Society-SOMALI

The Somali people consist of two major divisions: the Somali proper
(Samaale) made up of the Dir, Isaaq (Esa), Hawiye (Hawiya), and Daarood
(Darod); and the outcast Sab groups consisting of the Digil and Rahanwin,
who are markedly different in their occupations and dialects from
the rest of the population. The Somali are predominantly nomadic pastoralists
living in the northern part of the Somali Democratic Republic in northeastern
Africa. They occupy an area of about 246,000 square miles running
approximately from lat. 2 degrees S to 12 degrees N, and from long.
41 degrees 30 min.-52 degrees E. This region is composed of the former
protectorate of British Somaliland and the former U.N. trusteeship
of Somalia. It is bordered by the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean,
Kenya, Ethiopia, and the new (1977) Republic of Djibouti. Neighboring
peoples are the Afar to the north and northwest, and various Galla
groups to the west and south.

Apparently there has never been a complete census of the Somali Republic,
but a 1973 estimate gives a total figure of 3,100,000 (World Almanac
and book of facts 1975). Of this number, about 95 percent are ethnic
Somali. During the mid-1950s, Lewis made the following breakdown of
the total Somali population estimated at that time as 2,475,000: Dir
and Issaq, 550,000; Daarood, 1,000,000; Hawiye, 520,000; and the Digil
and Rahanwin of the Sab, 400,000 (Lewis 1962: v). The official government
estimate of the Somali population (ca. 1970) places the figure at
5,000,000, but this includes Somali living in adjoining countries.
In 1968 the growth rate was computed to be 2.9 percent annually.

The Somali language is classified as belonging to the Eastern subdivision
of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic phylum of languages (previously
called Semito-Hamitic). Somali is spoken by all but a few small minorities
living in the region. The various Somali dialects seem to cluster
into four main groups on a roughly regional basis: the Dir dialect
in the northwest (spoken by the Dir, Isaaq, Daarood, and Gadabursi-Esa);
Hawiye or Mudugh in the northeast inland regions and as far south
as the Scebeli River; Benadir along the Benadir coast, the port towns,
and the surrounding areas; and Rahanwin, spoken by the Sab cultivators
and mixed farmers around the Scebeli and southward. Because Somali
has no official written form, government records are kept in both
English and Italian, the languages of the colonial powers that formerly
controlled the northern and southern portions of the country respectively.
These two languages are considered the languages of the educated,
along with Arabic, which is used for religious teaching.

First European contacts with the Somali were made by the Portuguese
in the early sixteenth century. During the latter part of the nineteenth
century, the British, the French, and the Italians all established
colonies in Somali country. Independence from colonial rule came for
the majority of Somali on July 1, 1960, with the emergence of the
Somali Republic. One remaining problem that has been a source of intermittent
friction with the neighboring countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, and the
former Territory of the Afars and Issas, concerns the disposition
of the ethnic Somali living within their boundaries.

The Somali economy is based primarily on animal husbandry, with the
camel being the mainstay of the nomadic subsistence pattern. The camel
provides both milk and meat for the herdsman and skins for export.
It also serves as a beast of burden, although rarely ridden. In the
southerly regions cattle are raised, especially among the Hawiye,
Rahanwin and Digil, replacing in large part the role of the camel
among the northern groups. Fat-tailed sheep and goats are second to
camels and cattle in the internal economy, and these provide milk,
ghee, and meat. Donkeys and mules are kept also as beasts of burden,
while horses have rapidly become a source of prestige in the society
and are used almost exclusively for riding. Second to animal husbandry
in economic importance is agriculture, especially among the southern
Sab (Rahanwin and Digil) and, to some extent among the Hawiye. Durra
sorghum is the principal crop in both north and south, with large
quantities of maize grown in the south. Additional southern crops
are sesame, groundnuts, beans, and cassava. Fruit production has also
increased in recent years with bananas becoming the principal commercial
crop for export. Sugarcane also is grown to some extent. Fishing is
important along the coast, but fish are eaten only by the despised
coast dwellers, being scorned by the nomadic Somali. Hunting is also
restricted to the Sab people or to slaves, and is looked down upon
by the "noble Somali." Game includes the dik-dik, antelope, giraffe,
zebra, gazelle, hippopotamus, elephant, lion, and panther. Bows and
arrows, clubs, spears, and traps and snares are employed in hunting,
as well as the net in communal game drives. Internal trade, which
is carried out by barter, involves the exchange of livestock, produce,
gum, ivory, skins, etc., for the grain and cloth of the sedentary
cultivators. Caravans laden with goods continually traverse the country
bringing produce from the interior to the coast where it is traded
for imports from Aden and India. Some of the principal goods exported
include animal skins, coffee (green), marine salt, gum, ghee, livestock,
animal wax and musk, and small quantities of guano and mother of pearl.

The social structure of the Somali is arranged in tiers of kinship,
tracing connections in an elaborate genealogy to two brothers, Somali
and Sab, the ancestors of the divisions of the same name. The Somali
of both groups are split into six dominant "clan-families" or maximal
lineages--four Somali and two Sab. The clan-families are divided into
clans (synonymous in much of the literature with tribes), and these
are further segmented into lineages and sublineages. Each of the above
kinship units is based, at least in principle, on patrilineal descent
from a common male ancestor. In many cases, especially among the Sab,
individuals and even groups are adopted by a clan or lineage, eventually
achieving complete assimilation. Kinship as the basis for group formation
and loyality to that group is modified but not completely overridden
by the principle of contract. Merely being a member of a specific
clan or lineage does not automatically confer certain rights and obligations,
for these have to be obtained as the direct result of treaties or
contracts between the groups or individuals involved. As the result
of such contractual relationships, some, but not necessarily all,
clans of a clan-family may unite for political or military purposes,
while some of the lineages or lineage segments within a clan may join
together for corporate financial responsibility (e.g., paying or receiving
bloodguilt fines).

A form of social stratification based on a combination of ethnic differences
and occupational specifilization existed among Somali until after
World War II. According to this system, true Somali were equals and,
in fact, the traditional society has been classified as "fiercely
egalitarian." On the other hand, small non-Somali ethnic groups and
those who, although Somali-speakers, were engaged in such occupations
as weaving or smithing, were not considered by the Somali as their
equals, and there was no intermarriage with these groups. These ethnic
and occupational groups, however, maintained a system of exchange
of services with the somali and frequently enjoyed a form of protected
relationship with specific Somali lineages or clans. Among the Sab,
this service exchange pattern closely resembled that between castes
in an Indian community (Kaplan et al. 1969: 79). After World War II,
the traditional system began to break down.

Traditionally, political life centered on the kin-based groups that
dominate Somali life. In the smallest structural unit, the rer (a
lineage of limited size and genealogical depth), the council which
regulated and controlled the affairs of the unit was composed of the
heads of the component families of the rer. This council (shir) was
the decision-making body for the politically-important dia-paying
group (a group bound by contractual agreement to pay or receive bloodwealth
for or in behalf of its members). The elders, sitting in council with
their elected head (the gob), controlled the relationship of their
own group with other sections and regulated their own internal affairs.
In line with the segmentary nature of the society there were councils
with essentially similar functions at each level of kin group organization.
It seems clear, however, that the higher one went in the hierarchy
of political units, the more binding and influential became the decisions
of the councils (Lewis 1955: 97). Except for an occasional sultanate,
true states did not exist among the Somali.

Settlement patterns vary among the Somali according to their economic
mode of existence. In the south where agriculture is important, the
Somali are located in more or less permanent settlements, while in
the north, where pastoral groups wander in nomadic bands, only temporary
camps surrounded by fences of thorns are in evidence.

Marriage is considered a secular contract having both economic and
political importance. The two individuals involved are regarded as
the representatives of their respective lineages or dia-paying groups.
In order to obtain a wife, a negotiated brideprice has to be paid
by the prospective bridegroom to the father of the bride. This payment
was made in either livestock, money, or slaves. The age of marriage
for the woman is usually between 15-20 years of age and for the man
18-20. Marriage with any first cousin, or within one's own lineage
or dia-paying group is forbidden. Although the Somali differ somewhat
from the normal Islamic marriage preferences, all groups practice
non-sororal polygyny including the Muslim limit of four wives. Each
co-wife has her own hut, and the husband divides his time equally
among all. Both the levirate and sororate are preferential in the
society. Marital residence is generally patrilocal.

Most of the significant literature on the Somali people has been written
by British and Italian authors. The French interest in this region
was relatively minor. Among modern writers, I. M. Lewis, a British
social anthropologist, has made important contributions to the theoretical
analysis of Somali institutions. Lewis (1955, 1961) are good summary
works.

Culture summary by John M. Beierle



Kaplan, Irving.
 Area handbook for Somalia.
 By Irving Kaplan et al.
 Washington, D.C., U.S.
 Government Printing Office, 1969.
 Lewis, Ioan M. Peoples of the Horn of Africa.
 London, International African Institute, 1955.
 200 p. map.
 Lewis, Ioan Myrddin.
 A pastoral democracy;
 a study of pastoralism and politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa.
 London, Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press, 1961.
 13, 320 p. illus., maps.
 Lewis, Ioan M. Marriage and the family in northern Somaliland.
 Kampala, East African Institute of Social Research, 1962.
 6, 51 p. illus., tables.
 World Almanac and Book of Facts 1975.
 New York, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Inc., 1975.


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