ABSTRACT
The elders of Birifu point to ancestors two to four generations removed who migrated from their previous home to settle the land they now hoe. The present descendants of such a founding ancestor inhabit between five and ten homesteads. Within the major ritual area or parish of Birifu, and usually in close proximity, live two or more similar groups of whom they say vaguely that the founding ancestors were "brothers". The patrilineal descent of the clan members is recognized not by specific genealogical ties but through a name and prohibition held in common. In Birifu the matrilineage only emerges in the context of strict exogamy. Among the LoDagaba wealth normally passes to a fellow member of this group; and the group as a whole might on occasion be called together for sacrifice at a sacred locality associated with the grandmother.
