Book

Gathering among African woodland savannah cultivators: a case study: the Gwembe Tonga

Manchester University Press • (5) • Published In 1971 • Pages: xi, 50

By: Scudder, Thayer, University of Zambia. Institute for African Studies.

Abstract

This study is part of a long term (14 year) study in collaboration with Elizabeth Colson focusing on continuity and change. Begun in 1957, it covers the period of actual resettlement after the building of the Kariba Dam, and the effects of, and adjustments made, as a result of relocation. Using comparative data from both hunter-gatherer and other woodland savannah cultivators, Scudder shows how the Gwembe Tonga are distinctive in their exploitation of wild plants. When crops fail, the Gwembe Tonga step up their gathering activities to supplement their diet. Unlike other people whom Scudder compares them to, the Tonga also collect plants which are potentially toxic and must be subjected to lengthy and elaborate processing to make them edible. In 1959, 54 people died after relocation in the Lusitu zone. Scudder speculates that the deaths were caused by vegetable poisoning resulting from experimentation in gathering in the new habitat.

HRAF PubDate

2014

Region

Africa

Sub Region

Southern Africa

Document Type

Book

Evaluation

Creator Type

Ethnologist

Document Rating

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Marlene Martin ; 1975

Field Date

1956-1970

Coverage Date

1925-1970

Coverage Place

middle Zambezi river valley, eastern Southern province, Zambia

Notes

Thayer Scudder

Published on behalf of the Institute for African Studies, University of Zambia by the Manchester University Press; Distributed in the USA by Humanities Press, New York

Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-50)

LCCN

sv 89087959

LCSH

Tonga (Zambezi people)