article
Seeing, believing, doing: the Tiv understanding of power
Anthropos • 78 • Published In 1983 • Pages: 459-480
By: Edwards, Adrian Campion.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Edwards examines Tiv notions of power as expressed in their religion. According to Edwards, Tiv society is less genealogically and patriarchally structured than as depicted in the literature. Rather he sees in their ideology an underlying ambivalence about authority. This ambivalence is evident in the concept of TSAV, a substance found on the heart of elders that is associated with both leadership and sorcery, the latter an abuse of power. By helping to 'mend the land,' fetishes are the anecdote to sorcery and are under the control of shape-changers, or diviners. Edwards argues that shape-changers along with the benevolent sprites represent the fundamental, positive value the Tiv place in being good, productive farmers, which they regard as the real source of their success.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Form and rules of government
- Sorcery
- Spirits and gods
- Sacred objects and places
- Magicians and diviners
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Tiv
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1998
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1996
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1967-1982
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1906-1982
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Benue State, Nigeria
- NotesAdditional notes
- Adrian Campion Edwards
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 479-460)
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Tiv (African people)