article

Cultural narratives, violence, and mother-son loyalty: an exploration into Gusii personification of evil

Ethos29 (1)Published In 2001 • Pages: 3-29

By: Ogembo, Justus Mozart H'Achachi.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In 1992-94 during a period of communal hysteria about witches in Gusii, southwestern Kenya, three men were involved in the execution of their mothers whom they accused of witchcraft. These men were never punished by the government or ostracized by the community for homicide, in accordance with traditonal custom. This response of the community is unusual, but it can be understood in terms of the dominant ideology of the patrilineage that gained great directive force (on the members) from the economic and political stress the country was going through at the time (p. 3).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Gender status
Household
Family relationships
Offenses against life
Offenses against the person
Sorcery
Life and death
Mythology
Ethnopsychology
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Gusii
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Eastern 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
John Beierle ; 2005
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1995
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1992-1995
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
southwestern Kenya
NotesAdditional notes
Justus M. Ogembo
Includes bibliographical references (p. 27-29)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
73643517
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Gusii (African people)