The Role of Abela in the Gabra Society: A Case Study of Gerontocratic Society of the Pastoralists

Abstract

The Gabra are pastoral nomads inhabiting an extreme dry land in Kenya-Ethiopia border. Abela is used for three kinds of meanings, a term of address to the elder, a kinship term referred to the father's sister's husband and a term referred to the mother's lover. There are several usages in several social contexts, reflecting some aspects of gerontocratic rules in the Gabra society. Especially, the roles of abela are analyzed in relation to the rules for marriage and sex, although the East African pastoral gerontocracy is generally discussed in the aspects of their political and religious institutions. In this report these roles are discussed with actual cases from fieldwork conducted in 1980.