Social Organization and Kinship - clip from: The Nuer

This video was very interesting beacuse it shows how this particular society truly valued cows. Cows equal happiness to the Nuer. Everything revolves arounds cows. The Nuer believed they always had cows, ever since God gave them to the people, and cows were always kept in the family. They are also a culture that believes in sacrifices. When help is needed for God, ox are sacrificed to him. The Nuere give the sacrifices to the God of Grass and God of Sky; sacrifices are not done always in times of need,one can make a sacrifice just to thank God for life. The animals are not necessarily being killed - but are given to God as a sacrifice. The people do not believe in killing animals for no particular reason.
A particular man in the video is married to a woman, but they are having issues. The issue is that she has not gave birth to a child yet. He brings his case to the wife's relatives, and requests that he is able to divorce her and that his cows be immediately returned. The coucil argues that it is too soon to prove that she is infertile and that a settlement may take several years. They are not willing to give the cows back to him and say no to the divorce. When the man wanting to get the divorce and have his cows returned does not get his way, he is not outraged, but just accepts the fact that this is what her family says to do. Again, it reminds one of how important cows are in society. When going through divorces in the United States, cows are definitely not on the list of things needed. Money is the main object.
This was a video about a diverse culture that has very different beliefs than what we are used to. Cows are important to our society, but we do not sacrifice them to the Gods or request them back when divorces occur. They are a ritual orientated culture that seems very content with their lifestyle and how they handle issues. The Nuer are not fast to come to conclusions (deciding that it was too soon the wife pproved to be infertile) and they do what is asked of them without putting up a fight. The people are very strong in their beliefs, and are extremely organized in their methods and way of life.