Famine and Wild Pigs: Gender Struggles and The Outbreak of the Majimaji War in Uzaramo (Tanzania)

Abstract

L  in  a missionary from Kisserawe in German East Africa complained of a spate of ngoma ritual dances among the Zaramo people." In particular he singled out an ngoma conducted by women to ameliorate a drought that was threatening that year's maize crop. As the women danced around a well, dressed as men and brandishing muskets, they appealed for rain from ' their god '.# Several aspects of this ngoma make it remarkable. It occurred following the Majimaji uprising in German East Africa, which the Germans put down with such violence as to make war as a tactic of resistance unpopular if not untenable. The ngoma was attended by Christian and nonChristian African women alike, suggesting a purpose whose expediency cut across competing belief systems. Finally, although cross-dressing was an aspect of certain Zaramo rituals, the symbolic appropriation of men's social roles by dress and wielding of weapons made this ngoma anomalous and suggests that the participants were consciously and purposefully reshaping gender roles at this time. The timing and symbolism of the ngoma make it clear that it was a reaction to the threat of famine, which had become a recurrent aspect of Zaramo life by  and a symptom of ongoing rural social change ushered in by colonial rule. The larger question is whether changing perceptions of gender roles intersected with the Majimaji war (-), and whether Majimaji had an underlying meaning for rural Tanzanian societies that has escaped the attention of historians. If so, it suggests that the prevailing conception of Majimaji needs to be questioned and re-examined.The Majimaji epic, as it is currently understood, is the product of historical research conducted in the s by nationalist historians associated with the University of Dar es Salaam.$ Isaria Kimambo recently described the writings of the Dar es Salaam school as ' history inspired by the success " I wish to thank Allen Isaacman, Elizabeth Bright Jones, Ron Aminzade and the anonymous reviewers of the J. Afr. Hist. for critical comments on an earlier draft of this article. A grant from the Fulbright Commission, and the institutional support of the

State Extraction and Anti-Colonial Rebellion Quantitative Evidence from the Former German East Africa

“…German attempts to increase cotton production and trade were mainly based on an intensification strategy, in that the state worked to augment cotton output through communal cotton schemes in areas under firm state control (Koponen 1995;Bald 1970;Sunseri 1997).…”

“…The first explanation highlights the oppressive character of German colonial rule as well as the resulting hardships and grievances among the population (Iliffe 1969;Sunseri 1997;Gwassa 1973). The second explanation stresses the role of a unifying ideology.…”

“…He distributed medicine that would prevent any harm from German bullets (maji, which means water in Kiswahili), thereby facilitating large-scale resistance (Iliffe 1979;Beez 2005;Gwassa 1973 ances and ideologies may have played a role, they were not the driving forces. What mattered more were local conflicts among the various ethnic groups, who rebelled against the Germans to realize their political and material interests (Becker 2004;Greenstein 2010;Sunseri 1997). The remainder of this paper aims to provide the first quantitative analysis of the rebellion's background, focusing on the role of extraction.…”

Extraction and Violent Resistance in the Early Phases of State Building

“…He distributed medicine that would prevent any harm from German bullets that would turn into water when touching combattants skin ("maji," meaning water in Kiswahili), thereby facilitating large-scale resistance (Gwassa, 1973;Iliffe, 1979). The third explanation argues that what mattered more were local conflicts among the various ethnic groups, which rebelled against the Germans to realize their political and material interests (Becker, 2004;Greenstein, 2010;Sunseri, 1997). In the remainder of this article, I aim to provide the first quantitative analysis of the background of the rebellion, focusing on the role of extraction.…”

Cruel Guards and Anxious Chiefs

“…In much of the recent work on masculinity in colonial Africa, authors have examined men who had entered occupations and developed skills that allowed them to negotiate effectively with colonial authorities. Soldiers, men educated by missionaries, wage laborers, and chiefs all developed notions of manhood that drew from their elevated position (Sunseri 1997 Miescher 2005). The concerns of rural men disenfranchised by colonial policies and new economic changes rarely appear in the new literature on African masculinity, especially in the immediate wake of conquest.…”