Publication Information
Author:
Wiessner,
Pauline Wilson, 1947-
Title:
Hxaro: a regional system of reciprocity for reducing
risk among the !Kung San
Published By:
Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms
International, 1978 [1988 copy]. 3, 55, 404 leaves: ill.
By line: Pauline Wilson Wiessner
HRAF Publication Information: New Haven, Conn.:
HRAF, 2005. Computer File
Culture:
San (FX10)
Subjects:
GIFT GIVING (431);
COMMUNITY STRUCTURE (621);
KIN RELATIONSHIPS (602);
THEORETICAL ORIENTATION IN RESEARCH AND ITS RESULTS (121);
ORGANIZATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF RESEARCH (128);
SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND GROUPS (571);
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.
Document Number:
20
Document ID: fx10-020
Document Type:
Monograph
Language:
English
Note:
UM78-04841.
Thesis (Ph.D.) --
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1977.
Field Date:
1973-1975
Evaluation:
Ethnologist-5
Analyst:
Gerald Reid ;
1988
Coverage Date:
1975-1977
Coverage Place:
/ai /ai and environs,
northwest
Botswana
LCSH:
San (African people)
