Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Niara Sudarkasa (1945-)


To most people in Awe [Aawe] I was known only in the role of researcher.. A relatively small group of women, ranging in age from about twenty five to forty, became my friends. We used the term “Ore” [oore] (literally, “friend”) as one would use a personal name. This was the group of women with whom I often exchanged visits and presents, for whom I did special favors . with whom I gossiped, to whom I went for advice ... whom I reported most of my movements, and whenever I was away from the town, it was from them that people made inquiries about my whereabouts. Ore [Oore] were the only ones in town who regularly called me aside to give me advice on personal matters.. If I wanted straightforward information on anything going on in the town, I went to ... my special friend. Whenever anything happened about which they thought I had not heard, they would send someone to inform me. - Sudarkasa, Niara. “Female Employment and Family Organization in West Africa.” The Black Women Cross-Culturally. Ed. Filomina Chioma Steady. Cambridge: Schenkman Publishing Company, Inc., 1981, (205-206)

Books from Alibris: Afro-American Anthropology

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