54. Notes on Occupational Castes Among the Gurage of South-West Ethiopia

Shack, William A.

doi:10.2307/2797801

Cited by 26 publications

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“…Hi) The Gurage W. Shack (1964), deals with the relations between the Gurage (500,000) and the despised 'Fuga' (5,000), a term which covers three classes of craftsmenwoodworkers, smiths, and tanners.…”

Section: It) Rwanda (Ruanda)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Caste in Africa?

Todd¹

1977

Africa

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Opening ParagraphEminent Indologists have stated that it is inappropriate to use the word ‘caste’ in non-Hindu contexts. Despite such warnings numerous Africanists have used the term, with varying degrees of imprecision. In this paper I first outline different emphases which have appeared in the literature concerning caste in India; then discuss several examples of hierarchical systems in Africa which have been described as ‘caste’. Finally, I focus upon my own fieldwork data concerning the Dime of South-West Ethiopia, amongst whom there operates a system which can, I believe, be unequivocally labelled caste.

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Section: It) Rwanda (Ruanda)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Caste in Africa?

Todd¹

1977

Africa

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“…This argument was advocated by Lewis (1962), among others, who argued in favor of the use of the caste concept specifically in the context of the horn of Africa. In the Ethiopian context, especially in the south, the three most prominent supporters of this paradigm for specific societies were Haberland (1964Haberland ( , 1984, Shack (1964) and Todd (1977). Similarly, Trimingham (1965) supports this paradigm by bringing the case of the Waradube on both the left and right side of the Wabishebele river in Arsi, Bale, Hararge and in the territory of Somali proper.…”

Section: Introducing the Tumtu In Harargementioning

confidence: 98%

“…Likewise, a number of ethnographic and archaeological studies conducted in southwestern Ethiopia indicate that the different occupational groups like smiths, potters, and tanners are conceptualized as caste groups although not strictly speaking in the Indian sense of caste (Haberland, 1964(Haberland, , 1984Shack, 1964;Todd, 1977).…”

Section: Introducing the Tumtu In Harargementioning

confidence: 99%

Life Trajectories and Changing Patterns of Marginalization Among the Smiths of Hararge, Ethiopia

Hinika

Julla

2020

Journal of Asian and African Studies

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Blacksmithing is one of the oldest traditional technologies among the rural communities of Hararge. Smithing has many functions among which its utilitarian role for agriculturalists clearly stands. This article is basically a survey and adopted historical and ethnographic methods. By collecting qualitative data through interview, focus group discussion, observation and document analysis from seven selected waradas of Hararge, the paper aims to investigate the changing patterns in the status of smiths in terms of their social position in Hararge. It concludes that although smiths were accorded a lowly social position and therefore were not yet considered as equals of the dominant agricultural Oromo in Hararge, the dynamics of social interaction over time have improved the social status of smiths. Smiths and other occupational groups like potters and tanners were treated not as equal partners but as marginalized social groups. This was partly due to the underlying socially constructed origin of the occupational groups which put them below agricultural communities in the social hierarchy and considered them as ‘alien’ and ‘remnants’ of an ancient ‘autochthonic’ population.

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Culinary Crafts and Foods in Southwestern Ethiopia: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Gamo Groundstones and Pottery

Arthur

2014

Afr Archaeol Rev

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54. Notes on Occupational Castes Among the Gurage of South-West Ethiopia

Cited by 26 publications

References 0 publications

Caste in Africa?

Caste in Africa?

Life Trajectories and Changing Patterns of Marginalization Among the Smiths of Hararge, Ethiopia

Culinary Crafts and Foods in Southwestern Ethiopia: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Gamo Groundstones and Pottery

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