Edited films and outtakes taken by David and Judith MacDougall in Kenya and Uganda. Collection also includes associated texts, sound recordings, production logs, and field notes.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
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The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Received from David and Judith MacDougall in 1983 and 1984.
Titles are supplied by the archivist for untitled films.
Outtakes from the film project about the Jie pastoralists of Uganda from which ethnographic filmmakers David and Judith MacDougall produced the edited films TO LIVE WITH HERDS, NAWI, and UNDER THE MEN'S TREES. Includes transcriptions and translations, sound recordings, field and production logs.
Legacy Keywords: Language and culture ; Women Africa ; Men Africa ; Domestic relations ; Herding cattle milking
HSFA 1983.2.5
Edited film, from the 1968 film project about the Jie pastoralists of Uganda, focuses on the dry-season movement of the Jie to temporary camps in the western Karamoja District where water and grazing are more abundant. Departure of the Jie and their herds from their homesteads is followed and various aspects of their life at the camp with emphasis on the care of lifestock are shown. A number of Jie herdsboys' songs is included. Includes sound recordings.
Legacy Keywords: Language and culture ; Seasonal migrations ; Herders ; Livestock ; Domestic life
HSFA 1983.2.6
Edited film from the 1968 film project about the Jie pastoralists of Uganda. The film examines the disruptive effects of nation-building in pre-Amin Uganda on these semi-nomadic pastoralists, shows daily life in a traditional Jie homestead during a particularly harsh dry season, and explores the ways in which government policies seem to exacerbate hardship and undermine traditional Jie economic values. At the end of the film, Logoth, the protector of the homestead, travels west to rejoin his herds in an area of relative plenty where, for a time, the Jie appear insulated from official interference. Includes associated texts, sound recordings, production logs, and field notes.
Legacy Keywords: Language and culture ; Herders ; Politics and culture ; Power (Social sciences) ; Domestic and family life
HSFA 1983.2.7
Edited film from the 1968 film project about the Jie pastoralists of Uganda. Film depicts male sociability at a Jie cattle camp as men gather under a special tree to converse, relax, sleep, or work on leather goods. The particular focus of conversation in this film centers on the European's most conspicuous possession--the motor vehicle--and the relative worth of cars and men. Includes sound recordings.
Legacy Keywords: Language and culture ; Social interaction ; Automobiles
HSFA 1983.2.8
Full film record of the Turkana pastoralists living in northwestern Kenya from which the MacDougalls produced the TURKANA CONVERSATIONS TRILOGY: LORANG'S WAY, THE WEDDING CAMELS, and A WIFE AMONG WIVES. The distinguishing feature of these films is the way in which the subjects of the films participate with the filmmakers in defining the events in which they themselves are involved. Includes associated texts, sound recordings, and production logs.
Legacy Keywords: Language and culture ; Herders ; Marriage and family ; Marriage customs and rites
HSFA 1983.2.1
Edited film from the 1974 film project about the semi-nomadic Turkana pastoralists who live in the dry thorn country of northwestern Kenya. The film follows Lorang, an elder and head of a homestead who, unlike most Turkana, has spent time away from home in the army and has gained insights on his own culture from the outside. Through conversations with the filmmakers, the testimony of his friends and relatives, and observations of his behavior with male age-mates, wives, and children, the film explores Lorang's personality and his reflections on the vulnerability of and changes in his culture. Includes sound recordings, transcriptions and translations.
Legacy Keywords: Language and culture ; Homesteads domestic groups marriage ; Culture change
HSFA 1983.2.3
Edited film from the 1974 film project about the semi-nomadic Turkana pastoralists of northwestern Kenya. In Turkana society herds mean security and wealth. This film explores the relationships between wedding negotiations, dispersed kin groups bound together by reciprocal livestock obligations, and the significance of these marital alliances in a harsh environment. The negotiations documented are between the kin groups of two age-mates and old friends. Unfolding events reveal the delicate balance between the economics of the domestic groups involved and the self-respect and dignity of their principal representatives.
Legacy Keywords: Transhumance ; Animal husbandry ; Adornment beads jewelry ; Marriage negotiations for ; Brideprice negotiations for ; Councils negotiations for brideprice Turkana ; Hair treatment of Turkana ; Speeches councils of elders marriage ; Kinship regulation of marriage ; Homesteads domestic groups marriage ; Residence rules postmarital ; Ritual symbolism of marriage ; Animals as brideprice ; Language and culture
HSFA 1983.2.4
Edited film from the 1974 film project about the semi-nomadic Turkana pastoralists living in northwestern Kenya. The film explores how the Turkana, especially Turkana women, view marriage. The testimony of three sisters is presented followed by the unfolding plans for a marriage in a neighboring homestead. In the course of these plans an insider's view is communicated about why a woman would want her husband to take a second wife and how the system of polygymy can be a source of solidarity among women and at the same time result in a disregard for the feelings of individuals. Includes sound recordings, transcriptions and translations.
Legacy Keywords: Language and culture ; Marriage and family ; Marriage customs and rites ; Polygyny
HSFA 1983.2.2