What do you think?
Rate this book
Bunyoro: An African Kingdom
This study examines the conflicts that arise when a feudal and bureaucratic administration struggles against the influences of European and traditional standards of behaviour.
A part of the 'Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology' series.
A part of the 'Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology' series.
86 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
3 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 30, 2010
Man's path from paleo-history is a fascinating study. Since our records of that era is confined to rocks and natural artifacts, those like me who want to understand what man was like in that time must extrapolate from more recent but similar groups of primitive people (I used the word 'primitive' in the anthropologic sense meaning the basis for derived forms rather than crude or preliterate).
I've spent a good bit of time reading about world tribes such as the noble Maasai, the easy-going pygmies, the !Kung--all cultures that are disappearing as 'progress' assaults their borders and spreads a life style that they would never come by naturally.When these last bastions of early civilizations are gone, we will lose a critical tie to understanding how religion came to be, why man adopted jewelry as decoration, how counting evolved (some tribes count only to two, some as far as ten and then multiples of ten), and where symbolic names started.
This latest book, Bunyoro: An African Kingdom is about the Nyoro of western Uganda. John Beattie wrote his treatise in 1960, based on research he did in the '50's, before the Kingdom was banned by Idi Amin, before it was recreated in the 1990's, before it adopted the very western religion of Christianity. In this eighty-three page book, he doesn't cover any of my questions, but were I able to study the Nyoro, I'm sure I could find answers--and Beattie probably did too, just not in this short book.
Here are my notes from the book:
* They live in small groups rather than villages, though they like to live close to one other. They believe good neighbors should help and support each other
* The typical Nyoro is a small farmer who cultivates 4-8 acres of land, owns goats and chickens and maybe a few sheep. He grows millet for food, as well as sweet potatoes, cassave, peas and beans.
* He makes beer from bananas
* Transportation vehicles include bikes and even cars
* They are courteous, hospitable and generous people, quick-witted, thoughtful and humorous
* They believe that some people are always above others, some always below
* Their government was European, as they were under British control, meaning chiefs were salaried positions. Councils advised them on a variety of decisions. Taxes were collected and sent to Britain.
* Despite the British rule, I expected to find a traditional isolated native population, uncontrolled by any outsider, but Beattie's description is of a people who embraced the progress of civilization and subverted their historic roots to a foreign system of life. Because Beattie reported them to be an amiable, content people, well-enough off, I suspect they were happy with the exchange. This is contradictory to the Indian experience with British rule. I wonder how much of that can be attributed to the size of the populations.
* Their family units are patrimonial and polygamous with a high divorce rate.
* Certain legal matters are adjudicated by neighborhood courts rather than a formal national system of law. The primary aim of these village tribunals is to restore good relations as well as to punish the offender.
Where a Western nation is hardly recognizable as itself fifty years ago, the Nyoro haven't changed much. Despite the fact that Britain relinquished control of Bunyoro and they are now an independent Constitutional Monarchy, the typical year that Beattie experienced in the 1960's is pretty similar to what Wikipedia currently details as typical:
* January (Igesa), there would be harvesting of millet
* February (Nyarakarwa) they did not have much work to do
* March (Ijubyamiyonga) fields were prepared for planting simsim
* May (Rwensisezere) there was not much work
* July (ishanya maro), women would prepare fields for millet
* August (Ikokoba) was the months of burning grass in the millet fields
* September (Isiga) was for planting millet
* November (Rwensenene) was named after grass hoppers
* October (ijuba) was a month of weeding
* December (Nyamiganura or Katuruko) was a month of rejoicing and festivities as there was little work to occupy the people
Today, they describe themselves as "the oldest Kingdom in East Africa and once the strongest military & economic power in the Great Lakes area." For more about this fascinating culture, visit their official website. Find out about their King, their Queen, their world.
I've spent a good bit of time reading about world tribes such as the noble Maasai, the easy-going pygmies, the !Kung--all cultures that are disappearing as 'progress' assaults their borders and spreads a life style that they would never come by naturally.When these last bastions of early civilizations are gone, we will lose a critical tie to understanding how religion came to be, why man adopted jewelry as decoration, how counting evolved (some tribes count only to two, some as far as ten and then multiples of ten), and where symbolic names started.
This latest book, Bunyoro: An African Kingdom is about the Nyoro of western Uganda. John Beattie wrote his treatise in 1960, based on research he did in the '50's, before the Kingdom was banned by Idi Amin, before it was recreated in the 1990's, before it adopted the very western religion of Christianity. In this eighty-three page book, he doesn't cover any of my questions, but were I able to study the Nyoro, I'm sure I could find answers--and Beattie probably did too, just not in this short book.
Here are my notes from the book:
* They live in small groups rather than villages, though they like to live close to one other. They believe good neighbors should help and support each other
* The typical Nyoro is a small farmer who cultivates 4-8 acres of land, owns goats and chickens and maybe a few sheep. He grows millet for food, as well as sweet potatoes, cassave, peas and beans.
* He makes beer from bananas
* Transportation vehicles include bikes and even cars
* They are courteous, hospitable and generous people, quick-witted, thoughtful and humorous
* They believe that some people are always above others, some always below
* Their government was European, as they were under British control, meaning chiefs were salaried positions. Councils advised them on a variety of decisions. Taxes were collected and sent to Britain.
* Despite the British rule, I expected to find a traditional isolated native population, uncontrolled by any outsider, but Beattie's description is of a people who embraced the progress of civilization and subverted their historic roots to a foreign system of life. Because Beattie reported them to be an amiable, content people, well-enough off, I suspect they were happy with the exchange. This is contradictory to the Indian experience with British rule. I wonder how much of that can be attributed to the size of the populations.
* Their family units are patrimonial and polygamous with a high divorce rate.
* Certain legal matters are adjudicated by neighborhood courts rather than a formal national system of law. The primary aim of these village tribunals is to restore good relations as well as to punish the offender.
Where a Western nation is hardly recognizable as itself fifty years ago, the Nyoro haven't changed much. Despite the fact that Britain relinquished control of Bunyoro and they are now an independent Constitutional Monarchy, the typical year that Beattie experienced in the 1960's is pretty similar to what Wikipedia currently details as typical:
* January (Igesa), there would be harvesting of millet
* February (Nyarakarwa) they did not have much work to do
* March (Ijubyamiyonga) fields were prepared for planting simsim
* May (Rwensisezere) there was not much work
* July (ishanya maro), women would prepare fields for millet
* August (Ikokoba) was the months of burning grass in the millet fields
* September (Isiga) was for planting millet
* November (Rwensenene) was named after grass hoppers
* October (ijuba) was a month of weeding
* December (Nyamiganura or Katuruko) was a month of rejoicing and festivities as there was little work to occupy the people
Today, they describe themselves as "the oldest Kingdom in East Africa and once the strongest military & economic power in the Great Lakes area." For more about this fascinating culture, visit their official website. Find out about their King, their Queen, their world.
October 11, 2019
Beattie's sociological account of the Bunyoro people was my first read on anything African. Centred in western Uganda, a community that faces conflicts in its own feudal and bureaucratic systems, and attempting to balance the colonizer's interest. This study records traditional social behavior in the community which includes forms of worship, beliefs in practices, attitudes towards taboo, and daily life. What motivated me to read an academic text based on cultural anthropology all in its entirety, is the passion that Beattie has put into his work for over 2 years of field investigation and further years of writing and verbalizing the non-verbal experiences.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews