Book
The slaughtered camel: coping with fictitious descent among the Hubeer of southern Somalia
University of Uppsala, Department of Anthropology • [uppsala, Sweden] • Published In 1988 • Pages:
By: Helander, Bernhard.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a study of the Hubeer clan of the Ooflaawe region of southern Somalia. This group traces its genealogical origins back in history to the Samaale cluster of clans, but they are considered as belonging to the Rahanweyn branch of the Somali nation. Helander's focus in this work is on the consequences of the fiction of descent. 'Fictitious descent constitutes both a cognitive problem for individuals and an ideological problem for the society at large' (p. 2). This document explores the ways in which the Hubeer cope with these problems. Topics given particular attention in this work are social organization, class structure, funerary rites, the concept of BURJI (beliefs and knowledge of individual character and capacity), medicine, attitudes toward strangers and their adoption into southern Somali descent groups, gender metaphors, and sex status, (particularly concepts of masculinity and femininity).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Gender status
- Lineages
- Clans
- Magical and mental therapy
- Burial practices and funerals
- Ideas about nature and people
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Somali
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1997
- 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.
- 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
- John Beierle ; 1995
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1983-1985
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1983-1985
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Hubeer clan: Ooflaawe region, southern Somalia, Somali Democratic Republic
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Bernhard Helander
- Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Uppsala University, 1988
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 200-211)
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Somalis