Women

‘Women and men looked on me with pity because I was not married and had no children despite my age. Such a person is considered of little consequence’ Elizabeth Watson

Women cannot own land and they play little part in the politics of land exchanges or the public organisations of village life. Women are not encouraged to use Moras and do not take part in the meetings.

Women have quite a transient existence. As young girls they are told they will leave their fathers homesteads and become part of another.

As wives they are considered to some extent outsiders who cannot be fully trusted as they could always run back to their father’s house or runaway with another man.

Marriage forms important part in forming and cementing links between households.
1st wifes house = Tola (the family)
2nd wife’s house = Lamiteta (2nd wife)

Each wife should have enough land to feed her children, but the bulk of the land will stay in the hands of the Tola.

Women play a hugely important role in household production (brewing chagga for income and also gaining access to more household labour)

Communal water is very important, women carry water from up to five km away. Often girls cannot go to school because of the time it takes.

Regional differences

Karati = if woman becomes pregnant when her husband was in the Farayta grade she would have to abort the child

Fasha = if woman becomes pregnant when her husband was in the Farayta grade she would have to go to Pitalayyo (another country) to have the child. Once the Farayta grade was over she could go back to her village (this system is almost obsolete)

 
Men

The lives of men are very fixed. Konso are patrilochal = eldest son continues to live in their fathers homestead and ultimately inheriting it. Each subsequent son must leave upon marriage and set up independently but usually close by, which is expensive and time consuming.

If a man has more than one wife, each must have a house of her own. Each is given her own fields to cultivate with the help of her husband, therefore each homestead is an independent economic unit. Some wives may cooperate but this is rare, more often competition for husband’s labour leads to arguments

Lineages are patrilineal and comprise of major and minor branches. Also the village and Kanta system are strong systems of identity.

Firstness is one of the ways seniority is decided in Konso. The firstcomer take precedence over others (ideology of firstness

The difference between the oldest and younger brothers is deep. The eldest lives in the parents house, looks after them in their old age, inherits the proerty and the founding fathers name.

The younger brother leaves the home after marriage and is known by his given name and the first name of the father, therefore each younger brother is the founding father of a new branch of the lineage

The son of a second wife (Llammeter) often take their new lineage name from the Llammeter’s mother therefore the lineage will have a womans name.

The elder brother is given twice as much land as others and the amount of land inherited decreases the further from the first son. The justification for this is that the first son needs more land to look after the parents and also if divided equally then the family land would be fragmented and lost. Lack of capital leading to the first son having difficulties and selling land and then the lineage would end up in obscurity.

Kussitas are doubly hampered because they get less land and are therefore more likely to have difficulties and are thus more likely to sell their land, therefore fathers and Qaaratas don’t like to give land to Kussitas because it might easily get lost.

Sometimes Qaarta inherit a lot of land from uncles as well through a lack of sons before death. Sometimes Kussitas educate themselves and earn money and buy land so they own more than Qaartas. Lamiteta’s first son will receive the largest share of that land because he is also a Qaarta.

It is possible to favour second sons and second wives but this is uncommon. If a rift occurs between the first son and the father then he will go and live elsewhere and will return after his fathers death to his home.

Qaartas are forced to marry early especially if the father dies. Sometimes as young as 12 (often the wife is older). Also looking after parents is a burden and problematic because problems can occur between a  man’s mother and wife.

Kussitas have very little but are much more independent and envied by Qaartas. All second sons are called Kussei which psychologically dissuades them from challenging Qaartas and accepts the situation. If Qaartas die then the Kussei takes his place and sometimes Qaarta distributes land to Kussitas after the fathers death.