It must at once be added, however, that this markedly unstratified traditional political system does recognize a subordinate category of people known as sab who fulfil such specialized and to the nomad degrading tasks as hunting, leather- and metal-working, and haircutting. The sab who practise these occupations form a minute fraction of the total population and, traditionally, were separated from other Somali by restrictions on marriage and commensality. Today the enfranchisement of these Midgans, Tumals, and Yibirs, is far advanced and most of their traditional disabilities are disappearing.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 66