Abstract

A general conception among many government officials and those working in relation to development seems to be that WoDaaBe simply do not have attachment to land, and traditionally have had no conception of land as a home. These issues are increasingly important in present day Niger, where claims of land have become a very central issue. The goal of this paper is to discuss resource use by a specific lineage group of WoDaaBe and their conceptualization of land. I will explain the dynamics of the seasonal movements of WoDaaBe, which I believe are partly the reason that WoDaaBe are often seen as not having an attachment to land. I will also discuss concepts tied to the WoDaaBe conceptualization of land. I place my discussion in a broad political and ecological context, explaining the WoDaaBe situation within the nation state.

Keywords: Niger, WoDaaBe, land tenure, land policy, pastoralism, Sahel, nation state

How to Cite:

Loftsdóttir, K., (2001) “Where My Cord is Buried: WoDaaBe Use and Conceptualization of Land”, Journal of Political Ecology 8(1), 1-24. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/v8i1.21577