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.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
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.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Gift giving
- Community structure
- Kin relationships
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Organization and analysis of results of research
- Social relationships and groups
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- San
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2005
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southern 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.
- Ethnologist
- 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
- Gerald Reid ; 1988
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1973-1975
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1975-1977
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- ai ai and environs, northwest Botswana
- NotesAdditional notes
- Pauline Wilson Wiessner
- Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1977
- UM78-04841
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 397-404)
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- San (African people)