorna Marshall
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Kalahari Desert ◽  
South West ◽  
Run Off ◽  
South West Africa ◽  
Edible Roots ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Covering Vegetation

Opening ParagraphN!ow is a belief concerning rain and cold which is held by the !Kung Bushmen in the region around Nyae Nyae in South West Africa.About ten inches of rain falls in an average year in this part of the Kalahari Desert and sinks into the deep sands. There is no run-off in streams and there are few water holes. The rain is sufficient to support a covering vegetation of grass, shrubs, and scrubby trees. The vegetation includes numerous edible roots, tubers, leaves, fruits, and nuts, for which the Afrikaans language provides the convenient word veldkos.

scholarly journals Connecting Immigration to Canada's Indigenous Past and Present

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Bauder
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Field Trip ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Eye Opening

In 2017, I participated in a walking fieldtrip organized by First Story Toronto. It was an eye-opening experience. We explored various sites with significant Indigenous connections in downtown Toronto, Canada’s primary immigrant-receiving city. Canada is both a nation of immigrants and a land belonging to Indigenous people, and the field trip addressed these diverging perspectives in a novel and hands-on way. As an academic, I’m used to dealing with issues through rigorous scholarship and conceptual theories, and to see this complex relationship presented in an experiential way was both humbling and inspiring.

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