ABSTRACT
Clustered about the chain of sub-clans that makes up the clan of Mosuor biis are a number of other Namoo communities. None of them has ties of clanship with Mosuor biis; yet the latter speak of them as ti buurat, our stock, or ti mabiis, our kin. The emphasis is on the common Mampuru origin claimed for all Namoos. A number of other ritual observances and doctrines mostly connected with mortuary and funeral ceremonies are also distinctive of Namoos. Thus the totemic taboos of the Tale Namoos and their characteristic funeral rites, distinctive as they are, are homologous in form and function with the totemic observances and funeral rites of non-Namoos. Namoos say that they observe these kiha 'because it is the custom of our ancestors (ti yaab yal nla)'. They require no other explanation, but accept such ritual observances as facts of immemorial antiquity and part of the fixed order of society.
