Cumar Dheer Tribe History( are they Cayr or Mareexaan)

[WasteMan]

[James Dahl]

My suspicion is that this was rather commonplace.

The process of a subclan leaving one clan and joining another one seems to be a three stage process.

Every clan is descended from the paternal lineage but also various maternal links that tie them to other paternal lineages, and often these are quite important links.

If the subclan's neighbors are predominantly of the lineage they are connected to via the maternal link, they will maintain their paternal ancestry but will emphasize the maternal connection.

If there is then a dispute with their paternal relatives, or if they want a closer relationship with their more powerful neighbors, they can "change" their clan, by rerouting their abtirsi to go from their subclan's patriarch to the father of the subclan's matriarch, instead of the subclan's patriarch's father. This is usually for political reasons and often these clans maintain a foot in both camps, or because the lineage is more prestigious (most Ashraf clans in Somalia have done this).

Sometimes however I believe that the subclan becomes "permanently" another clan.

This particular scholar goes well beyond this modest suspicion, and discusses "that which must not be spoken of".
http://www.stclements.edu/grad/gradeno.htm

[Murax]

James Dahl,

No Marexaan ever turned Hawiye, or no Hawiye ever turned Marexaan. Not demaning anybody but Marexaan is dalasho not choice!

[James Dahl]

I'm not saying it happened in this particular instance, or at all within Marehan, just that it's not unprecedented.

[QansaGabeyle]

James Dahl. You should stick to pretending to be a white man.

[James Dahl]

Hey hey I'm not taking sides here, just saying that when I was researching the Somali clan family tree this year I came across all kinds of things like this.

[QansaGabeyle]

Well Cumar Dheer are marexaan. When their elders decided to move the clan back to Balanbal, they were not more than 100 people and they all knew that they were marexaan. As a matter of fact, Cumar Dheer have never claimed to be habargedir ever. They just lived among the habargedir for a long period of time. There is a similar clan, who are marexaan, but always lived among the Gaaljecel. They were among the first marexaans to come to the south with the Talxe and they are a Reer Hassan subclan and they never claimed Gaaljecel ever. They always said they were Reer Hassan Marexaan and they have lived among Gaaljecel in Jubba and Shabeela region and they still do to this day. During the civil war, they were in SNF and they fought to defend Gedo.

[James Dahl]

The thing a lot of Somalis don't understand today is that in the old days there were two seperate institutions. There was the clan administration or confederation, and then the clan.

For instance the old Habar Jeclo sultanate included some Warsangeli subclans, and the old Habar Garxajis sultanate was huge, and had a bunch of Ogaden subclans.

This is not to say that these clans pretended to be another clan, they always knew their abtirsi and never pretended to be someone they're not. The thing is Somalis today just can't imagine Marehans being part of a Cayr state and even fighting against other Marehans. The mentality back then was different though, it was more political and less tribal, with more "what's in it for me and my subclan" thinking and less of the modern idea of the clan-nation.

[shalaqbeen]

waxan la yaabaa in la is waydiiyo qabil jira ama la wada yaqaan cida ay asal ahaan ka soo jeedan qof walba yaa og in cumar dheer ceyr asal ah tahya oo ay ka soo jeedo ceyr ka sii ah sabuux way gadoodeen waan ala xaliyay waxaas hada waa laga heshiiyay wax qarni yala ka hor maaha waa wax ka yar 50 sano dadkii joogay markaas ayaa jogay ayaga ayaad wxa ka wyadiin kartaa marka cumar dheer waa ceyr dhalad ah waan alaf dhabarka ceyr ayagana waa ogyihiin waana qiranyihiin marka intaas ayaan uga baxay cumar dheer waa ceyr lakin hada waxay la dagaan mariixaan