AFRICANWARSAND WHITEINVADERS
spite their pale skins and strange clothing: hunters, who shot game, es-
pecially elephants for their ivory; traders, who bartered their imported
beads, metal wares, clothing, and groceries in exchange for ivory, hides,
and cattle; missionaries, who expounded novel religious ideas; and pas-
toral farmers with large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. However, in
African culture visitors should report to the chief on their arrival; they
should ask his permission to carry out their activities; and, if they remain,
they should expect to be incorporated in the chiefdom. In particular, if a
chief allowed a visitor to pasture his cattle and sheep in a given locality in
his domain, hewas doing no more than givingthe visitor the right to use the
land; he could withdraw this right at any time. Some white people com-
plied with those norms. Others did not and, as their numbers increased,
became more demanding and more arrogant. White farmers, for example.
claimed to own the land they had been permitted to use, whereas the idea
that a person could have property rights in land did not exist in African
culture. The time finally came when a chief and his councillors realized that
they were confronted with a threat to their autonomy. Then, some accom-