Warrior Herdsman.

by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

The Dodoth- a tall, handsome people of the northern trip of Uganda- are a tribe transition. They are proud, often cruel, warrior herdsmen whose oldest members live just as they did hundreds of years ago, but whose younger members sometimes learn to read and write and have brushed against the modern world. Elizabeth Thomas accompanied three anthropological expeditions to Africa and lived among the Dodoth. She displays a remarkable ability to communicate with the tribespeople and describe their lives and customs.

Genres: Anthropology, Africa, Ethnography, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas is the author of The Harmless People, a non fiction work about the Kung Bushmen of southwestern Africa, and of Reindeer Moon, a novel about the paleolithic hunter gatherers of Siberia, both of which were tremendous international successes. She lives in New Hampshire.

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the few books I've read twice. I'd read Elizabeth Marshall Thomas's books, animal or people, a dozen times though and enjoy them and find new insights each time. This one is life in the 60s with a very primitive tribe in Uganda who have an extremely unusual idea of marriage and kidnap girls so they can have more daughters. Old men, instead of marrying young girls, marry old ladies, the friends of their youth. It is quite lovely.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is an anthropologist who spent a year living with a remote group of people in northern Uganda in the 1960s. As Uganda was in the process of modernizing, this group was clinging to traditional ways. This book describes their way of life: family structure, economy, conflict with neighboring communities, sacred ceremonies, dwellings and more. I would love to know what has become of these people today, but the author’s final note, written in the 1980s says that she was unable to stay in touch with any after she left Africa.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a post-colonial Africa and before the modern age had overtaken events, the Dodoth were the people who had inhabited the northern fringe of Uganda. The anthropologist Elizabeth Thomas was fortunate to be able to visit these people and live among them for three expeditions. Whilst there she dovetailed in with the people and learnt to understand their traditions, customs and way of life.

Thomas immersed herself in their way of life, experiencing everything in their community, she describes their way of life from sowing seeds to collecting the harvests, seeing cattle bled from the veins in the neck to provide food for the tribe, the shamanic rituals of reading the intestines to gauge the future and witness the men would ready themselves for battle against the raids from the Turkana telling the gripping accounts of a the raids and battles between the two main tribes of the area.

It is a snapshot of a way of life that was never to be the same again. Not only is the modern world just appearing in these people's lives as spears give way to guns but this was shortly before the brutal regime of Idi Amin took over and their entire culture was diluted somewhat. This books leans heavily towards anthropology rather than purely travel writing, but it is no less fascinating despite that. Thomas takes time to understand the people, their way of life and the subtle nuances in their personal relationships as well as sharing their successes and tribulations. The writing is clear without being dry and academical helping you grow an emotional bond with the Dodoth people as they go about their daily lives. An interesting book that was well worth the time to read it.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author writes of her months long sojourn with the Dodoth tribesmen of Uganda in 1961. The Dodoth were a people who measured their wealth in the number of cattle they owned and resisted progress. She paints a vivid picture of the people that she encountered.