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Acknowledgments None of the research discussed in this volume, nor the chapters themselves, would have been possible without the hospitality, generosity, and assistance of the Hausa women about whom we have written, and of their families and friends. Our thanks are inadequate for what they have given us in terms of time, interest, and support of many kinds. Whenever we have expressed to them reticence about our work, fearing that it might interfere with their privacy, their response has overwhelmingly been to encourage us to interfere, if that is what is required to tell their stories. They may be secluded, but they are not without concern about the world beyond their own lives, or interest in having the world know about them. We hope that another such volume might include far more work by Hausa scholars, whose intimate knowledge of the culture can yield great insight into Hausa women's lives. Funding for the preparation of the volume was provided by the Department of Anthropology and a Faculty Research Grant at Dartmouth College, for which we are grateful. We thank Debbie Hodges for her editing and typing, and Christina Richards, who worked as a research assistant at Dartmouth. We also thank Dr. Paul Lovejoy for his comments on the volume, and the editors at the University of Wisconsin Press, especially Barbara Hanrahan, Raphael Kadushin, and Jack Kirshbaum. Our husbands, George Kelling and Bob Henry, have provided supp'ort and tolerance through the long process of preparing this manuscript for publica· tion. Although they are not Hausa men, their patience approaches the level of haKuri that is considered a virtue, and we are grateful to them for it. Among Hausa praise singers, such a litany of thanks as this is mere stock in trade; usually their lists of praise ephitets approach Homeric lengths. There can be no competing with that, but we must acknowledge that over several years of production it is inevitable that many people omitted here have assisted us along the way. The energies of everyone involved in this volume will have been rewarded if it can replace at least some stereotypes with enlightenment, and inspire further research of its kind. ix ...

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