Oral history in Tanzania

James leonard giblin has been the member of history department since 1986. He received PHD at the University of Wiscosin at Madson in 1986. His primary research interested in Tanzania at east Africa in the 19^th c and 20^th c. his first book is “The politics of environmental control in northeastern Tanzania 1840-1940” published by university of Pennsylvania press, and the second book is a “History of ecluded, making family refuge in 19^th c Tanzania 1890’s-1960’s”.

The main purpose was to explicate the condition of poverty in Handeni district and the main sources or causes of this condition, where he discovered two major cause as climatic change (drought) and change of patronage

ORAL SOURCES USED IN THE BOOK

Eye witness account, Giblin in his book use eye witness as he interviewed the people of

Handeni who were elders who witnessed the events and provide an explanation of the death of who was a chief of Uzigua, Abdala hamani Msede who witnessed Mtunte hanged by German.

He said “after Mtunte imprisoned the German announced….  We want all musical instruments, any instruments at all, even if people only rattles or do the selo la dence with singing done during female puberty rites……… we will see how Mtunte is hanging. There were very many women there; they were told that when the man is hanged they should make a great noise. All these I saw myself”.  Pg 102-103

Other people who witnessed the hanging of Mtunte were Ernest Mkomwa and Abed Juma.

            Narratives, Giblin use narratives to reconstruct the history of Tanzania, Asuman Nyokka,narrates on how maintenance of the favorable disease environment was an obligation of all people regardless the patrons or poor. Not only the rich but also the poor who push (Wanawasukumiza) their affluent neighbors to distribute resources, are responsible for prosperity. The interviewees also provides information about the availability of labour in rubber and cotton plantations in Uzigua,for instance, Omary Gumbo of (“Kwiji”),Omary Maligwa of Kidiza of (Gombeko) and Idd Sam Shehehill said that,“Households were given collective responsibility for providing plantation labour,an arrangement that created a powerful constraint against fight and desertion since truants placed co-residents in danger of being punished by planters

Another oral source is the use of poems. Poems are well used in this book;

The song or poem portrays the sorrowful Sonyo as he witnessed the departure of his dependents, meaning that European rule had so diminished respect for elders, that even their own children then dared bring accusations against them in German courts.

                “Sonyo mwana mnyamala kuila kumwa kizungu……

                 Wakizungu hauna wenyewe…..aingia mtoto

                 akahukumu, mwanao aingia mtoto ahukumu”. (.J.Giblin, 1992, p97)

Meaning of the poem (Don’t cry, Sonyo, about the Europeans …. (for) Europeans have their own ways …..(or)  about a child who comes in to accuse you, even if it’s your own child that accuses you”).

Insufficient information was another challenge. For instance, on page number 159, the author shows that it was difficult to assess the locust plague that attacked the region in 1932-1935 because little is known about the origin of the locust plague as well as the damage of the locust plague. The author says,” Although evidence from Uzigua during the 1930s indicates that the locust plague caused widely varying amount of  crop damage and struck neighboring villages at different times, a settlement might escape locust depredations altogether while its neighbors sustained heavy losses”.

Contradiction of information, especially when the author collected different information on the same event, for example the root cause of execution death of differently by various informants. Some argue that Mtunte’s offence was to sanction the killing of the “Kigego” while other accounts however say that Mtunte killed the child of Mchekumbo, his maasai dependent. Pg. 104s

There was also a challenge concerning language barriers. The author faced such a problem and he decided to use interpreters in interpreting Swahili and Zigua languages

He succeeded to change the former views that the people of this region are poor because they are lazy. He also succeeded to use both oral and written sources, records of missionary activities and documents of government activities to reconstruct the history of the Zigua region. He provides the historical accounts, such as the environmental changes and change in political patronage as reasons for the underdevelopment of the region.

REFERENCE

Giblin J. (1992), The politics of environmental control in northeastern Tanzania 1840-1940.

USA: university of Pennsylvania press