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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Religious Change in a Haya Village, Tanzania
Author:Stevens, Lesley
Year:1991
Periodical:Journal of Religion in Africa
Volume:21
Issue:1
Period:February
Pages:2-25
Language:English
Geographic term:Tanzania
Subjects:Christianity
syncretism
African religions
religious rituals
Haya
Religion and Witchcraft
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1581092.pdf
Abstract:This paper examines the evidence of religious stability and change in the current religious practices of Christian Haya villagers in northwest Tanzania, and assesses the utility of classical European theories of social evolution (functionalist and historical materialist) in explaining those changes. After a description of the economic, political and social changes in Hayaland from 1860 to the present, the paper presents and explains the evident changes in the traditional religious practices of present-day Haya villagers. The author has selected some central practices or rituals as examples of three categories: those practices which are extinct, or nearly so (communal sacrifice and Kubandwa spirit possession, initiation); those which are still intact and performed much as they were in the past (the fertility ritual following birth, funeral rites); and mixed/syncretistic practices (marriage, betrothal, bridewealth and instruction, the contemporary village wedding). All three categories are difficult to explain under the rubric of either functionalist or historical materialist approaches. In particular, the assumptions about the inevitable march of rationalization and modernization, inherent in both approaches, are unsuited to explain the ease with which the Haya integrate traditional elements into their Christian practices, as a description of the use of protective magic (amulets) shows. Bibliogr., notes, ref.
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