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Regular version of the site

Faculty of Humanities

 

Professor Marina Butovskaya’s Expedition to Tanzania

In March and June of 2019, Marina Butovskaya, a senior fellow of the International Anthropology Centre and an associate member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, went on expeditions to the United Republic of Tanzania with a team of her colleagues.
Marina Butovskaya and Darya Dronova in front of a traditional Haya house
Marina Butovskaya and Darya Dronova in front of a traditional Haya house

Expedition to Tanzania in March, 2019

Professor Butovskaya and her team went on an expedition from March 1-30, 2019 to study and analyze the mortal ceremonies of the Haya people of the western shores of Lake Victoria and the Meru people of the Arusha Region. The expedition team researched Haya and Meru ancestor cults, funeral customs, and post-mortal rituals. The Haya people are Christian (with an overwhelming majority identifying themselves as such) or Muslim. Their culture and language are closer to those of peoples inhabiting neighbouring countries, such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo than their Tanzanian neighbours. The Haya traditional culture is well represented by secret societies of bachvezi. These societies are closely allied with royal families and built upon the practice of spiritism and communion between initiates and the spiritual world. 

The memorial ritual practices (as part of life cycle rituals) and the attitudes of the Dagota, Haya, and Meru to their deceased ancestors are summarized in the chapter ‘Transformation of Traditional Rural Communities in East Africa’ of the collective monograph, The Omnipresent Past: Historical Anthropology of Africa, edited by Dmitri M. Bondarenko and Marina L. Butovskaya (2019). The research was financed by the Russian Scientific Fund, Grant 18-18-00082.

Expedition to Tanzania in June, 2019

Professor Butovskaya also went on a month-long field expedition to Northern Tanzania (Lake Eyasi) in June, 2019. The expedition aimed to study the culture of cooperation and mutual support of the Hadza and Iraqw societies. The researchers collected data regarding culturally acceptable standards of behavior in assisting relatives and friends within one ethnic group. The summarized findings show that compared to the Iraqw, the Hadza tend to be more tolerant of people of their own ethnos. The Hadza society is characterized by an egalitarian relationship between men and women, as well as senior and younger generations. The Iraqw society is stratified, with social stratification being observed at each level: in a family, a lineage, a clan, or a territorial community.

The surveys and interviews of local respondents show that overwhelming globalization processes have affected the cultural norms and moral values related to intra-group mutual assistance and cooperation. Most importantly, due to more frequent contacts with the market system and monetary economy, local people start deviating from the norms of traditional behavior. For instance, the Hadza tend to cheat each other in order to avoid sharing the most valuable food resources (honey, sugar, or salt), The Datoga break rules of cattle sharing in ritual ceremonies and refuse to help senior relatives, and the Iraqw have become more selective in contributing to their own families, ignoring their tribal values. The expedition was financed by the Russian Scientific Fund, Grant 18-18-00075.