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544 MOORS
. "Migration and Tribal Identity Among the Frafras of Ghana." Journal of Asian
and African Studies 6:1 (1971): 20-36.
Hilton, T. E. "Frafra Resettlement and the Population Problem in Zuarungu." Bulletin
de I'lnstitut Francaise d'Afrique Noire (series B) 22:3-4 (1960): 426-442. (Fra-
Fra.)
. "Notes on the History of Kusasi." Transactions of the Historical Society of
Ghana 6 (1962): 79-86.
Hunter, John M. "The Clans of Nangodi: A Geographical Study of the Territorial Basis
of Authority in a Traditional State [sic] of the West African Savanna." Africa
28:4 (1968): 1-36. (Fra-Fra.)
. "Population Pressure in a Part of the West African Savanna: A Study of Nangodi,
NE Ghana." Annals of the American Association of Geographers 57 (1967): 101—
114. (Fra-Fra.)
Tait, David. "An Analytical Commentary on the Social Structure of the Dogon." Africa
20:3 (1950): 175-199.
Unpublished Manuscripts
Blier, Suzanne Preston. "Architecture of the Tamberma (Togo)." Ph.D. dissertation,
Columbia University, 1981.
Hagaman, Barbara L. "Beer and Matriliny: The Power of Women in a West African
Society." Ph.D. dissertation, Northeastern University, 1977. (Lobi.)
Nunley, John Wallace. "Sisala Sculpture of Northern Ghana." Ph.D. dissertation, University
of Washington, 1976.
Smith, Fred Thomas. "Gurensi Architectural Decoration in Northeastern Ghana." Ph.D.
dissertation, Indiana University, 1979. (Fra-Fra.)
Gregory A. Finnegan
MOORS The Moors, who are almost totally Sunni Muslim, live in western
North Africa. Numbering nearly 4 million, they constitute about 58 percent of
Mauritania's population, or 1 million; 10 percent of Morroco's, or 2.2 million;
3 percent of Mali's, or 200,000 and about 60,000 in Senegal and The Gambia.
A Moor is regarded as any person, irrespective of skin color, who speaks any
of the numerous dialects of Hassaniya, a language which, in its purest form,
draws heavily on the original Yemeni Arabic spoken by the Bani Hassan tribe
which invaded northwest Africa during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Largely nomadic, Moorish society is hierarchical, composed of tribal confederations,
tribal and clan segments, subsegments and tent units. The social system
resembles that of other Saharan and Arab desert societies with variation due to
West African ecology and history. The complex structure of society, developed
in nomadic life, emerged from the constant state of insecurity in a harsh desert
environment characterized by fratricidal wars, banditry and organized raids.
The Moors recognize four major divisions, based upon elements of heritage,
race and occupation. At the top are those called the white Moors, composed of