One of the most interesting problems of pre-colonial history is the relation of so-called secret societies to indigenous government. In West Africa they are concerned mainly with the ownership and use of supposedly supernatural medicines and the propagation of certain cults.

These are the functions also of other associations, but what principally distinguishes secret societies from the ordinary medicine society or cult is the esoteric basis of their activities. Not only do the secret societies employ particular rituals, signs, symbols, and forms of knowledge which are withheld from non-initiates, but these things are regarded as a special source of power through being kept private. Associations of this kind are prevalent in southern Nigeria, and are particularly numerous in the coastal area of rain-forest in general, including the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and parts of Ghana and Portuguese Guinea. They are not secret in any other respect. On the contrary, not only is the existence and general purpose of these societies known to every grown-up person, but in many places the wide range of their activities makes them the dominant social force. They are frequently responsible for tribal education, regulate sexual conduct, supervise political and economic affairs, and operate various social services, including entertainment and recreation as well as medical treatment.

This paper is concerned with the limits to which exact genealogical tracing is JL carried among the Gusii, a Bantu-speaking people of western Kenya.

At the time of field-work (1946–9) the Gusii were a moderately prosperous peasant people subsisting by hoe culture and stock raising. They were isolated between non-Bantu peoples (Luo, Kipsigis, Masai) in mountain country near the Kavirondo Gulf of Lake Victoria. They had no central authorities, except those introduced by the British colonial administration, and no central cult; they were not stratified either by rank or by marked differences of wealth. A segmentary descent system, and a common code of law regarding marriage and compensation, held them together as a common society (see P. Mayer, 1949 and 1950).

This article describes the kinship structure of some Lebanese communities in West Africa, and the resemblances they bear to the communities from which they originated in Lebanon. It also shows the extent to which kinship ties promote emigration, and the kind of trade partnership normally practised by kinsmen. Two communities are considered: the Greek Orthodox community in Ouagadougou (Upper Volta), and the Shi'ite Muslim community in Magburaka (Sierra Leone).

Depuis Morgan la relation de parenté ‘cousins croisés’ a été fréquemment observée et décrite ainsi que les formes diverses d'union préférentielle qui s'ensuivent. Mais que devient la relation de parenté par la suite? Comment évolue-telle entre les descendants de ces cousins et conjoints éventuels dans le cas, fréquent, où l'union matrimoniale ne se réalise pas entre eux? se retrouvent-ils frères et sœurs, tout comme si leurs parents respectifs (père des uns, mère des autres) s'étaient réellement mariés? restent-ils, au contraire, cousins croisés, dans la même relation de conjoints possible que leurs parents?

Among the Kofyar of Northern Nigeria the organization and composition of the household is ecologically adapted to certain features of the subsistence technology and the physical environment. While reductionist arguments of environmental determinism or diffuse functional interconnexion are not adequate, it is possible to demonstrate specific reciprocal influence. This paper considers the kinds of evidence available for empirically determining the connexion between a particular social pattern and the productive activities of a society, providing an example of the analysis Steward called ‘cultural ecology’ (1953: 30).