webPulaaku
Ethnography

Derrick J. Stenning. Savannah Nomads:
A study of the Wodhaabhe Pastoral Fulani of Western Bornu Province,
Northern Region, Nigeria.

The « Great Forest » and its political importance
- The Kingdom of Bornu — an historical sketch
- Bornu and the Holy War
Early Wodhaabhe society
- Wodhaabhe traditions
- The family
- The Agnatic Lineage Group
  - Pastoral co-operation
  - Marriage
  - Inheritance of cattle
  - Inheritance of widows
  - Leaders
  - Fragmentation
- The clan
- The « Fulani Way »
- The « Guardian of the Fulani Way »:
  - Example
  - Ceremonial
  - Sanction
The Wodhaabhe and the Holy War (1805-56)
- In the Eastern Fulani Emirates (1805-20)
- Entry into Bornu (c. 1820-56)
Interlude (1856-94)
- The clan chiefdom
Invasion; Famine; Rinderpest; The British (1894-1914)
- Raabeh
- Rinderpest
- The British
- The « Year of the Short Stalks »
The Establishment of the Village Headships (1914-31)
- A policy of settlement and taxation
- Problems
- Village headships
- Settlement of the major chiefs

Founding a family and a herd
- Interdependence of family and herd
- The homestead and the family
- Formation of the family and its herd by first marriage
  - Preliminaries and betrothal
  - Bride-removal and « sleeping-out »
  - First pregnancy
  - Naming the first child
  - Making the homestead
  - The marital contract
  - The values of marriage by betrothal
Subsequent marriage
- Concubinage
- Contract marriage
- Gift marriage
- Widow inheritance
- Cicisbean marriage
Fertility of women and cattle
- Institutional factors
- A sample census
- Fertility of cattle: some general considerations
Divorce
- Dissolution of betrothal-marriages
- Dissolution of contract marriages
- Dissolution of marriages with widows, and of gift marriage
- Factors affecting the divorce rate
The clans today
- Clans and lineage groups
- « Strangers »
- The Guardian and his activities
- Clanship in the village headships
Pastoral movements and the village headships
- Wodhaabhe pastoral movements
  - Transhumance
  - Migratory drift
  - Migration
- The village headships and the pastoralists
The future
- Pastoral reform
- Pastoral reform in Bornu
  - Ranching
  - Land tracts
  - Social groups
- The sedentary population
- Conclusion