Beschreibung
Clans are normally thought of as contained within ethnic
groups. In the Horn of Africa the pastoral Rendille, Gabbra,
Sakuye and some Somalis of northern Kenya and southern
Ethiopia have many clans in common. As a result the clans
are not always smaller or less important than the ethnic
groups. How such inter-ethnic relationships came about is
the subject of this study many go back beyond ethnic
divisions to over 400 years ago. The book also examines the
uses to which they are put, for instance in managing herds.
Oral history is combined with cultural comparison and the
analysis of social structure. The many original texts are
themselves of linguistic interest. Blending synchronic and
diachronic perspectives, the book synthesises historical
ethnology in the Continental tradition with social
anthropology. Historically it overturns some established
ideas about how the Horn was settled. Anthropologically it
shows how relations may exceed the bounds of the ethnic
group as the conventional unit of study. It will be of
interest to anthropologists, sociologists and social
geographers or planners concerned with pastoral development.
Günther Schlee is Director of the Max
Planck Institute for Anthropology at Halle.