Why do Somalis make broad generalization about our culture?

[Abdixakim]

 

[ATLbound]

My reaction everytime: Who is we ?

 

[Kisame]

My mom cooked tuna sometimes.

 

[gasara]

This has got me in TEARS. "HEY YOU! FISH EATER! No marriage with you!"

 

[AbrahamFreedom]

Its true in Somalia. It's associated with poor or low class people. But the fish I had in Somalia at the restaurant by the ocean was the most delicious I have ever eaten. I got looks from relatives but I didn't care.

 

[gasara]

On a serious note though if you live near water you eat fish. If you dont live near water then you wont be eating fish. But I've never heard of this ever in my life. Instead I've heard that the Sea is blessed by Allah so we can eat it except for certain stuff in the Sea.

 

[3LetterzMM]

A lot of us eat malaay in bari there’s a big ass tuna factory in Qandala an lemme tell you that tuna shits on any tuna I had in the west. I also remember this one hotel in Bosaso right by the ocean they have a popular restaurant that serves fresh fish caught the same day truss me you eat that with the baasto it’s like having an orgasm.

 

[Aseer]

A lot of us eat malaay in bari there’s a big ass tuna factory in Qandala an lemme tell you that tuna shits on any tuna I had in the west. I also remember this one hotel in Bosaso right by the ocean they have a popular restaurant that serves fresh fish caught the same day truss me you eat that with the baasto it’s like having an orgasm.

For real bro what do these people think us folks living on the coast eat? Sand?

 

[Ghengis Kaarhis]

Fish>>>Chicken for me

 

[3LetterzMM]

For real bro what do these people think us folks living on the coast eat? Sand?

It’s a baseless lie that Somalis don’t eat fish it’s been in the coastal people’s diet for 100s of years fishing used to be one of the biggest industry in the country if we hated it so much there wouldn’t have been pirates going to war with foreign vessels trying to poison our fish supply. We might like meat more but fish is still part of our cuisine.

 

[bobby_hill-Punt]

They try to normalize this statement so they make it a rule of society and latter people will state this stupid comment in public and look like an idiot afterwards

 

[iley]

A lot of us eat malaay in bari there’s a big ass tuna factory in Qandala an lemme tell you that tuna shits on any tuna I had in the west. I also remember this one hotel in Bosaso right by the ocean they have a popular restaurant that serves fresh fish caught the same day truss me you eat that with the baasto it’s like having an orgasm.

Similar experience, but more south. We ate malaay more than other meat in Warsheikh, and in the smaller coastal towns most men make a living by fishing. The tuna was massive but so good.

 

[Shimbiris]

The Cushitic fish taboo is a real thing I documented and went into in a thread but it's not as rigid as they make it out to be. Somalis who engaged in sailing and fishing tended to make an exception as did several in the historical coastal towns. The same is true for Arabians who have a similarly engrained "fish taboo" but once again exceptions were frequently made out of necessity or simple economics. Human beings are not that rigid but yes, it's a real cultural phenomenon among Cushites and to some extent Semites (at least Peninsular Arabs):

Arabs also practiced Artisanal Taboo

We work with what we have and strongly state that it is all in a speculative range, even your ethnographic works by those westerners that you postulate to be an "objective" position about the Somali condition within a conversation about a still persisting social stratification, that mind you, is...

www.somalispot.com

There are various theories as to why it exists but no one has any true idea. I recall one half decent theory being that it seems to MAYBE come from some sort of strange ancient snake worshipping cult and seeing fish as "sea snakes" in a sense.

 

[Zak12]

from some sort of strange ancient snake worshipping cult

Wait, what?

 

[Shimbiris]

Wait, what?

Read the thread. It's all mostly in there. Weird stuff. Bedouin tribes in Arabia would sometimes be offered fish and literally say something like "I will not eat that snake" and I think I recall reports of Somalis strangely saying similar things. They associated fish with snakes.

 

[Zak12]

Read the thread. It's all mostly in there. Weird stuff. Bedouin tribes in Arabia would sometimes be offered fish and literally say something like "I will not eat that snake" and I think I recall reports of Somalis strangely saying similar things. They associated fish with snakes.

I recalled a thread about Somali folklore/mythology here that mentions a snake figure. Could be related.

 

[Zak12]

@Shimbiris I found it

Everyone knows about the cannibal Dhegdheer, shape shifting Qori-Ismaris, and the tyrant Araweelo. But what about other lesser known mythic figures that are sometimes regionally confined. One such myth is that of the Jewel-Snake, Mas-Joohaar, in the northeast.

Any others?

 

[Gacmeey]

Fish is sold and eaten throughout Somalia. Waa la illbaxay

 

[Som]

I can say that this is true only in areas far away from the ocean. Coastal folks love fish

 

[Som]

The Cushitic fish taboo is a real thing I documented and went into in a thread but it's not as rigid as they make it out to be. Somalis who engaged in sailing and fishing tended to make an exception as did several in the historical coastal towns. The same is true for Arabians who have a similarly engrained "fish taboo" but once again exceptions were frequently made out of necessity or simple economics. Human beings are not that rigid but yes, it's a real cultural phenomenon among Cushites and to some extent Semites (at least Peninsular Arabs):

Arabs also practiced Artisanal Taboo

We work with what we have and strongly state that it is all in a speculative range, even your ethnographic works by those westerners that you postulate to be an "objective" position about the Somali condition within a conversation about a still persisting social stratification, that mind you, is...

www.somalispot.com

There are various theories as to why it exists but no one has any true idea. I recall one half decent theory being that it seems to MAYBE come from some sort of strange ancient snake worshipping cult and seeing fish as "sea snakes" in a sense.

True it's well known , I've read that even Amharas had this taboo as well so it's not just cushitic speakers . Anyways we shouldn't exaggerated it , nomadic somalis probably didn't like fish but it's also documented that fish was quite popular in coastal cities. Ibn battuta famously described Zeila as having a bad smell because of the quantity of fish consumed by it's inhabitants