Structural Dichotomy and Jural Processes among the Arusha of Northern Tanganyika

Abstract

Opening ParagraphIn his ethnographic survey of the Masai Huntingford remarks that ‘there is a constant dualism in the structure of Masai groups, largely expressed in terms of cattle colour. It is found not only in an antagonistic setting, as when cattle are divided after a raid, but also in the sections into which a tribe may be divided.’ He gives examples only of major divisions of the Kisongo and Wuasingishu Masai and the Samburu which, at least for the Kisongo, entail the apportionment of all clans to one of two groupings. In many kinds of social groupings and social activities the Arusha conceive of a similar organizational principle by which people can be aligned for particular purposes into two categories which are sociologically determined but not necessarily or perhaps even usually of numerical equality. It is possible that among the Masai this principle has a rather wider application and significance than has so far been reported; but for the Arusha, who derive much of their culture from the Masai, it is of major importance in social contexts concerning the family, lineages, dangroups, the territorial system, and the age-group system.