Indigenous Chiefs Research Articles

Metal Detecting in the Wake of 16th Century a.d. Spanish Expeditions

ABSTRACT In southeastern North America, the received wisdom has been that most 16th century a.d. European objects occur in mortuary contexts, the archaeological manifestation of gifting and barter between European leaders and Indigenous chiefs. Our application of metal detector surveys in four projects in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi now throws this interpretation into question. We have found significant numbers of diagnostic iron and cuprous 16th century a.d. artifacts in residential contexts, which reflects both the huge amount of material imported into the Southeast by European colonizing efforts and the variety of ways by which Indigenous peoples incorporated new raw materials and technologies into their world views.

Religious innovations of chieftaincy in Ghana: Pentecostal Christianity and the complex persistence and transformation of Akan chieftaincy

AbstractChieftaincy is an important indigenous political system in West Africa. In Ghana–based on ancestral cult–the institution has gone through and survived the major historical epochs–precolonial, colonial, and post‐independence–albeit with some changes. The institution's flexibility has been a singular source of its survival. This has made it possible for Pentecostals to become indigenous chiefs. In this article, I depend on a year's ethnographic research in Ghana in 2019 and a review of literature on chieftaincy in Africa to explore how Pentecostal chiefs negotiate the complex terrain between indigenous religion and Pentecostal Christianity–as they take up chiefly office. I argue that through creative innovation and investment in social services, Pentecostal chiefs subvert chiefly rituals and also legitimize their authority. In all this, I discuss the flexibility embodied in chieftaincy and Pentecostalism.

Cambio sociocultural en la actividad agrícola

El presente es un análisis sobre la investigación denominada “Nosotros Somos Puro Trabajo. Capitalismo, Trabajo y Cambio Sociocultural, en Chinconcuac de Juárez, Estado de México”. La investigación planteó un conjunto de objetivos para entender, cómo estos sujetos habían generado estrategias de sobrevivencia, qué procesos históricos determinaron su situación actual y como adoptaron su cultura a los cambios, manteniendo su unidad territorial. El análisis se hizo con herramientas de la antropología encaminando a la interpretación de lo que dijeron los sujetos y de la realidad construida a través de los diarios de campo, dando así una explicación o construcción creativa de los posibles significados. Se pudo concluir que la estratificación social existía desde la época prehispánica, sin embargo, sufrió serias transformaciones a partir de que se modificó el medio de producción que podríamos denominar asiático o tributario y que consolidó un régimen de producción hacendaría. Las comunidades campesinas se constituyeron como espacios de una simple estratificación en donde por un lado se encontraban los caciques indígenas y por el otro los pobladores.

PERLINDUNGAN HUKUM HAK ATAS TANAH ULAYAT MASYARAKAT HUKUM ADAT DI KABUPATEN MALUKU TENGGARA.

Unalienated land dispute resolution in a way that is custom done by indigenous chiefs to resolve the dispute relating to customs. To resolve the disputes of indigenous chiefs hold a customary or sitting often known as judicial customs. The judicial nature of the Customs mediation, there is King as a mediator in it. The important role of indigenous chiefs of in dispute resolution is needed, this is because Community law is very respectful of indigenous chiefs. Legal protection must be viewed stages namely legal protection was born from a provision of the law and the rule of law given by a society that basically is the community's agreement to regulate the relationship between the behavior members of the society and between the individuals with the Government deemed to represent the interests of the community. Legal protection is not a true picture of the work function of the law itself that its purpose is not to provide other guarantees of fairness, expediency and also legal certainty. Legal protection will be more evident in the ownership of land rights is supported by the presence of certificate of land rights, as a means of proof of land ownership rights.

Guyanaas REDD+ Agreement with Norway: Perceptions of and Impacts on Indigenous Communities

This report examines the impact of the REDD+ agreement between Guyana and Norway on indigenous communities in the country. Through literature review, analysis of secondary data, and interviews with indigenous chiefs and other informed stakeholders, it aims to understand the concerns, hopes, and fears of indigenous communities at the start of the agreement, and the effects, if any, that communities have faced from REDD+. Concerns at the inception of the agreement focused on long-standing issues with land rights, and a sense of lack of consultation. There were hopes, however, in the potential economic benefits that could accompany REDD+. Implementation of REDD+ in Guyana has proved slow, and the cash (or other benefits) received by communities has been small. Deforestation has risen — due to increased mining activity — and costs incurred by REDD+ have been minimal. This has created an overall air of scepticism regarding the future of the initiative. Future developments of REDD+ could be stronger through its indirect effect on changing donor actions, and broader policy thinking in Guyana; but major challenges exist in creating an opt-in mechanism that is fair for all indigenous communities, integrating REDD+ with the extractives industries such as mining, and keeping a focus on low-carbon development in the light of major new oil finds.

History, Memory, and Utopia in the Missionaries' Creation of the Indigenous Movement in Brazil (1967–1988)

On April 17, 1974, and die two days following, a gathering of 16 indigenous participants from nine different indigenous societies was held in Diamantino, Mato Grosso, Brazil. During the three days, vernacular narratives, trivial announcements, and critiques of the government and local ranchers were presented—without any of the participants significantly engaging with one another. Only one primary source on this event, a short, typed document, is available today. The historicity of this “Assembly of Indigenous Chiefs” is granted by both the anthropological and the historical situations of the participating communities. For the first time, individuals from indigenous societies that did not share ethnic borders or history met to advance indigenous rights; for the first time also, these individuals were granted political representation (of their groups), a notion largely foreign to indigenous political traditions. There was a conscious effort to draw chiefs from as many communities as possible and to establish a large, pan-Indian movement.

History, Memory, and Utopia in the Missionaries' Creation of the Indigenous Movement in Brazil (1967–1988)

On April 17, 1974, and die two days following, a gathering of 16 indigenous participants from nine different indigenous societies was held in Diamantino, Mato Grosso, Brazil. During the three days, vernacular narratives, trivial announcements, and critiques of the government and local ranchers were presented—without any of the participants significantly engaging with one another. Only one primary source on this event, a short, typed document, is available today. The historicity of this “Assembly of Indigenous Chiefs” is granted by both the anthropological and the historical situations of the participating communities. For the first time, individuals from indigenous societies that did not share ethnic borders or history met to advance indigenous rights; for the first time also, these individuals were granted political representation (of their groups), a notion largely foreign to indigenous political traditions. There was a conscious effort to draw chiefs from as many communities as possible and to establish a large, pan-Indian movement.

‘Sharing my bed with the enemy’: Wives and violent husbands in post-colonial Swaziland

Colonialism produced numerous changes in Swazi socio-economic configurations as society was forced to respond to political and economic policies imposed by the colonial regime. These changes did not only inform colonial developments but had a profound bearing on post-colonial developments. One of these changes was the integration of Swazi women into wage employment in response to the growth of capitalist economic enterprises. Research on this development has been neglected such that up to now, we know little about the dynamics that drove indigenous Swazi women into wage employment. This paper argues that these dynamics are located in the exigencies of colonial policy that negatively impacted on the economic performance of areas occupied by the indigenous Swazi. It is shown that as the crises of product intensified in Swazi reserves, more women were released into wage employment. It is argued that this was not a smooth process, but women's integration into wage employment was a contested issue whereby Swazi men, families, indigenous chiefs, the monarchy, and colonial administrators attempted to frustrate female participation in wage employment. However, these attempts were not successful as women continued to take up wage employment with or without the permission of their husbands, fathers, families, chiefs, and colonial administrators.

The Revolt of Enriquillo and the Historiography of Early Spanish America

In 1519 Enrique, one of the few remaining caciques, or indigenous chiefs, of the island of Hispaniola, removed himself and some of his people from the reach of Spanish authority. For nearly a decade and a half he and his followers lived in the remote and barely accessible south-central mountains of his native island, occasionally raiding Spanish settlements for arms and tools and clashing with militia units but for the most part avoiding contact with Spanish society. Enrique eluded the numerous patrols that were sent to eradicate what became a stubbornly persistent locus of defiance of Spanish authority that attracted other discontented residents of the island, including both African and indigenous slaves and servants as well as small numbers of nominally ‘free’ Indians.

Cultura política y prácticas étnicas de negociación en Sonora. Dos ejemplos de la primera mitad del siglo XIX

Esta investigación explica la cultura política y las prácticas de negociación de yaquis y ópatas en Sonora, México; para ello se busca revelar sus características a través de los discursos y mostrar cómo sus contenidos remiten a un republicanismo de Antiguo Régimen. Se analiza la correspondencia enviada por el gobernador de Sonora, José Urrea, al Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, así como de jefes y capitanes generales indígenas. Los resultados muestran que los rasgos de la cultura política de los indígenas remitían según sus contenidos a un republicanismo clásico. Como parte de la semántica empleada predomina la exigencia de indultos, la declaración de fidelidad al Estado y a las leyes de la República. En este sentido se negoció la paz con autoridades estatales, lo que permitió que su existencia como grupo diferenciado de la sociedad mestiza perviviera, misma que implícitamente los reconocía como grupos con identidad e intereses particulares.

Accounting for imperialism: a case of British‐imposed indigenous collaboration

The involvement of accounting in imperial expansion in the South Pacific during the mid‐nineteenth to the mid‐twentieth century is critically analysed. Through a study of archival data, it examines the way in which the practice of accounting became involved in the production of a calculative knowledge of imperialism. In particular, it explores: (a) the processes through which an indigenous Fijian élitist structure was transformed into a British instrument of domination and control; (b) the way in which accounting calculations and explanations were imposed upon the indigenous chiefs; and (c) the way in which accounting, once imposed, was used as an integral part of imperial policies and activities for Empire expansion. The study highlights that before annexation what was previously seen to be just a question of an “American debt” came to be seen as requiring formal imperial intervention. During formal imperial rule, however, British reaction to indigenous resistance to accounting‐based administration was managed through a bargaining policy. This change enabled high chiefs to enjoy a “special immunity” through accounting’s negotiable interpretations, interrelationships and explanations. Accounting as a financial and an administrative system of accountability thus became an integral part of a British‐imposed collaborative system of imperialism.

Institutions, Context, and Outcomes: Explaining French and British Rule in West Africa

Why did Ivory Coast and Ghana adopt such different economic policies? In the 1950s Ivory Coast and Ghana shared a similar economic structure, based largely on coffee and cocoa production, and similar levels of economic development. Yet with independence Ivory Coast's Houphouet-Boigny embraced capitalism, implementing export-oriented policies favorable to the agrarian sector, while Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah espoused socialism, implementing import substitution industrialization policies favorable to the urban sector.l What explains this divergence? In answering this query, scholars have typically focused on each nation's class structure.2 In Ivory Coast Houphouet-Boigny's Parti Democratique de Cote d'lvoire (PDCI) mobilized the agrarian elite. In Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah's Convention Peoples Party (CPP) depended upon the urban petty bourgeoisie. Though important, this account is incomplete because it does not explain why the two nations possessed such different class structures. The explanation refocuses, but does not answer, the empirical question. I seek to solve this puzzle by tracing the origin of class formation in Ivory Coast's and Ghana's rural areas. Specifically, French and British colonial institutions generated different property rights and landholding patterns, forming the basis for different patterns of class formation. The link between institutions and outcomes is complex, however. Institutions define what actions are required, prohibited, or permitted for a given class of actors in a given situation and how these actions will be rewarded or penalized.3 In theory, institutions generate predictable patterns of behavior.4 In reality, analysts and policymakers are often surprised by institutions' impact. Indeed, French colonial institutions did not universally create a landed elite, as they did in Ivory Coast, and British institutions did not always create a small peasantry, as they did in Ghana. The colonial institutions' impact is contingent upon the interaction between colonial and indigenous institutions and the institutions' joint impact upon state actors (here, indigenous chiefs), upon the institutions' indirect effect upon social actors (here, the chiefs' subjects), and upon all actors' ability to evade and undermine colonial institutions. Institutions have unintended consequences, first, because actors work within multiple sets of institutions.5 Actions rewarded under one institutional arrangement may be penalized under a second, or actions permitted under one institutional arrangement may interfere with actions more highly rewarded under a second. In these cases, an actor's behavior depends upon the way in which he or she balances these competing pressures.

Local Rulers in North Cameroon. The Interplay of Politics and Conversion

This article analyses the conversion to Islam of indigenous chiefs in North Cameroon. The chiefs studied belong to the Mundang ethnic group. Their islamisation is interpreted as the outcome of the ambivalence brought about by their intermediary role between local society and the wider society. This approach offers insights in (a) the connection between conversion and political careers; (b) the relation between Islam and ethnic identities; and (c) the popular legitimacy of conversion.KEY WORDS: Cameroon, Mundang, chiefs, Islam, ethnicity, cosmology

Local Rulers in North Cameroon the Interplay of Politics and Conversion

This article analyses the conversion to Islam of indigenous chiefs in North Cameroon. The chiefs studied belong to the Mundang ethnic group. Their islamisation is interpreted as the outcome of the ambivalence brought about by their intermediary role between local society and the wider society. This approach offers insights in (a) the connection between conversion and political careers; (b) the relation between Islam and ethnic identities; and (c) the popular legitimacy of conversion.

Fiji Indians and Political Discourse in Fiji: from the Pacific Romance to the Coups

Abstract Why did Fiji Indian political rhetoric shift, at Fiji's independence, from Gandhian political grievance to nation, development and harmony? The Indians were brought to Fiji as plantation labor in order to protect the indigenous Fijians from wage labor. A romantic vision of the indigenes guided colonial policy, and became law at Fiji's independence, in a constitution giving indigenous Fijians and their chiefs special privileges. Despite the appeasing rhetoric, an electoral defeat of the indigenous chiefs was followed by military coups, for protection of indigenes against Indians and consolidation of chiefly power. Fiji has proved difficult to ‘imagine’ as a nation.

The Food Economy and French Colonial Rule in Central Cameroun

French administrative policies during the inter-war period in Central Cameroun created a class of indigenous chiefs who fulfilled crucial functions in the mobilization of manpower and resources from the rural areas for the development of the European sector of the economy. Early problems in organizing food markets to provision the growing non-agricultural sector resulted in a decision to channel agricultural growth through the chiefs rather than to leave it to market forces. The institution of a food requisition system involved the administration in exercising direct control over key aspects of the rural economy through the regulation of production, price control, control of the trading network, and the use of the indigénat to support the rights of chiefs over their subjects. The system succeeded in achieving two purposes at once: it guaranteed a cheap, reliable supply of food to the wage-earning population, thus allowing wages to remain low and stable; and it encouraged the development of a class of wealthy planters in the rural areas whose self-interest lay in support for the colonial administration. However, close control of the economy became impossible in the late 1930s, and the government's dissatisfaction with some of the implications of its own chieftaincy policy resulted in the abandonment of the whole inter-war system. The rural economy which gradually emerged after 1946 was characterized by family-based production units but lacked a well-developed institutional framework appropriate to it.

Individuality, Freedom of Choice, and Cultural Flexibility of the Kamba

THE Bantu-speaking Kamba of Kenya constitute a large and diversified tribe. They number some 800,000 people at the present time and effective political organization, apart from the British-imposed administrative structure, is primarily limited to the local community level. The Kamba have no supreme chief-indeed, they have no indigenous chiefs at all-and no tribal council. Each local community, known as an utui, is in theory autonomous and, in fact, there are few occasions in Kamba life which require the joint effort of persons from more than one utui. When this does happen, as, for example, in some of the circumcision ceremonies, the co-operative activity usually involves persons from only a few contiguous motui. The absence of a central political structure and the emphasis on self-governing local communities, together with the size and distribution of the tribe and the fact that the Kamba are only now beginning to fill up the territory they have occupied for less than 300 years, serve to make of the Kamba a test case for problems of variation and adaptability. A consideration of the factors of cultural adaptability and variation leads logically, if not inevitably, to a consideration of the nature of culture itself. However limited the sample, we cannot speak meaningfully of variationswithin communities, between communities, from tribe to tribe, from one ecological base to another-without concerning ourselves with the larger question of precisely what it is that is varying. There has been some tendency in anthropology, usually implicit rather than overt, to think of cultures in terms of fixed designs for living, stable blueprints for behavior, and relatively rigid guidelines for conduct. This tendency has been more apparent in the unstated assumptions which underlie a great deal of anthropological research than in formal theoretical statements about culture, but it nevertheless exists. Many of us have further assumed that a strong commitment to the specific rules of a particular culture is a virtually universal human characteristic. Even though we know that all cultures are in a process of constant change, our interpretations of cultural transmission are sometimes phrased as though this were a simple matter of passing on an intact model from generation to generation, rather as if we were referring to insect societies with cultural learning substituted for genetic inheritance. This seems to be particularly true in many acculturation studies, though by no means in all of them, with the pictures they provide of peoples clinging grimly to the culture of the good old days in opposition to the presumed cultural breakdown of the present. It may be suggested that this picture is most applicable to situations in which a culture is prevented from changing in certain specified

Indirect Rule—French and British Style

Opening ParagraphIn his witty and thought-provoking Lugard Memorial Lecture, ‘Et maintenant, Lord Lugard?’ (Africa, xxxiii. 4, 1963), Gouverneur Deschamps has provided us with an excellent general appraisal of the relative achievements and failures of French and British ‘native’ administration in Africa. But he does not do full justice to the fundamental differences between the two systems. Though he hints at these differences on several occasions in his lecture, he contends that, far from what is generally supposed, the two were in practice very similar, since they both reposed on indigenous chiefs. He insists that ‘la seule différence est que nous n'avons pas tenté, comme vous, Lord Lugard, de moderniser ces états anciens, ni de créer des embryons d'états là où il n'en existait point’; or‘…[our administrative practice] ne différait de la vôtre (au moins en Afrique noire) que par une allure plus familière et des buts moins définis’. This seems seriously to underestimate the nature of the differences between the two systems, which were rather those of kind than of degree.