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Drawing on the classic methodological approach of Kopytoff and Appadurai (1986), this paper examines the "cultural biography" of two remarkable, yet hardly known articles of female wealth, the kaakol and the closely related eletel of nomadic pastoralist Woɗaaɓe women in Niger. Based on both written sources and ethnographic fieldwork, the author analyzes the history, symbolic content and function of the object in the context of social practice. Originally an aesthetically arranged bundle of dowry items, notably a large number of decorative calabashes which are never to be used, but constitute a considerable source of female prestige, the kaakol has developed into an object of its own and has acquired considerable symbolic value. Recent cultural change has led to complex transformations of the object, but rather than losing its social significance it has developed into an emblematic cultural item and symbol of ethnic identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with traditional joking relationships and how these are expressed socio-politically in different contexts in present-day Burkina Faso. Yet while classical anthropological writings on joking relationships provided more or less functionalist explanatory models, such a functionalist bias is alive and well in academic and popular writings, as well as in the discourse of intellectuals in Burkina. I examine two different contexts of joking relationships between different ethnic groups, especially in the context of political violence. The first context is file joking relationship between blacksmiths and Fulbe as articulated in the many outbreaks of violence that have occurred in western parts of the country since the 1980s between Fulbe agro-pastoralistsi and local groups of farmers. The second context is that of national politics where joking relationships are used in national political discourse, Throughout the paper I will argue that the institution of joking relationship cannot be understood merely as a curious remnant of the past but must be located in present-day national political culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses joking relationships among different ethnic and professional groups of western Burkina Faso. It argues that the institution of joking plays an important role in supporting and reinforcing social cohesion and group membership in local societies of western Burkina Faso. The article provides first an overview of joking relationships, sketches out their characteristic features and discusses the perceptions, notions, beliefs and experiences of joking by local actors. Then, it explores joking relationships among Fulbe, a traditionally mobile people, and the pact between Fulbe and blacksmiths. Finally, the article examines the interplay of Fulbe and some non-Fulbe groups with regard to the custom of joking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In social anthropology, joking relationships have generally been interpreted in psychological terms, as means of averting social tension (Radcliffe-Brown and Mauss) or, alternatively, as providing individual psychological release (Griaule). Based on a comprehensive examination of the data from the savannah regions of West Africa, this paper argues that an analytic distinction should be drawn between joking based on relative position in kin and affinal networks, on the one hand, and joking grounded in intergroup (clan and ethnic) relations, on the other hand. Several strands of evidence suggest that the latter are best understood in primarily political terms, as long-term treaties instituting peace or well-defined hierarchical relations among hitherto hostile parties. As the earliest colonial observers noted, members of linked groups were prohibited from making war upon, enslaving or in any way physically harming each other, and also had mutual ritual and economic obligations. A considerable number of recently collected, circumstantially detailed oral traditions indicate that these relationships were inaugurated through ritual exchange of bodily substances, especially blood or milk, after armed territorial conflict. Brief allusions to the ingestion of bodily substances, in what have often been classified as myths or legends, may also refer to the inauguration of such relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines issues relating to the integration and the exclusion of the nomadic pastoral Fulbe in the West African states of Ghana and the Ivory Coast. The geographical, social and economic conditions in the northern parts of the two countries are similar. Furthermore, the migration of the Fulbe to both countries is a recent phenomenon, dating back only to the 1950s and 60s. However, the two countries adopted divergent policies with regard to the challenges and opportunities posed by Fulbe migrations into their northern territories. The Ivorian government was more tolerant of the Fulbe, trying to integrate them into the society while the Ghanaian government was hostile to Fulbe presence in northern Ghana. The paper also examines the inter-ethnic relations between the migrant Fulbe and the indigenous groups within the context of constantly changing state livestock policies and market conditions in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]