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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Turkana cattle classification: some preliminary notes |
Author: | Wymeersch, P. |
Year: | 1988 |
Periodical: | Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere: Schriftenreihe des Kölner Instituts für Afrikanistik |
Issue: | 16 |
Pages: | 123-148 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Kenya |
Subjects: | Turkana cattle complex |
Abstract: | Based on fieldwork carried out in July-August 1987 among the Turkana in the regions of Lodwar, Lokitaung, Lochwangamatak and Lokichar, northwestern Kenya, the author describes Turkana society and the attachment of the Turkana to their herds. The Turkana value their cattle not only out of economic necessity but also because the most important social relationships and rituals always involve cattle. The possession of cattle determines social status and pride. Non-utilitarian interest in cattle is perceptible in vocabulary for cattle denotation and classification, in songs and dances for cattle praise, in sayings, descriptions and opinions about cattle, in decoration, and in expressions of identification between particular persons and particular animals. Notes, ref. |