Book

The Mossi of the Upper Volta: the political development of a Sudanese people

Stanford University PressStanford, California • Published In 1964 • Pages:

By: Skinner, Elliott P. (Elliott Percival).

Abstract
This document presents an intensive study of the political development of the Mossi people, a Sudanese negroid group occupying the Republic of the Upper Volta, West Africa. The author gathered his data in the Upper Volta Republic between November 1955 and January 1957, a period during which many important political changes were taking place in this region, and most of the field work was done in the territory formerly included in the kingdom of Ouagadougou, although short visits were also made to the Yatenga, Tenkodogo, and Boussouma regions. The field work was further supplemented by data gathered from various government documents and ethnographies on the Mossi. Particular emphasis in this source is on the Mogho Naba (the supreme chief or emperor of the Mossi), his household, ministers, and various territorial chiefs (e.g., provincial, district and village chiefs), and the various levels of interaction between them. Additional information may also be found on law and judicial procedures, economic foundations, and religion and government. The last three chapters of this work present a culture history of Mossi-European relations, and the resulting changes taking place in Mossi political structure as the result of the European conquest of these people. For lack of available information on the 'Ninisi,' an aboriginal people living in the Upper Volta area prior to the coming of the Mossi, information on this group has been subsumed under Mossi (FA28). Footnotes are on pp. 205-219.
Subjects
History
Chief executive
Territorial hierarchy
Form and rules of government
Traditional history
External relations
Ethnic stratification
Status, role, and prestige
Territorial hierarchy
Lineages
Sacred objects and places
Family
Marriage
Community structure
culture
Mossi
HRAF PubDate
2009
Region
Africa
Sub Region
Western Africa
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
John Beierle ; 1965-1968
Field Date
1955-1957
Coverage Date
1481-1957
Coverage Place
Burkina Faso
Notes
Elliott Percival Skinner
Includes bibliographical references(p. [225]-227)
LCCN
64012074
LCSH
Mossi (African people)