The Peoples of Greater Unyamwezi,Tanzania (Nyamwezi, Sukuma, Sumbwa, Kimbu, Konongo) by R. G. Abrahams

Author:R. G. Abrahams [Abrahams, R. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138233485
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2017-01-19T00:00:00+00:00

NEIGHBOURHOOD ORGANIZATION

Relations between neighbours simply as neighbours, rather than in their capacity as subjects of a chief and village headman, are well organized in parts of Unyamwezi proper and in Usukuma. There is some evidence that such relationships are also institutionalized among the Sumbwa but details are not available.237 The situation in Ukimbu and Ukonongo has not been described in the literature. In Unyamwezi proper, neighbourhood relationships appear to be most highly developed in the northern part of Unyamwezi proper, and particularly in Kahama District.238 I shall first discuss the situation in this northern Nyamwezi area, and I shall then go on to consider other parts of Unyamwezi proper and also Usukuma. It may be mentioned here that, owing to the sexual division of labour, co-operation between neighbours in all areas normally takes place only between persons of the same sex.

Neighbourhood relations in northern Unyamwezi proper are largely organized on a village level. Occasionally, however, members of two villages built on a single area of higher ground co-operate as neighbours, and also smaller clusters of neighbours, drawn from one section of a village, sometimes emerge for the performance of such tasks as millet threshing. In addition, the obligations of neighbourhood relationships may be extended temporarily to embrace members of quite distinct villages. Thus if a person passes by a village in which neighbours are co-operating in some task, it is his duty to stop and help them for a while.

The Nyamwezi term for neighbours is bazenganwa which may be roughly translated as those who are built for by each other. A person commonly refers to his neighbours as bazenganwa bichane, i.e. my fellow neighbours, rather than as bazenganwa bane which means simply “my neighbours”, thus emphasizing the fact that neighbours co-operate with one another.

Northern Nyamwezi neighbours collaborate in a wide range of activities. As their name implies, a person’s neighbours will commonly help him build his house. They will also often help a man with food if he has guests whom they feel he can ill afford to entertain. In addition, there is much co-operation between neighbours in agricultural work, in ritual and ceremonial activities, and in a system of informal courts.

Agricultural co-operation between neighbours takes place mainly through the medium of local cultivation and threshing teams which do the work of individual members of the team in turn. Neighbours also sometimes get together to eradicate agricultural pests such as wild pigs, though this task is occasionally organized through the chiefdom hierarchy.

Neighbours attend each other’s ancestor sacrifices and they are present at the ceremonies which take place at the birth of children. Similarly they attend each other’s marriages, and it is neighbours who are chosen to negotiate the amount of bridewealth to be paid. They attend each other’s funerals and it is they who dig a person’s grave, rather than his kinsfolk and affines. They are expected to refrain from agricultural work for two days after a death in the village, and it is their duty to visit a bereaved homestead in order to comfort its members by their presence and conversation.

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