Women clearing a hill slope for sowing millet (Fur: “sona”). Men and women have separate fields that they cultivate individually and store the yields in their separately owned granaries (Fur: “nonum”, Arabic: “Dabanga”).
Jebel Si area.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1969
A woman doing the third and last weeding before the harvest. The fertile valleys between the hills are easier to cultivate than the stony slopes, but still much hard labour is involved, particularly in weeding.
Western foothills of Jebel Marra.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1966
Weeding millets. During “beer-work parties” (Fur: “tawisa”, Arabic: “nafir”), an individual cultivator (man or woman) mobilizes neighbours (men and women) for work by serving them beer (Fur: “kira” Arabic: “merissa”) and sometimes some food. Refusal to accept an “invitation” is taken as an indication of an “unfriendly” relation.
Western foothills of Jebel Marra.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1969
Men drinking beer (Fur: “kira”) during a break in a beer-work party. The beer-work party is just as much a “party” occasion as it is a “work” operation.
Western foothills of Jebel Marra.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1969
A big beer-work party (Fur: “Bambani”) arranged by a man to honour his mother in law (Fur: “iya mare”, Arabic: “naseeba”) by inviting a large group of people and providing them with ample amounts of beer (Fur: “kira”) and entertainment for those who participate in the work. One man is blowing on a kudu horn while another one is drumming.
Western foothills of Jebel Marra. Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1969
A big beer-work party (Fur: “Bambani”) arranged by a man to honour his mother in law (Fur: “iya mare”, Arabic: “naseeba”) by inviting a large group of people and providing them with ample amounts of beer and entertainment for the participants in the work party.
Western foothills of Jebel Marra.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1969
Entertainment by musicians, like this man blowing on a kudu horn at a big beer-work party (Fur : “Bambani”) is an important element expressing the “party” aspect of a “work-party”.
Western foothills of Jebel Marra.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1969
Two women winnowing millet (Fur: “sona”, Arabic: “dukhn”). Note the terraces for rainy-season cultivation in the background. Terraces in the Jebel Marra region are mainly used as a technique of soil conservation, and they are only to a very small extent used for dry-season irrigated cultivation.
Umu village, Jebel Marra, Western Darfur.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1969
A Fur farmer with his throwing stick (Fur: “dolfa”, Arabic: “sofrog”) and his spears (Fur: “Kor”, Arabic: “harba”) in front of his sweet potato (Fur: “bambai”, Arabic: “bambai”) field.
Note that the acasia albida (Fur: “kurul”, Arabic: “haraz”) trees shed the leaves in the rainy season.
Wadi Azum area, Western Darfur.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1965
A Fur farmer watering his field of melons (Fur: “burto”). The water is lifted from a shallow well (Fur: “ro”) by a “shadouf” (a water lifting device) and brought in a calabash (Fur: “kere”) to the field (Fur: “rei”).
Wadi Azum area, Western Darfur.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1966
In the western foothills of Jebel Marra small perennial streams allow for a limited amount of dry season irrigated cultivation. A woman harvesting a field of onions (Fur: “basala”, Arabic: “bassal”) that has been irrigated by the water channels in the foreground. In the background rise the western foothills of Jebel Marra.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1966
Traditional sesame oil mill (Arabic: “assara”) carved out of a tree trunk. Note how the pounder in the middle of the mill is connected to the lever loaded with stones in the foreground. When the camel moves around the mill, this increases the force the pounder exerts on the sesame seeds and thereby increases the amount of oil extracted. The extracted oil is sold in the market (souq).
Jebel Si area, Northern Darfur.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1969
A Fur woman is standing with her baby on the alluvial soils of wadi Aribo. Note the acacia albida trees (Fur: “kurul”, Arabic: “haraz”) in the background. The acacia albida trees are a characteristic feature of the lower wadis of Western Darfur. During the dry season the pods of the acacia albida provide nutritious food for the cattle of the Baggara Arab nomads who in this season camp on the harvested fields under the trees. The dung from the cattle serves to fertilize the fields of the Fur farmers who cultivate them in the rainy season. In the rainy season the acacia albida trees shed their leaves. This photo is from the dry season.
Wadi Aribo, near Zalingi, Western Darfur.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1966
The camp site of a Fur farmer who has succeeded in accumulating cash for investment in a sufficient number of cattle. Cattle thrive best when they are moved seasonally between different ecological zones. Successful Fur farmers therefore prefer to establish themselves as nomads like the Baggara Arabs when they have enough cows (Fur: “ko”). Note the tent made of straw mats (Fur and Arabic: “birish”) similar to those used by the Baggara nomads.
Lower Wadi Azum, Western Darfur.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1965
Although the Baggara Arabs are associated with migratory cattle husbandry, it is only the richest who have cattle herds large enough to yield a cash income required to satisfy their consumption needs for grain and other goods. Most Baggaras therefore practice some cultivation in their home area (dar) during the rainy season. This Baggara man is sowing sorghum with the traditional seluka mode (making holes in the ground with the stick to plant the seeds therein).
Gidad, Southern Darfur.
Photo: Gunnar Haaland, 1973
