Book

Rituals of kinship among the Nyakyusa

Oxford University Press for the International African InstituteLondonPublished In 1957 • Pages:

By: Wilson, Monica Hunter.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This source is the second of three projected volumes on Nyakyusa social organization, the first concerning itself with the age-village structure (see 1: Wilson, this file) and the third to deals with various communal rituals. The rituals treated in this volume are concerned with burial, the farewell to the dead, puberty and marriage, birth, and misfortune (e.g. killing, sorcery). Attention is paid to differences in detail among the various groups of Nyakyusa society. In the actual description of the rituals, pertinent interviews with the informants are brought in whenever possible. After the discussion of the various rituals, Wilson discusses the participants, generally close relatives and neighbors, and the native conception of reality as it pertains to the rituals. The main body of the text closes with a sociological analysis of the rituals of kinship based on the theories of Radcliffe-Brown. The last forty pages contain representative documents concerning funerals, death rituals, marriages, misfortunes, and some genealogical tables. References are contained in footnotes to the pages. At the time of publication, Wilson was at the School of African Studies of the University of Cape Town.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Functional and adaptational interpretations
General character of religion
Puberty and initiation
Eschatology
Ingroup antagonisms
Mourning
General sex restrictions
Burial practices and funerals
Organized ceremonial
Lineages
General character of religion
Ethics
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Nyakyusa and Ngonde
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.
Social 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
Timothy J. O'Leary ; 1957 ; Teferi Abate Adem; 2010
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1934-1938
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1930-1957
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Nyakyusa, Tanzania
NotesAdditional notes
Monica Hunter Wilson
Includes bibliographical references
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
57002667
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Kinship--Tanzania
Nyakyusa (African people)