Clan Members Research Articles

Namadu Drum Music and Dance as Mediation of Healing Rituals among the Bagwere People of Uganda

This article reports on a study that investigated the namadu healing ritual of the Bagwere people of Uganda. The ritual involves drumming, singing and dancing, as well as sacrificing chicks, birds and animals towards gaining spiritual, emotional and physical healing of afflicted clan members. This music and dance mediated ritual is no longer commonly performed in African indigenous communities, and has not previously received scholarly attention. The current study sought to find out the deeper meaning of this indigenous heritage; what modern society could learn from it; and its viability in a contemporary context. Ethnographic data was obtained through observation, interviews, focus group discussions, and analysis of extant videos and photographs. The findings revealed that the namadu ritual embeds cultural identity, and increases agency in communities. Further, the music and dance have been re-invented into a royal and social entertainment, and a cultural festival for the Bagwere Cultural Union (BCU) and communities, respectively.

Титулатура древних тюрков: «каган» (каган) и «жабгу» (ябгу)

The Turks managed to create a huge empire. Territory – from the Altai mountains in the east to theBlack Sea in the west, from the upper Yenisei in the north to the upper Amu Darya in the south. At thebeginning of the VI century, the territory of Kazakhstan came under the authority of the Turkic Kaganate.Turkic Kaganate is the first state in Kazakhstan. Its basis was the union of Turkic-speaking tribes, whichwas headed by the kagan. The state, based on tribal traditions, was based on military-administrativemanagement. It was part of a system of relations with such major states of the time as Iran and Byzantium.China was a tributary of the kaganate. The title in many cultures played the role of an importantindicator of the international prestige of the state. As is known, only members of the Ashin clan had thesacred right to supreme power in the Turkic Kaganate. Possession of one or another title, occupation ofone or another place in the political and state structure of society, depended on many circumstances,the main of which was belonging to a particular tribe in a tribal union, clan in a tribe, etc. Social determinants(titles, ranks, positions), as the most significant components of ancient Turkic anthroponomy,contained complete information about the social status of the bearer of a given name, its origin andmembership in a particular layer of society, data on its place in the political structure of society andthe administrative structure . The political and military organization of Turkic society in many respectscontinued the traditions of previous state formations of the Huns. In linguistic terms, most of them areborrowings – mainly from Sogdian, Chinese and Tibetan languages.

CYP71D8L is a key regulator involved in growth and stress responses by mediating gibberellin homeostasis in rice.

Phytohormones are crucial in the regulation of plant growth and development, and in responses to adverse environments. Multiple cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYP450s) are involved in the biosynthesis and catabolism of phytohormones. Here, we report that a CYP450 member of the CYP71 clan in rice, OsCYP71D8L, participates in the control of multiple agronomic traits and abiotic stress responses by affecting gibberellin (GA) and cytokinin (CK) homeostasis. The gain-of-function mutant cyp71d8l and transgenic plants overexpressing CYP71D8L (CYP71D8L-OE) display similar phenotypes compared to the wild-type (WT), including dwarfed plants, reduced panicle length, reduced grain number per panicle, and decreased levels of endogenous GAs. Moreover, the dwarfed plant trait and the less-developed roots of CYP71D8L-OE and cyp71d8l seedlings could be rescued by application of GA3 or the CK biosynthetic inhibitor lovastatin, and exacerbated by application of the synthetic CK 6-BA. Importantly, CYP71D8L-OE and cyp71d8l seedlings maintained high chlorophyll contents and low levels of reactive oxygen species, and showed enhanced tolerance to drought and salt stress compared with the WT. Thus, our results suggest that OsCYP71D8L plays important roles in regulating rice growth and stress responses by coordinating the homeostasis of GAs and CKs, and it may therefore be a useful target for engineering stress-tolerant rice varieties.

1991년 가족법 개정 이후 종중과 제사 관련 대법원 판례에 나타난 유교적 가부장제 분석

The purpose of this study was to examine Supreme Court precedents based on Confucian patriarchy through clan (Jong-joong) and ancestor worships (Je-sa) since the Family Law amendment in 1991. In traditional Korean society, the clan was the patrilineal kinship community for serving ancestor worship and presided over the everyday lives of members. Because continuity of the patrilineal was an absolute proposition, ancestor worship was an important ritual in those days. Therefore clan and ancestor worship are key concepts to analyze Confucian patriarchy in Korean society. The analyzed Supreme Court precedents in this study were 40 cases, which were opened in the Supreme Court site from 1991 to 2018. The results are as follow. Korean society is changing from Confucian patriarchy to gender equality. In particular, daughters, who were not considered as a member of the patrilineal clan due to Confucianism, became recognized as a member of the clan after Supreme Court precedents in 2005. In addition, the elders first rule in the clan was not as important as in the past. And the eldest son was not normally considered as an ancestor worship supervisor. However, the minority in the Supreme Court insisted that Confucian patriarchy norms are an example of a unique Korean tradition. These findings suggest that the amendment of Family Law is necessary but not sufficient to create gender equality and a democratic society in contemporary Korea.

Ethics curriculum in Indigenous Pacific: a Solomon Islands study

A central feature of Indigenous Solomon Islands socialization of family, clan and tribal members is character-shaping. What this looks like, however, has not been researched. This study provides a first look at what is taught as ethics education in Indigenous Solomon Islands. Using data from a wider qualitative study of an Indigenous tribe of Mala’ita Island in the Solomon Islands archipelago, the study is authored and gifted by a Mala’ita Indigenous ethics educator to other Indigenous Pacific and other global educators and researchers. The study findings include: a clearer understanding of Indigenous Mala’ita ethics education including its integrated curriculum, its emphasis on character-shaping and its particular age-gender variations and pedagogies. The study offers pragmatic, conceptual, pedagogical, contextual and research insights for institutional and societal ethics education in Solomon Islands and other Pacific Islands modern states and to others interested in understanding ethics in context.

Petrography, relationships, and petrogenesis of the gabbroic lithologies in Northwest Africa 773 clan members Northwest Africa 773, 2727, 3160, 3170, 7007, and 10656

AbstractThe Northwest Africa (NWA) 773 clan of lunar meteorite stones are coarse‐grained breccias that provide an opportunity to examine a lunar igneous system that includes inferred intrusive and extrusive lithologies, possibly related through a common liquid line of descent from a single source region. Such extensive sampling of a single very low‐Ti (VLT) magmatic system on the Moon is unprecedented among the lunar samples. This study focuses on the olivine gabbro (OG), anorthositic gabbro (AG), and ferroan gabbro (FG) lithologies variably contained in NWA 773, NWA 2727, NWA 3160, NWA 3170, NWA 7007, and NWA 10656. Mineral compositions in the three gabbros indicate the crystallization sequence OG → AG → FG. Petrologic modeling of these three lithologies, and an olivine phyric basalt that also occurs in the NWA 773 clan, however, suggests that the relationship among the lithologies is more complex. The OG and basalt can be modeled as originating from a VLT KREEP‐bearing parental melt similar to the Apollo 14 Green Glass b1 composition through mainly equilibrium crystallization. The AG and FG, however, do not fit this simple model and require either a more complex crystallization sequence involving fractional crystallization, magma chamber recharge, or perhaps heterogeneity in the source region.

Parasite infections in a social carnivore: Evidence of their fitness consequences and factors modulating infection load.

There are substantial individual differences in parasite composition and infection load in wildlife populations. Few studies have investigated the factors shaping this heterogeneity in large wild mammals or the impact of parasite infections on Darwinian fitness, particularly in juveniles. A host's parasite composition and infection load can be shaped by factors that determine contact with infective parasite stages and those that determine the host's resistance to infection, such as abiotic and social environmental factors, and age. Host–parasite interactions and synergies between coinfecting parasites may also be important. We test predictions derived from these different processes to investigate factors shaping infection loads (fecal egg/oocyte load) of two energetically costly gastrointestinal parasites: the hookworm Ancylostoma and the intracellular Cystoisospora, in juvenile spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in the Serengeti National Park, in Tanzania. We also assess whether parasite infections curtail survival to adulthood and longevity. Ancylostoma and Cystoisospora infection loads declined as the number of adult clan members increased, a result consistent with an encounter‐reduction effect whereby adults reduced encounters between juveniles and infective larvae, but were not affected by the number of juveniles in a clan. Infection loads decreased with age, possibly because active immune responses to infection improved with age. Differences in parasite load between clans possibly indicate variation in abiotic environmental factors between clan den sites. The survival of juveniles (<365 days old) to adulthood decreased with Ancylostoma load, increased with age, and was modulated by maternal social status. High‐ranking individuals with low Ancylostoma loads had a higher survivorship during the first 4 years of life than high‐ranking individuals with high Ancylostoma loads. These findings suggest that high infection loads with energetically costly parasites such as hookworms during early life can have negative fitness consequences.

The Kwanyin Clan: Modern Literati Graffiti Writers An Aesthetic and Text Analysis of their Main Artworks

After illustrating the varied artistic production of the Kwanyin Clan, one of the most important Chinese graffiti crews, this paper analyses six of their main artworks in detail (styles, techniques, aesthetic conceptions and artworks texts). In these artworks, the Kwanyin Clan tried for the first time to merge Euro-American graffiti practice with the ancient traditional arts practiced and appreciated by the Chinese literati (calligraphy, poetry, painting, seals and ceramics). Comparing the Kwanyin Clan members to ‘modern literati writers’, the present article shows how this crew succeeded in reinventing ancient Chinese art forms using Euro-American graffiti vocabulary, paving the way for a new development of graffiti art in China.

Cities and Culture:

Research HighlightsIn the quest to develop cities for the long run, the debate is whether to retain elements of culture or to reinvent such spaces for new uses. Cultural heritage preservation thus becomes an issue in urban planning, particularly in developing countries including Malaysia (Mohd Shakir Tamjes et al, 2017). Scholars mention that Kuala Lumpur needs to create a distinctive city identity and image if it is to achieve its bigger goal of becoming a World-Class City by 2020 (Mohamad Asri Ibrahim et al, 2017). A question raised by researchers is whether the policies to safeguard heritage buildings in Kuala Lumpur is comparable to the practices in UNESCO heritage sites such as Malacca and Georgetown (Mohd Shakir Tamjes et al, 2017). Through participant observation, combining focus group discussions, content analysis, photography, and videography, I outline how the preservation of one particular historical building, a Chinese clan association, increases the cultural value of the city’s surroundings in Kuala Lumpur, as well as being a major tourist attraction. This makes the case for the continued retention of historical buildings and practices, despite overarching social changes such as super-diversity (Vertovec, 2007). &#x0D; Research Objectives&#x0D; This paper makes the case for preserving a particular heritage building, namely the Chan See Shu Yuen Clan Association Kuala Lumpur &amp; Selangor (CSSYKL), a clan association, pre-war historical site, and tourist attraction. &#x0D; Methodology&#x0D; How does the preservation of CSSYKL increase the cultural value of the city’s surroundings in Kuala Lumpur? This research question is answered through fieldwork by the project leader through participant observation which included photography, videography, content analysis of secondary documents, and focus group discussions with clan leaders and members. Photographic evidence is provided to argue for the case of enriching place attachment through the retention of meaning for inhabitants of Kuala Lumpur, due to the special nature it possesses. For example, Monnet (2014) conducted a photoethnography of urban space in the form of a multimedia essay, referring to the “production of data” rather than the “collection of data”. Monnet (2014) explained that images and sounds allow for attentive observation of the smallest details of daily life, and that the ethnographer experientially chooses to interpret and define what should be recorded in their photography - hence the “production of data”. This renders photographic evidence the best form of data for the case of cultural heritage preservation within the urban. Photographs were also harvested from stills captured in Google Maps under the Street View, where the journey was screen captured using Game DVR, a software which comes enclosed with Microsoft Windows 10.&#x0D; Results &#x0D; The photographic evidence shows how the preservation of cultural heritage buildings add character to the presence of Kuala Lumpur Chinatown, or Petaling Street. In the case of CSSYKL, it provides the historical elements as well as familiarity given its longstanding association with Kuala Lumpur’s history, and thus evokes the symbolic aesthetic. It provides symbolic aesthetic meaning to the future of Kuala Lumpur’s development and enriches the local cultural expression in league with the Malaysian National Cultural Policy. Ultimately, it guarantees that no matter how developed or industrialised Kuala Lumpur is, what with the move into the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Internet of Things, there will still be cultural meaning and place attachment resonant within the heart and soul of Kuala Lumpur. Even in the face of super-diversity, the clan association building will still reinvent itself as a place of attachment not only to those of Chinese descent but to all who are interested to appreciate its value.&#x0D; Findings&#x0D; Chan See Shu Yuen Clan Association Kuala Lumpur &amp; Selangor (CSSYKL) is one example of a historical building which functioned not only in the past as a community centre for the Chinese who migrated to Malaya in search of economic opportunity, but still retains its functions today as a gateway to maintaining links with Mainland China, especially in the economic dimension. Simultaneously, the heritage building also attracts tourists from all around the world, including those from China and local tourists themselves.&#x0D; Acknowledgement&#x0D; This research work is supported by the Ministry of Education of Malaysia under Grant Number FRGS/1/2018/WAB12/UKM/02/1 (Superdiversity Networks: Cantonese Clan Associations in Malaysia as Transnational Social Support System).&#x0D; &#x0D;

Totem Beliefs in Karachay-Balkar Folklore and Literature

The paper considers a set of the totemic beliefs as archaic views spread among ancient Turkic peoples, in particular the Karachays and Balkars. We have studied ways and forms of pagan manifestation in the ethnic traditions, cultural consciousness and Balkar literature. In the course of the study, we have touched upon issues concerning the mythoepic tradition and symbolic generalizations. We have used folklore to trace the continuity of artistic thought-tide in understanding and interpreting symbols (tree, stone, etc.). We have also identified mythologems (mother goddess) through zoomorphic images (deer, she-wolf).One can still find mythology and folklore samples in other nations’ literature presenting ancient legends of totem ancestors. They synthesized the rudimentary forms of religion. The characters of the stories were endowed with both zoomorphic and anthropomorphic traits.In addition to the traditional animal cult worshiped by the Turkic peoples there were the cult of ancestors, obeisance to the spirits of the dead. The ritual to distribute the meat portions of a sacrificial animal between members of the same clan also considered as a symbolic act.

Expansion of Oil Palm Plantations in Indonesia’s Frontier: Problems of Externalities and the Future of Local and Indigenous Communities

The expansion of oil palm plantations in Papua province, Indonesia, involves the conversion of forests, among other land types in the landscapes, which are a source of clan members’ livelihoods. The way in which this expansion occurs makes it necessary to understand the factors associated with why companies look for frontier lands and what externalities are generated during both the land acquisition and plantation development periods. Using a spatial analysis of the concession areas, along with data from household surveys of each clan from the Auyu, Mandobo, and Marind tribes who release land to companies, we find that investors are motivated to profit from timber harvested from the clearing of lands for plantations, activity that is facilitated by the local government. Land acquisition and plantation development have resulted in externalities to indigenous landowners in the form of time and money lost in a series of meetings and consultations involving clan members and traditional elders. Other externalities include the reduced welfare of people due to loss of livelihoods, and impacts on food security.

When corruption is not a crime: ‘innocent’ white politicians and the racialisation of criminality in Brazil

ABSTRACTIn northeastern Brazil, a small number of political families have ruthlessly clung to power for centuries. Members of these seigniorial clans have grown accustomed to the benefits of public office and, therefore, do not recognise how the economically and politically corrupt acts they have practised during their careers might be construed as illegal. Instead, they blame corruption on desperately poor voters whom, they argue, subvert the democratic process by selling their votes to the highest bidder on Election Day. Rather than examine why the desperately poor sell their votes, as scholarly literature on corruption in Latin America often does, this essay seeks to understand the racialised and classed discourses elite white politicians develop and disseminate in order to justify – or to deny – their own participation in corruption. Comparing scandals involving Fernando Collor and Lula, respectively, the essay suggests that historical and contemporary intersections of race and class become visible whenever allegations of corruption are made in Brazil, and in the Americas more broadly. The essay further argues that when elite politicians accuse those from humbler backgrounds of corruption, their accusations work to shore up an elite consensus that associates innocence with wealth and whiteness, and criminality with poverty and blackness.

Contemporary Farming System in the Shifting Cultivation Practiced by Arfak Tribe in Hink District, Pegunungan Arfak Regency, West Papua, Indonesia

Farming systems for shifting cultivation are generally carried out in dryland areas, especially in the tropics in Asia, Africa and Latin America. By enhancing local knowledge of the community in managing the land wisely, this system can still provide food sustainably. Shifting cultivation is common is Indonesia, but agricultural systems of the Arfak tribe in West Papua have not been widely reported. One of the largest dryland farms in West Papua is by the Arfak tribe through shifting cultivation system, to meet the needs of their families. Respondents for the study were purposively selected from 50% of sample villages, based on the homogeneity of the research area. This study is expected to give an overview of the agricultural system and the division of labor in shifting cultivation farming. Farming on a fairly steep slope is done by mixed cropping of food crops and vegetables. The farming activity is carried out jointly by the whole family in the clan members only at the time of land clearing, and then each member has the responsibility to maintain his/her crops. The larger role for males is in the early stages of land clearing, while the women are responsible for planting, maintenance and harvest. The largest income from all farms is obtained from potato, carrot and cabbage.

Insights from Archaeology

Insights from Archaeology

The dog in Han dynasty folk beliefs

The dog was an object of popular worship in the Han dynasty. Dogs played instrumental roles, primarily consisting of hunting, guarding the home, and consumption as food; as riding on horseback and leading dogs were pastimes of the wealthy, dogs became a symbol of prosperity. In Han dynasty pictorial carvings, like the phoenix, the dragon-dog Panhu (槃瓠) appears at the side of the Queen Mother of the West, indicating that a tribe with the dog as its symbol had provided male partners in a “walking marriage” (走婚, zouhun) to marry into the matriarchal clan. The Panhu myth was in fact a revival of the primitive system of in-clan marriage: a member of the Gaoxin clan of the Central Plains disguised himself with a dog’s head mask to carry off a daughter of the same clan in an incestuous elopement. The people of the Han dynasty treated the dog as a tool for understanding the world: for instance, solar eclipses were interpreted as the Heavenly Hound (天狗, tiangou) swallowing the sun, while Duke Ling of Jin (晉靈公, d. 607 BCE) was mocked for conducting himself in a manner unbecoming of a ruler by setting a dog to bite Zhao Dun (趙盾, d. 601 BCE).

Penggunaan Banten Daun Di Pura Dadia Alangkajeng Di Kelurahan Lelateng Kabupaten Jembrana (Kajian Nilai Pendidikan Agama Hindu)

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The phenomenon of religiousness in Bali shows the existence of various uniqueness and uniqueness itself. One form of uniqueness can be found on the use of leaf banten in Pura Dadia Alangkajeng, Apparently, this is related to the myth and role of leaf banten for klen Alangkajeng. This particularity is interesting to be studied more deeply so that the overall function and value in it becomes more clear.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;Problems raised in this study are: (1) Why is leaf banten used as a means of ceremony in Pura Dadia Alangkajeng ?; (2) What is the function of leaf banten in Pura Dadia Alangkajeng ?; (3) What is the value of Hindu religion education contained in the use of leaf banten in Pura Dadia Alangkajeng?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;This research is categorized into qualitative research using religious theory; the theory of structural functionalism; and constructivism theory. Qualitative data in this research is obtained by data collection method, consist of observation, interview, and document study which is processed by data analysis method with three stages: data reduction, data presentation and conclusion drawing.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The leaf banten function for Alangkajeng clan is 1) the magical religious function of expressing the religious system (carrying out religious activities) and the conception of belief in God with all his manifestations; 2) social function, to strengthen the solidarity of family members of Dadia Alangkajeng; intensify the solidarity of family members; and show family identity; and 3) the function of education, to guide the Alangkajeng clan to behave in accordance with the conception of Tri Kaya Parisudha.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The values of Hindu religious education in the use of leaf banten in Pura Dadia Alangkajeng help clan members in the process of self evolution to a more perfect, noble, and happy stage. These values are (1) the value of tattwe education, ie belief in the omnipotence of God (Bhattara Shiva) as the ultimate reality; (2) the value of ethical education that leads to the purification of mind (manacika parisuddha); sanctification of words (wacika parisuddha); and the sanctification of deeds (kayika parisuddha) and (3) the value of education of the event, marked by the presence of kuna drsta which underlies the execution of yadnya ceremony by using leaf banten; as well as piodalan ceremony in Pura Dadia conducted according to the time calculation in wariga system.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

At the Limits of Cultural Heritage Rights? The Glasgow Bajuni Campaign and the UK Immigration System: A Case Study

Abstract:In 2003, the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO ICH Convention) formalized provision for forms of heritage not solely rooted in the material world. This expanded the scope and accessibility of cultural heritage rights for communities and groups. To much commentary and critique, the United Kingdom (UK) infamously decided not to ratify the UNESCO ICH Convention. This article examines the implications of the UK’s decision not to ratify the Convention for the cultural heritage and human rights of an asylum-seeking group in Glasgow, Scotland, namely, the Glasgow Bajuni campaigners, members of a minority Somali clan. Based on participatory ethnographic fieldwork with the group and analysis of their asylum cases, this article makes two observations: first, that the UK’s absence from the Convention establishes a precedent in which other state actors (that is, immigration authorities) are emboldened to advance skepticism over matters involving intangible cultural heritage and, second, that despite this, limitations in current provisions in the UNESCO ICH Convention would provide the group with little additional protection than they currently have. Developing these observations, we critique current UK approaches to intangible cultural heritage as complicit in the maintenance of hierarchies and the border. Finally, we consider the extent to which the current provisions of the UNESCO ICH Convention might be improved to include migrant and asylum-seeking groups.

Calcium influx mediates the chemoattractant-induced translocation of the arrestin-related protein AdcC in Dictyostelium.

Arrestins are key adaptor proteins that control the fate of cell-surface membrane proteins and modulate downstream signaling cascades. The Dictyostelium discoideum genome encodes six arrestin-related proteins, harboring additional modules besides the arrestin domain. Here, we studied AdcB and AdcC, two homologs that contain C2 and SAM domains. We showed that AdcC - in contrast to AdcB - responds to various stimuli (such as the chemoattractants cAMP and folate) known to induce an increase in cytosolic calcium by transiently translocating to the plasma membrane, and that calcium is a direct regulator of AdcC localization. This response requires the calcium-dependent membrane-targeting C2 domain and the double SAM domain involved in AdcC oligomerization, revealing a mode of membrane targeting and regulation unique among members of the arrestin clan. AdcB shares several biochemical properties with AdcC, including in vitro binding to anionic lipids in a calcium-dependent manner and auto-assembly as large homo-oligomers. AdcB can interact with AdcC; however, its intracellular localization is insensitive to calcium. Therefore, despite their high degree of homology and common characteristics, AdcB and AdcC are likely to fulfill distinct functions in amoebae.

Memories of Love and Struggle by Fatima Meer

Reviewed by: Memories of Love and Struggle by Fatima Meer MJ Daymond (bio) Fatima Meer (2017) Memories of Love and Struggle. Cape Town: Kwela Books Fatima Meer’s book is well illustrated and, besides the narrative, has an extensive apparatus: an Introduction by Shamim Meer, a Foreword by Winnie Mandela, a glossary of Gujarati words, lists of the Meer clan members, a chronology of Fatima’s life, a list of her publications, and endnotes. While Shamim Meer begins her Introduction with ‘My mother started work on her autobiography in the year 2000’ (15), the title provides a more accurate descriptor in its reference to ‘memories’, for this book is not a fully-fledged autobiography in which the first-person narrator-writer undertakes to tell the truth of how she became the person and achieved the understanding of herself that is put forward in the writing. What Fatima Meer does undertake in her life-writing is to provide, as her title suggests, various memories of certain aspects of her life, but without profound inquiry into how or why she became the remarkable person that she was. She is rightly remembered today as a fearless leader in a struggle for human rights against overwhelming, racialised odds, and as one who continued, perhaps even more remarkably, that fight after the liberating side that she had once supported (the African National Congress) had ostensibly won the battle (when it became the first democratically elected government of South Africa in 1994) but since then has seemed to neglect its obligations to the poor and dispossessed. It is not that Meer evades the question of how she developed her vision and courage; rather her narration suggests that for her such matters were simply a non-question. While she details her growing involvement in the opposition to racism and to the Nationalist government’s post-1948 hardening of attitudes as it developed its policies into apartheid proper, she takes her ideals and her obligations for granted. She was simply [End Page 102] following the example of her family: ‘My family bubbled with the energy of the Passive Resistance Campaign’ (105). She recounts, for example, that in 1946 her uncle arranged for her to give her first public speech at a mass meeting (she was then an 18 year-old schoolgirl) in Red Square; she was happy to comply and proud of her success. Her assumptions imply that, as she saw it, all thoughtful people oppressed by racism had no alternative but to dedicate their lives to the Struggle, but of course Fatima Meer’s choices and her abilities were not those of the vast majority. Sadly Fatima Meer did not live to complete her life-story. She had a heart attack and a series of strokes which made writing and, later, dictation increasingly difficult, and although her daughter Shamim, with Ramesh Harcharan who had worked with her at the Institute for Black Research, and other members of her family assisted her, it proved impossible for her to complete the work beyond her account of the 1960s. The last few chapters have been provided by Shamim working alone and are, as she says, taken largely from Fatima Meer’s Prison Diary: one hundred and thirteen days 1976 (2001). These chapters are also written in the first-person with Shamim ventriloquising her mother’s voice (much as Fatima did for her husband in his ‘autobiography’ A Fortunate Man in 2002). The opening chapters about Fatima’s childhood offer a series of often charming vignettes rather than sustained accounts of development and are organised around the various places in which the family – or, more properly, part of the kutum (clan) – was living. Thus a chapter on Jeewa’s Building in Grey Street is followed by one on Wentworth, then one on Convent Lane (in the city centre again), then suburban Ritson Road and finally Pinetown. It is a focus which demonstrates, without explicit articulation by Meer, the loss that such a family suffered once the choice of where (and how) to live was taken away from them by the Group Areas Act. In these early chapters, the first fascinating story that Meer tells is of the two marriages of her...

Righting the Wrongs: Contesting Water Property Rights in Southern Ethiopia

Resolution of disputes and investigation of institutions that have attempted to right the wrongs (some of which have persisted for centuries) regarding pastoralists’ property rights over indigenous water sources in East Africa have rarely been the subject of formal study. Using a framework of water property rights, hereafter konfi, we report on contestations over rights to the ancient tula wells in southern Ethiopia, some of which have been in operation for more than 500 years. Unlike grazing lands, which are communal resources, wells are private properties managed by corporate clan members. We reconstructed the history of contests over property rights to 64 wells and found that some contests over konfi have remained unresolved for many generations. Only a small percentage (20%) of the wells have no history of disputes over property rights. The resolution of disputes relies on the principal tenet of the non-transferability of konfi property rights, except in the case of the family of the ancestral konfi dying out. Contestants are expected to reconstruct how they lost the konfi in the first place. The Borana tend to discourage contests over wells through the long duration of investigations, as well as myths associated with false claims that appeared to result in deaths among the claimants.