Book
With a prehistoric people, the Akikuyu of British East Africa: being some account of the method of life and mode of thought found existent amongst a nation on its first contact with European civilisation
Edward Arnold • London • Published In 1910 • Pages:
By: Routledge, W. Scoresby (William Scoresby), Routledge, Scoresby, Mrs., b. 1866.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This source is a highly regarded example of early British ethnology, written by two skilled and sensitive observers who spent two years among the Kikuyu. Major attention throughout the book is focussed on detailed description of custom and artifact, and relatively little attention is paid to inference and to theoretical considerations. The data on food, clothing, shelter, arts and crafts, customs associated with birth and the various stages of life and death, are predominantly concrete and factual. There is a short sketch of political organization, in which appears a complete transcription of careful notes taken during several sessions of the local native courts. The section on religion outlines the Kikuyu conception of the soul with very little dilution by European preconceptions, and also includes a rather extensive discussion of the role and function of the medicine man in Kikuyu culture. The concluding section of work contains translations of 13 Kikuyu folktales.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- External relations
- Ethnosociology
- Historical reconstruction
- Traditional history
- Mythology
- Personal grooming
- Ordering of time
- Weapons
- Clans
- Diet
- Ornament
- Personal grooming
- Normal garb
- Real property
- Gift giving
- Tillage
- Legal and judicial personnel
- Status, role, and prestige
- Social relationships and groups
- Dwellings
- Music
- Dance
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Gikuyu
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2010
- 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
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnographer
- 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
- Leslie L. Clark ; 1958
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1905-1907
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1900-1910
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Kenya
- NotesAdditional notes
- by W. Scoresby Routledge ... and Katherine Routledge (born Pease) ...
- Some material on pp. 329-349 and 354-362, not pertinent to the ethnography, have been omitted
- Includes bibliographical records (p. 363-365)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 10021763
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Kikuyu (African people)