The Woɗaaɓe

Wuro – Homestead

“The spatial unity of cattle and family in a common / united / joint camp is the wuro. From here, the cattle go out grazing.” (Schareika 2003: 83)
“The wuro is the camp of the family-organized household and constists of the husband (in his function as head of household called jawmu wuro), his wife or his wives (in their function as working women for the household called yeyrijo) and their children.” (Schareika 2003: 96)

"The calf rope of the wuro extends from north to south. It separates the eastern sphere of the wife (suudu) from the western sphere of the husband, the cattle (duɗal) and male visitors (daɗɗo)." (Schareika 2003: 105)
"The wife's sphere is characterized by three central elements: the pedestal of the household goods (saga), south of it the bed (leeso) and western of this with a slight impact to the south the fire and cooking place (yiite gaheere)." (Schareika 2003: 105)
"At the four corners of the sleeping spot, wooden poles (loosi) are driven into the ground to hang a box-shaped fabric (haabu). (...) The abnegation of more solid dwelling shows that the Woɗaaɓe choose to carry less to improve their mobility. For this they put up with inconvenience and hardships." (Schareika 2003: 100)
"To the east, a fence of branches (hoggo) marks the border between bush and camp, to the west both areas are open. The camps do not form hamlets or villages, but are scattered in the bush. The Woɗaaɓe thus limit the disturbing influence of human settlement in the bush to the least, in order to offer the cattle the greatest possible scope for development. At the same time, they use the wuro as a haven for social relations among people and between people and animals and thus create the order that makes the bush a common habitat for humans and cattle." (Schareika 2003: 89)