The Family, Household, and Minor Lineage of the Konkomba
Tait, D.
Africa 26(4): 332-342
1956
ISSN/ISBN: 0001-9720 Document Number: 521958
Opening Paragraph Since the household contains members drawn from the larger minor lineage group, we may expect to find that it functions within the framework of the latter. This is indeed the way in which Konkomba think of the household- as part of something larger, as something that is now isolated from and now merged in the larger group. The phrase ' Ti je mfum mba ' (we are one) may refer to a household, a minor lineage group, a major lineage group, a clan, a tribe or the whole Konkomba people. When speaking of co-operation they speak in terms of the minor lineage group rather than in terms of the household. We shall try to differentiate the role of the household as a unit of reciprocal help, of social control, and of instruction, &c.