Kinship Of Clan Organization
The Meaning of the Kinship or Clans
explain the meaning of the kinship or clan
Prior
to European colonisation in the late 19th century, Africa had a very long
history of state building as well as a rich variety of social formations that
were decentralised or stateless.
The Social, Political and Economic Organization of Kinship or
Clans
explain the social, political and economic organization of
kinship or clan
Clan
Organisation
Leaders
in the clan organisation were chosen by a heritage system that was either
matrilineal or patrilineal. Matrilineal systems are based on the mother’s side
and patrilineal systems are based on father’s side e.g. of matrilineal
societies are Makonde and Zanaki, while the Sukuma and Pare are good examples
of patrilineal societies.
The
clan leader had a lot of functions such as:
Note:
The clan leaders in Africa had local names e.g. Sukuma – Mtemi, Nyakyusa-
Malafyale.
Chiefdom
or Chieftain Organization
Therefore,
the chiefdom organisation system was adopted by many societies that were under
clan organisation. This included the Sukuma, Chagga, Nyakyusa, etc.
The
functions of a chief in these societies were similar to that of the clan leader
the difference is the chief had a larger area.
Age set
system was a type of organisation which involved age and sex in distribution of
activities.
Looking
at the Maasai; they were organised as follows:
1. Soldiers
2. Increasing
the herds of cattle by raiding from other societies
3. Moving
with their cattle in need of water and gras
.
1. Religious
leaders
2. Distributed
resources e.g. Cattle
State
organisation were systems of administration adopted by few African societies
while having administrative organs, army and judiciary. Each organ was
responsible for different activities. State Africa can be grouped as follows:
Interlacustrine
Region
·
Buganda
·
Bunyoro Kital
Others
include
·
Hehe
·
Nyamwezi
Western
Sudanic State
·
Ghana
·
Sangai
·
Dahomey
·
Fulani
·
Oyo
Central
Africa
·
Nubiii
·
Ethiopia
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