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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:System and Reality: The Camel Trust System (Dabare) of the Gabra
Author:Soga, Toru
Year:1997
Periodical:African Study Monographs
Volume:18
Issue:3-4
Pages:157-174
Language:English
Geographic term:Kenya
Subjects:Gabbra
camels
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:https://jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kiroku/asm_normal/abstracts/pdf/18-3&4/18-3&4%20157-174.pdf
Abstract:The Gabra are pastoralists in the Eastern Province of Kenya. While livestock is owned ideologically by the clan, in practice it is possessed and managed by the family group. The livestock kept by a family group can be classified into two categories according to the rights of possession. In the case of camels, the rights of possession derive from the different forms of camel transfer: as a gift, on the basis of a short-term loan, through trade, and through trust. Of these four means, trust ('dabare') is the most common. A camel owner trusts (loans) most of his camels to another Gabra (as trustor), and lives on camels trusted (borrowed) from other Gabra (as trustee). Trustors and trustees are recognized as 'jal' (friends). The 'jal' chain creates multiple networks in Gabra society. Through the camel trust system, the Gabra recognize the reality of their ethnicity and their clan membership. The article is based on 16-months' research conducted intermittently from November 1990 to March 1996 in Gus sublocation, 50 kilometres southwest of North-horr. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum.
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