Book

Hxaro: a regional system of reciprocity for reducing risk among the !Kung San

University Microfilms International • Ann Arbor, Michigan • Published In 1988 • Pages:

By: Wiessner, Pauline Wilson.

Abstract

This source examines how the San form social ties to balance out daily, seasonal and yearly variation in subsistence resources and what effect these ties have on the structure, composition and flexibility of social groups. The author finds that relations of mutual reciprocity -- hxaro, or gift-giving, and sharing -- are a means of assuring each family a steady subsistence income. She finds that hxaro ties, in particular, are useful in minimizing subsistence risks because ties between hxaro partners form chains of obligation that assure each individual access to resources over a wide area. She also finds that in hxaro relationships the San are careful to select partners according to personality traits, abilities and areas of land rights, but usually with little regard to age or sex. According to the author, three major social groupings result from the ties of mutual reciprocity: core groups of close kin, groups of cooperating cores, or bands, and dialectical or breeding populations residing in particular areas. As one moves out from the core towards the dialectical group, the strength of group identity and stability decrease, however, the social ties at each level are integral to assuring a steady subsistence income. Although filedwork is centered on the ai ai community on the northern margins of the Kalahari desert, it does discuss HXARO trade partnerships which extend over a wide region.

HRAF PubDate

2005

Region

Africa

Sub Region

Southern Africa

Document Type

Book

Evaluation

Creator Type

Ethnologist

Document Rating

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Gerald Reid ; 1988

Field Date

1973-1975

Coverage Date

1975-1977

Coverage Place

ai ai and environs, northwest Botswana

Notes

Pauline Wilson Wiessner

UM78-04841

Includes bibliographical references (p. 397-404)

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1977

LCSH

San (African people)