article
An administrative survey of the Masai social system
Tanganyika notes and records • (26) • Published In 1948 • Pages: 1-50
By: Fosbrooke, Henry.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Fosbrooke, in his capacity as a colonial officer, spent four years among the Maasai. He wrote this article with the specific objective of studying their political system with a view to submitting proposals for administrative reorganization. In essence, it is a study of the structure and function of the age-sets among the Maasai both before and after European contact. A large part is devoted to an inquiry into the traditional and current role of the chief LAIBON (medicine man). In discussing these two aspects of Maasai society, Fosbrooke manages to give some idea of the dynamics of leadership and political power in a society where traditional roles are being undermined through culture contact and colonial rule. Passing references are made to marriage regulation, family life, residence patterns and some aspects of traditional pastoral economy.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Age stratification
- Territorial organization
- Government institutions
- Shamans and psychotherapists
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Maasai
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1996
- 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 TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- Government Official
- 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
- Amal Vinogradov
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1931-1948
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1800-1948
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Kenya and Tanzania
- NotesAdditional notes
- by H. A. Fosbrooke
- Numbers appearing in brackets after individual names of LAIBONS on pages 13-22 refer to the genealogical chart of the chief LAIBONS which appears on page 12.
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 58039039
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Masai (African people)