essay

Three source notebooks in Tiv ethnography

Human Relations Area Files • New Haven, Conn. • Published In 1958 • Pages:

By: Bohannan, Paul, Bohannan, Laura.

Abstract

This source represents an experiment in putting anthropological field notes into the Files. These notes contain excerpts from official documents, selected and commented upon by the authors in addition to original field materials. The source is divided into three parts or notebooks. The first part is a compilation of official reports on Tiv history and political organization. Of particular interest to the ethnographer are the reports on the Nyambua cult, a mass movement with political overtones. The second part deals with subsistence, technology, and economics. It is organized entirely from the authors' field notes. The last part consists of information on Tiv life cycle. Materials on infant and child care, adulthood, senescence and death, and life histories are also included. There is a compilation of official and missionary correspondence on the institution of exchange marriage and the effects of its abolition. It is the authors' opinion that official reports on Tiv family groups, sub-clans, clans, and tribes should be properly looked upon as descriptions of different aspects of the Tiv lineage system; and they have been coded as such in this source. The authors, professional anthropologists, organized and prepared these notes especially for the Human Relations Area Files.

HRAF PubDate

1998

Region

Africa

Sub Region

Western Africa

Document Type

essay

Evaluation

Creator Type

Ethnologist

Document Rating

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Robert Lee ; 1958 ; Leon G. Doyon ; 2022

Field Date

1949-1953

Coverage Date

1910-1953

Coverage Place

Benue State, Nigeria

Notes

Paul and Laura Bohannan

unpublished manscript

Includes bibliographical references (p. 480)

LCSH

Tiv (African people)