maîtres de (la) terre

English translation: customary landowners

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:maîtres de (la) terre
English translation:customary landowners
Entered by: Timothy Rake

21:40 Aug 16, 2013
French to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Real Estate / Environmental impact (land use) Burkina Faso
French term or phrase: maîtres de (la) terre
I'm seeking help to differentiate (if possible) between the nuances of three terms in an environmental impact study. I will post them – according to ProZ rules – separately. I'm providing a rather lengthy passage where all terms are used. Thanks for your help!


Comme l’a souligné XYZ, les gens de la terre ou fils de la terre ou encore ***maître de la terre,*** appelés Tengdemba ou Tengbiisi ont découpé leur espace en unités territoriales de peuplement hiérarchisées entre elles, la plus petite unité territoriale correspondant à l’unité territoriale villageoise.

Les gens du pouvoir n’ont pas calqué leur organisation politique segmentaire sur celle des ***maîtres de la terre,*** mais ont utilisé à leurs propres fins ce découpage en maîtrises foncières de l’espace qu’ils ont passées sous leur commandement. Dans l’ensemble, la hiérarchie territoriale des ***maîtres de terres*** et des chefs de commandement ne se superpose pas.

Les unités de maîtrise foncière originelle au niveau de la zone du projet minier, peuvent être esquissées comme suit:
➢ à la maîtrise de Kononga sont associés les commandements des Barelego, de Basnèrè, Konanganoogo, Kowendé, Rapougma et Waiguyo;
➢à la maîtrise de Rapougma est associé le commandement de Defogo.

À l’intérieur de chaque maîtrise de terre, la répartition des domaines épouse l’organisation sociale en lignage, segment de lignage, en familles, ménages.

Cette situation a évolué et de nos jours, beaucoup de villages disposent d’une maîtrise foncière autonome et la plus petite subdivision interne correspond au domaine du ménage qui est devenu l’unité minimale de production et de consommation au détriment de la grande famille traditionnelle qui s’est
éclatée avec l’évolution démographique.

Ainsi, selon les résultats des enquêtes, on compte dans la zone du projet minier cinq (5)maîtrises de terres autonomes, à savoir Barelego, Kononga Mossi (y compris Kononga Peulh), Koswendé (y inclus Konvoudougou), Namissiguima (y inclus Ramatoulaye), et Noogo.
Timothy Rake
United States
Local time: 08:54
customary landowners
Explanation:
pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABE196.pdf‎
by C Besteman - ‎1988 - ‎Cited by 2 - ‎Related articles
... arising between state leasehold systems of tenure and customary land tenure arrangements; and (d) .... Registered landholdings vary from a few hectares for.

https://awasmifee.potager.org/?p=346
31 May 2013 - The villagers, who are the customary landowners, have blocked access to around 10,000 hectares of the land which the company wants to use ...

www.emtv.com.pg/news.../customary-landowners-urged-to-regis...
26 Jul 2013 - Prime Minister Peter O'Neill urged Papua New Guinean customary landowners to voluntarily register land and not to sell it.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2013-08-17 09:53:24 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or Land Chiefs, if one can assume that "maîtres de (la) terre" are what are referred to in the paper below (and many other sources) as "Chefs de Terre"

http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/a0297e/a0297e05.htm
"Land access, encompassing access to natural resources such as soil and water, is governed through land tenure systems legally or customarily defined. Regulations of land tenure govern who can use what resources, either land, water, livestock or trees, and under what conditions. In both Senegal and Burkina Faso, the land tenure system is largely a customary one in which a Chef de Terre, or Land Chief, acts as custodian of community land and distributes it among households as needed. This land is then inherited through family lineage from father to son. In recent decades, a shift to intensive agriculture and private tenure has reduced the powers of the lineage land chief. Yet the practice of collective management of family land is still largely observed. (Platteau et al. 2000)

Rights to land, and the tenure systems that govern those rights, are as diverse as uses of land. Just as multiple land tenure systems can co-exist in close proximity, multiple rights to land can be held by groups or individuals to the same parcel of land. They include rights to access, use, control and benefit from land, with different individuals holding different sized bundles according to their position in the family, gender, religion or socio-economic status. Additional rights include the ability to transfer or inherit land, which in many countries, Senegal and Burkina Faso among them, are not extended to women. Monitoring the fate of this bundle, in the face of economic and cultural transformations, is key to ensuring the security of women's well-being and that of their families. Recent field research in Senegal revealed that only a minority of women were granted rights to use plots received from their husbands or families-inlaw, so for the majority of women, tenure on their husbands' plots was of an indirect nature. Since women's rights to land are indirect, i.e. through their relationships with men, broader forces at work in shaping and modifying land tenure systems in general may affect their livelihoods. (Platteau et al. 2000a)

In rural areas, customary tenure systems arise out of traditional social institutions, such as family and marriage arrangements. These institutions generally ensure that women have access, albeit on a limited basis, to resources under community or corporate control, including rights to a plot of land for household food production. Traditional institutions governing family lineage, marriage and inheritance are hugely influential in customary systems, and often strictly adhered to as a means of preserving social order. In regions where customary systems predominate, gender - in that it largely determines one's status in a family and community - determines one's degree of access and control of resources relative to others in the community. As in many other countries, in Burkina Faso and Senegal, cultural norms often dictate that men are heads of household, which means that they receive land from the Land Chief and determine its uses and benefits."
Selected response from:

B D Finch
France
Local time: 16:54
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4landowners
Louis Gwiango
4 +1masters of the land
Yolanda Broad
4customary landowners
B D Finch
4people of the land/earth custodians
Yvonne Gallagher


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
landowners


Explanation:
I think it has to do with those who own land.

Louis Gwiango
Cameroon
Local time: 16:54
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
Notes to answerer
Asker: merci Tolo and all you who agree!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Adrian MM. (X): http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/general_conversa...
3 hrs

agree  writeaway
5 hrs

agree  GILOU
7 hrs

agree  Dr Lofthouse
8 hrs
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
customary landowners


Explanation:
pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABE196.pdf‎
by C Besteman - ‎1988 - ‎Cited by 2 - ‎Related articles
... arising between state leasehold systems of tenure and customary land tenure arrangements; and (d) .... Registered landholdings vary from a few hectares for.

https://awasmifee.potager.org/?p=346
31 May 2013 - The villagers, who are the customary landowners, have blocked access to around 10,000 hectares of the land which the company wants to use ...

www.emtv.com.pg/news.../customary-landowners-urged-to-regis...
26 Jul 2013 - Prime Minister Peter O'Neill urged Papua New Guinean customary landowners to voluntarily register land and not to sell it.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2013-08-17 09:53:24 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or Land Chiefs, if one can assume that "maîtres de (la) terre" are what are referred to in the paper below (and many other sources) as "Chefs de Terre"

http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/a0297e/a0297e05.htm
"Land access, encompassing access to natural resources such as soil and water, is governed through land tenure systems legally or customarily defined. Regulations of land tenure govern who can use what resources, either land, water, livestock or trees, and under what conditions. In both Senegal and Burkina Faso, the land tenure system is largely a customary one in which a Chef de Terre, or Land Chief, acts as custodian of community land and distributes it among households as needed. This land is then inherited through family lineage from father to son. In recent decades, a shift to intensive agriculture and private tenure has reduced the powers of the lineage land chief. Yet the practice of collective management of family land is still largely observed. (Platteau et al. 2000)

Rights to land, and the tenure systems that govern those rights, are as diverse as uses of land. Just as multiple land tenure systems can co-exist in close proximity, multiple rights to land can be held by groups or individuals to the same parcel of land. They include rights to access, use, control and benefit from land, with different individuals holding different sized bundles according to their position in the family, gender, religion or socio-economic status. Additional rights include the ability to transfer or inherit land, which in many countries, Senegal and Burkina Faso among them, are not extended to women. Monitoring the fate of this bundle, in the face of economic and cultural transformations, is key to ensuring the security of women's well-being and that of their families. Recent field research in Senegal revealed that only a minority of women were granted rights to use plots received from their husbands or families-inlaw, so for the majority of women, tenure on their husbands' plots was of an indirect nature. Since women's rights to land are indirect, i.e. through their relationships with men, broader forces at work in shaping and modifying land tenure systems in general may affect their livelihoods. (Platteau et al. 2000a)

In rural areas, customary tenure systems arise out of traditional social institutions, such as family and marriage arrangements. These institutions generally ensure that women have access, albeit on a limited basis, to resources under community or corporate control, including rights to a plot of land for household food production. Traditional institutions governing family lineage, marriage and inheritance are hugely influential in customary systems, and often strictly adhered to as a means of preserving social order. In regions where customary systems predominate, gender - in that it largely determines one's status in a family and community - determines one's degree of access and control of resources relative to others in the community. As in many other countries, in Burkina Faso and Senegal, cultural norms often dictate that men are heads of household, which means that they receive land from the Land Chief and determine its uses and benefits."

B D Finch
France
Local time: 16:54
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 271
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
people of the land/earth custodians


Explanation:
Timothy, these words: les gens de la terre ou fils de la terre ou encore ***maître de la terre,*** appelés Tengdemba ou Tengbiisi ...are basically synonyms in the various articles I've found

Tengbemba =people of the land and Tengbiisi-sons of the land

http://books.google.ie/books?id=faljqaPfqOkC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA7...

http://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/burkina-faso/2-le-bur...
"...les membres des multiples groupes ethniques autochtones, les « gens de la terre » (tengdemba), les nakombse détenant le pouvoir politique, les tengdemba étant les détenteurs du pouvoir religieux lié à la terre (culte de la fertilité et rites funéraires).

so maybe even priestly custodians here

See this translated abstract:

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/25133648?uid=3738232&u...
Les thématiques de la maîtrise de la terre, de l'appartenance à des sociétés initiatiques ou secrètes ont longtemps été étudiées sur des terrains ruraux. Au moment où, pour des raisons légitimes, l'anthropologie urbaine a tendance à focaliser son attention sur les dynamiques de la globalisation ou sur les phénomènes d'innovations technologiques, il importe de montrer à quel point l'organisation sociale d'une ville moyenne ouest-africaine telle que Koudougou (Burkina Faso) passe encore par le local et par son histoire. Cet article se propose d'analyser le rôle des outils spirituels et politiques dans l'élaboration de cette communauté politique, et de mesurer leur importance de nos jours après plusieurs situations de crise. Cette réflexion sur la fondation d'une communauté qui, peu à peu, s'est urbanisée et est devenue un collectif d'appartenance, renvoie aussi à des questions organisationnelles et politiques propres au regroupement des hommes lors des premiers peuplements d'une région. /// The use of cultural resources can provide a key for understanding politics in an urban agglomeration and unraveling the intricate conflicts and shifting discourses having to do with its history. The cultural resources related to the group who founded Koudougou, Burkina Faso's third largest city, resurfaced during crises there. Earth custodians (priests) and membership in secret (initiation) societies are topics that have been long studied in rural areas. Now that the prevailing trend in urban anthropology is, quite rightly, focusing on the momentum of globalization and technological innovation, it is important to show to what degree the social organization of a middle-sized city in west Africa involves local factors and history. Analyzing the importance of spiritual and political tools in shaping a political community is indispensable for understanding the city. Studying the foundation of a community gradually urbanized and transformed in a collectivity of belonging raises place of organizational and political questions related to the groups formed by the first settlers in the area.

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Note added at 13 hrs (2013-08-17 10:42:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

So, while you could say they are using the land for their purposes, I think the term "landowners" has far too many modern connotations. Tenant farmers/smallholders etc also don't work here imo for the same reason.

Perhaps "traditional land users/people who traditionally worked/took care of/farmed the land" might work? Though "farmed" is also too modern here

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 15:54
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 44
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19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
masters of the land


Explanation:
Given the specificity of the three terms in your text, I'd go for as literal a translation of each as I could manage. In the case of "maître de la terre" in particular, you take take the companion term, " maîtrise de terre," into consideration. So: "masters of the land"

Note that I get 10,000,000 Ghits for "masters of the land" + "Burkina Faso" See:
https://www.google.com/#bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&fp=10e5a3add6d6d99...

Top references turn up information which fit your context, such as:

... Koy (“Masters of the Land”) and the Ganda Iso (“Sons of the Land”), bring .... from MUJAO, close to the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger."
nesa-center.org/.../12/gulf-and-mediterranean-news-updates-12112012

Yolanda Broad
United States
Local time: 11:54
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sheri P
7 hrs
  -> Thanks, Sheri P
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