THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

Name:

Nalumino L. Namwanyi

Computer no:512805891

Assignment One:

To what extent would you argue that the historiography of Central Africa demonstrates division of labour between men and women during the pre-colonial period?

Due:

24th August 2012

Lecturer:

Professor B. J. Phiri

Division of labour is the time saving arrangement giving parts of the manufacturing process to different persons.1 To investigate the extent to which one might argue that the historiography of pre-colonial Central Africa demonstrates division of labour, this paper looks at what various scholars have written on how productive activities were shared among various Central African peoples. It looks at what has been written on activities like: house keeping; preparation of food; food finding activities like hunting, gathering and agriculture; and craft making.

Chondokas work in general, shows that the division of labour among the Senga and Tumbuka societies meant that men, women and children were expected to do specific tasks in society. Of this papers interest are the tasks he mentions that were assigned by gender. He lists among mens tasks the following: acquiring and manufacturing of agricultural implements; clearing virgin land and already existing fields for crop production; building and maintenance of granaries; hunting; sinking of wells; and many other tasks.2 Womens tasks included mostly what Chondoka calls unpleasant tasks like: collecting and heaping what the men had cut and left behind when clearing the land; weeding rice and sorghum fields; fetching of firewood; drawing water for all domestic uses; making of pots from clay; and cooking of food among many others.

Achim Von Oppen also acknowledges that there was a clear division of labour among the Upper Zambezi ethnic groups. He explains that different economic activities and consequently, the changes they undergo, are related to the different categories of the producers. The most basic of these categories: gender, age and location, seem to have been based on certain physical characteristics, namely, differential involvement in

procreation, differential strength and expertise, and differential access to natural resources.3 He therefore shows that the allocation of tasks to the sexes in any society was not random but systematic so as to make the sexes compliment one another.

Von Oppen notes that women performed most housekeeping and all other tasks that went with it. He points out that housekeeping included chores such as tidying up of the huts and the surroundings, fetching water and firewood, and the preparation of food. Writing on the housekeeping chore of fetching water, Roberts shows that it was the task of the women. She notes that no man ever drew water for himself under normal village conditions as it was reckoned an essential duty of a wife or women.4 This also included the provision of drinking water for men. Gelfand agrees with what Chondoka writes by pointing out that it was the mans duty to dig a well where necessary but that only women took water from it.5

Reynolds work on the peoples of the Gwembe valley shows that the ever-recurrent housekeeping task of cooking and preparing of meals was done by women. He emphasises that the need to prepare meals compelled women return to their homes from wherever they might have been.6 Gelfand singles out preparation of meals as one of the womens chief tasks and pointed out that no man ever cooked except on a journey where food could not be brought to him or he could not carry sufficient food with him.7 Every man expected his wife to cook for him and he had no right to interfere or even make suggestions in those matters.

Gelfand notes that fetching of firewood was another female occupation among the Shona. He observes that girls were taught the skill of collecting firewood at tender ages.

They were taught how to prepare a firewood bundle and how to select the best pieces, sizes and shapes of firewood. He however notes that even boys were also reminded that it was their task to collect firewood for the Dare, the village male meeting place, which no woman was permitted to prepare. He further writes that the boys also had to carry logs that were too heavy for the women.8 However, the labour of men was involved in some of the above chores on particular occasions and when there was a good reason. For instance, men collected their own firewood for smelting iron.9

Many works on pre-colonial Central Africa show that food finding as a whole was conducted by both sexes. Under food finding were included tasks such as agriculture, gathering, hunting and fishing. Posselt notes that among the Shona, the cultivation of the land, sowing, weeding, reaping and threshing were jointly performed by both sexes but that ground breaking was under the sphere of work of men.10 Arrghit citing Ranger agrees that cultivating, sowing, weeding, reaping and threshing among the Shona were tasks jointly performed by both sexes, though with probable predominance of female labour. He however, notes that it was different among the Ndebele who exhibited a more marked division of labour compared to the Shona. The Ndebele high caste men concentrated their energies on hunting, raiding and various martial pursuits, leaving many of the productive activities to women.11

Von Oppens observation concerning agriculture, is that men only helped with the clearing of the land and rarely, hoeing while the women did the planting, weeding, and harvesting. This observation is also made by Roberts12 whose work in northern Zambia demonstrates that men rarely engaged in more than just clearing the land. Colson observed that among the people of Gwembe, each the husband and the wife had

separate fields. She notes that men cleared fields; built field shelters; and fence gardens where it was done. They also helped with planting and cultivation of their own fields though many men did little in their wives fields.13

According to Beach, women undertook gathering, which provided food for relishes and standby in emergencies.14 He notes that women gathered wild fruits, insects, herbs and vegetables. This is collaborated by Gelfand who also observes that gathering was done by small groups of women among the Mashona people.15 Von Oppen makes a similar observation that outside of agriculture, gathering was a classic form of production for women on the Upper Zambezi ethnic groups just as hunting was for men. He explains that women were more closely tied to the village but that they also went to the forest for day long gathering trips which could even include catching of small birds and mammals using snares, traps and digging.16

Rennie and Mubita agree that gathering was the province of the women but observe that this division of labour could change according to different circumstances.17 The circumstances could be; famine; nature of the gathering process; quantities of the materials being gathered; or the distances to the collection point. They explain that in famine season, both sexes would collect fruits like the Muntamba since the quantities required were large. Similarly, the collection of Mbula also required mens participation since the distances to the collection points were often too great that the collection party would arrive after dark. Lastly, men were required for t he collection of Mankolongwa which grew on thick bushes and whose collection was an arduous task.

Von Oppen writes that niyala wubinga; namumbanda lusemu, meaning that, for man, huntsman ship; for woman procreation.18 He explains that this was a classic Lunda Ndembu description of gender roles and that hunting was a mans province among the Upper Zambezi ethnic groups. Other scholars like Roberts19, Colson20 and Posselt21 write in agreement that hunting was a task that was performed by men. Gelfand further explains that this division of labour started during childhood when the boys as young as eight or nine years were taught the art of hunting by their fathers or any senior male relatives. He points out that the boy was given hunting weapons like a spear, bow and arrows while he was still young.22

Scholars written work on Central African history also demonstrates division of labour in the making of crafts. Colson asserts that crafts were primarily subject to the sexual division of labour where work with wood and metals was assigned to men, and the making of pots, baskets and mats, was assigned to women among the Gwembe Tonga.23 Aguilar observes that women did the making of ceramics (pottery). She explains that women mined the clay, cured and prepared it for pottery making.24 Doke, in his works on the Lamba, also agrees that all the pottery making was performed by the women with the exception that men made their own pipe bowls from clay.25

Written work on pre-colonial Central Africa also exhibit the division of labour in the craft of iron smelting. Rennie and Mubita mention that iron smelting was a male activity from which females were ritually excluded. Iron smelting and working was conducted by small parties of four to six men working in at night in isolated camps. They point out that even the firewood they used for smelting and working iron, the Mubanga and Mopane hardwood logs, was collected by the men themselves.26

Chondoka adds on to explain that among the Tumbuka and Senga societies, women were excluded from iron working sites for fear that they would leak the secrets to other tribes. The other reason he gives is that men were scantily dressed due to the heat from the furnaces during iron smelting.27 Von Oppen also explains that iron working, like most male activities, required periodical, relatively short but intense input of labour. It also involved male absence from homes for sometimes-considerable periods.28

Also writing on division of labour involving crafts, Colson points out woodworking as another craft in which only men specialise. Male specialists were carvers of wooden articles like bowls, stools and mortars. They were also the builders of canoes and the makers of drums.29

Rennie and Mubita agree with Colsons assertion that there was division of labour in the craft of basket and mat making. They write that basket making was a province of the women among the people of Itezhi-tezhi area.30 Von Oppen also notes that it was the same among the Upper Zambezi ethnic groups. He further notes that the southern Lunda women specialise in mat making.31 Writing on different societies, some scholars have different observations concerning the labour allocations in the craft making industries. Gelfand observes that among the Shona, men and boys made baskets and reed mats.32 Doke makes a similar observation that among the Lamba people, the making of mats and baskets was carefully divided between the men and he women according to the materials that were used in the manufacturing process. Women used grass and rushes while the men used palm leaf and bamboo. Both used reeds.33

The craft of bark cloth making also showed division of labour. Gelfand mentions bark cloth making was a task for men.34 Doke explains that the bark cloth making and the preparation was no small undertaking. It usually took a party of men who went together to sleep (camp) in the bush at a place where there was plenty of suitable Lwenshi trees.35

Reynolds notes that house building was a craft that normally required the joint efforts of both the husband and the wife or all the men and the women of the homestead, though the assistance of work parties drawn from the whole village or from the neighbourhood was necessary for certain tasks.36 Rennie and Mubita also observe that house building was performed by both sexes. Women cut the grass for thatching but it was the men that carried it to the building site. This he points out was probably because of the quantities involved. Men cut and carried the poles for hut construction.37

Gelfand also shows that women performed the task of flooring the huts. He continues to mention that girls were shown how to make mud floors for a hut at as tender ages as six years.38 However, Posselt stresses that the building of stores for agricultural produce was done one by men.39 Von Oppen also observes that men among the Upper Zambezi ethnic groups built the granaries.40

In conclusion, it can be said that the paper has brought out what scholars have written on various groups with the aim of assessing the extent to which one may argue that the historiography of Central Africa demonstrates sexual division of labour. It has been shown in the paper that various scholars demonstrate that people in pre-colonial Africa performed various tasks according to their sex. It has to be mentioned however that

some scholars are silent on sexual division of labour in their work. I can therefore argue to a considerable extent that the historiography of Central Africa demonstrates division of labour between men and women in the pre-colonial period.

ENDNOTES

M. Burton, D. White and M. Dow, Sexual Division of Labour in African Agriculture, (American Anthropological Association) @ http: eclectic.ss.uci.edu Y. A. Chondoka, Labour Migration and Rural Transformation in Chama District, NorthEastern Zambia1890-1964, P.h.D. Thesis, University of Toronto, 1992, p.26. A. Von Oppen, Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust, (Hamburg: LIT Verlag, 1994), p.135. A. Roberts, Land, Labour and Diet in Northern Rhodesia, (Hamburg: LIT Verlag, 1995), p.103 M. Gelfand, Diet and Tradition in an African Culture, (Edinburgh: E & S Livingstone, 1971), p.17. B. Reynolds, The Material Culture of the Gwembe Valley, (Manchester: Manchester university Press, 1968), p.29. M. Gelfand, Diet and Tradition in an African Culture, p.32. M. Gelfand, Diet and Tradition in an African Culture, p.34. K. Rennie and A. Mubita, Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi in R. Derricourt, Man on the Kafue: The Archaeology and History of the Itezhi-tezhi Area of Zambia, (London: Ethnographica, 1985), p.37. F. W. T. Posselt, Fact and Fiction: A Short Account of th e Natives of Southern Rhodesia, (Bulawayo: The Rhodesia Printing Press, 1942), p.102. G. Arrghit, Labour Supplies in Historical Perspective: A Study of the Proletarianisation of the African Peaantry in C. Cooper and E. V. K. Fitzgerald, Development Studies Revisited: Twenty Five Years of the Journal of Development Studies, (London: Frank Cass and Company, 1989), p.247, Roberts, Land, Labour and Diet in Northern Rhodesia , p.130. E. Colson, The Social Organisation of the Gwembe Tonga, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1967) p.91. D. Beach, The Shona Economy: Branches of Production in R. Palmer and N. Parsons (eds.), The Roots ofRural Poverty in Central Africa, (Berkeley: University of Califonia, 1977), p.40. Gelfand, Diet and Tradition in an African Culture, p.105. Von Oppen, Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust, p.131. Rennie and Mubita, Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi, p.37. Von Oppen, Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust, p.135.

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Roberts, Land, Labour and Diet in Northern Rhodesia, p.348. Colson, The Social Organisation of the Gwembe Tonga, p.35. Posselt, Fact and Fiction: A Short Account of th e Natives of Southern Rhodesia, p102. Gelfand, Diet and Tradition in an African Culture, p.134. E. Colson and M. Gluckman (ed), Seven Tribes of Central British Africa, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1959), p.103. L. B. Aguilar, Metaphors, Myths and Making Pots: Chewa Clay Arts, African Arts, vol.40, 2007, p.66. C. Doke, The Lambas of Northern Rhodesia: A Study of Their Customs and Beliefs, (London: George G. Harrap and Company Ltd, 1931), p.117. Rennie and Mubita, Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi, p.37. Y. A. Chondoka, The Tumbuka and Senga in Chama district, 1470-1900, (Lusaka: Academic Press, 2007), p.46. Von Oppen, Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust, p.136. Colson, The Social Organisation of the Gwembe Tonga, p.35. Rennie and Mubita, Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi, p.45. Von Oppen, Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust, p.131. Gelfand, Diet and Tradition in an African Culture, p.49. Doke, The Lambas of Northern Rhodesia, p.118. Gelfand, Diet and Tradition in an African Culture, p.49. Doke, The Lambas of Northern Rhodesia, p.120. Reynolds, The Material Culture of the Gwembe Valley, p.29. Rennie and Mubita, Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi, p.37. Gelfand, Diet and Tradition in an African Culture, p.34. Posselt, Fact and Fiction: A Short Account of the Natives of Southern Rhodesia, p.102. Von Oppen, Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust, p.139.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Aguilar, Laurel Birch. Metaphors, Myths and Making Pots: Chewa Clay Arts, African Arts, vol.40, 2007. Arrghit, G. Labour Supplies in Historical Perspective: A Study of the Proletarianisation of the African Peaantry in C. Cooper and E. V. K. Fitzgerald, Development Studies Revisited: Twenty Five Years of the Journal of Development Studies, London: Frank Cass and Company, 1989. Beach, The Shona Economy: Branches of Production in R. Palmer and N. Parsons (eds.), The Roots ofRural Poverty in Central Africa, Berkeley: University of Califonia, 1977.

Burton, L. M., White, D. and Dow, M. Sexual Division of Labour in African Agriculture, American Anthropological Association @ http:eclectic.ss.uci.edu Chondoka, Yezenge. Labour Migration and Rural Transformation in Chama District, NorthEastern Zambia1890-1964, P.h.D. Thesis, University of Toronto, 1992. Chondoka, Yezenge. The Tumbuka and Senga in Chama district, 1470-1900, Lusaka: Academic Press, 2007. Colson, Elizabeth. The Social Organisation of the Gwembe Tonga, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1967. Colson, Elizabeth and Max Gluckman (ed), Seven Tribes of Central British Africa, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1959. Doke, Clement. The Lambas of Northern Rhodesia: A Study of Their Customs and Beliefs, London: George G. Harrap and Company, 1931. Gelfand, Michael. Diet and Tradition in an African Culture, Edinburgh: E & S Livingstone, 1971. Oppen, Achim Von. Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust:The History and Contexts of Pre-colonial Market Production Around the Upper Zambezi and Kasai, Hamburg: LIT Verlag, 1994. Posselt, F.W.T. Fact and Fiction: A Short Account of th e Natives of Southern Rhodesia, Bulawayo: The Rhodesia Printing Press, 1942. Roberts, Audrey. Land, Labour and Diet in Northern Rhodesia, Hamburg: LIT Verlag, 1995. Rennie, Keith and Austin Mubita. Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi in R. Derricourt, Man on the Kafue: The Archaeology and History of the Itezhi-tezhi Area of Zambia, London: Ethnographica, 1985 . Reynolds, Barrie. The Material Culture of the Gwembe Valley, Manchester: Manchester university Press, 1968.