essay
People and herds
Turkana herders of the dry savanna : ecology and biobehavioral response of nomads to an uncertain environment • Oxford • Published In 1999 • Pages: 232-247
By: Leslie, Paul W., Dyson-Hudson, Rada.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article discusses the multifaceted relationship of family size and herd size in Turkana society. It argues that the overall Turkana strategy for managing the relationship between the livestock and the human populations entails maximization of herd growth, and coping with shorter-term fluctuations in herd size and available resources through accretion or sloughing of dependents. In the longer run, the strategy involves maximizing labor and herd management potential through family building, as well as cooperative arrangements with other herders. Nuptiality and fertility, the demographic keys to family formation, are thus central to the Turkana subsistence strategy, and to the relationship between people and their herds.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Pastoral activities
- Domesticated animals
- Annual cycle
- Functional and adaptational interpretations
- Household
- Labor supply and employment
- Social relationships and groups
- Disasters
- Ordering of time
- Extended families
- Basis of marriage
- Mode of marriage
- 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 TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- Ecologist
- 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
- 1980-1999
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Turkana, Kenya
- NotesAdditional notes
- Paul W. Leslie and 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)