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Hunters of the northern East African coast: origins and historical processes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Daniel Stiles
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Extract

This paper has three related themes. First, the hunting peoples of the northern East African coast are defined; second, a period of origin of each group is proposed; and, third, the processes which resulted in their creation and persistence to the present are hypothesised and discussed.

Résumé

Les chasseurs de la côte nord-est de l'Afrique: origines et processus historiques.

Les données bibliographiques relatives aux populations côtières d'Afrique orientale sont difficiles à démêler parce qu'elles ne présentent aucune uniformité dans leurs critères d'identification et de description des peuplades en question. Grâce à la linguistique et aux éléments recueillis auprès des populations mêmes, on tente ici de décrire ces divers groupes, chasseurs par tradition, occupant la côte nord-est de l'Afrique et de les répartir en ensembles cohérents. On propose également un arrière-plan à la fois historique et théorique définissant l'époque et le mode de formation de ces communautés ainsi que les raisons qui expliquent qu'elles aient persisté jusqu'à nos jours.

On distingue trois groupes principaux, nommés Boni, Dahalo et Wata, occupant chacun des territoires diffèrents. Les Dahalo furent les premiers à s'installer sur la côte; vinrent ensuite les Boni et, en dernier, les Wata tels que nous les connaissons aujourd'hui: il est toutefois possible que ces derniers aient occupé la côte a une époque antérieure et sous une forme différente. Les données linguistiques confirment que tous ces groupes furent précédés par les chasseurs de langue Khoisan mais il n'existe à notre époque aucune survivance identifiable de ces peuplades. L'implantation des ancêtres des Dahalo eut lieu il y a 4000 ans, celle des Boni il y a environ 2000 ans. Les Wata, quant à eux, constituaient peut-être des populations autotochtones qui adoptèrent la culture Orma ou bien ils arrivèrent avec les groupes de langue Oromo lors de leur installation sur la côte au début du dix-septième siècle ou peut-être sont-ils issus à la fois de l'un et de l'autre de ces processus.

Ces communautés se formèrent et subsistèrent en groupes chasseurs-cueilleurs grâce à la richesse du milieu forestier de la côte, propice à ce mode de subsistance et lucratif sur le plan économique. L'ivoire et autres produits dérivés d'animaux sauvages étaient demandés depuis l'époque romaine; les chasseurs constituaient donc un élément important et nécessaire au réseau commercial de l'Océan Indien. Ils faisaient aussi partie intégrante de l'organisation socio-économique de la communauté côtière et, à une certaine époque, s'étaient liés de très près aux peuplades pastorales.

Type
Hunter-Gatherer Peoples
Information
Africa , Volume 51 , Issue 4 , October 1981 , pp. 848 - 862
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1981

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