Where My Cord is Buried: WoDaaBe Use and Conceptualization of Land

Abstract

A general conception among many government officials and those working in relation todevelopment seems to be that WoDaaBe simply do not have attachment to land, andtraditionally have had no conception of land as a home. These issues are increasinglyimportant in present day Niger, where claims of land have become a very central issue.The goal of this paper is to discuss resource use by a specific lineage group of WoDaaBeand their conceptualization of land. I will explain the dynamics of the seasonal movementsof WoDaaBe, which I believe are partly the reason that WoDaaBe are often seen as nothaving an attachment to land. I will also discuss concepts tied to the WoDaaBeconceptualization of land. I place my discussion in a broad political and ecologicalcontext, explaining the WoDaaBe situation within the nation state.Keywords: Niger, WoDaaBe, land tenure, land policy, pastoralism, Sahel, nation state.