チガ族農民生活のダイナミックス

ウガンダブハラ村の事例

抄録

Three main trends might be demarcated in the current studies of social dynamics in tribal societies: the deviation theory (Firth 1964: 45) focuses its attention on the study of deviated behaviors, the accumulation of which may lead to a radical change of the present social structure; the equilibrium theory, on the other hand, concentrates its efforts to detect certain significant elements opposing one another in a social organization, which do not necessarily result in a structural change (Fortes 1945, Gluckman 1955, Marwick 1965, Turner 1957); then the contradiction theory (Balandier 1962) insists that a structural change may be brought forth by the crisis (crise) generated by European influences.
The last view may be most appropriate to analizing the problems disclosed in a Chiga village, Buhara, Uganda. The present author lived among the people for five months in early 1968. In addition to the general observations and communications with his neighbors, he collected some hundreds dispute cases recorded at the village court. He is profoundly grateful to Mr. A. Ntegamahe and Mr. B. Izongoze, both the Magistrates, and Mr. K. Otebwa, the Court Registrar, for their benevolent collaborations.
The residents of Buhara have been under European influence for forty years. Some of the most distinguished changes be seen in their consumption, education and administration systems. The villagers now stand in need of articles rich in variety: clothes, matches, soap, salt, sugar, etc., all of which are available at shops and a market at Buhara Trading Center. People demand more money to satisfy their expanded desires for these commodities.
Their production system is, however, not much improved. They are planting staple corns and beans without any manure, and no cash crops such as coffee and plantain can fruitfully raised owing to the chilly temperature. A reasonable amount of cash income is solely guaranteed by a wage-labor though, any opportunity for a job is extremely limited in the rural area. The minimum requirement for an employment at town is seven years' primary education. The school is open to every child, but the fathers are short of money covering the tuition fees for so long a period, for a father normally has seven or more children.
A Chiga father is, therefore, unable to yield enough money to purchase commodities nor to give an adequate schooling to get a job at town. The lack of his capacity in the overwhelming cash economy has inevitably weaken his authority: a family head can no longer exercise an absolute authority over his dependents. The family members are, on the other hand, not yet completely independent from their father. With insufficient schooling they can hardly leave the village to earn a living at town. They are still obliged to stay behind and cultivate their father's land and somewhat to accept his authority.
A contradiction of this sort, for instance, is unceasingly yielding conflicts and disputes over the land, cattle, marriage and so forth. These troubles are definitely visualized in the tribunal records at the village court, Buhara. The present article is for a preliminary treatment of the records with the theoretical orientation discussed above. Three cases are here elucidated and analized in full detail: a land dispute between a woman and her real brother; a marital trouble in connection with the bride-wealth; and a violence case within a family compound, i. e., a wife versus her husband's brother.
The contradiction theory, in conclusion, seems to be most profitable to study these dispute cases. Conflicts and tensions disclosed in the troubles are, after all, originated and generated by European influence upon the traditional society. A tribal society may change itself by means of the deviated activities though, the contact with European civilization multiplies its effects incomparably. Causes of the tremendous contradictions and the process of their reformations