article
Cosmology, practice, and social organization among the Kadara and Kagoro
Ethnology • 21 (1) • Published In 1982 • Pages: 1-20
By: Smith, M. G. (Michael Garfield).
Abstract
This is a comparison of Kagoro and Kadara (FF34) religion and social organization. Both groups are organized into exogamous, localized patrilineages with only a village-level political organization, and practice polygamy, serial polyandry, and wife-abduction. Major differences in social organization are the presence of moieties among the Kagoro and age-sets among the Kadara. With respect to religion, both groups share similar practices and beliefs including: the calendrical [n]ci[/n] rites that organized the seasonal round of agriculture and other subsistence activities; the Obwai and head-hunting cults; the dual religious and political role of priests; a creator god identified with the sun; and witchcraft. A stark difference is that the Kagoro do not believe in an after-life or ancestral spirits.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2015
- Region
- Africa
- Sub Region
- Western Africa
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard; 2013
- Field Date
- 1950
- Coverage Date
- 1950
- Coverage Place
- north-central Nigeria
- Notes
- M. G. Smith
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 20)
- LCCN
- 64005713
- LCSH
- Katab (African people)