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6 STICI(S, SELF, AND ~;OCIETY IN BOO:RAN DROMO: A SYlllbolic Interpretation ANEESA !(ASSAM AND GEMETCHU MEGERSSA • This chapter examines the form, function, and cultural meanings of sticks, staffs, or rods (ulee) in relation to the social, economic, and religious orders of pastoral Booran Dromo society. We show how these meanings are ecologically and contextually derived and how sticks function as mnenlonic devices linking society to the origins of things culturally represented through the notion of time. "'Ie also demonstrate how sticks become one of the material expressions of the diachronic transformation of the self and of society and how this process is given institutionalized coherence through the Dromo politico-religious system known as Gadaa. Through the acquisition of these sticks an Dromo man gains the prerogative to found a home and a faJmily, to own and administer a herd, and to participate in the production and reproduction processes of society. In a wider world context, we suggest that sticks are a variant of universal material synlbols of initiation. INTRODUCTION In response to the question "vvhy study sticks?" it can be said that no object found in a traditional setting, however insignificant or mundane it would appear to be for the outside observer, can be taken for granted by the researcher of material culture. As most analysts, especially those with a tendency toward a structuralist and/or symbolic interpretation, would agree, the majority of traditionally made objects belong to and reflect a systeJn of thought. In Levi-Straussian terms, it is not only the objects themselves which are important, but what they signify in relation to other objects in the contexts of their use. These meanings may often not be visually inscribed in the external forms of the objects themselves , but might be found at the nonmaterial level of the structures underlying them. For the members of the society, and for those who 146 Aneesa [(assam and Gemetchu Megerssa learn to look beyond the visible forms, these meanings are cognitively present. All items of material production can thus be seen as reified expression of the abstract relations linking man and mind to matter. Through human agency, natural substances are transformed into cultural entities. Although in epistemological terms it is difficult to describe precisely where the movement originates, whether in the inner or the outer world of man, this movement should be seen as a pendulum, oscillating between nature and culture. As the pendulum swings, a new meaning can be created at each of its motions. It is as if in selecting materials from the vast storehouse of nature, human beings have an intuitive knowledge of the intrinsic properties of these materials and seek to capture this essence in the objects they fashion. Whatever the source of this knowledge, be it universal or culturally determined, it affects the object even before the latter comes into being. In some respects, it predetermines one of the levels of meaning contained in the finished object. In most traditional societies, this cognizance of the forces contained in organic and inorganic matter is of a religious order. I The object thus later becomes one of the channels of communication with the divine. Harnessing this energy at the outset can, however, be a dangerous enterprise and very often requires the services of a mediator. The act of creating the object can thus take on other proportions, especially when it involves the elemental transmutation of natural substances . The maker is therefore seen as a sort of alchemist, in that he or she transforms matter. This process is often described in metaphorical terms and the nature of the work affects the ontological status of the person such that the artisan is sometimes a member of a specialized caste or marginalized group within society. But in the individual or collective act of creation, the artisans work within the framework of the society they belong to, ultimately producing a social product. Therefore things, like people, are subject to the rules and regulations governing society. They do not have an independent existence; they exist within the structures of the society in which they are found, produced, and used. Through the contexts of their use they become the material expression of social, political, economic, and religious institutions. They relate to other similar or dissimilar things. They also enter into reciprocal power relationships with their users. They become extensions of the self and contribute to the construction or destruction of identity. They project the person, the person's status and authority in society...

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