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Periodical article |
Title: | Weddings in Lamu, Kenya: An example of social and economic change |
Author: | Romero-Curtin, P. |
Year: | 1984 |
Periodical: | Cahiers d'Études Africaines |
Volume: | 24 |
Issue: | 94 |
Pages: | 131-155 |
Geographic term: | Kenya |
Discipline: | Anthropology & Ethnology |
Subjects: | Lamu - society Social Stratification Ceremony - wedding |
Abstract: | Lamu, a prosperous seaport in the 19th century, looked to Zanzibar for her culture from the early days of Omani influence there until Zanzibar was eclipsed to some extent by Mombasa. A combination of economic factors brought rapid decline to Lamu's prosperity during the 20th century: the end of the slave trade, in which Lamu merchants played a significant role; the growth of Mombasa as a major seaport, tied to the East African interior through the rail line; the end of slavery on the mainland plantations which were owned by the Lamu Afro-Arabs. A critical examination of the wedding practices of the four groups currently living in Lamu (Afro-Arabs; the new, early 20th-century arrivals from Hadramaut; the slaves (and ex-slaves) and the Kore) assesses social and economic change in Lamu in the three time periods of the 1930s, 1950s, and 1980s is measured. (Source: ASC Documentation). |