“We Will Leave Signs!”: The Inter-textual Song Praxis of Elephant Hunters (Bayege), Within the Greater Sukuma Region of Western Tanzania

摘要

In the Sukuma region of Western Tanzania, rural life relies upon cooperative social networks which allocate labor in ways which include hunting, farming, and healing. An important nineteenth-century Sukuma association was the bayege (elephant hunters). Bayege songs were humorous and celebratory songs which commended hunters for work well done, boasted of the bravery required for the hunt, encouraged initiates to follow in their footsteps after they have left the world, or poked fun at rival hunting groups with whom they had contact. This article examines the music-related practices of this association, unpacks the inter-textual musical influence of this association on subsequent and current labor associations active in this region, and considers the inter-temporal interpretation of bayege song by contemporary practitioners.