essay

Nomadic movements

Turkana herders of the dry savanna : ecology and biobehavioral response of nomads to an uncertain environmentOxfordPublished In 1999 • Pages: 108-121

By: McCabe, J. Terrence, Dyson-Hudson, Rada, Wienpahl, Jan.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document summarizes the causes and consequences of livestock mobility by nomadic herd owners in Southern Turkana. Based on detailed reconstructions of the movements of four herding families in Ngisonyoka over a period of more than three years, the document illustrates the complexity of nomadic pastoralism which was often misunderstood by developers and scholars alike. The study reveals that pastoral mobility is not an exclusive response to either environmental conditions or political events as previous studies tend to argue. Instead, it is a complex decision in which all environmental, political and social factors are important.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Pastoral activities
Annual cycle
Functional and adaptational interpretations
Instigation of war
Aftermath of combat
Social relationships and groups
Settlement patterns
Community structure
Disasters
Environmental quality
Domesticated animals
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
1980-1982
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1950-1982
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Turkana, Kenya
NotesAdditional notes
J. Terrence McCabe, Rada Dyson-Hudson, and Jan Wienpahl
For bibliographical references see document 24: Little and Leslie
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
99219983
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Turkana (African people)