Journal of African Studies

Dietary avoidance among the Aka hunter-gatherers, Northeastern Congo

Kiyoshi Takeuchi

1994 Volume 1994 Issue 44 Pages 1-28
Published: March 31, 1994
Released on J-STAGE: April 30, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11619/africa1964.1994.1

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The Aka are the forest dwelling hunter-gatherers in western Congo Basin. The Aka inhabitting southern part of the Central African Republic, where is the fringe are of the tropical rain forest zone, have been studied by French anthropologists since 1970's. However, the Aka in the Congo Republic, who occupy the main body of the Aka population, have never been researched in terms of intensive survey.
This paper is a contribution to the study of food avoidance among the Aka, based on the several months' participant survey in northeastern Congo. The point emphasized in this paper is the personal aspect in the food avoidance in contrast to the social aspect as food restriction or food taboo.
The Aka individuals select and avoid many wild food species, especially wild animals, according to their self-consciousness on which stage he/she stands in the Aka life cycle, whereas several kinds of food taboos occasionally forces them not to eat meat of wild animals during the period they belong to youth or ‘woman’. Such double feature in food avoidance can be analyzed as a reflection of the essential character of the Aka society. Namely, the Aka has no rigid ideological constraint on sexes and generations which controls everyday acts of individuals.

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Population density and group organization of gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, Congo

Tomoaki Nishihara

1994 Volume 1994 Issue 44 Pages 29-45
Published: March 31, 1994
Released on J-STAGE: April 30, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11619/africa1964.1994.29

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The population density of western lowland gorillas in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, northern Congo, was estimated both by the “bed-census” method and the “counting” method based on bed-count and direct observation. The density was calculated as 1.92-2.56animals/km² and 2.29-2.61 animals/km² respectively. Because this was the first time to attempt the “bed-census” method in the Ndoki forest, direct comparison of population density was possible between western lowland gorilla populations at all study sites. It was concluded that the density of the Ndoki gorillas was highest. High population density of the Ndoki gorillas was considered to be possible because they have access to a wide repertoire of foods such as highly nutritious terrestrial herbaceous vegetation (THV) and various kinds of fruits and seeds, corresponding to the seasonal fluctuation of food availability. Although the feeding habits and habitat were different between western and eastern gorillas, they shared a basically one-male group composition, large group size, and unit groups that largely shared their home ranges with each other.

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Micro-history of a Nomadic Hamlet

The Case of the Garri in Northern Kenya

Shin'ya Konaka

1994 Volume 1994 Issue 44 Pages 47-70
Published: March 31, 1994
Released on J-STAGE: April 30, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11619/africa1964.1994.47

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In this paper I describe a micro-history of a hamlet of the Garri in northern Kenya and then try to clarify some characteristics of their society. The Garri are a Cushitic speaking pastoral nomads who live in the Ethiopia-Kenya-Somalia borderlands. They frequently migrate looking for pastures and water. I spent about six months in the ‘Mwalim’ Mohamed's hamlet, named after its chief, following changes in its locations and membership. I call this diachronic aspect ‘microhistory’.
The micro-history of the hamlet reveals, firstly, that each family may be seen as an autonomous unit in terms of pastoral management, migration and ownership of the livestock. It is entitled to leave the hamlet at its will if trouble should happen. In fact during the six months only the family of ‘Mwalim’ Mohamed remained as a continuous member of the hamlet: the others came and went. Secondly it was found out that the hamlet does not provide a framework of cooperation and that the hamlet chief does not exercise much power. Therefore a hamlet can exist merely as a neighborhood. In conclusion I suggest that their society may be characterized as an ‘individualistic association’. They regard individual choices as more important than the integration of the society.

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That man is a slave

On the decline of the hierarchical social ideology in the area of Kita in the Republic of Mali

Yusuke Nakamura

1994 Volume 1994 Issue 44 Pages 71-86
Published: March 31, 1994
Released on J-STAGE: April 30, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11619/africa1964.1994.71

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Most of precolonial societies in West Sudan (actually the Republic of Mali) were characterised by their tripartite hierarchical social structure: freemen/artisans and musicians/slaves. But their hierarchical structure dinsintegrated under the colonial rule by France. The French colonial state abolished the slavery and established a highly centralized bureaucratic administrative system. The process of disintegration of hierarchical structure of local societies was finally accomplished, at least on the administrative level, by the independence of the nation-state, the Republic of Mali in 1960. The government provided all the inhabitants in the territory with a single and equal status of “citoyen”.
In the late 1980s, the author undertook research on the oral history in the area of Kita (Région de Kayes). Before the colonization there was a small Malinke tripartite society (kafu) in this area, but it has almost disappeared except for some nominal and symbolic titles like village chiefs. The inhabitants, who include many newcomers since colonization, consider themselves as “kitaka (kitan)” of equal status. But in the course of research the author was told by some old kitans some “secret truths” on the “slave descent” of certain local leaders like village chiefs. They criticized the fact that many descendants of slaves hid their origins and occupied the positions of leaders (nyamogoya) now. But the author found that these “secret truths” were scarcely uncovered, and even if uncovered, they could not maintain their force as criticisms against the occupation of chieftaincies by men of suspicious descent. In this paper the author examines the process of disintegration of the hierarchical social structure and the decline of its ideology in the area of Kita, and considers the meaning of “slave descent” in the present-day Kita.

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Blood Source Animals of Tsetse Flies Collected Nguruman in Kenya

Hitoshi Sasaki

1994 Volume 1994 Issue 44 Pages 87-96
Published: March 31, 1994
Released on J-STAGE: April 30, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11619/africa1964.1994.87

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In total, the 3, 050 individuals of tsetse flies belonging to Glossina pallidipes and G. longipennis were collected at 2 different vegitation of 2 preventive different areas in Nguruman, southwest Kenya by NG2G traps in the dry season of 1992.
Female G. pallidipes was the most predominant followed by male of G. pallidipes. G. longipennis was few at the prevent area.
Both sex of G. pallidipes were captured more by the evening collection and in contrastly, both sex of G. longipennis were captured more by the morning one.
All the 339 individuals (11.1%) were examined their blood meals by direct ELISA to know their origin and 155 (46%) were determined. The most predominant source was bushbuck for both sex and species followed by ostrich, elephant, warthog and buffalo.
The author concluded that bushbuck, elephant, warthog and buffalo are important as the natural reservoir of Trypanosoma spp. and ostrich and the 4 above mentioned wildlife have the important role in the reproduction of the tsetse flies.

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Research Materials of the Clinicopathological and Comparative Anatomical Studies among Afican Great Apes in Congo

Sugio Hayama

1994 Volume 1994 Issue 44 Pages 97-107
Published: March 31, 1994
Released on J-STAGE: April 30, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11619/africa1964.1994.97

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Kazutaka Sugawara Anthropology of the Body: Everyday Behavior of the G/wi Hunter-Gatherers

Koji Kitamuta

1994 Volume 1994 Issue 44 Pages 109-112
Published: March 31, 1994
Released on J-STAGE: April 30, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11619/africa1964.1994.109

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Juichi Yamagiwa Between Gorilla and Man

Yukio Takahata

1994 Volume 1994 Issue 44 Pages 112-115
Published: March 31, 1994
Released on J-STAGE: April 30, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11619/africa1964.1994.112

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Shigeki Kaji Doing Fieldwork in Africa

Daiji Kimura

1994 Volume 1994 Issue 44 Pages 115-117
Published: March 31, 1994
Released on J-STAGE: April 30, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11619/africa1964.1994.115

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Takashi Okakura and Katsuhiko Kitagawa A History of Japan Africa Relations: From Meiji Restoration to the World War II

Jun Morikawa

1994 Volume 1994 Issue 44 Pages 117-119
Published: March 31, 1994
Released on J-STAGE: April 30, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11619/africa1964.1994.117

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Isaria N. KIMAMBO Penetration & Protest in Tanzania; The Impact of the World Economy on the Pare 1860-1960, London, James Currey, 1991, xii+188pp

Masao Yoshida

1994 Volume 1994 Issue 44 Pages 119-122
Published: March 31, 1994
Released on J-STAGE: April 30, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11619/africa1964.1994.119

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