ABSTRACT
In the Nyakyusa view two of the main co-operative activities of a village are defence against witches, and the punishment of wrong-doers through sickness brought upon them by the murmuring of their fellows. Fellow villagers are ‘members of one another’ as much on account of this mystical interdependence as on account of their economic co-operation and enjoyment of each other’s company. The village headmen are spoken of as the leaders in the ‘war by night’ against witches, as they are leaders in war by day, and it is they also who are foremost in bringing ‘the breath of men’ (embepo sya bandu) on a wrongdoer, so that his body becomes cold, and he falls ill. We must therefore examine the concept of witchcraft and of this ‘breath of men’ in order to understand village relationships.
