Communicating in Groups:

Applications and Skills 9th Edition

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 Brief Contents vii

BRIEF CONTENTS

P A RT ONE
Orientation to Small Group Systems 1
1 Small Groups as the Heart of Society 2
2 Groups as Structured Open Systems 26

P A RT T W O
Foundations of Small Group Communicating 47
3 Communication Principles for Group Members 48
4 Using Verbal and Nonverbal Messages in a Group 66

P A RT T H RE E
From Individuals to Group 87
5 Becoming a Group 88
6 Working with Diversity in the Small Group 118

P A RT F OUR
Understanding and Improving Group Throughput Processes 155
7 Creative and Critical Thinking in the Small Group 156
8 Group Problem-Solving Procedures 192
9 Managing Conflicts Productively 226
10 Applying Leadership Principles 252

BONUS MATERIAL on Small Group Public Presentations:

Online at www.mhhe.com/adamsgalanes9e
11 Planning, Organizing, and Presenting Small Group Oral Presentations 11-2

Online Appendix A: Techniques for Observing Problem-Solving Groups A-0

References R-1
Bibliography B-1
Index I-1
viii CONTENTS

CONTENTS

Preface xiii

PAR T ONE
Orientation to Small Group Systems 1

CHAPTER 1
Small Groups as the Heart of Society
Groups in Your Life 5 Small Groups 12
Groups as Problem Solvers 6
Participating in Groups 6
Groups versus Individuals as Problem
Solvers 7
When a Group Is a Good Choice 8
When a Group Is Not a Good Choice 9
Groups, Small Groups, Teams, and Small
Group Communication 11
Groups 11
2
Small Groups versus Teams 13
Small Group Communication 13
Groups and Technology 14
Classifying Groups by Their Major Purpose 15
Why People Join Groups 15
Primary or Secondary Groups 16
Types of Secondary Groups 17
Being an Ethical Group Member 21
The Participant-Observer Perspective 23

CHAPTER 2
Groups as Structured Open Systems 26
What Is a Theory? 28 Definition of a System 30
Overview of General Systems Theory 28 Concepts Vital to Understanding Systems 31
The Small Group as a System 30 Characteristics of Systems 37

PAR T TW O
Foundations of Small Group Communicating 47

CHAPTER 3
Communication Principles for Group Members 48
Communication: What’s That? 51 Listening: Receiving, Interpreting, and
Communication Is Symbolic 51 Responding to Messages from Other Group
Communication Is Personal 51 Members 55
Communication Is a Transactional Process 51 Listening Defined 55
Shared Meaning Is the Responsibility of All Listening Preferences 56
Members 53 Listening Actively 58
Communication Involves Content and Communication Principles and Technology 61
Relationship Dimensions 54 How Groups Use Technology 62

CHAPTER 4
Using Verbal and Nonverbal Messages in a Group
Verbal Communication in Small Groups
Adjust to the Symbolic Nature of
Language 68
Organize Remarks 70
Be Sensitive to the Feelings of Others 72
Following the Rules of the Group 73
P A RT T H RE E
From Individuals to Group 87
CHAPTER 5
Becoming a Group 88
How Communication Structures the Small
Group 90
Challenges in Group Development 91
A Group’s Major Functions 91
Social Tensions in Groups 92
Phases in Group Development 95
Group Socialization of Members 97
Stages of Group Socialization 98
Group Roles 100
Types of Roles 100
Role Functions in a Small Group 101
The Emergence of Roles in a Group 103
Managing Group Roles 104
CHAPTER 6
Working with Diversity in the Small Group
What Is Diversity? 120
Diverse Member Characteristics 123
Differences in Motives for Joining a
Group 123
Diversity of Learning Styles 124
Personality Differences 126
Cultural Diversity 130
Dimensions of Culture 130
Racial and Ethnic Differences 135
Contents ix
66
68 Nonverbal Communication in Small Groups 75
Principles of Nonverbal Communication 75
Functions of Nonverbal Behaviors 76
Categories of Nonverbal Behaviors 78
Comparing Face-to-Face and Computer-
Mediated Group Communication 84
Rules and Norms 105
Development of Group Norms 106
Enforcement of Group Norms 107
Changing a Group Norm 108
Development of a Group’s Climate 110
Trust 111
Cohesiveness 113
Supportiveness 114
Ethical Behavior during Group
Formation 115
118
Gender Differences 136
Generational Differences 141
Working with Diversity/Bridging
Differences 146
Creating a Group Identity through
Fantasy 146
Principles for Bridging Differences 148
x CONTENTS
PAR T F OUR
Understanding and Improving Group Throughput Processes
CHAPTER 7
Creative and Critical Thinking in the Small Group
What Is Creative Thinking? 158
Enhancing Group Creativity 161
Brainstorming 162
Synectics 163
Mind Mapping 166
What Makes Thinking “Critical”?
CHAPTER 8
Group Problem-Solving Procedures
A Systematic Procedure as the Basis for
Problem Solving 195
Capturing the Problem in Problem
Solving 196
How Do We Know a Problem When We See
One? 197
Area of Freedom 197
CHAPTER 9
Managing Conflicts Productively
What Is Conflict? 228
Myths about Conflict 228
Types of Conflict 232
Task Conflict 232
Relational Conflict 232
Process Conflict 233
Conflict Types and Computer-Mediated
Communication (CMC) 234
CHAPTER 10
Applying Leadership Principles
Leadership and Leaders 254
What Is Leadership? 254
Sources of Power and Influence 254
What Is a Leader? 256
Myths about Leadership 259
155
156
Enhancing Critical Thinking in a Group 169
Having the Right Attitude 169
Gathering Information 171
Evaluating Information 176
Checking for Errors in Reasoning 181
167 Avoiding Groupthink 185
192
Characteristics of Problems 198
Getting the Discussion Question Right 200
Effective Problem Solving and
Decision Making 203
The Procedural Model of Problem Solving
(P-MOPS) 206
Applications of P-MOPS 222
226
Managing Conflict in the Group 235
Conflict Management Styles 235
Expressing Disagreement Ethically 242
Maximizing Your Chances to Influence the
Group 244
The Nominal Group Technique 245
Steps in Principled Negotiation 247
252
Figuring Out the Dynamics of Leadership 263
The Functional Concept of Group
Leadership 263
The Contingency Concept of Group
Leadership 264
 Contents xi

The Distributed Concept of Group Performing Administrative Duties 270

Leadership 266 Leading Group Discussions 275
What Good Leaders Do 267 Developing the Group 282
What Group Members Expect Encouraging Distributed Leadership 285
Leaders to Do 269 Ethical Guidelines for Group Leaders 288

BONUS MATERIAL on Small Group Public Presentations:

Online at www.mhhe.com/adamsgalanes9e
CHAPTER 11
Planning, Organizing, and Presenting Small Group Oral Presentations 11-2
The Planning Stage 11-4 The Organizing Stage 11-11
Your Audience 11-4 Delegating Duties 11-11
Your Occasion 11-5 Gathering Verbal and Visual Materials 11-12
Your Purpose 11-6 Organizing Materials and the Presentation 11-15
Your Subject or Topic 11-6 The Presenting Stage 11-19
Member Strengths and Fears 11-7 Checking Your Language 11-19
Supplemental Logistics 11-7 Practice Aloud 11-20
Types of Group Oral Presentations 11-8 What Makes a Good Oral Presentation? 11-21

Online Appendix A: Techniques for Observing Problem-Solving Groups A-0

References R-1
Bibliography B-1
Index I-1
xii FEATURES
FEATURES
CA S E S
1.1 The Best Friends Animal Society 3
2.1 The Jamaican Winter Olympic Bobsled
Team 27
3.1 Public Relations Club’s Confusion 49
4.1 The Convocation Speaker Committee 67
5.1 The Man of La Mancha Cast and Crew 89
6.1 The Misfit 119
7.1 Ozarks Greenways, Inc. 157
7.2 Problems at NASA 168
7.3 The 1999 Major League Umpire
Resignation 186
8.1 Helping the Children of Springfield 193
8.2 The School Board Breaks a Deadlock 214
9.1 The Cask and Cleaver Work Crew 227
10.1 The College Service Club 253
11.1 Food for the Homeless 11-3
A.1 Consulting to the Technical College
Executive Committee A-0
A P P L Y NOW
Individual or Group? 11
Meeting Member Needs and Handling
Membership Changes 16
What’s in a Name? 21
Bona Fide Groups: The Jamaican Bobsled
Team 36
CNN’s Reporting Disaster: What Happened? 44
CNN and Time as a System of Groups 45
Communication and the Public Relations Club 54
The Public Relations Club and Listening 57
Poor Listening Habits and
Misunderstandings 61
Helping a Group with Schedule Challenges 63
How Do You Know When Someone’s
Teasing? 74
What If . . . ? 77
Interpreting the “Lazy Butt” Comment 85
Managing Tertiary Tensions 95
Integrating a New Member 97
Creating a Space for Yourself in the Group 104
Changing a Norm You Believe Is Harmful 111
Handling Different Motives and Orientations
toward Work 124
Balancing the Church Board 129
Euro-Disney Stumbles 134
Mom’s in My Group! 145
Creative Fund-Raising for the College 161
Creating Suggestions for Crossing Kansas
Expressway 165
Should You Support Mary Alice Beasley for
School Board? 178
Gun Control 184
Improving Airport Security 198
Toyota’s Reputation on the Line 203
Helping the Cask and Cleaver Crew 248
Should He Go Back to School? 249
Informal Leadership in the Group 258
Which Contingency Style Is Most
Appropriate? 269
Red Ribbon Committee and Sober Graduation 280
Marcos and His Fraternity 284
The Great Leader 286
What Type of Group Presentation Should
the Group Make to the Restaurant
Association? 11-11
Preparing an Individual Presentation 11-22
Using the Canons to Evaluate 11-23
ET HI C AL D I LEMMAS
Would You Falsify Data? 24
When to Code Switch and When Not To? 69
What Do You Do When Emotive Words Are
Offensive? 73
When Is It OK to Be Deviant? 109
Can You Be Trusted? 112
Different Voices for Making Ethical Decisions 137
What Would You Do? 182
When Relational Conflict Gets in the Way 241
Your Needs or the Team’s Needs? 290
MED I A AND T EC HNOLOG Y
The Instinctive Need to Group Together 7
The Influence of Computer-Mediated
Communication on the System 41
Norm Enforcement in Internet Groups 106
Diminishing Implicit Assumptions of
Group Diversity 140
Contemporary Media and Groupthink 190
Using Chat Rooms 216
Group Leaders and the Use of Technology 276
Using Presentation Technology 11-15
 Preface xiii

BRE
P I EF FA CC EO N T E N T S

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.

Henry Ford

Henry Ford invented the Model T car, founded the Ford Motor Company, and gave us
the assembly line method of production. The sentiment in his quote captures the ongo-
ing challenge of group participation. Coming together is only a beginning; what happens
after is a matter of knowing how to effectively collaborate with others for success—to-
gether!! Group “work” is taxing, incredibly rewarding and a lot of fun. Both of us have
had the experience of being in a group that so excited us, made us feel alive, gave us a
way to express ourselves, helped us connect with others, and so enabled us to accomplish
a tremendous amount of work, that we didn’t want to see the group end. Yes, that is a
rare occurrence. But in this book, we hope to give students tools to help them attain
those ideals by providing insight about how groups work and practical suggestions for
applying those insights.
This book is designed for the first- or second-year student who may not have had a
prior communication course and who may never take a subsequent course—but who must
work in groups because that is the nature of corporate, educational, and civic participa-
tion in this day and age. Two overarching goals guide our writing. First, being able to
work effectively in groups is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. Our introductory students
want to cut to the chase; they want to know what works right now. That is the reason for
our distinctly practical focus in Communicating in Groups. Although this text uses the same
research foundation as our more advanced text, Effective Group Discussion, we strive here to
provide information in a way that is both useful and immediately usable. Second, we want
students to recognize that effective group work is, to a great extent, a matter of communica-
tion behavior, not a matter of personality or fate. Thus, it is to a great extent within their
own control. We want students to start thinking about their own communicative choices
in groups and to have the tools to make wise choices so they can make the groups they
belong to as rewarding and productive as possible.
To meet our goals, we have chosen to use an informal writing style and to provide many
examples from our own and others’ experiences. We also report research findings in much
less detail, with more synthesis and distillation of findings, fewer footnotes, and less evalu-
ation of competing theories than in our other text. This allows readers to focus on what
is usually more important to them—the practical application of the research. Finally, we
refer to ourselves, Kathy and Gloria, frequently throughout the text. We think of our
readers as individuals with whom we are on a first-name basis, and we encourage you to
think of us the same way, as if we were members of the same small group.

Overview of the Text

With each revision, the hardest thing we have to do is decide what to retain and what to
cut out. We try to focus on what we believe are the most important concepts, particularly
those that will be most useful and practical for students to understand. General systems
xiv PREFACE

theory and a transactional approach to communication continue to ground our view of

small group communication. We remain focused on updating the use of technologies by
small groups and add material on cultural dynamics relevant to group dynamics. As be-
fore, the chapters are ordered in a way that is logical to us but that does not preclude other
methods of organizing a small group course. Each chapter is self-contained and can be read
in an order different from what we provide here.
Part One provides basic information students need to understand how groups func-
tion. Chapter 1 introduces some basic terms encountered throughout the book, shows
how to classify groups according to their major purpose, and introduces the concept
of ethical communication behavior of group members. Chapter 2 presents general sys-
tems theory as a framework for understanding the complexity of group communica-
tion. We provide specific illustrations of systems concepts throughout the rest of the
book as well.
Part Two provides the foundation for understanding communication in groups.
Chapter 3 discusses basic communication theory, including what constitutes transac-
tional communication and effective listening. Chapter 4 details verbal and nonverbal
messages as well as compares computer-mediated communication with face-to-face
communication.
Part Three explores in detail how we move from being individuals to connecting as
a group. Chapter 5 explains how a group develops as a team from an initial collection of
individuals. Chapter 6 focuses on how groups can work effectively with multiple levels of
diversity: member motivation, learning styles, personality, culture, gender, ethnicity, and
generational.
Part Four focuses on the group’s throughput processes. Chapter 7 discusses the creative
and critical thinking skills necessary for effective group problem solving. We believe cre-
ative and critical thinking are at the heart of the group problem-solving process and that
students should know something about these processes before understanding problem
solving in general. Chapter 8 describes the problem-solving process and introduces the
procedural model of problem solving as a helpful guideline to follow. Chapter 9 explains
why group conflicts occur and how they can be managed so that the group benefits instead
of suffers. Chapter 10 provides a comprehensive picture of leadership and also gives sug-
gestions for applying leadership principles effectively and ethically.
Part Five presents information about oral presentations, the culmination of much
group effort. In Chapter 11 students will learn about the types of oral presentations, ways
to prepare effective presentations, and criteria for evaluating presentations.
Finally, the Appendix presents information about a number of techniques a member or
outside observer can use to gather information about a problem-solving group and help it
improve its performance.

New to This Edition

■ Updated section on why people join groups including information on inclusion,
control, and what is now referred to as openness.
 Preface xv

■ Single chapter on communication divided into two chapters. First, covers basic
transactional principles of communication and listening. Second, covers verbal and
nonverbal messages and their interpretation in small groups.
■ Group use of technology is updated recognizing that group members use technol-
ogy to perform group work from texting each other to selecting specific computer
programs to assist in group tasks.
■ Discussion of creativity sharpened by distinguishing between innovation and
creativity. Material added on member characteristics that facilitate creativity.
■ Added material on how to better utilize “expert” in group problem solving and how
to avoid decision regret.
■ Type of conflict restructured into task, relationship, and process to align the mate-
rial with current research.
■ Leadership discussion broadened to include material on leader qualities that
impact member perceptions of leadership. Add tips on leading virtual group
meetings.
■ Discussion of group presentations now include updated information on presenta-
tional aids and using speaker notes.
■ Integrated material across chapters with updated material from small group
research.
■ Case studies, apply now examples, and discussion examples updated.

Features
Case Studies: Establish the main ideas of the chapter by providing realistic scenarios
for student application, and utilizing a variety of group contexts, such as business, health
care, social groups, and civic organizations.
Apply Now Boxes: Make concepts practical to everyday life, throughout the text.
Ethical Dilemma Boxes: Encourage critical evaluation of typical ethical scenar-
ios faced by groups, and stimulate discussion of their causes, controversies, issues, and
solutions.
Media and Technology Boxes: Look at how media and technology are changing
the ways in which small groups can interact. Topics include online support groups, the
contemporary media’s effect on groupthink, and presentation technology.

Online Learning Center

There is a wealth of supplements to the ninth edition of Communicating in Groups available
at www.mhhe.com/adamsgalanes9e:
For Students: Resources to help students study and grasp course goals, such as chap-
ter objectives and outlines, videos featuring the authors, bibliography formats, an online
xvi PREFACE

chapter on public presentations, as well as the appendix on Techniques for Observing

Problem-Solving Groups.

For Instructors: Powerpoint lecture slides, a test bank, and an Instructor’s Manual
that includes exercises and sample syllabi—all of which will help faculty structure the
course in ways that correspond with their teaching goals.

CourseSmart
This text is available as an eTextbook at www.CourseSmart.com. With CourseSmart, your
students take advantage of significant savings off the cost of the print book, reduce their
impact on the environment, and gain access to powerful web tools for learning. Course-
Smart eTextbooks can be viewed online or downloaded to a computer. The eTextbooks
allow students to do full text searches, add highlighting and notes, and share notes with
classmates.

Create
With McGraw-Hill Education’s custom publishing platform Create, content from Com-
municating in Groups can be easily incorporated into a resource for any course. With Cre-
ate you can find the content you want, arrange it in the way you teach your course, and
personalize your book by selecting from various formats. Visit create.mcgraw-hill.com
to get started!

LearnSmart Advtantage
The ninth edition of Communicating in Groups is now powered by
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No two students are alike. Why should their learning paths be? LearnSmart uses
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forget by encouraging periodic review to ensure that the knowledge is truly learned
and retained.
 Preface xvii

WANT PROOF? Students who use LearnSmart are 35% more likely to complete their
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How It Works
LearnSmart guides students to an understanding of core concepts by helping them identify
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Here’s how:
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■ Review and Compare: Students can compare their performance with that of oth-
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■ Informative Reports: Reports provide valuable information about individual and
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As the first and only adaptive reading experience, SmartBook is changing the way students
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xviii PREFACE

engages with SmartBook, the reading experience continuously adapts by highlighting

content based on what each student knows and doesn’t know. This ensures that he or she
is focused on the content needed to close specific knowledge gaps while it simultaneously
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■ READ: While students read the material, they are guided to core topics where they
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 Preface xix

Acknowledgments
We wish to thank the reviewers, all of whom did a conscientious job of reading the manu-
script and providing helpful suggestions. We appreciate their thoughtful suggestions and
have incorporated many of them in this ninth edition.
Jocelyn DeGroot, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
Diana McCown, Doane College
Kim Quigley, University of Central Oklahoma
Karen Swett, California State University, Northridge
Molly Stoltz, Valdosta State University
Steven Venette, University of Southern Mississippi
Katherine Adams
Gloria J. Galanes
This page intentionally left blank
P A R T

ON E
Orientation to
Small Group
Systems

P
art One introduces you to the study of small groups. In
Chapter 1 we explain why small groups are important to
understand, and we define many of the terms you will en-
counter in your study of small groups. We discuss the types of small
groups you are likely to experience, the ethics of participating in
small groups, and the participant-observer perspective we use
throughout the book. Chapter 2 presents you with a framework,
general systems theory, to help organize the many concepts im-
portant to understanding how groups function.
 C H A P T E R
1 Small Groups
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Groups in Your Life
Groups versus Individuals as
Problem Solvers
Groups, Small Groups, Teams, and
Small Group Communication
Classifying Groups by Their
Major Purpose
Being an Ethical Group Member
The Participant-Observer Perspective
as the Heart
of Society
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter you should be able to:
1. Explain why groups play a vital role in the personal
and professional lives of individuals.
2. List criteria for determining whether a group or an
individual should be used to solve a problem.
3. Define a group, a small group, a team, and small
group communication.
4. Differentiate between small group communication,
public communication, interpersonal communication,
and intrapersonal communication.
5. Describe how groups use technology to enhance their
interactions.
6. Explain the major reasons why people participate in
small groups.
7. Explain and give examples of primary groups.
8. Explain and give examples of secondary groups.
9. Compare and contrast the different organizational groups.
10. Explain the four ethical standards any member of a group
should be held to.
11. Explain and give examples of a member being an effective
participant-observer.
 Small Groups as the Heart of Society 3

The Best Friends Animal Society

Sinjin the cat was near death when he arrived at Best Friends Animal
Sanctuary in Angel Canyon, Utah.1 Someone had set him on fire
after dousing him with gasoline, badly burning three-quarters of
CASE 1.1

his body. The care at Best Friends, however, pulled him through;
Sinjin the one-eyed cat became a sleek, confident creature who
loved his treats! Best Friends Animal Society runs the largest animal
sanctuary in the world, with over 1,500 resident animals at any one
time. Best Friends has been a prime mover in the No More Homeless
Pets movement, promotes spay-neuter programs and no-kill animal
shelters, provides consultation services all over the world for those
who want to set up no-kill shelters and spay-neuter programs in their
communities, offers internships for veterinary students, runs a large
volunteer program, provides wildlife rehabilitation, schedules edu-
cational programs and seminars, and, of course, takes in abandoned
animals. What does this have to do with small groups? Best Friends
Animal Society started out, nearly 50 years ago, as a small group of
friends on a quest for spiritual fulfillment.
In the 1960s a group of friends from Great Britain traveled to-
gether to the Bahamas, Mexico, the United States, and Europe
seeking a meaningful life. These diverse individuals were bound
together by what members called the Universal Law and what we
know as the Golden Rule: “As you give, so shall you receive. So do
unto others as you would have them do unto you.”2 The “others”
included animals. Although individual members ended up living
in different places, they stayed in touch, with love of animals the
constant that united them. In 1982 the opportunity arose to buy
3,000 acres in Angel Canyon for an animal sanctuary. A core group
of 20 members pooled their personal resources to establish what
would ultimately become Best Friends. The group included an ar-
chitect, an artist, a real estate professional, several community or-
ganizers, and workers from another animal sanctuary run by some
of the members. Over the years the group has learned (among
other things) to build dwellings, raise funds, tend sick and injured
animals, and communicate with the media. The sanctuary is now
one of the best known in the world. Several of the original mem-
bers remain active, but new members have joined to contribute
their expertise and energy.
4 CHAPTER 1

T he true story of Best Friends illustrates vividly what Margaret Mead said:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”3 This group of
individuals, united by a vision of a world in which animals are respected and loved,
shows what a small group can accomplish that an individual could never hope to
achieve alone. The group demonstrates qualities that characterize effective group
behavior: Members had a vision for what they wanted to accomplish; they appreci-
ated and used the many different talents of their members; they trusted each other
to work for the good of the group (and the animals); leadership was shared among
them, as different needs and challenges arose; and the group continued to learn
and develop by setting new goals that would increasingly stretch the abilities of its
members. Throughout this text we will share what we know about how groups
can achieve success like this. The glue that holds a group together and enables it
to do its work is communication. Our focus is on how you can communicate effec-
tively to help a group succeed.
The group that formed and continues to oversee Best Friends is a voluntary group of
members who choose to work together. However, many of the groups you belong to, es-
pecially where you work or study, may not be voluntary. You may be assigned to a group
because you have a particular expertise your employer believes is important to the group’s
task or because small groups are an essential component of a course in which you are en-
rolled. No matter what the reason, you must be able to work well in teams, task forces,
committees, and all kinds of special problem-solving groups if you want to succeed in the
organized world of today. In fact, Monster Campus, part of Monster.com’s website geared
to college students, notes that teamwork is one of the seven “hot skills” most employers
want, no matter their size or type of industry.4 Moreover, Monster Campus reminds stu-
dents that you can develop this skill during college.
Teams of all kinds, especially multidisciplinary teams, are becoming more common
in all areas of American life: business, industry, education, health care, the nonprofit
sector, and government. The biggest companies in the United States, including every
Fortune 500 company, have some version of small groups and teams in place.5 Being
able to work effectively in a team is also expected in many professions. A recent article
in the New York Times reported that a number of medical schools screen their applicants
not just by grades but by their communication skills.6 Prospective medical students are
given a series of mini-interviews in which they must interact with mock patients so the
evaluators can assess their social skills. Why is this important? According to the article,
“medicine is evolving from an individual to a team sport,” with teams coordinating pa-
tient care. The effectiveness of the teams depends as much on members’ communication
skills as on their expertise.
But there’s a dark side to small group work. In one study of 179 teams, only 13 percent
were rated highly effective.7 A Newsweek article highlights some of the problems.8 The
article reports that managers spend one to one-and-a-half days in meetings each week—
and half of that is wasted time. One management consultant estimates that the average
meeting in a large company costs approximately $15,000. If meeting time isn’t used
effectively, that waste can be staggeringly expensive.
 Small Groups as the Heart of Society 5

We take the position that effective small group work—whether in meetings, on

teams, on committees, and so forth—cannot be left to chance. When individuals come
together, particularly individuals from differing backgrounds, perspectives, and areas of
expertise, teamwork doesn’t just happen. Training in how to be an effective team mem-
ber is essential. If you want to succeed as a team member, you must learn how small
groups function and what you personally can do to help ensure team success. Chapter 1
will help you start this process by asking you to consider how important groups are in
your own life and by introducing you to concepts central to understanding small group
processes, the variety of groups you will encounter, and the importance of being an ethi-
cal participant-observer in groups.

Groups in Your Life

Lawrence Frey, a leading advocate for studying small groups in their natural settings,
believes that the small group is the most important social formation: “From birth to
death, small groups are interwoven into the fabric of our lives.”9 The first group you
encounter is your family, and in many ways this group forms the foundation for other
groups that follow. Think about your family of origin, and consider how much of your
identity was formed by that initial group. Development and maintenance of identity
remain important functions that only groups can provide for us. This is obvious when
we consider groups such as fraternities or sororities, spiritually based groups (churches,
synagogues, other religious organizations, and even spiritually guided activist groups
like Best Friends), gangs, book clubs, and poker clubs. Groups formed at work also
contribute to who we think we are. Are you a member of a union, for example? A
management group? A classroom group? A neighborhood coalition trying to prevent
a zoning change in your neighborhood? Each of these groups, though not expressly
formed as an identity-supporting group, will affect how you see yourself in relation to
other people.
Professionally, the higher you go in any organization (government, service, manufac-
turing, education, communications, the military, or whatever), the more time you will
spend working as a member of small groups. No matter what specific group you are in,
you need to know how to behave in ways that are appropriate and helpful to the group
and to any larger organization to which the group may be attached. If you don’t work well
in groups, you are more likely to be laid off or frozen at a low-level job. A survey of 750
leading American companies asked businesspeople to describe characteristics of the ideal
MBA (Master of Business Administration) graduate.10 The top preference was possession
of good oral and written communication skills (listed by 83.5 percent of respondents). The
fourth-ranked preference, the ability to work in teams, was listed by 71.4 percent. These
communication skills far surpassed even cutting-edge knowledge of the company’s field
(14.8 percent) and previous work experience (31.9 percent) in importance. Clearly, know-
ing how to work in a small group can be of practical benefit to you.
Even as a student, you may be surprised to discover how many groups you belong to. For
most students the list goes up to 8, 10, 15, or even 20 or more small groups. Humans are
social beings with powerful genetic needs to belong to small groups. We need to affiliate
with others of our kind, just as do many other animals.
6 CHAPTER 1

GROUPS AS PROBLEM SOLVERS

You are constantly solving problems: how to find a job, where to eat lunch, how to keep
your car running on a limited budget, and even how to keep your company on the cut-
ting edge of its industry in a turbulent economic climate. Solving any problem means
coming up with a plan and executing it. In times past, only high-status people—
monarchs, generals, managers, and so forth—were given the privilege of planning solu-
tions to problems, and the rest of us had to carry out the plans. But times have changed.
Now we all expect to be included in planning solutions to problems that affect us, and
most of this planning occurs in small groups. Thus, everyone needs to know how to be
an effective group member.

PARTICIPATING IN GROUPS
Improving group problem solving requires focusing not only on the rational side of human
behavior but also knowing something about human feelings. Effective group problem
solving depends on how well members understand and manage such things as informa-
tional resources, how members feel about each other and about the task of the group, how
skilled they are at expressing themselves and listening to others, and how well they col-
lectively process the information they have to work with.
Group members must make sure they have the materials (information, tangible re-
sources, time, and so forth) to complete the task, and they also must learn to manage
their interpersonal relationships effectively enough to complete the task well. Thus, com-
munication in groups performs two key functions: It accomplishes the group’s task, and
it creates “the social fabric of a group by promoting relationships between and among
members.”11 This function—the group’s relational communication—is just as important
as the task-oriented functions of group work.
Samantha Glen’s book about Best Friends describes several vivid examples of com-
munication that convey just how much members of this group care about each other
and how they express it.12 At various times several members of the Best Friends core
group encountered problems that seemed overwhelming and faced the real threat of
burnout as they tried, in the early days, to keep the sanctuary running with little help,
less money, and the ever-growing population of animals others had thrown away. In
one encounter Faith lost it when she publicly confronted a prominent, well-respected
local man who had adopted a puppy from the sanctuary but then abandoned it by the
side of the road. Fellow group member, Michael, gently but firmly made Faith face the
fact that she was getting burned out and needed help. His obvious concern allowed
Faith to realize how deep her exhaustion was and to accept help from the others. In
another example, the group’s veterinarian, Bill, brought two gifts to the sanctuary:
an Airstream trailer, accepted in lieu of payment from a client, that would serve as
dedicated space for an operating table, and a goat to keep Sparkle the horse company
while her leg healed. Faith, expressing the whole group’s gratitude, said to Bill, “We
love you, you know.”13 This comment may not be typical of what you hear in most
work groups, but communication that conveys appreciation, gratitude, and liking goes
a long way in creating a group that is also a community, and that can be a deeply
satisfying experience. The Best Friends group succeeded because members focused on
both task and relationship aspects of working in teams. Organizational and work skills
 Small Groups as the Heart of Society 7

The Instinctive Need to Group Together

Some scholars have assessed situations in which a collection of indi-

M EDIA AN D TE CH N OL OGY

viduals begins to group together. Such effort is common in face-to-face

interaction where a particular force, problem, or crisis has created the
need for individuals to group. Yet little is known about how and why
individuals with nothing apparently in common or with no mediating
force begin to group. A good example is in a computer-mediated
environment.
To examine this unique grouping process, Tom Postmes, Russell
Spears, and Martin Lea collected data on students who volunteered to
complete an online statistics course, which offered participants e-mail
options for contacting staff. Participants also used the function to send
about 1,200 e-mails to fellow students. The messages were later clas-
sified into nine categories reflecting both task and relational functions
(e.g., requests, complaints, reactions, humor, emotion, personal revela-
tions). The researchers found that 11 groups formed, in which members
spent most of their time (74 percent) interacting about socio-personal
topics (reactions to contributions of other group members, humor-
ous contributions, displays of affection and emotion). Despite having
little impact on the successful completion of the course, these students
grouped together to fulfill their need for relational interaction with
fellow classmates.

SOURCE: T. Postmes, R. Spears, and M. Lea, “The Formation of Group Norms in Computer-Mediated
Communication,” Human Communication Research 26 (2001), pp. 341–71.

and people skills are essential. We hope our book furthers your understanding of and
your knack for effective group participation.
Participation in a group always requires trade-offs. You give up the freedom to do
what you want when you want for the advantages of affiliating with others to produce the
kind of work possible only when several people coordinate their efforts. However, when
individuals must coordinate their efforts, tensions always arise. This is true in all small
groups, from a classroom work group to a task force of engineers designing new cell phone
technology. This is what Communicating in Groups is about: knowing what produces ten-
sions in a group (both in the individuals and in the group as a whole), and knowing how to
manage the tensions so that the group’s decisions are the best that can be made, members’
relationships are enhanced, and the organization that gave birth to the group is improved
by the group’s work.

Groups versus Individuals as Problem Solvers

If group work is so tricky and has such potential for problems, why not have individuals
plan the solutions to all problems? The benefits of having a group tackle a problem can
(but not necessarily will) outweigh the costs in time and tensions.
8 CHAPTER 1

Research has shown that group solutions can be far more effective than individual
ones for solving many types of problems.14 Groups tend to do much better than in-
dividuals when several alternative solutions to the problem exist, none of which is
known to be superior or “correct.” They also are better at conjunctive tasks, where no
one person has all the information needed to solve a problem, but each member has
some needed information.15 These are the very sorts of problems most groups and or-
ganizations face. For example, which of several designs for a car is most likely to sell
well? What benefit options should be available to employees? How can the federal
government give citizens a tax cut and still ensure sufficient funds for health care and
homeland defense?
Many college courses require small group activity of some sort. When instructors move
from teacher-centered to more student-centered instruction, they use small groups. This
forces students to become active, not passive, learners.16 Students can improve problem
solving, critical and creative thinking, and social skills in small group learning contexts.
Moreover, group activity is a preferred way to learn for some cultures (e.g., Asians, Native
Americans, African Americans, and females).17
The Best Friends story illustrates how a group’s greater resources help solve problems.
Of the friends who bought Angel Canyon, one was an architect and several had rudimen-
tary construction skills—enough to design and build places for the animals and shelter
for themselves. The friends were also committed to the animals and willing to work, in-
cluding feeding the growing number of animals twice daily and taking animals to public
events where they might be adopted. Bill, local veterinarian, initially provided low-cost
spay-neutering and other veterinary care services. These have since been expanded to the
point that Best Friends now has a veterinary internship program with much expanded
animal care. Estelle, who had polio as a child and thus was unable to perform physical
labor, had experience running an office and provided administrative services. Matthias,
a technical whiz, used his expertise to set up a membership database and to organize the
sanctuary’s records. Jana used her photography skills to take pictures of the animals and
increase the likelihood that they would be adopted. In recent years, Best Friends has
used many different kinds of expertise to expand the reach of what it can do for animals:
National Geographic produced a television series about Dogtown, wildlife rehabilitation
specialists work with injured wild animals to return them to the wild or, if that is not
possible, to use them in educational programs. Volunteer coordinators work with the
many people who come to Best Friends to volunteer their efforts as dog feeders, poop
scoopers, trainers, foster parents, and so forth. Others work with sanctuaries across the
country to help establish no-kill shelters nationwide. The Best Friends website is remark-
able and frequently updated with stories of the animals. One person working alone could
never have accomplished all of this.

WHEN A GROUP IS A GOOD CHOICE

Groups working on problems with multiple solutions typically make higher-quality
decisions than do individuals for several reasons. Groups usually have a much larger
number of possible solutions from which to choose. Group members can help each other
think critically by correcting one another’s misinformation, faulty assumptions, and
invalid reasoning. Several people can often think of issues to be handled in the pro-
cess of solving a problem that might be overlooked by any one member. In addition,
 Small Groups as the Heart of Society 9

several people can conduct more thorough investigative research than one person work-
ing alone. Group members often counteract each other’s tendencies to engage in self-
defeating behavior.18
An example from the Today Show illustrates the value of group problem solving. Doctors
at the University of Michigan studied the value of a multidisciplinary team approach to
providing breast cancer patients with a second opinion.19 Patients who were diagnosed
with breast cancer and whose doctors had recommended a course of treatment were re-
ferred for a second opinion to a team that included a variety of cancer treatment specialists:
a radiologist, surgeon, pathologist, medical oncologist, and radiation oncologist. The team
met, usually with the patient, to discuss options. Over half the time, the team recom-
mended an approach different from that proposed by the original physician. Sometimes,
a team member was aware of new treatment protocols or techniques the original doc-
tor hadn’t known. Other times, the original doctor had not followed national treatment
guidelines. Having qualified, dedicated team members work together to address an impor-
tant issue can produce better results.
A further advantage to having a team work out a problem is that group members
who are involved in solving a problem or planning a procedure usually understand that
procedure and work hard to implement it. In addition, people are more likely to accept
a solution they had a hand in designing. Satisfaction, loyalty, commitment, and learn-
ing tend to be higher when people have a voice. This is clearly evident with the Best
Friends group, who continue to expand their skills, stretch their comfort zones, and care
for one another as they care for the animals. These principles have resulted in such small
group techniques as quality control circles, self-managed work groups, and collaborative
learning groups.

WHEN A GROUP IS NOT A GOOD CHOICE

Not all problems are suitable for groups, nor is group decision making always a wise or
productive use of time. When a problem has a best or correct solution (such as an arith-
metic or accounting task), a skilled person working alone often performs better than a
group of less-knowledgeable people, even if the group includes the highly skilled person
as a member. When conditions are changing rapidly (as in a weather disaster, battle, or
ballgame), coordinating the work of several people may be done best by one person (a
commander, chief, or coach). Likewise, if small groups have certain social, procedural, or
personality-mix problems, the output may be inferior, even though members may be con-
fident of the results. Much of our text addresses how to apply small group theory—based
as much as possible on scientific research—to make sure that groups work on the kinds
of problems for which they are best suited, and to do so in ways likely to produce a high-
quality solution (see Table 1.1).
Your experiences in groups may have been unpleasant ones. In fact, you may dread
hearing a teacher tell you that you’ll be working on a group project. Unfortunately, this GLOSSARY
kind of grouphate is common, probably because many groups do not function as well as
they should. If this is how you feel about group participation, it is especially important Grouphate
for you to become familiar with group processes because you won’t be able to avoid group Hating or dreading
participation but you will be expected to perform well. participation in
Thus far, we have seen that small groups are commonly involved in problem solving. groups
We now introduce you to the types of small groups that engage in problem solving and
10 CHAPTER 1

Problems Appropriate for Groups

TABLE 1.1 versus Individuals

Problems Suitable Problems Suitable

for a Group for an Individual

• The problem is complex; one per- • There is a best solution, and a

son is not likely to have all relevant
information.
• There are several acceptable solu-
tions, and one best solution does
not exist.
• Acceptance of the solution by those
who are affected is critical.
• Sufficient time exists for a group to
meet and discuss and analyze the
problem.
recognized expert is most qualified
to determine that solution.
• Conditions are changing rapidly
(such as during a fire or natural
disaster), and coordination is best
done by one person.
• Time is short and a decision must
be made quickly.
• Group members have personality,
procedural, or social problems that
make it difficult or impossible for them
to work as a team on the solution.

Many organization members have come to dread participation in groups. © The New Yorker Collection; 1985 Donald Reilly
from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved.
 Small Groups as the Heart of Society 11

Individual or Group?

As president of your department’s Advertising Club, you are getting

AP P L Y N OW

ready to plan your events for the upcoming year when you learn that
your department, facing a serious budget crunch, has cut your expected
budget from $12,000 to $7,000 for the year—a loss of $5,000. The
club’s budget supports the annual Ad Club competition, sends the local
winners to the national conference to compete for the top prize, funds
a couple of local scholarships, and hosts a “shadow day” for area high
school students to spend time on campus to discover what advertising
students do. As Ad Club president responsible for the budget, you can
decide how to make cuts yourself or you can appoint a task force to
decide where to cut.
1. How would you weigh the factors (time, energy, expertise) in
deciding how to make cuts?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages if you make the cuts
yourself? What are they if you appoint a committee to decide the
cuts?
3. If you appoint a committee, members will spend a lot of time to-
gether thinking through the decisions that must be made. What
benefits might they gain by working on such a time-consuming
project?

the situations that create them. We will first define terms necessary to understand group
communication. We encourage you to use our definitions when you think about, discuss,
and complete small group assignments as you read this book.

Groups, Small Groups, Teams,

and Small Group Communication
Before we discuss small group communication, you must first understand how we concep-
tualize the terms group, team, and small group.
GLOSSARY
GROUPS
What is a group? While the answer may seem simple, scholars from disciplines such as
Group
sociology, social psychology, and communication have all tried to pinpoint the essential
features of a group. Marvin Shaw, an important early small group theorist, defines a group Three or more indi-
viduals who have a
as “persons who are interacting with one another in such a manner that each person influ-
common purpose,
ences and is influenced by each other person.”20 The essence of “groupness” is that mem-
interact with each
bers have interdependent relationships, act interdependently toward a common purpose, other, influence
and are aware that, together, they act as part of a unit. Just putting a bunch of people in each other, and are
the same place does not mean that a group has been created; it takes time for members to interdependent
develop their sense of interdependence.
12 CHAPTER 1

The following example will illustrate what we mean. At a recent communication con-
vention, one of us stood waiting for a streetcar late at night. Three other conventioneers,
identified by their badges, stood at the same stop. At this point, there was no group—
what existed was a collection of individuals who happened to be in the same place at the
same time. This was not a group because no interaction had occurred, members were not
particularly aware of each other as individuals, there was no common purpose (although
there were four individual goals that happened to be similar), and no mutual influence had
occurred. There was no sense of collective identity, and members had no attachment to
each other or to the group.
After about 15 minutes with no streetcar in sight, one person mentioned, to no one in
particular, that the streetcar was “awfully late.” Others chimed in about the unreliability
of the streetcar system, the lateness of the hour, the city’s reputation for being unsafe late
at night, and the fact that they had other places where they needed to be. We introduced
ourselves and chitchatted about the convention. At this point the collection of individuals
began to form into a group. This process started with our mutual awareness of the other
individuals and the dawning realization that perhaps we were all in the same boat. How-
ever, we still lacked mutual influence and common purpose. Those came when one of us
suggested that we share a cab to our various hotels. That suggestion—the first attempt at
mutual influence by one member—helped us become an actual group of people whose in-
dividual goals merged into a common goal, that of sharing a ride to our respective hotels.
Even though this group was short-lived and relatively unimportant, it met all the criteria
for being a group: We interacted with and mutually influenced one another, became inter-
dependent, had a common purpose, and were aware, for the short time we were together,
that we acted as a unit to achieve our mutual goal.

SMALL GROUPS
Groups can range in size from very small (three) to very large. We define small not by
numbers but in terms of psychological perception: A small group refers to a group in
which individual members perceive each other and are aware of each other as individuals
when they interact. This definition is precise only for a given point in time. A committee
of five new members may be perceptually large until after each member has had a chance
to speak repeatedly, but the initial Best Friends group of 20 seemed perceptually small
because members had known each other well and had worked together on other projects
over many years. At the point when they met to discuss buying Angel Canyon, members
knew and could describe every other member and could also say something about what
GLOSSARY each person contributed to the discussion. That is the idea of small group as we use it. We
intentionally exclude the dyad (two people) because dyads function differently. They do
not form networks or leadership hierarchies and if one member leaves, the dyad ceases to
Small Group
exist. In groups, however, members often leave, to be replaced by new members, and the
A group of at least group continues. Some of the original 20 Best Friends members have left, but new mem-
three people that bers have joined and Best Friends endures.
is small enough for
More practically, small groups usually consist of three to seven members. This seems to
individual members
be the ideal range, so long as members possess sufficient knowledge and skills to do the job
to perceive one an-
other as individuals
facing the group and have a diversity of perspectives and information relevant to the task.
during interaction The more members, the more likely there will be inequity and communication overload
for some members.
 Small Groups as the Heart of Society 13

We focus on continuing small groups, in which the members meet regularly face-to-
face or online to complete a task or tasks. These include work crews, task forces, sports
teams, committees, quality circles, classroom groups, one-meeting groups, and virtual
groups whose members never meet face-to-face.

SMALL GROUPS VERSUS TEAMS

We use the terms small group and team interchangeably. We have participated in
committees, task forces, small groups, and teams and have found that, regardless of
what something is called, there are clear differences between effective groups or teams
and ineffective ones. Our focus is to help you understand these differences and use
what you know to make your groups—whether you are a member or leader—more
effective.
However, you should know that some people think there are differences between groups
and teams. For example, Steven Beebe and John Masterson believe that teams are more
highly structured, with team member responsibilities more clearly spelled out, team rules
more explicitly defined, and team goals more specific.21 An example might be a sports
team that spells out the responsibilities for each position and clarifies the goal (for exam-
ple, to win the division championship). Others reserve the concept of team for those groups
that are especially effective.22 In our opinion, most groups could benefit from clarifying
responsibilities, procedures, and goals. In addition, we have found no relationship in real
life between what a group may be called and how it actually performs. Some teams we
have participated in have been disasters, but some committees have had all the hallmarks
of effective teams. Thus, we do not differentiate between groups and teams and freely use
both terms.

SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION

Our definitions of group and small group have emphasized the process of members
communicating with each other to become interdependent. Communication among GLOSSARY
members is the essential feature of a group, regardless of the group’s size or purpose.
Thus, to understand small group dynamics, you must tackle the complexities of Communication
communication.23
The transactional
Communication is the transactional process in which people simultaneously create,
process in which
interpret, and negotiate shared meaning through their interaction. In small groups, the
people simultane-
mutually negotiated meaning allows members to coordinate their activities. We develop ously create, inter-
this idea further in Chapter 3, but this definition means that group members simultane- pret, and negotiate
ously send and receive verbal and nonverbal messages—words, facial expressions, and so shared meaning
forth—to and from one another. During this process, they develop shared meanings and through their
are able to coordinate their activities within the group. They pay attention to one another, interaction
interpret (or misinterpret) one another, negotiate what things mean, create interdepen- Small Group
dence and accomplish something (their assigned task, we hope!). The communication Communication
itself creates the group and forges the interdependence necessary for individuals to call
The verbal and non-
themselves a group. verbal interaction
Small group communication focuses on the verbal and nonverbal interaction among among members of
group members. As members create, perceive, interpret, and respond to messages from one a small group
another, they are engaging in small group communication.
14 CHAPTER 1

While small group communication shares factors in common with communication in

other contexts, there are differences. In public speaking situations, such as when someone
gives a speech, the speaker’s role (to talk) is clearly differentiated from the audience’s
role (to listen), whereas in a small group, these roles are interchangeable. Public speak-
ers plan their remarks, but small group participants respond relatively spontaneously.
Verbal feedback is delayed during a public speech, but in a small group it is immediate,
although much nonverbal feedback is instantaneous in both contexts. In interpersonal
situations, such as in a dyad, only one interpersonal relationship is possible, but in a
five-person group, 10 unique interpersonal relationships exist, making small group com-
munication much more complex. Intrapersonal communication, the communication that
occurs within an individual (such as thinking or self-talk) is always present no matter the
context, including small groups.

GROUPS AND TECHNOLOGY

Today, because technology is readily available and easy to use, most groups make use of it
in some way to make their work easier. Rather than talking about face-to-face groups or
virtual groups, it makes more sense to consider the degree to which groups use technology
to do their work and develop their relationships.24 Some groups may meet only face-to-
face, never using any form of technology; others, such as some online support groups or
geographically distributed multinational groups, always meet virtually, never face-to-face,
relying on technologies such as teleconferencing and e-mail. However, many groups do
something in between: combine face-to-face meetings with technological tools to com-
plete their work.
Teleconferencing and applications such as Skype allow members to meet at the same
time although they may be widely scattered geographically. Internet discussion boards
and e-mail permit members to interact at different times and places that are convenient for
each individual member—a real benefit when members live in different time zones or have
varying work schedules. Still other applications allow members to work collaboratively
on tasks whether they are in the same place or not. For instance, wikis and applications
similar to Dropbox allow group members to work collaboratively on documents and to
track changes made by each member. Thus, even if members live in the same city or work
for the same organization, each may contribute to collaborative work from home or from
their individual offices.
Gloria’s work with her church’s Art for Haiti committee illustrates how face-to-face
groups supplement regular meetings with technology. The committee was charged with
planning an art exhibit and reception to benefit relief efforts for Haiti, with local artists
selling Caribbean-inspired paintings and sculpture. Members of the planning committee
were recruited via e-mail; an application called Doodle let members mark their available
times to meet, and the committee’s chair sent the first meeting agenda as an e-mail attach-
ment. At the first face-to-face meeting, members discussed what needed to be done and
divvied up the tasks. The artist on the committee sent an e-mail to recruit local artists,
asking them to send jpeg images with their completed applications. One member agreed
to find a group to play Afro-Caribbean music, another to create the flyer, a third to contact
possible caterers, and a fourth to borrow moveable walls and pedestals to display the works
in the church’s fellowship hall. In the two weeks between the first and second meetings,
members completed their individual tasks, gathered necessary information, and e-mailed
Another random document with
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 DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
 FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
 Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
 The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

 This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
 “We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
 Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
 BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE

 FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

 LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
 Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

 BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN