article
The Atinga cult among the south-western Yoruba: a sociological analysis of a witch-finding movement
Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Afrique Noire, Série B sciences humaines • 18 • Published In 1956 • Pages: 315-334
By: Morton-Williams, Peter.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article is a study of a movement which originated in southern Ghana during the mid-1940's and which is ultimately derived from the rites of an earth-deity in the Northern Territories. The 'witches' caught by the witch-finders were generally old women past the child-bearing age. Morton-Williams believes that in this case it is likely that witchcraft fears and accusations are the cultural expression of the psychological impact on the individuals in Yoruba society, of the social relations generated by the Yoruba pattern of marriage, of anxiety and guilt in the women and ambivalent sentiments in the men. The author is with the West African Institute of Social and Economic Research, University College, Ibadan.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Sorcery
- Comparative evidence
- Revelation and divination
- Offenses against the person
- Government regulation
- Congregations
- Prayers and sacrifices
- Infant care
- Functional and adaptational interpretations
- Cult of the dead
- Spirits and gods
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Yoruba
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2009
- 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
- Timothy J. O'Leary ; 1959
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1950
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1940-1956
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Nigeria
- NotesAdditional notes
- P. Morton-Williams
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 43021789
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Yoruba (African people)