Why do Somalis make broad generalization about our culture?

[NidarNidar]

Fish>>>Chicken for me

Tuna and rice is probably the quickest meal if you don't have time, alongside stir fried chicken and rice.

 

[NidarNidar]

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.

I think our ancestors simply grew tired of eating fish. Once pastoralism developed, dietary preferences likely shifted toward livestock. I recall reading about sea sacrifices, though I can’t remember if it was among the Afar or the Beja.

Before the collapse of trade networks in the 16th century, there was a strong demand for fish in the interior. Coastal communities would have supplied fish and other marine resources to inland regions. Additionally, seaweed and fish waste have been recognized as potent fertilizers since at least the 3rd millennium BC. However, I haven't found direct evidence of seaweed being transported inland for agricultural use. That said, it seems likely, given its benefits.

While fish may have become taboo among nomadic pastoralists, urban populations likely did not maintain such restrictions, both for its taste and as an additional protein source. The waste byproducts, rich in nutrients, would have been valuable for agriculture.

 

[Rayaale]

Maybe in the past for the interior clans

 

[Rayaale]

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.

What do you think of drinking blood, read somewhere we used to drink and sometimes mix it with milk

 

[Ghengis Kaarhis]

Tuna and rice is probably the quickest meal if you don't have time, alongside stir fried chicken and rice.

I rarely eat fish with rice tbh, 99% time it's with either veggies or some sort of pasta. That 1% is went I just crush the whole damn thing on it's own.

 

[Xassan]

Thats got to be fake wallahi

 

[Nur_]

We have a herd mentality. "Somalis do this...somalis do that". A lot of these people I see on the Internet think we're all one big collective and not one of the biggest ethnicities in Africa. I see this with influencers who build their whole vrans of being Somalim Wallahi most people do not behave that way. It's so weird.

 

[iley]

Some folks think we are 1 monolith

 

[Journey.]

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

Yep. My mum's from a coastal town and her folks are known for loving fish. It's like a tribal quirk ("Malay bay jecelyihiin"). They make it scrumptious too.

 

[Angelina]

It is a well known fact that Bedouin Somalis of old detested fish. This is well documented by Somalis and foreigners alike who visited us hundreds of years ago. I remember reading that in the 1800s, nomadic Somalis used to mock Arab city dwellers that lived in Zaylac and even the Somalis who consumed fish and would say their houses stunk due to the consumption of fish. Therefore there is a real historical precedent when it comes to this point.

Just because Somalis in today’s current climate have widened their pallet doesn’t mean that a fish taboo amongst those of nomadic origins didn’t exist. It’s the same for nomadic Arabs as well. However, in saying that, Somalis are diverse and the more sophisticated city dwellers may have liked fish. As for the costal argument, my mother’s tribe are nomads that weren’t far from the coast and historically they too saw fish as a poor man’s food and loved their livestock.

Obviously if your family have been city dwellers for centuries, then you will not know of this taboo and tbh a lot of young Somalis don’t have the foggiest clue of their history and will see something like this and go on ‘generalisation’ when this was indeed a staple view of nomads of the past.

That is my two cents. If you’re of a nomadic origin which many Somalis are, then yes, looking down on fish was normal. Somalis of old didn’t even rate eating chicken and till this day amongst the ultra traditional, serving chicken to odeys at weddings and other important event is seen as well weird or even insulting. Reer hooyo matalo will probably dispute me on this.

This is why I have an immense respect for people like @Shimbiris due to their enthusiasm of history and documenting our history since a lot of things are now being lost of history and now even stuff that most of us millennials have heard growing up like the

 

[Journey.]

@Angelina Not all Somalis were nomads, there were many settled Somalis who lived in towns and cities. Most were of course nomads but it's still a generalisation to take the norms and taboos that existed among them and say "Somalis were such and such". We are a lot more diverse than we give ourselves credit for.

 

[Aseer]

@Angelina Not all Somalis were nomads, there were many settled Somalis who lived in towns and cities. Most were of course nomads but it's still a generalisation to take the norms and taboos that existed among them and say "Somalis were such and such". We are a lot more diverse than we give ourselves credit for.

Even being a full blown nomad is a stretch cause somalis were known to go in and out of cities seasonally.

 

[Angelina]

@Angelina Not all Somalis were nomads, there were many settled Somalis who lived in towns and cities. Most were of course nomads but it's still a generalisation to take the norms and taboos that existed among them and say "Somalis were such and such". We are a lot more diverse than we give ourselves credit for.

I see where you are coming from which is why I made the distinction of city dwellers and nomads but a good % of ethnic Somalis if not most are of nomadic origins hence the fish taboo was the culture of a good number of Somalis that dates back to ancient times as Shimbiris speculates.