essay
Turkana in time perspective
Turkana herders of the dry savanna : ecology and biobehavioral response of nomads to an uncertain environment • Oxford • Published In 1999 • Pages: 24-40
By: Dyson-Hudson, Rada.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document outlines the history of Turkana since their emergence as a distinct ethnic group some time around 1700. Unlike previous anthropological works which tended to portray them as static and part of a self-regulating ecosystem who lived in equilibrium with their environment, this work argues that the Turkana as a group have experienced change and coped with change. The document also shows the Turkana's main system of food production (i.e., nomadic pastoralism) has been a very resilient and adaptive system for the most part of their recorded history. Since the 1950s, however, both nomadic herding and the Turkana environment have been assaulted by the combined forces of increasing state intervention and the commoditization of rural land.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cultural identity and pride
- Historical reconstruction
- History
- Traditional history
- External relations
- Functional and adaptational interpretations
- Environmental quality
- Pastoral activities
- Inter-ethnic relations
- External migration
- External trade
- Warfare
- Instigation of war
- Research and development
- Aftermath of combat
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Turkana
- 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
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- 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
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2009
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1980-1996
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1700-1999
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Turkana, Kenya
- NotesAdditional notes
- Rada Dyson-Hudson
- For bibliographical references see document 24: Little and Leslie
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 99219983
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Turkana (African people)