The aim of this paper is to describe and characterize the swamp fishing in the Bangweulu Swamps, Zambia, and contrast it with other human activities for livelihood such as hunting, gathering, pastoralism and agriculture. The swamp fishermen migrate to the swamps from their home villages outside the swamps in the dry season when the water level decreases. They choose their camping site in the swamps and make a temporary hut. The fishermen in a camp form nsanga, the production unit for fishing and selling their catch, which is formed through their kinship relationships. The fish catch by the several commercial fishing methods are analysed after the fishing methods are outlined. As a result of the analysis, it is indicated that each production unit aims to catch a particular group of fish, such as Mormyridae or Cichlidae fish, and each unit chooses a fishing method by which the target fish can be caught effectively. The types of fishing activity among the fishermen are divided into three classes in terms of their fishing seasons and methods, and it is clarified how the swamp area is utilized actually by the several ethnic groups from different areas. These three types of fishing differ from each other as to how far their villages are from the swamps and what time schedule of agriculture is made which limits the season or the period of fishing in the swamps. The fishermen of the Bangweulu Swamps are engaged in the swamp fishing for themselves in spite of the fact they depend upon the products from their cultivation in their subsistence economy. In the last part of this paper, it is discussed why the fishermen carry on fishing for themselves without making symbiotic relationships with other fishing specialists. They can get a good cash income by selling the catch, which urge them on fishing, and the fish meat offers much appeal to them, for they do not have a lot of domestic animals, nor can so many animals be hunted around their home villages. Thus, it is concluded that the both subsistence activities, cultivation and fishing, are essential to the life of the swamp fishermen in the Bangweulu Swamps.
The aim of this paper is to describe the therapeutic activity of the Chewa and to elucidate its characteristics and logic. The Chewa attribute slight illness to God, and severe illness to the act of sorcerers. Illness which is caused by the dead or the ancestral spirits is quite rare. This tendency may well be ascribed to the existence of a masked society “Nyau”, whose function is to transfer the dead into the ancestral spirits, and to prevent them from doing harm to the living people. Traditional healers of the Chewa attach great importance to medicine, made mainly from plants and animals. In the case of illness caused by sorcery, healers connect symptoms of the illness and the attributes of a certain plant or animal, a part of which, they suppose, the sorcerer has sent into the body of the patient. Thus, the cure consists of giving the same substance to the patient, chanting a spell “the substance must go back to the sender”. In the case of illness caused by God, healers try to treat them using symbolic attributes of plants and animals: for example, trees which have white drops can wash the illness away, a tree whose name is “msolo” can pull out (u-solela) the illness, and the like. In both cases, healing is explained through the metaphorical association between symptoms and attributes of natural objects. This kind of treatment can visualize the healing process of the illness. In consequence, patient can not only imagine but also believe his recovery. It is no exaggeration to say that the Chewa's therapeutic system, which ascribes most of severe illness to sorcery and cure them through its counterwork, visualizes the process of outbreak and healing of illness to the extreme degree.
The Japanese medical support was given to Ethiopian victims of droughtiness, as the results: The decrease of death rate was recognized by our various treatment and medical service. The cause of death on inpatients ranked first dehydration and malnutrition, secondly relapsing fever and thirdly bacterial dysentery. Most of patients had some complications such as dehydration, kwashiokor and marasmus. Four handred families of victims that were chosen at random were taken the questionaire investigation. The cause of suffering was the hunger with drought. The term of wandering for food, water, clothes and medicine was thirty to sixty days on the average. We must consider that the essence on medical support is not only medical treatment but also the relief of human. So we must understand their cultural background such as ethics and sense of worth and morals especially religion.