THE NDUINDUI A S tu d y i n th e S o c ia l S tr u c tu r e o f a New H ebridean Community A t h e s i s su b m itte d f o r th e d e g re e o f D o cto r o f P h ilo so p h y i n th e A u s tr a lia n N a tio n a l U n iv e r s ity By M.R* A lle n 1964 U - k ~ l cj y This thesis is my original work Michael R Allen CONTENTS Chapter Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................... , 1X PREFACE............................................... X111 I. ECOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.............. 1 II. WEST AOBA AND ND U I N D U I.......................... 30 PARISH STRUCTURE AND MEMBERSHIP COMPOSITION......... 65 IDEOLOGY OF KINSHIP AND KIN GROUPMEMBERSHIP 99 III. IV. V. ..... LAND AND S O C I E T Y .......................... 120 VI. BETROTHAL AND M A R R I A G E ........................... 151 VII. SEX SEPARATION AND TIE SACRED K I N ................ 189 VTII. TRADITIONAL RANK AND LEADERSHIP .................... 240 IX. CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP........................... 280 X. COMPETITIVE LEADERSHIP AND PARISHP O L I T I C S .......... 297 XI. CONCLUSION...................................... 324 111 LIST OF TABLES Table I* II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. Page Population by Missions ..........................• • • 6 Linguistic Similarities and Differences; East and West Aoba ...................................... 34 Descent, Residence and Inheritance in the Northern New Hebrides • • • • . . ...................... • • • • • • • 56 • • • • • • • • • 60 Birth Place of Nduindui Married Couples Mission Representation in West Aoba 38 The Natal Mission Affiliations of Nduindui Married Couples • ....................... . . . . . . . . . Place of Residence of W i d o w s ...................... VIII. Type nAM Parishes 63 • 69 .................................... 78 IX. Type MB n Parishes ........ • • • • • • • • • • • • • 80 X. Type nCM Parishes ........ • « • • • • • • • • • . . 87 XI. Type "D" P a r i s h e s ............................. XII. Summary of Tables VIII to X I ...................... 1V 88 . 89 7 T a b le X III. XIV. XV. XVI. XV II. Page A g n ates and C a rp e ls ............... R e sid e n c e A f f i l i a t i o n . . • • • » • • • • • • • • ............................ . . . . . 9 1 - 9 3 A n a ly s is o f M u l t i c a r p e l l a r y Ngwatu i Vanua • • • • 9&A C o a st and I n la n d : A g n a tes and Non-^Agnates • • • • . 96B Mota T erm in o lo g y • • • • • « • • • • • • • • • • • 115 X V III. R e sid e n c e o f Male A g n ates i n Lombanga P a r i s h XIX. 90 N a v u ti Non-^Agnates . . . ............................................................ 130 137 XX. I n te r - M a r r ia g e B etw een C o ast and I n la n d • • • • • • 143 XXI. K in sh ip betw een M a rrie d C ouples • • • • • • • • • • 15# C o n tr ib u tio n s t o M ag ie1s Wedding E x p en ses • • • • • 1.66 XX II. XX III. D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Goods P re s e n te d t o T im othy . . . . 169 . . • • • • • • • 172 XXV. B e t r o t h a l D a t a .................................................................... 175 XXVI. S a c re d , J o k in g and O rd in a ry K in • • • • • • • • • • 224 XXVII, The Ranks o f th e Graded S o c ie ty • • • • • • . • • • 255 XXIV. D i s t r i b u t i o n b etw een Groom’s K in V 35 T a b le P age XXVIII* The M oli R i t e s ............................................................................... 261 XXIX . A c re a g e o f P l a n t e d la n d Owned b y N a v u ti R e s id e n ts •• 282 LIST OF FIGURES F ig u r e P ag e 1• N d u in d u i A f f i n a l T e n n s : Man S p e a k in g • • • • • • • • • 1 06 2* N d u in d u i A f f i n a l T erm s: Woman S p e a k i n g .......................... 3* N d u in d u i C o g n ate Term s o f R e f e r e n c e 4» Lombaha ( e a s t Aoba) C o g n ate Terms o f R e f e r e n c e • • • • • 110 5* Lombaha: Own M a t r i l i n e a g e 110 . • • • • • • • • • • ......................................................... 1 06 1 09 6* Lombaha: F a th e r * s M a t r i l i n e a g e ........................ • • • • • • • 110 7. Lombaha: M o th e r 's 110 8. Lombaha: M o th er* s M o t h e r 's M a t r i l i n e a g e • • • • 110 9. M o th e r* s b r o t h e r - S i s t e r ' s c h i l d • • • • • • • • • • • • 111 F a t h e r 's M a t r i l i n e a g e • • • • • • • • V anua Lava T e rm in o lo g y 10* M ota an d 11* E a s t A oba: I n c o r p o r a t i o n o f Remote K in (MIBDDD=f)) . . . 119 12* E a s t A oba: I n c o r p o r a t i o n o f Rem ote K in (ZDDDD=Z) . • . • 119 13* Lombaha P a r i s h S t r u c t u r e .................................................................. 129 14* G roup A f f i l i a t i o n s i n Nanako - N a v ito r a C o n f l i c t • . • • 177 V1 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 118 LIST OF MAPS (end o f t h e s i s ) 1• Aoba 2. N o rth e rn New H ebrides 3• N duindui D i s t r i c t 4» Nangweangwea P a r is h 5. Saralokam bu P a r is h 6. Lombanga P a ris h 7• N a v u ti P a r is h LIST OF APPENDICES (end o f t h e s i s ) I* II. III. IV . V. V I. S k e le to n Genealogy o f Nangweangwea P a r is h S k e le to n G enealogy o f L ov atu ru sa P a r is h S k e le to n Genealogy o f Lokambu C a rp e l S k e le to n G enealogy o f Lotano C arp el S k e le to n Genealogy o f L o lo titira b a C arp el S k e le to n Genealogy o f L o v u tik e re k e re C arp el V II. S k e le to n G enealogy o f S a ra n a v ia C a rp e l V III. S k e le to n Genealogy o f Lombanga C arp el IX . S k e le to n G enealogy o f Lomwandu C arp el V11 X. XI. Xll. Skeleton Genealogy of Namberumwele Carpel Skeleton Genealogy: Land Dispute Saranambuga Skeleton Genealogy: Land Dispute Natalu Xlll. SkeletonGenealogy of Navuti (Tambunatari) Carpel 1 XIV. SkeletonGenealogy of Navuti (Tambunatari) Carpel 2 XV. SkeletonGenealogy of Navuti (Tambunatari) Carpel 3 XVI. SkeletonGenealogy of Navuti Carpel 1 XVII. SkeletonGenealogy of Navuti Carpel 2 XV111. SkeletonGenealogy of Navuti Carpel 3 XIX. SkeletonGenealogy of Navuti Carpel 4 V111 ACKNCWIfiDGMSNTS I collected the material on which this thesis is based as a Research Scholar of the Australian National University, The research was in part financed by a grant from the Colonial Development and Welfare Funds recommended by the Colonial Social Science Research Council, I am indebted to Sir J.S. Rennie, formerly British Resident Commissioner in the New Hebrides, who first proposed the study in 1957, and subsequently maintained a close and personal interest in its progress. I am also grateful to various officers of both the French and the British Administrations for their co-operation and practical assistance; to the Suropean residents on Aoba, in particular Paul Leroux and Paul Grant, for their unfailing help and generosity; and above all to Solomon Gamali, Manuel Vira Lalau and many other Aoban3 for their friendship, hospitality and patient instruction. Professor John Barnes first taught me anthropology at Sydney University, and subsequently guided me through the present work. Dr. Paula Brown supervised the study patiently and sympathetically and constantly sent me back to informants armed with new questions and problems. I completed the thesis as a member of the Anthropology Department at Sydney University, I am especially grateful to Dr, Ian Hogbin for 1X his critical reading of each chapter in draft at least twice, and for having saved me from innumerable blunders of grammar, style and argument• X Plate I Ambore) in foreground* Mountain shoulder sep­ arates east from west Aoba. Plate II West Aoba. Traditional dwelling house in inland hamlet. Plate III West Aoba. Young married couples h o u ® e finland parish« Plats IV West Aoba* Young married couple's houise,ecastai parish« PREFACE. The Nduindui are a community of about 1,500 persons who live in the north-west c o m e r of Aoba island in the northern New Hebrides* In this thesis I give a descriptive analysis of the social structure, with special reference to environmental adaptation, deviant behaviour, individual autonomy and other associated aspects of what can be best termed structural l ooseness 1 or ’flexibility*. The theoretically most rigidly structured society can be initially defined as one in which a wide range of social behaviour conforms to structural criteria, that is, persistent, repetitive, pervasive etc. (1 ) In such a society all or most of the individual’s statuses, affiliations and activities would be determined by his or her stipulated and unalterable membership of the component groups and categories. The individual could neither act autonomously on his or her own behalf nor exercise any choice as to what groups could be joined for specified purposes. 1. The polar opposite of this Firth, R. 'Some Principles of Social Organization', JRA I , Vol. 85, 1955, p. 2. Xlll abstract model (which might well be termed the 'absolute society') would be the negation of the concept of social life itself, that is, a collection of fully autonomous individuals. Within the range of these two extremes Barnes (1) has recently contrasted such poly-segmentary African societies as the Tallensi, Nuer and Tiv with the superficially similar agnatic societies of the Hew Guinea Highlands. He phrased the contrast as that between bounded and unbounded affiliation, or African group solidarity versus network cohesion. In the African type of society each individual knows his rightful place, even if he is not there, within a structure of relationships based on a definitive dogma of descent. In the New Guinea type of society (and it applies equally to most Melanesian societies) the position of an individual in some crisis or large-scale enterprise is by no means predetermined, affiliations are not ordered solely, or even primarily, on the basis of descent, locality, rank, age or any other single criterion of identification and differentiation. The structure of relationships in social situations is to a large extent determined by the unique networks built up by self-made leaders and not by the opposition of like solidary groups within a fixed hierarchy of segments. 1. Barnes, J. A., 'African Models in the New Guinea Highlands', Man, Vol. 62, 1962. XIV O th er r e l a t e d a s p e c ts o f New Guinea ’lo o s e ’ s tr u c tu r e a re a re a d in e s s to ad ap t to changing c irc u m stan c es and to in c o rp o ra te fo r e ig n c u l t u r a l e lem en ts; lo c a l v a r i a b i l i t y ; s tro n g in d iv id u a lis m ; r e s i d e n t i a l m o b ility ; b i l a t e r a l o r q u a s i- u n ilin e a l d e sc e n t and in h e r ita n c e ; m u ltip le c r i t e r i a o f lo c a l group membership; and l i t t l e o r no em phasis on s e n i o r i t y , s p e c ia liz a tio n o f la b o u r o r h ie r a r c h y o f any s o r t . In t h i s t h e s i s I a tte m p t to d eterm in e how f a r th e v a rio u s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f New Guinea lo o se s tr u c tu r e ap p ly to Nduindui s o c ie ty . In th e f i r s t c h a p te r I d e s c rib e and a n a ly se th e p r in c ip a l s t r u c t u r a l changes t h a t have r e s u lte d from th e p a s t c e n tu ry o f c o n ta c t w ith E uropeans. I a ls o b r i e f l y c o n s id e r th e e x te n t to which th e p a tte r n o f a d a p ta tio n has been in flu e n c e d by such e c o lo g ic a l and to p o g ra p h ic a l f a c to r s a s la n d , c lim a te , n a tu r a l re s o u rc e s and p o p u la tio n d i s t r i b u t i o n and d e n s ity . In subsequent c h a p te rs I a n a ly se in g r e a t e r d e t a i l th e i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p betw een s p e c if ic a s p e c ts o f th e s o c ia l s tr u c tu r e and h i s t o r i c a l , id e o lo g ic a l and economic v a r ia b le s . In th e f i r s t p a r t o f c h a p te r two I d is c u s s some o f th e p r in c ip a l s o c io - c u lt u r a l s i m i l a r i t i e s and d if f e r e n c e s between e a s t and west Aoba and a ls o such im m ediate o v e rse a s n eig h b o u rs as th e Banks and T o rre s I s la n d s , Mwaevo, Raga, th e Small I s la n d s and M alekula. My concern i s to e s t a b l i s h th e e x te n t to which th e maximum c u l t u r a l and l i n g u i s t i c u n i t s form d i s c r e t e and re c o g n is a b le s o c ia l c a te g o r ie s . XV In the second part I make a similar analysis of the relationship between Nduindui and other west Aoba districts. I also discuss the three principal groupings within the district over and above the maximum political unit (following Hogbin and Wedgwood I use the term 'parish* to refer to the largest local group which can be regarded as having any permanent political unity - in the Northern New Hebrides such groups vary in size from about 20 to 200 persons). I refer to the imprecise distinction between coast and inland dwellers; the temporary alliances formed between a number of neighbouring parishes (discussed in greater detail in chapter ten); and the loose association between parishes of the same religious denomination. In chapters three to six the investigation focuses upon the parish. The main questions dealt with are as follows: the range of variation in structural type; the extent to which membership recruitment is definitive or optative; the degree of unilinearity as expressed in the ideology of kin group recruitment; the relative emphasis placed on individual as against group rights in respect to property, especially land; and the extent to which the parish acts as a corporate and solidary unit in various contexts. In chapter three I first give a brief outline of the homestead and the elementary family. I then attempt to abstract from genealogical and census date, oral traditions and sketch maps, the effective structural principles governing the social composition of both parishes and parish-sections. XVI In chapter four I relate this statistical information to the ideal pattern as expressed in informants’ statements. I demonstrate that though special emphasis is given to genealogical relationships traced through males, there is no definitive and explicit dogma of patrilineal descent. The bonds between agnatically related kinsmen have no special significance outside the context of co-residence and shared property rights. Like the Few Guinea Highlands, the Hduindui local group ’’may be similar in demographic appearance and de facto kinship ties to a patrilineal descent group in which accessory segments are continually being assimilated to the authentic core, but its structure and ideology are quite different (1) In chapter five I discuss the relative emphasis placed on group solidarity as against individual autonomy in respect to land rights. I demonstrate that though patrifiliation is the dominant principle affecting the transmission of rights from one generation to the next, other principles may, in special circumstances, be legitimately invoked. Cash-cropping has replaced the traditional agricultural economy to a greater extent in coastal than in inland parishes. In order to discuss some of the consequences of this change I compare representative parishes from these two areas. I consider this chapter to be central to the thesis as I argue that the degree of structural looseness of Melanesian societies, whether it is 1. Barnes, J. A., 1962, P. 6. XVII manifest in processes of adaptation, group structure or inter-personal relations, is in large part dependent on land types, methods of utilization, scarcity and rules of inheritance. In the first part of chapter six I consider the extent to which the autonorny of the individual is limited by formal rules governing the selection of spouses. In the second part I examine the extent to which the various exchanges of wealth associated with marriage can be best regarded as private negotiations between individuals, as transactions between ego-oriented kin categories drawn from throughout the district, or as exchanges between two parishes acting as corporate and solidary units. In the third section I consider the strength and endurance of the marital bond. Chapter seven is concerned with two inter-related aspects of role differentiation; male versus female, and sacred versus ordinary relatives.' The argument is based on the results of an as yet unpublished comparative analysis of the relationship between the sexes throughout Melanesia. In this study I argue that there is a close correlation between the degree of social and ritual differentiation between men and women, and the degree of unilinearity in descent, residence and inheritance. The most highly developed sex separation is found in those societies in which all or most of the male members of the parish form a single exogamous unilineal descent group. The Nduindui parish deviates from this ideal type in four respects - the statistical incidence XV111 of non-agnatic affiliation, the presence of more than one descent group, the possibility of marriage between semi-autonomous sections, and the degree of bilaterality recognised both in the dogma of descent and in the kinship terminology* I would therefore expect a modified version of the highly developed pattern of avoidance and separation found in the more orthodox unilineal communities. The evidence presented in chapter seven confirms this interpretation. In the second part of the chapter I argue that the ideology of male-female polarity underlies the distinction between ’sacred* and ’ordinary' relatives. The next two chapters deal with leadership and rank. In common with most Melanesian communities leadership is competitive and open to all men with the necessary ambition and ability. There are no hereditary offices, no positions of authority allocated solely on the basis of such fixed criteria as age or kin group seniority, no hereditary transmission of rank, and no age grades. The formal component in the authority structure is provided in a series of ranked titles. In chapter eight I describe the traditional system associated with the sacrifice of pigs; in chapter nine the contemporary hierarchy of church titles. My primary concern is to assess the degree of rigidity imposed on an otherwise informal and loosely structured system of leadership by the formal requirements of achieving high*rank. In chapter nine I also discuss the informal requirements of leadership, especially that of accumulating and distributing wealth. XIX In chapter ten I attempt to arrive at a more dynamic understanding of Muindui society. In British post-war social anthropology, beginning perhaps with Fortes in terms of a "balance ' analysis of Tale society of social forces" and further developed in the Manchester groups' interest in such themes as conflict, tension, struggle and ambivalence, we find an emphasis on movement within a social system - not necessarily movement as leading Id structural change, but rather the cyclical or repetitive alterations that are inherent in even the most stable socio-cultural systems. In Evans-Pritchard*s (2)terms this temporal approach to an understanding of how societies work is essentially that of the sociologically minded historian. It is no accident that the subject matter of such historians is frequently confined to that aspect of social relationships concerned with competition for power, It is in such competition that the dynamic aspect of social relationships can be most clearly discerned. To ask how a society ’works' means above all to ask how, by whom and under what circumstances, decisions of policy are made - to ask what individuals and institutions are concerned with the maintenance of the mores of the society, how they come into conflict with one another, and how such conflicts are resolved. The answers to these questions are in large part supplied 1. Fortes, M . , The Dynamics of Clanship Among the Tallensi, Oxford, 1945» P* 244. 2. Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1961, p. 3. Anthropology and History, XX Manchester in chapters eight and nine. In chapter ten I take the analysis a stage further by examining the inter-relationship between competitive leadership and local organization. By analysing a series of connected (!) social situations, or in Turner's terms "social dramas1', that occurred in a cluster of neighbouring parishes over a period of 25 years, I demonstrate how the size and political status of such groups constantly alters with the rise and fell of outstanding leaders. Prom the point of view of the broader theme of structural rigidity the purpose of the chapter is to determine the extent to which local groups endure as autonomous units over a period of time. I shall conclude this introductory note by briefly discussing two of the primary characteristics of my method of analysis - the historical and the comparative. One of the main methodological difficulties faced by the anthropologist is to define the spatial and temporal limits of the phenomena that are to be described and analysed. When the enquiry is concerned with a narrow and precisely defined range of social behaviour the problem, though at times considerable, is confined to the selection of satisfactory criteria of differentiation. But when, as is frequently the case, the investigation is concerned equally with such diverse phenomena as language, politics, kinship, ritual etc. the complexities are greatly increased in that the 1. Turner, V. W., Schism and Continuity in an African Society. Manchester, 1957» P* 91» XXI limits of similarity may fail to coincide with one another. For example, the same language may he spoken a hundred miles from the initial point of observation, whereas the political or the kinship system may differ. The same applies in the temporal dimension- kinship and political organization may persist relatively unaltered over a long period of time, whereas religion and economics may undergo major alterations. In an attempt to overcome these difficulties many anthropologists have limited their field of enquiry spatially to a small community, such as a village, and temporally to v/hat has been termed the ’ethnographic present’. I have in part perpetuated this tradition by intensively studying one parish and by concentrating on that which occurred during my period of field work and in the immediately preceeding years. But at each stage of the analysis I have made every attempt to avoid these arbitrary limits. At the widest extension my unit of study is west Aoban society as it existed over a period of about a hundred years. In considering such topics as local organization, kinship, marriage, rank etc. I have described that which I actually observed, and also as much as I can reconstruct of earlier periods. I have done so not in order to compare two 'ethnographic presents', but rather to increase my understanding of the basic principles of social structure as they operate over an extended period of time and in a changing cultural, political and economic environment. XXII In a similar manner I have attempted to avoid arbitrary space limitations. In chapter two I have defined the limits of same language and ®.me culture and indicated some of the more pronounced similarities and differences with other like units in the northern New Hebrides. I have done so not simply to define the boundaries of Nduindui society but to provide the comparative material that is essential in any enquiry concerned with establishing the extent to a which/specific structural attribute is characteristic of a given social system. In theory, it would be possible to gain a reasonably accurate assessment of the degree of structural rigidity of Nduindui society either by using abstract models or by selecting representative examples from other ethnographic areas, such as Africa or New Guinea. In practice, the greatest insight is likely to be gained when cultural, historical, ecological and other variables are reduced to a minimum. It is for this reason that I am particularly fortunate in having worked in an area which, despite having much that is common in both culture and social structure, nevertheless provides examples of a wide range of variables in kinship, local organization, the relationship between the sexes etc. A prior understanding of the major variables found in the northern New Hebrides must greatly enhance a detailed analysis of the social structure of any one community. This is particularly relevant in the case of Nduindui as it occupies an intermediary position not only between the eastern matrilineal and the western XX111 patrilineal extremes, but also between east Aoba, where the emphasis is placed on loose structure and individual autonomy, and Malekula, north Raga, and to a lesser extent the Small Islands, where the emphasis is placed on rigidity and group solidarity. In other words, though the occupants of the polar positions vary according to the continuum chosen, in each case Nduindui remains in the intermediary position. This greatly facilitates the task of isolating those factors most likely to lead to variations in the degree of structural rigidity. In a number of chapters, especially those dealing with sex separation, land tenure and leadership, I indicate significant variables not found in the northern New Hebrides but characteristic of other Melanesian societies in New Guinea and in the Solomon islands. In each case I make the comparisons in order to gain greater insight into the form and functioning of Nduindui society. Many anthropologists object to this procedure in the same way that earlier objections were made to historically oriented interpretations. I am, however, convinced that so long as our analyses are confined to individual societies the most that can be established is the consistency with v/hich one set of social relationships inter-relates with all or most other sets. In the present thesis I have, wherever possible, used the comparative method in an attempt to take the argument a stage further by demonstrating necessary connections between social phenomena. In the final chapter I briefly consider the logic underlying the inter-relationship between social structure, culture and natural environment. XXIV CHAPTER I ECOLOGY AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The Aobans, especially those who live in the north-west comer, are renowned throughout the northern New Hebrides for the success with which they have absorbed the upheavals and changes of the past century of contact with Europeans. Nduindui district is well populat­ ed; the coconut pains are planted with the precision of a European plantation; an extensive network of roads has been built, and many of the houses are fine looking concrete and wooden structures. Stores, restaurants, jeeps, launches, concrete wells and radios are all commonplace possessions. The whole population is nominally Christian, and the most influential men are church leaders. The community is peaceful, and almost all disputes and quarrels are effectively dealt with by either parish or district councils consisting of all senior adult males. The following brief comments made by Harrison in 1934 demonstrate that even at this early date the Nduindui had achieved an exceptionally high level of successful adaptation. I found the Ctabans to be superior in look, intelligence and energy to the western islanders. The population, particularly around Nduindui, is strong, comparatively 2. healthy arri apparently increasing despite constant stealing of women by French planters. Their pride in themselves, coupled with a desire to evolve along white lines, even surpass the whites, transcends as nowhere else in the group, sectarian barriers. I was told by the natives to let everybody in England know that Omba was civilized, not peopled by ugly black savages like the rest of the New Hebrides. These are the only people who have proved themselves capable of running a church of their own, the Church of Christ at Nduindui. They study market values and experiment with cocoa and coffee. (1/ The capacity of a society to adapt its existing institutions to radical changes in the external environment must be interpreted as strong prima facie evidence for the existence of at least some degree of structural flexibility. In the present chapter I therefore give a historical reconstruction of the way in which Nduindui society has evolved under uncontrolled pressures from missions, traders, war and ineffective administration from the Government. In the first section I examine the further possibility that topographical, climatic and demographic factors have facilitated the many changes that have taken place. Natural Environment Aoba island is 25 miles in length from east to west and at its broadest point in the centre is about eight miles north to south. From all sides the land rises first at a moderate gradient and then * more steeply until it levels off to a gently rounded summit at an altitude of 4,500 feet. The central plateau (Lolo Manaro) has been formed from a series of volcanic eruptions and contains two large 1 * Harrison, T. 1Living in Espiritu Santo*, Scientific Results of the Oxford University Expedition to the New Hebrides. 1933-4> London, 1951, P. 14tu 3* lakes and surrounding swamps and sulphur springs* inhabited; This part i s un­ indeed no dwellings come within two thousand feet of the top* The place is said to be the home of the dead, and throughout the northern New Hebrides the great mythological hero Takaro i s thought to be closely associated with i t . Physical evidence establishes beyond doubt th at major eruptions have taken place, not only at the summit but also at innumerable lesser craters extending from Lolowai in the east to Devil1s Rock in the west. One particular eruption is enshrined in a long myth as having destroyed most of the north-west corner of the island. The most recent was a minor a ffa ir th at took place in Lombaha d is tr ic t in the early part of th is century. The Aobans, especially the westerners, liv e in a rich natural environment v e il suited to the cultivation of root crops (both yams and ta ro ), green vegetables, f r u it and nut trees* Wild birds, pigs, c a ttle and fowl are in p le n tifu l supply in uninhabited inland areas* The greater part of the coastline is rocky and rugged, and fishing is consequently d iffic u lt and seldom practised. The only good harbour is in Lolowai bay at the easternmost tip , though two passable anchorages are to be found at Redcliff on the south coast and at None bay in the west. All the remaining ports are open roadsteads. The climate is divided into two seasons, the wet-and-hot period of variable northerly and westerly winds (from November to March) and the dryer-and-cooler period of steady trade winds (from April to October), The midday temperature is usually between 80°F* and 90°F., with a humidity of between 80 and 90 per cent. Rain f a lls throughout 4 the year, though it is normal for higher figures to be recorded in the wet season. January to March is frequently marked by torrential downpours, gales sind at times hurricanes. Annual rainfall can vary from as low as 50 inches to as high as 200 inches. The central plateau acts as a watershed, with part of the water flowing inwards to the lakes and part outwards down a great number of ravines. In heavy rains these become cascading torrents emptying into the sea, though a few hours later most of them are dry again. There are no permanent rivers in west Aoba, and in the east there are only three minor streams in Longana, Lorabaha and Lolokaro districts. This topographical feature is especially relevant in considering the adaptation to European contact. In most of the neighbouring islands in the northern New Hebrides the pre-contact population lived in inland hilly areas away from the malarial coast. When missionaries arrived those converted were persuaded to come down and establish new settle­ ments. An additional motive was to find reasonably flat land suitable for planting coconut trees. In such areas the immediate consequences of European contact were extreme. The traditional pattern of settle­ ment was disrupted; the separation of the pagan and Christian sections of the community was physical as well as ideological; and the coastal dwellers were the first to suffer the effects of blackbirding, traders, introduced European diseases, and perhaps most importantly of all, the consequences of increased malaria. In west Aoba the absence of rivers is correlated with a low incidence of malaria. The pre-contact population consequently lived on or near the coast and up to about three miles inland. Beyond this 5 point excessive dampness, steep gradients, deep ravines and dense vegetation prevented settlement. The introduction of Christianity and cash-cropping did not therefore result in any significant change in the traditional pattern of local organization. Though the populat­ ion has certainly declined over the past century, the mortality rate has been considerably less than that reported in islands where contact was followed by a move from the hills. Yet a further consequence of the absence of rivers was the necess­ ity to grow exceptionally large quantities of coconut trees. It was only by this means that the Nduindui could survive the occasional long droughts which occur in the April to October period. The people were thus in an advantageous position when copra became a source of wealth. The subsequent development of large plantations was further assisted by the level terrain and rich soil. The Aobans are divided into two major communities differentiated by a wide range of linguistic, cultural and social criteria. In this thesis I am primarily concerned with the inhabitants of the north­ west corner, an area cut off from the rest of the island by the two main shoulders of the central mountain, one falling abruptly to the north coast just east of Lolotinge parish, and the other extending eastwards as far as Devil*s Rock. Mwerambeo (man below). The people are known as the They speak the same language and have the same culture and same type of social organization. The inhabitants of the rest of the island are known as the Mweraulu (man above). In future I shall refer to these two peoples as the west Aobans and the east Aobans 6. Hb accurate census has ever been made* Ranni© ^ estimated the figure in 1i88$ at 10,000, but a rough census (2) taken in 1919 showed only 4,000. Possibly these figures are to be trusted, for between these two dates the population fell throughout the New Hsbrides as a whole. The most reliable contemporary figure, 4,476, is given by a British District Agent in 1954* I» the following table the figures for west Aoba are taken from my own census data and those of east Aoba from the 1954 report. If there is any error it is under estimation for east Aoba, possibly by as much as two or three hundred. Map t gives the population for each district. TABLE I POPULATION BX MISSIONS ; . West Aoba: Mission: East Aoba: Toted: 373 1,415 1,788 Church of Christ 1,094 497 1,591 Apostolic Church 643 Melanesian Mission — 643 Seventh Day Adventist to 324 334 Roman Catholic 15 200 215 2,135 2,436 4,571 The Melanesian Mission has approximately 80 per cent of its members in east Aoba. 1 # Rannie, D. Lolowai, the headquarters for the northern part My Adventures Among South Sea CannibalstLondQntI9I2,p#IOO. 2. Webb, A.S. •The People of Aoba1, Mankind. Vol. 2, No. 4, 1937, P. 73. 7 of the archipelago, includes schools, hospital and leprosarium. The Cburch-of-Ghrist adherents are more evenly scattered, though the greatest concentration (6£ per cent) is located in the western district of Nduindui. This also is the headquarters for the northern New Hebrides and contains a junior and a senior school and a small hospital. The Roman -Catholic Mission (French Marist Brothers) has two small congregations in the eastern p a r i s h e s o f Lolopoepoe and Nangiri, and only fifteen adherents in the western parish of Lone, The missionary is resident at Lolopoepoe, where he maintains a small school and clinic. The Apostolic Church is confined to the west Aoban district of Walaha where there is a resident missionary. Finally, the Seventh-Day-Adventists are scattered in small communities around the island, though the majority live in Lolokaro district on the south coast, A missionary maintains a small school and clinic at Redcliff, M y permanent residence was at Navuti in the centre of Nduindui district. During the course of two years(2) j visited every parish in west Aoba and lived for three months in Lombanga in the interior. On my second field trip I spent six weeks touring the whole of the island, staying for short periods in the principal parishes in each district, I also made periodic visits to east Aoban districts to 1, Hogbin, H.I. and Wedgwood, C.H. “Local Grouping in Melanesia“, Oceania. Vol. XXIII, No, 4, p.253, define a parish as *the largest local group which can be regarded as having any permanent political unity* • The authors prefer this term to *village*, an expression that suggests a degree of centralization unusual in Melanesia, In Aoba the word is particularly apt in that each parish possesses its own church, 2. Nov. 1958 - Dec. 1959; Jan. 1962. Sept. 1960 - Dec, 1960; June 1961 - 8. to attend sacrificial rites, no longer practised in Nduindui* investigations were made in the neighbouring Brief islands of Raga, Vanua Lava, Malo and Wala (in the Small Islands)« First contacts The first European to land on Aoba was the French navigator Bougainville« In 1768 he went ashore somewhere on the north-east coast to get water« He was fired on by the Aobans to which he replied with a round of gunfire« His only observation was that the people are Mshort, ugly, ill-proportioned and most of them infected by leprosy”* ^ ) No one has since agreed, but unfortunately Aoba is still marked on some maps as Leper's Island* As Bishop Patteson of the Melanesian Mission wrote in 1868, ”.*. this magnificent island is inhabited by a singular­ ly fine race of people, never was a place more completely misnamed«” ^ The expansion of European interests in the Pacific did not begin to affect the New Hebrides seriously until whalers and sandalwooders appeared from about 1820 onwards« I could find no documentary evidence of direct contact with Aoba, but as the whalers operated throughout the group, and the sandalwooders regularly visited Santo from about 1855 to 1870, it must be assumed that the islanders at least knew of their existence* Missionaries first came on the scene in 1839, when John Williams of the London Missionary Society landed in Erromanga. by Presbyterians beginning work on Tanna in 1848 He was followed and Anglicans (the Melanesian Mission) recruiting young men from the southern islands to 1« de Bougainville, A voyage round the world* (tr« Forster, J«S«), London, 1936, p* 29* 2« Armstrong, E«S« The Melanesian Mission* London, 1900, p. 167. 9 to attend school in Auckland* Bishop Selwyn of New Zealand, accompanied by Patteson, the future Bishop of Melanesia, visited the northern islands in 1857* Patteson went ashore at three places on the north­ east coast of Aoba* ^ On a number of occasions during the subsequent fourteen years Patteson called in at Aoba, and after 1868 he took away some of the boys for brief courses at the Auckland school* In 1871 he also sent the island its first resident missionary, Bice, who spent most of the next seventeen years living first at tfaluriki and later at Tavolavola* ^ He established a small station with church, clinic and school and, together with the help of a couple of Aobans who had returned from Auckland, succeeded in attracting pupils from parishes in the immediate neighbourhood. them to As more boys came back he encouraged set up their own schools* He made a couple of brief visits to west Aoba, but, a 3 far as I can establish, no one from that side of the island went to Auckland* Not until 1898 were schools establish­ ed by labourers returned from Queensland in Amata, Saragaraoha and Londua. The following comments made by Milne, a Presbyterian missionary who visited Nduindui in 1901, indicate that even at that late date the work of the Melanesian Mission had not advanced far, particularly in west Aoba* In reading the passage it is necessary to bear in mind that he was addressing Synod and that his primary objective was to persuade this body that there had been ample justification for his own attempt 1* Ibid, p. 36 2* Ibid, p. 98 3. Ibid, p. 117 to. to extend work in to what was form ally reeognisedvfhe Melanesian Mission sphere of in flu en ce. Oba i s s t i l l a heathen isla n d , and a t th is side (west Aoba) a t l e a s t, wholly unoccupied and th e people wholly given to id o la tr y and dem onolatry. We hear th e ir drums every day. There i s a Mr. E dgehill (the successor o f Bice) who has charge of P entecost, Mwaevo and Oba fo r about fiv e y ea rs. He has h is head­ q u arte rs a t the n orth end o f P e n te c o s t... He has been in the way o f making a sh o rt y ea rly v i s i t to Mwaevo and Oba • . . now a Mr. Godden has arriv ed on the Southern Cross to re lie v e him o f O ba... Mr. E dgehill to ld me th a t he has eighteen schools on Oba, I fin d however, on in v e s tig a tio n th a t some of them have no e x is te n c e ... so f a r as I have been able to le a rn th e re i s only one te a c h e r on Oba who has been to Norfolk islan d and th a t he drinks kava «nd takes p a rt in th e i r naleoanas (^ ) and singings, the r e s t being only Queensland retu rn ed lab o u rers, some of them not y e t bap tised and unable to read . Wherever Mr. E dgehill fin d s a n a tiv e re c e n t­ ly retu rn ed from Queensland and who had gone to school a l i t t l e b i t th e re he asks him to s t a r t a school whether he has been b aptised or not, and w rite s him down as one of h is te a c h e rs . The Queensland Labour Trade In 184 B a New South Wales g ra z ie r imported th e f i r s t so u th -seaislan d labour in to A u s tra lia . This tra d e was a t f i r s t confined to th e southern p a rt of the New Hebrides. Not u n t i l ti863, when th e co tto n and sugar p la n ta tio n s o f Queensland demanded labour on an ever in c re as­ ing s c a le , was a move made in to the northern is la n d s . Montgomery a 1 . Naledna i s a word from th e language o f Nguna islan d where Milne liv e d fo r many y ea rs. He c le a rly used i t in t h is context to r e f e r to the s a c r i f i c i a l r i t e s asso ciated with the public graded s o c ie ty (see Chapter V III). Kava d rin k in g , dancing and public graded so c ie ty r i t u a l were a l l perm itted by the Melanesian Mission but not by th e P re sb y teria n s. 2* E x tract from P. Milne fs *lReport of S ta tio n fo r Year 1900-11. The re p o rt i s addressed to th e New Hebrides M ission Synod and i s dated 30 May, 1901. I t i s in th e archives of th e Overseas M issions Committee of the P resb y terian Church o f New Zealand, Auckland. I am indebted to Mr. G.S. Parsonson, Department of H istory, U niversity o f Otago, New Zealand, fo r sending me a copy and also e x tra c ts from M ilne1e d ia ry . 11 reports that at least one labour trader had reached Aoba by I865 and thirty years later the exodus had reached such proportions that whole communities had d i s a p p e a r e d . ^ Keen competition, combined with a minimum of official interference, resulted in ruthless methods of recruitment* Resident missionaries regularly protested to the British, French and Australian Governments, and as a result of increased publicity the British despatched a number of patrolling expeditions and missions of enquiry# Without making ajqy exhaustive investigation I discovered documentary evidence in press reports of eleven violent clashes between (2) Aobans and recruiters between the years I87O and 1890#' 1 A Royal Commission sat in I885, and though the suppression of the trade was recommended, another eighteen years were to pass before all the labourers who v/ished to leave Queensland were finally returned* The Nduindui state that four vessels visited their district** The first is said to have captured three men who were out fishing in a canoe* Their relatives, assuming that they must have drowned, performed funeral rites* Then some years later the men returned with trunks full of steel axes, pipes, tobacco and clothes* Apparently they had been well treated on the plantations, and the following morning the same ship set sail with a full complement of eager recruits. Today eveiy parish (average population 65 persons) in the district can name from four to six men who went to Q^ensland, and I therefore assume that between a quarter and a third of all adult males made at least one trip* The great majority met missionaries and a few even attended theological colleges in Brisbane and Sydney. How mahy were baptised 1* Montgomery, H.H. Light of Melanesia* London, 1896, p.239* 2. Harrison, T. Savage Civilization, London, 1937> pp.210-219* in Brisbane Courier from 1875 to 1900* Also reports 12 I could not determine, but undoubtedly there were maty. I could find no evidence of murder or aty other form of violence associated with recruitment at Nduindui anchorage (excluding the first incident). The songs and tales of the Queensland era tell of maty hardships and cruelties, but they also convey a sense of excitement, curiosity and an eagerness to acquire both the knowledge and the material possessions of Europeans. At this point I must give a brief indication of the traditional system of leadership (for a fuller account see chapter VIII). Muindui, in common with the rest of the northern New Hebrides, is a rank­ conscious society. Prior to the conversion to Christianity the graded association (Na Hungwe) provided a series of ranked positions for which men with ambition and ability could compete, and through the occupation of which they were publicly recognised and acknowledged as leaders. The titles associated with each rank were acquired by successfully manipulating a complex debt system, by making payments for insignia and services, and by performing ritual based on the sacrifice of pigs. They were hereditary only to the extent that a man of high rank could push his favoured son through the lower stages more rapidly and easily than could a low ranking man. Nobody, however, could go to the top without first demonstrating that he had the necessary ability, knowledge and supernatural powers. All informants insist that most of the Queensland labourers were young and of low rank. Not many sons of leaders went away, and the few who did set off secretly at night against their fathers' wishes. 13 . They were confronted on th e ir return by a society controlled by older men whose authority was based on success w ithin the tra d itio n a l frame­ work of values and a c tiv itie s . Those who became convinced Christians disapproved of the old means of acquiring high sta tu s, while those who were prepared to revert to paganism had small chance of success. The pagan leaders likewise lacked the necessary knowledge and experience of the new way of lif e to exert much authority and influence over the returned Queenslanders. The resu lt was an outright struggle for power between Christians and pagans. The Christians can be considered revolutionaries in th at they opposed the established leaders, gradually undermined th e ir authority, and eventually replaced them as the new leaders of a Christian society# In the economic sphere an equally important revolution was effected in the change from subsistence agriculture to cash cropping and associated importing and re ta ilin g of European manufactured goods. In the following section I make some suggestions as to how these radical changes came about. Christians versus pagans ^ ^ The f i r s t white man to liv e in Nduindui d is tr ic t was a Canadian called Wilbur who arrived soon a fte r 1870# He wan adopted by a high ranking man, married a g ir l of Nanako parish, and remained there u n til his death in 1906. His principal trade, the exchange of hermaphrodite pigs of Aoba for tusked boars from Santo and Malo, was tra d itio n a l and 1. This account is largely based on the o ral trad itio n s of the people themselves. I was fortunate to meet Purdy, who lived as missionarycum-trader in Nduindui from 1907 to 1956. He originally came in contact with the Aobans on the Queensland canefields. (cont'd. next page) geared to the sacrifice of pigs and the assumption of titles* H b also ran a small retail trade store, but the amount of goods on sale did not provide a stimulus for increased coconut planting* It was not until the first batch of labourers returned, probably about 1880, that important changes began* A number of them built small churches and for a short time attracted fair sized congregations, though few converts. They demanded that the pagans should abandon pig killing, dancing and kava drinking, and as all three activities formed an essential part of the rank-taking ritual, it was inevitable that the Christians should at first be treated with considerable reserve, if not suspicion. The first missionary to live in Nduindui was Milne* He arrived in 1901 and established a small station at Nsanako with the help of an east Aoban from Waluriki called Toa Nakwaga (who attended his school on Nguna for a number of years) and two Nguna teachers* He mentions in his diary that seven returned labourers had built churches in Amata, Saragamoha, Saranamwai and Lombanga* The Christians in the first three parishes had been converted on the canefields by Church-of-England missionaries and had already been in contact with Bice and his successor Bdgehill. Milne won Amata but the other two settlements kept faith and today still belong to the Melanesian Mission* The Lombanga men had been converted by the Queensland Kanaka Mission and readily agreed to become Presbyterians* Milne regularly visited all parishes throughout west Aoba and (cont*d from footnote 1 on previous page) Though very old when I met him, his memory was good. My main documentary sources are the diary and reports of Milne, Government correspondence (see p.20) and land claims lodged in the Joint Court, Vila. 15 . during his f i r s t v is it of five months baptised ten labourers who had reverted to paganism* He also opened a small school in Lolobinanungwa• I t is worth noting th at of the six centres of C hristianity established a t th is time four were in inland parishes and only two on the coast* Meanwhile trouble was brewing* In 188*1 the Presbyterian Mission and the Melanesian Mission agreed to divide the New Hebrides into separate spheres of influence* ^ ^ Unfortunately for Milne, Aoba was in the Melanesian Mission area* Although warned by his Synod, not to do so, he returned for short v is its in 1903 and 1904* Another important event occurred in September 1903. At th is time a west Aoban of Lovutiloso (a now abandoned settlement close to Vilakalaka) called Peter Pentecost came back a fte r eight years* residence in Australia* A Wesleyan missionary had taken him from the canefields and sent him to school in Brisbane for four years* Immediately on his return he established a school at Lovutiloso which continued to funct­ ion under his direction u n til he died in 1923. from a l l over west Aoba and a few from the east* He attracted pupils After they had learn­ ed the rudiments of reading, writing, hymn singing and scripture, he sent them back to th e ir own parishes to hold services and to teach* When Milne arrived in 1903 and again in 1904 he was impressed with Peter Pentecost*s work ani baptised many of his pupils* He also v isited the six Christian centres in Nduindui, and though his teachers had attracted a few new pupils, the gains were counterbalanced by at le a st as many cases of reversion to paganism* The most notable advance 1* Parsonson, G.S* "La Mission Presbyterienne des NouvellesHebrides". Journal de la Societe des Oceanistes, Vol* XII, 1956, p. 12$. 16 . was the conversion of three young men (Willie Vuti, Andrew Tari and Sale Ban!) who had not been to Queensland and whose fathers were a l l prominent pagans. In subsequent years these three established them­ selves as the leaders of the Nduiniui Christian community, and by the 1930*3 they were the most powerful men in the d is tr ic t. For another four years west Aoba remained without a resident missionary, and a considerable number of people reverted to pig k illin g and secret-society r itu a l. C hristianity was as yet without any firm economic foundation, and such men as Peter Pentecost and Sale Bani could offer th e ir followers few tangible rewards. Success in the graded hierarchy, on the other hand, meant not only recognition as an established or potential leader, but also the right to such privileges as extra wives, insignia, kava, and a large decorated club-house. It is also to be noted th a t, for marriage, pigs and mats were necessary. The principal method whereby youths could acquire such wealth was to win favour with a high ranking man; by remaining Christians they seriously reduced th e ir chances of securing a bride. In 1907 the small band of Christians at Nduindui and Lovutiloso received much needed support and encouragement when an Australian called Purdy arrived as a missionary-cum-trader. He had previously been a lay worker in Queensland under the guidance of Miss loung, formerly of the China Mission, who had organised a small in te r­ denominational team on the cane fie ld s. Purdy met many Aobans, and some of the Nduindui men asked him to s e ttle in th e ir d is t r ic t. He acquired a small block of land in Nanako close to the sta tio n managed by Toa Nakwaga and Sale Bani. Soon he established a store where 17. tobacco, knives, axes, calico, etc. were exchanged for coconuts. Business expanded so rapidly that in 1910 he arranged with the Churchof-Christ in Australia to take over the mission work while he himself concentrated on the trading. In 1911 Waters arrived and settled beside Purdy. In earlier years W i l b u r ^ store had been so small that there was little or no incentive for the Nduindui to increase their already plentiful supply of coconut trees. was Now, however, a wide rai^e of goods available, and Purdy missed no opportunity to encourage increased planting. Pis worked in close co-operation with Waters, and together they provided the necessary stimulation that ultimately led to the firm establishment of Christianity and a cash economy* The slogan of this period could well have been "Christ and Coconuts"• Host of the early planting was confined to the coast where it was led by such Christians as Sale Bani, Willie Vuti and Andrew Tari. In 1912 eight members of inland parishes purchased a strip of coastal land between Amata and Lovaturusa. They founded a new and wholly Christian settlement (Mataindanu), built a stone wall around it to keep out pigs, and planted many coconuts. The parishes in which they had previously lived were still under the influence of high ranking pagans, and these men were unwilling to permit intensive coconut plant­ ing on land that they and their followers needed for gardens and pig grazing paddocks. This leads to an important point. Informants were unanimous that in the last decades of the graded hierarchy (between 1880 and 1930), pig sacrifices were being performed on a scale never before achieved. In earlier generations the top titles were acquired by the sacrifice 1S of ton circle-tuskers ^ ^ either boars or hermaphrodites* For some reason or reasons which I could not determine, but possibly connected with the introduction of European pigs, the breeding of good tuskers, especially hermaphrodites, became increasingly difficult* ly the number of sows and minor tuskers rose rapidly. Simultaneous­ This could again be the result of introduced strains, but other relevant factors were the weakening of the traditional system of checking inflation by the periodic destruction of sow3, and the intervention of Europeans in the pig trade with other islands. The shortage of high grade tuskers combined with the abundance of lesser pigs resulted in the massive sacrificial rites performed in the early decades of this century* Even as late as 1932 a mam of Nataluhangele killed one thousand pigs in a single ceremony. large areas of land were required to maintain such quantities* Clearly Older informants state that thirty to forty years ago the settled part of the district was divided into small plots, from a quarter to a half acre, separated from one another by low walls* Over about a ten year period each plot was used as either a garden or a pig grazing paddock for two or three seasons, and then left fallow. But despite the walls, pigs became so numerous that gardens were constantly damaged* At about the turn of the century the threat became so acute that the interior parishes combined to build a stone wall three to four feet high over t* I use the same terms as those first introduced by Layard to refer to different grades of tusked pigs. Hs describes the circletusker as follows. ”The tusk has now passed through the jaw, curved up forwards inside the spot where it first appeared, and the tip is again visible outside the animal*s lip.” See Layard, J. Stone J^en of Malekula, London, 1942, P* 243« 19* the three miles separating the settled part of the d is tr ic t from the principal gardening area. The above evidence shows th at the people were conscious of the d iffic u ltie s of combining cultivation and intensive pig raisin g . They considered i t legitim ate to shoot any pig, even a good tusker with a high s a c rific ia l value, found eith er in a garden or damaging valuable tre e s. The owner was not en titled to compensation. When Christians began to plant coconuts they were consequently faced with the d iffic u lty of protecting them. The men who founded Mataindanu solved the problem by moving into an area of poor and h ith er­ to unused land. Nduindui d is tr ic t is , however, the most densely populated part of the New Hebrides (today about 200 persons per square mile), and therefore most Christians had to plant th e ir coconuts in areas f u ll of scavenging pigs. They shot as many as they could, and as muskets had replaced bows and arrows, the slaughter was so great that the pagans found i t d iffic u lt to raise the numbers necessary to take the highest t i t l e s . There was therefore a d irect correlation be­ tween the increasing wealth and influence of the leading planters and the decreasing prestige of the pig-impoverished pagans. The power struggle th at took place between pagans and Christians is well illu stra te d by a series of events th at took place between T911 and 1916. In 1911 the B ritish Resident Commissioner, King, made a tour of the northern islands. When he v isited Nduindui Purdy and Waters suggested th at i t would be a good idea for him to set up a Government system of Christian chiefs. He approved, and within six months Purdy had publicly in stalled three d is tr ic t chiefs, two in west Aoba (Ngwero a t Lovutiloso . 20 and Sale Bani at Nduindui) and one in the east Aoban district of Waluriki. A number of lesser chiefs and about 25 ’'policemen” were appointed under each. The latter were in effect the parish represent­ atives of the chiefs. Gash fines or road making were the punishments. The money was kept by the district chiefs, and when the system collapsed they sent it to the British Administration. In 1912 Sale Bani and Peter Pentecost both wrote letters to King complaining that they were experiencing great difficulties through the pagan leaders refusing to recognise their authority and ignoring both their rules and their courts. They asked him to come to Nduindui to make quite clear that the pagans lacked Government support. But the French Resident Commissioner had simultaneously received complaints from a number of French traders on Aoba, including one operating in Nduindui in competition with Purdy, that the latter had ordered the Christian chiefs and policemen French stores. to prevent any natives going to the They also objected to the way in which these chiefs were attempting to force the pagans to observe a Christian code of behaviour. The French Resident Commissioner protested that as he had never given his consent the arrangement was illegal. After a long correspondence it was eventually decided that the system must be brought to an end. In June 1914 a French warship was despatched to Nduindui to arrest Sale Bani and bring him to Port /ila. Hs was held in jaix for two years without being charged, and was only released after protests were made by Church-of-Ghrist and Church—of -England mission— aries.^ ^ 1• Personal communication Purdy, and British Administration File No. IO4 / 1 9 H entitled "Nomination of Chiefs on AobaM . Central Archives of Fiji and Western Pacific, Suva,Fiji • 21 West Aobans are bitter about this affair and always refer to it if accused of unwillingness to co-operate with the Government. "The Government", they say, "gave us chiefs and then put them in jail and told us that chiefs are no good. says". It is good that we do not listen to what the Government Sale Bani died in 1933, and during ny stay in i 960 the Church-of- Christ district council (a wholly native body) decided that he had not been buried in a sufficiently imposing grave. A ceremony was held, and he was reburied beneath an enormous concrete monument in front of his son*s new restaurant, which was officially opened at the same time. Church leaders made speeches in which they emphasized what a great man Sale had been - he was the person primarily responsible for the end of fighting, for the breakdown of barriers between parishes, for the system of roads, and for the formulation of all the laws and regulations that the council todgy attempts to uphold. Despite the setback suffered by the Christians in 1914 they con­ tinued to gain ground. Year by year thqy planted more coconuts and acquired a wide range of European manufactured goods. It is significant that whereas the price of copra in 1904 was £12 per ton, by 1920 it had reached the boom level of £35* By the depression, when it dropped as low as £10, at least three-quarters of the population were converted and most of the land planted. Up to about 1920 the spread of the new religion had been effected by the conversion of individuals. Each parish in the district had its small nucleous of converts who were mostly young men and women of small consequence in community affairs. During the late 1920*8 and early . 22 Ti930ls the pattern changed to group conversion. The remaining top rank­ ing pagans, undermined by the depletion of their pig herds, and envious of the increasing wealth and power of the Christian planters, decided to hold a final sacrificial ceremony. They announced that they would accept baptism, build churches, and plant their land with coconuts. The great majority of the remaining pagans within their area of influence followed suit. By 1940 only two pagan parishes were left, (one of them became a Christian community in 1950 and the other in T961). In east Aoba, despite the earlier arrival of missionaries and an exodus to Queensland at least as great as that which took place in western districts, the change to Christianity and cash cropping has been neither so radical nor extensive. Here pig-killing, dancing and kava drinking continue to take place side by side with church attendance and the various activities associated with the new economy. Most of the important men hold high rank both in the graded association and in the church hierarchy, and simultaneously maintain large pig herds and copra plantations. This is contrary to Hduindui experience and requires some explanation. The first point to consider is the possible effect of differing mission attitudes to the graded society ritual. The majority of east Aobans (66 per cent) belong either to the Melanesian Mission or the Roman Catholic Mission. These bodies, while not approving of ritual pig-killing, have never explicitly opposed the practice. Aobans (82 per cent) are members of the Church Most west -of-Christ, Apostolic and Seventh-Oay-Adventist missions, all three of which have consistent­ ly attacked pig-killing, dancing and kava. drinking as the very essence of paganism. \ 23. The following observations indicate, however, that mission doctrine is not as important as it might at first glance seem to be. In east Aoba the majority of the Church-of-Christ adherents, though no longer competing for the traditional titles, continue to raise tusked boars and to participate indirectly in the ceremonies as donors, spectators and dancers. During my second field trip a Church-of-Christ elder in Abanga district assumed the highest of the traditional titles by sacrificing one hundred pigs. Another difficulty in accepting an explanation expressed solely in terms of mission doctrine is that west Aoba has a substantial Melanesian Mission minority (ti7 per cent) who have experienced exactly the same conflict between pagans and Christians as have their Churchof-Christ and Apostolic-Church neighbours. The answer to the problem is to be found in differences in population distribution and amount of available land. I have already said that the high population density in Nduindui made it virtually impossible for a man to maintain large pig herds and simultaneously plant sufficient coconut trees to make trade worth while. Each individual or community had to decide in favour of one of the two alternative sources of wealth. As pig-keeping was the foundation of the traditional way of life, the new economy inevitably became closely associated with Christianity. The close co-operation of the trader Purdy and the missionary Waters provided a constant example of the inter-relationship of the economic and religious dimens­ ions of the new pattern of living* In east Aoba population density both was and is much lower. I 24 cannot give an accurate figure as so much land is useless and conditions vary widely from district to district, but I doubt if even in the largest settlements it is as much as half the Nduindui figure. Prior to the introduction of Christianity most of the people lived some distance inland, probably as a protection against malaria. When the early converts moved down they suffered from the effects of depopulation to a greater extent than that which occurred in Nduindui. This increased the amount of surplus land available for planting. Today it is possible for a man to maintain pig herds in the hills and to plant large quantities of coconuts on the thinly populated coast. The main centre of pig-killing is Loloivenue, a parish high up in the hills. The land in the immediate vicinity of the settlement is used for gardens and for pig-grazing. The men of this parish own large quantities of flat coastal land and over the past twenty or thirty years they have planted extensive coconut groves. Some of them have built a second residence which they use for short periods when working their copra. The headman is a big plantation owner, the highest ranking man in the graded society, and one of the most influential men in the affairs of the Melanesian Mission. The separation of pigs and coconuts made it possible to manipulate both economies. Unlike Nduindui, there was no need for Christian planters to abandon pigs and the assumption of traditional titles. As two thirds of the east Aobans belong to missions that do not explicitly oppose graded society ritual, it is no wonder that leaders have chosen to combine Christianity, wealth from coconuts and traditional titles to uphold and reinforce their authority. Even the most ardent 25 Christians are tempted to breed tuskers to sell to title takers. The latter in turn have plenty of money from their plantations enabling them to buy the pigs. Influence of New Hebrides Government From about 1830 to 1887 European interest in the New Hebrides was confined to commerce and evangelization. No power formally annexed the group and the maintenance of law and order was limited to an occasional patrolling or punitive expedition despatched by the French from New Caledonia or the British from Fiji. The group became so notorious, primarily as a result of the unscrupulous methods employed by labour recruiters, that in 1885 the British appointed a Royal Commission and the French sent troops. In I887 a Joint Naval Commission, consisting of a President and two British and two French Naval Officers, was form­ ed. This arrangement meant little more than the official recognition of the right of each power to continue as in the past to protect the interests of its own nationals. The Commission made no pretence of s e t t i n g up an Administration or of proclaiming a Protectorate. In 1902 two Resident Commissioners were appointed and on 20th October, 1906 the two powers signed a convention W declaring that the New Hebrides islands were to be a region of joint influence and admin­ istration. This was superseded by the Anglo-French Protocol of 1i914, ratified in 1922, (2 ) and has, with some modifications, regulated the t. Convention between the United Kingdom and France concerning the New Hebrides, signed October, 1906M. T.S. No. 3 of 1907* H.M. Stationery Office. 26 . government of the group ever since* In 1915 a system of four d is tr ic t agencies was introduced* Each power appointed i t s own d is tr ic t agent, with separate ju risd ic tio n over his own nationals* They were also supposed to make jo in t periodic tours of the native areas. men have seldom gone out together. In west Aoba, however, the two Further,each has confined his attentions to the missionaries and traders of his own n atio n ality . During my two years* fieldwork the French agent v isited Nduindui on three occasions for less than a day and the B ritish twice* Other than these routine ca lls, the agents appear only when asked to do so by the missionaries, traders or native church leaders. The most usual causes of such requests are mission complaints th at the traders are selling alcohol and land disputes between traders and natives. - The Nduindui mostly prefer to manage th e ir own a ffa irs, though occasionally they w ill c a ll in a d is tr ic t agent to help sort out some particu larly d iffic u lt in tern al problem. The D istric t Agents appoint local representatives, known as Native Assessors, who are supposed to act as a liaiso n between the Administration and the people and a ssist as tran slato rs and advisors in court cases. In most d is tr ic ts , including Nduindui, they are men of minor influence. There are in effect three d ifferen t administrations, the B ritish National, the French National and the Joint Condominium. The Aobans are aware of the lack of unity and frequently state that i t is because 2 .(from previous page) l,Protocol respecting the New Hebrides signed at London on 6th August, 1914» by Representatives of the B ritish and French Grovernments", T.S. No.7 of 1912. H.M. Stationery Office. 27 . of th e well-known divergent ambitions and methods of the B r itis h and the French th a t they are so re lu c ta n t to have any dealings w ith e ith er* W ithin a few years of th e b ir th of the Condominium government th e Sale Bani a f f a i r provided th e people w ith a most unfortunate example of how d iffe re n c e s can r e s u lt in chaos and confusion. The Resident Commissioners seldom v i s i t Nduindui and when they do are in v a rib ly welcomed by no more than a handful of spectators* They d e liv e r a s e t speech promising the continuing in te r e s t and support of th e i r resp ec tiv e governments, a promise which th e audience rec e iv e s in cy n ical silence* The Condominium A dm inistration i s known only in th e person of th e c o lle c to r o f fees due fo r lic e n c e s to operate s to re s , launches, and taxis* The p rin c ip a l impact of government i s th a t l i t t l e or no fig h tin g has taken place during the past f i f t y y e a rs. Murder i s a lso known to incur th e wrath o f government, and a l l offenders are promptly handed over to th e D is tr ic t Agents. In I960 th e French A dm inistration e stab lish ed a small Government school in Nabout a r i k i , west Aoba, and in 1962 ( a f te r I had l e f t th e fie ld ) a Local Council was e sta b lish e d fo r th e whole is la n d . The Church-of-G hrist p arish es have, however, refused to co-operate, and as they are th e la r g e s t and w e a lth ie st group in Nduindui, I doubt i f t h is new development has as yet re s u lte d in any s ig n ific a n t change. The second world war During the 1939-45 world war, the New Hebrides became one of th e im portant a llie d bases in th e P a c ific , and E fate and Santo were occupied by larg e American g a rriso n s . Except fo r a few small bombs dropped a t 3 . Santo, the group was not subjected to enemy attack, For the Aobans the consequences of this period were almost as great as the earlier exodus to Queensland. The Americans needed labour and, though they agreed with the Administration to pay wages at the local rate, the islanders soon discovered their generosity in handing out cigarettes, food, clothing and minor household articles. The Nduindui, with their reputation for industry and intelligence, were in strong demand. At the beginning of the war they had already achieved a consider­ able level of prosperity and owned a number of small motor launches used in transporting copra to Santo and trade goods to Nduindui. When the war began copra production almost came to a standstill, and the launches were instead used in ferrying a constant stream of labourers between Santo and Nduindui. The Church-of-Christ missionary resident in Nduindui during this period informed me that at times half or more of the total population was absent in Santo. In addition to the labour­ ers, old men, women and children went over to see the amazing wealth of the Americans and to attend the many cinemas. Gardening was practic­ ally abandoned and those who remained at home were in part dependent on the food and clothes sent back by relatives in Santo. When the Americans withdrew from the New Hebrides they dumped massive quantities of equipment including jeeps, timber, corrugated iron, nisaen huts, refrigerators, household utensils, clothing and tools. As each company received orders to depart, word quickly spread as to where they would leave their possessions, and invariably a Nduindui launch was anchored nearby ready to load up. benefited from this windfall. Every parish in wsst Aoba Many modern style houses were erected, 29 dozens of jeeps were brought back, many of them still in action today, and there is scarcely a household that cannot boast of a fine collect­ ion of U.S. army cutlery and crockery. In the post-war years the copra industry soon recovered and the Nduindui continued to develop their district. New and bigger stores were built, companies were formed to buy large launches and to purchase copra for sale on the Santo market, roads were improved, and more American jeeps were purchased from traders and planters. The people still retain a vivid impression of the wealth and power of the Americans, and though no organized cargo cult has developed, minor prophets periodically attract a few followers. There is a wide­ spread belief that when the Americans withdrew an aeroplane was landed on Lolo Manaro, and Takaro the creator diety was taken to America where he still lives. A number of men expressed the tentative opinion that the Americans are teaching him all that they know, and that one day he may return and share his knowledge with the Aobans. CHAPTER II WEST AOBA AND NDUINDUI Throughout the northern New Hebrides the widest social unit possess­ ing a coherent system for the maintenance of internal law and order consists of the twenty to two hundred persons resident in a named local­ ity, which is seldom more than a few square miles in extent. These maximal political groups (parishes) are basic and enduring, and the greater part of this thesis will be concerned with an analysis of their internal structure and organization. In the present chapter I consider the more loosely structured territorial groupings over and above the level of the parish. I first describe some of the principal similarities and differences between east and west Aoba, in what sense each can be said to constitute a recognisable social unit, and the kind of inter­ action that takes place between the two communities. In the second part of the chapter I consider Nduindui in relationship to other west Aoban districts. I also describe the principal forms of multi-parish grouping within the district. Definitions Evans-Pritchard defines a npeoplew as Mall persons who speak the same language and have, in other respects, the same culture, and 31 consider themselves to be distinct from all like aggregates."' 7 In an area such as Melanesia it is difficult to define the limits of the three criteria with any degree of precision. the linguists Wurm and Laycock To take just one example, (2) 7 found that in classifying the various speech forms of the New Guinea Highlands, it was necessary to refer to such a wide range of segments as stocks, families, sub­ families, languages, sub-languages and dialects. They also found that many of the individual forms could be classed at different levels according to whether the sub-criterion used was the degree of mutual intelligibility, lexical, phonological or morphological similarity. Yet another and closely related difficulty is that even if the limits of the more significant segments of all three criteria could be satisfactorily determined, it may still be found that the maximal segments fail to coincide with one another, in particular similarity of language and similarity of culture vis-a-vis the peoples* aware­ ness of themselves as a discrete social unit. I therefore suggest that the following four categories of social grouping, all of which are without ary form of permanent political unity, can, and should be, differentiated from one another. All four are similar to Evans- Pritchard*s definition of a "people", in that all of his criteria are, though in vaaying degrees, present. They differ in that the limits of each group are determined by the maximum extent of only one criterion. 1. Evans-Pritchard, E.E., The Nuert Oxford, 1940, p.5* 2. 'Wurm, S.A. and Laycock, D.C., "The Question of Language and Dialect in New Guinea", Oceania, Vol. 32, No.2. 32 People The maximum group whose members consider themselves to be a distinct social aggregate but is without any form of political unity. The linguistic forms within the group should be at the minimum of the same stock, though usually they are of the same family, sub-family or language. Cultural variants should be of about the same order as the linguistic. The Aobans are a people as so defined. (The cultural and linguistic forms could be classed as variants within a single family or possibly sub-family.). Culture Group The maximum group within which cultural differences are no greater than the dialect differences of a single language. The minimum linguistic requirement is that the speech forms should be of the same stock, though in most cases they are of the same language. The members, though they consider themselves to be distinct from all like aggregates, also consider themselves to be a segment within a larger aggregate. When there is no such awareness of identity the concept defined is a culture area and not a culture group. Language Group Defined as above but with the culture and language criteria reversed. The east and the west Aobans could be equally termed ”culture groups” or ”language groups”. District (1) A segment of either a culture or a language group that 1 . 1 use the term district* only with considerable misgivings and for want of a better alternative. The disadvantage is, of course, that the term is U3ed in Government documents to refer to administrat­ ive areas. It could also be objected that,strictly speaking,the term refers to a territorial division and not to a group of people. Hbgbin and Wedgewood avoid the difficulty by using ^hyle* for culture group and^ub-phyle^or what I have called a district. As the Greek word originally denoted a politically united group (as noted by Hogbin and Wedgewood) I can see no justification for its usage in the present context. 33 is without any form of permanent p o litic a l unity, but whose members consider themselves to be d istin c t from a ll lik e segments. The compon­ ent d is tr ic ts of a culture group are usually, though not always, d iffe r­ entiated from one another on the basis of minor cultural and lin g ­ u is tic variants. Nduindui, Lombaha, Longana etc*, are d is tr ic ts . 1!, EAST AND WEST AOBA Physical type As in most parts of Melanesia a variety of physical types are found throughout the island. Certain t r a i t s are, however, more dominant in one side than in the other. In the north-west there are an unusually large number of people with lig h t skin tending to yellow­ ish pigmentation associated with a f la t face, high cheekbones, and a slig h t obliqueness of the eye. Dark skin is more common in the eastern d is tr ic ts , and the same could be said of high-bridged aquiline noses and th in lip s , I would not, however, lik e to make too much of the physical differences between the two communities. In any one d is tr ic t there is a wide variation in height, skin colour and facial appearance. I t is worth noting that the inhabitants of one d is tr ic t (Vuingelato) are d istin c tly pigmoid, perhaps half of the population are no higher than 4 , 9,‘ t a l l . They liv e high on the mountain shoulder th at devide3 north-west from north-east Aoba. Variations in language and culture between th is parish and i t s neighbours are no greater than those between other neighbouring parishes. 34. Language TABLE II LINGUISTIC SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES D is t r ic t s Percentage 0f same base vocabulary' ' cognates Degree of mutual / p\ in te llig ib ility ' ' 92 Complete N angiri and Longana 86 Almost com plete Lovatulonga and V uingelato 72 Limited 65 P a r tia l to Rudimentary Nduindui and V ilakalaka (w estern d i s t r i c t s ) (neighbouring w estern and ea stern d is tr ic ts ) V ilakalaka and Longana (extreme ea stern and w estern d i s t r i c t s ) In Table I I I have taken th ree ea stern and th ree w estern d i s t r i c t s and expressed th e li n g u i s t i c s i m ila r it ie s and d iffe r e n c e s in two form s, 1. The lin g u is t M. Swadesh (Ed, Amerindian Non-Cultural V ocab u laries« r e v is e d e d itio n , 1955) su g g e sts th a t speech forms sharing 81 per cen t or more of base vocabulary cognates can be c l a s s i f i e d as d ia le c t s o f the same language; from 28 to 8 l per cent languages of th e same fa m ily , and from 12 to 28 per cen t fa m ilie s o f the same sto c k . The s e le c t io n of base cognates and th e determ ination of s im ila r ity are both bound to be open q u estio n s, and th er e fo re th ese fig u r e s can be tr e a ted as no more than a rough in d ic a tio n o f s im ila r it ie s and d iffe r e n c e s between speech form s, % c a lc u la tio n s are based on one hundred base cognates s e le c te d from each area* 2, (See next p age). 35 the percentage of same base vocabulary and the degree of mutual intell­ igibility. On the basis of this information the variant speech forms used in each side of the island can be classed a3 dialects of the same language, and the two languages together as members of the same family, or possibly sub-family. A Nduindui man visiting Longana for the first time would fail to understand the greater part of what was said to him. The difficulties are, however quickly mastered, and many men are bi­ lingual. Unfortunately I have insufficient data to make a similar analysis of the similarities and differences between Aoba and other communities in the northern New Hebrides. The people themselves state that they find it easier to learn each others languages than they do that of their most immediate overseas neighbours. Culture and Social Organization The socio-cultural differences between Aoba and its overseas neighbours are, as in language, slightly greater than the corresponding differences between the two sides of the island. This is especially true of west Aoba vis-a-vis such islands as Malekula, Malo, Tutuba and Santo. The similiarities between the eastern districts and north Raga and south Mwaevo are possibly as great as they are between the two sides of the island. The Aobans themselves, though they are very much aware of the 2. (from previous page) See Wurm sind Laycock, op.cit. p.133* ^It may be suggested that complete or almost *complete intelligibility * implies 90-100$ transfer of information; 1fair1 75-90$; 1limited1 60-75$J 1partial1 40-60$> and ,rudimentsu:yl less than 40$. The boundary of language may, from the point of view of mutual intelligibil« ity, be drawn around 50$ with the sphere of 40 -6 ($ of information transfer, i.e. that of partial intelligibility, constituting the sub­ language range, which is intermediary between language and dialect.n 36 cultural and linguistic division of the island into two communities, nevertheless state that they are all one ^people". 4 long series of myths, known to both easterners and westerners, accounts to their own satisfaction for the similarities cultures. and differences between the two It also provides an explanation for the degree of identity between each culture and that found in neighbouring islands. Aoba is said to have been initially populated by the arrival of Takaro and his. followers from north Rag a. He landed at Longana, and the culture he brought with him is said to be the true Aoban 11custom", which was still followed in the eastern districts prior to European contact. Pie divided the population into a large number of matri-clans grouped into exogamous moieties, introduced the system of kin term­ inology, and provided the island with its natural resources and place names. The deviance of the western districts consists primarily in the absence of the matrilineal descent groups, both clans and moieties. This is said to have been the result of a volcanic eruption which destroyed the north-west c o m e r extending from Lolotinge to Devil*s Rock. The few who survived had lost their memories and consequently contracted marriages which broke the moiety regulations. let further deviation is said to be the result of new customs introduced by immigrants from the eastern and western islands. Secret-society ritual, which has not been practised anywhere on Aoba for at least fifty years, is thought to have been introduced from Mwaevo. The ritual associated with the graded hierarchy is believed to have diffused from Malo to west Aoba at a much later date. I shall now give a brief outline of some of the principal structural characteristics of north Raga, east and west Aoba and Malekula. My aim . 37 is to demonstrate that though each side of Aoba differs from the matrilineal and patrilineal extremes of the eastern and western islands respectively, all four social systems are nevertheless variants against a common background. Table III provides a summary of the basic vari­ ables relating to descent, residence and inheritance. I have chosen to discuss these aspects of social structure because the way in which they are inter-related with one another directly determines the relative emphasis on group solidarity as against individual autonomy. (The various communities mentioned in the text are shown in Map 2 ) • North Raga (or North Pentecost) The matri-clans 0 ) and moieties still exist today throughout east Aoba, north Raga, Mwaevo, the Banks (Mwere Lava no moieties) and Torres islands (clans grouped into three phratries), and possibly most of Santo* The people of Malo, like the west Aobans, state that they too once had matrilineal descent groups. The moieties are usually, though not always, named, and whereever they exist they are recognised as being the same. A person is expected to offer hospitality to men of the same moiety visiting from other districts, culture groups, and even islands. In south Mwaevo the moieties are called Takaro and Harovai, in north Raga Takaro and Malau, and in east Aoba Takaro and Mwerembuto. 1. The evidence is by no means clear for Mwaevo, the Banks, Torres and Santo. It is probable that there were matri-clans, but they were almost certainly widely dispersed with a large number of clans represent­ ed in each parish. The parish was thus probably similar to that found in East Aoba in that it was multicarpellary and non-exogamous but the carpels were almost certainly of the matrilineage type, as like North Raga residence was mostly avunculo-virilocal. (see Chapter VII for further details). TABL E III DESCENT, RESIDENCE AND INHERITANCE IN THE NORTHERN NEW HEBRIDES Parish structure Residence Inheritance Exogamous matri-moiet- Multicarpellary.Male Avunculo-virilocal Matrilineal possibly most of ies or phratries,poss­ members of carpel mo­ preference Santo ibly smaller matri- stly uterine kin. clans Marriage permissable Area Dogma of Descent Descent groups or categories Torres,Banks and Matrilineal within parish South Mwaevo and Matrilineal north Raga Matri-clans grouped in­ Monocarpellary. Male Strong avunculo- to exogamous moieties members mostly uterine virilocal preference Matrilineal kin. Local exogamy East Aoba Matrilineal Matri-clans grouped ini Multicarpellary.Slight Patri-virilocal pref­ Land mostly patri­ to exogamous moieties agnatic bias.Marriage erence. Multiple res­ lineal; moveable permissable within idence common property matrilineal Multicarpellary.Strong Strong patri-virilocal Patrilineal agnatic emphasis. Par­ preference parish West Aoba and Cognatic with possibly Malo patrilineal bias .Cognatic stocks ishes mostly exogamous Small Islands, north Double-uniineal Ambrym and south Raga Patri-clans and matri- Monocarpellary.Each Strong patri-virilocal moieties carpel equals exogam­ preference Patrilineal ous patri-clan t Maiekula,south Ambrym and probably Epi Patrilineal Patri-clans Monocarpellary.Each Strong patri-virilocal carpel equals exog­ preference amous patri-clan Patrilineal . 39 In north Raga, but not in east Aoba, most of the male members of each matri-clan live in either a single parish or a small group of neighbouring settlements. As women usually join their husbands at marriage, the majority of men are therefore born in a community in which the adult males are their fathers and not their own matrilineal kinsmen. Some of them remain there all their lives and are granted full rights of land usage. But they cannot pass on such rights to their own inheritors without first gaining the consent of the senior members of the matri-clan on whose territory they are residing. If a quarrel should occur, or if there should be a large number of members combined with a shortage of easily available land, they may be asked to leave. Because of their insecure land rights the majority of men sooner or later leave their father1s parish and join their matrilineal kinsmen. Even when a considerable number of generations of residence outside the clan territory have passed, the returning members1 rights of residence and land usage are recognised as valid. Lanewritess The relationship of the land to the clan is indisputable, the land and the clan being inseparable parts of a whole with re­ ciprocal responsibilities. The clan members are products of and are nurtured by the land and they in turn must care for it. All land comes within this framework regardless of use or occupation and all land is theoretically inalienable.11 O') In addition to land the corporate estate of the locally anchored clan includes its name, gong rhythms, songs, dances, ancestors1 graves, . I.Lane, Robert, B. "Land Tenure and Residence Rules of north Pentecost, New Hebrides”, (unpublished paper,Carnegie Institute of Technology, 1962), p.1. 40 men*s club-house and ceremonial ground. parish solidarity are as follows; Yet other indices of clan- senior clan members should, and normally do, sponsor their juniors in graded society ritual; the dwellings of parish members are located close to the menfs club-house and are separated by a considerable distance from the dwellings of (1) neighbouring parishes; and finally, Lane reports x,/that there is a tendency for the highest titles in the graded hierarchy to be trans­ mitted on hereditary principles, and that the holders of such titles exercise greater authority than is common elsewhere in the north­ eastern islands (Banks, Mwaevo, Raga and east Aoba)# Malekula (2) Despite the matrilineal-patrilineal polarity of north Raga and Malekula, (especially in the western districts), in terms of the solidarity and continuity of the parish the than the differences# similarities are greater In both societies parish cohesion is the direct result of norms of descent, inheritance and residence coinciding with, and hence reinforcing, one another# The estates of the two monocarpell- ary (3) type parishes are similar, sind there is the same concentration of dwellings in the neighbourhood of the communal club-house# In north­ west Malekula, especially amongst the strongly patrilineal Big Nambas, 1# Lane, Robert B# Aboriginal and Contemoory Leadership Patterns and Problems in Raga, (unpublished paper, Carnegie Institute of Technology, 1962, p#3* 2# Layard, J# Stone Men of Malekula« London, 1942# Deacon, A#B. Malekula: A vanishing people in the New Hebrides, ed. Wedgwood, C# London, 11934* Guiart, J. L !Organisation Sociale et Politique du nord Malekula, L 1Institute Francais d 1Oceania, 1952# Harrison, T# Savage Civilization, London, 1937, pp#395-424* 3# (see next page) 41 . hereditary principles modify the competitive character of the graded society to an even greater extent than in north Raga. The extreme conservatism and resistance to change of the Big Nambas is what might well be expected in such a rigidly structured unilineal society. Aoba Aoban society, both in the east' and in west, is less rigidly structured than either of its neighbours. The parishes are multicarpell' ary, the group of effective male raarfoers is neither closed nor constant, the dogma of descent is either unilineal and conflicts with residence and inheritance (east Aoba), or is weakly defined (west Aoba); the cohesion and political stability of the parish is adversely affected by the strength and importance of extra group ties; the individual v exercises a considerable degree of autonomy, especially as regards residence and land rights; the graded hierarchy is highly competitive; and finally, parish homesteads are dispersed rather than concentrated. All of the above characteristics of *loose structure*1 apply more fully to the eastern parishes than they do to the western. East Aoba East Aoba differs from north Raga in that the matri-clans are 3. (from previous page) Hbgbin, H.I. and Wedgwood,C.H. “Local Grouping in Melanesia.” Oceania. Vol. XXIII, No. 4» p*243. The authors define a carpel as "An exogamous unilinear group which has its social centre within a parish territory.” Monocarpellary "denotes a parish composed of a single carpel”, and raulticarpellary "denotes a parish in which there are a number of carpels”. In this thesis I have set myself up as Humpty Dumpty by broadening the definition of carpel so that it also applies to locally anchored exogamous non-unilinear descent groups. To avoid unnecessary duplication I also use the term to refer to the langer group that includes affines and dependants. 42 widely dispersed throughout all districts; dozen are represented in a single parish* frequently as many as a Though each clan is said to have originated in a particular locality, non-resident members have no special claims to rights of residence or land-usage. In many cases no clan members live, or are said to have lived for many generations, any­ where near the place of origin. The male members of each parish are divided into six or more agnatically oriented descent groups. The common ancestor is seldom more than two or three generations removed from the senior living members; there is no clearly defined dogma of patrilineal descent; marriage is permiss­ ible between co-resident agnates provided they are of opposite moieties and not closely related; non-agnates; as many as 40 per cent male parish members are and approximately 20 per cent adult males maintain houses and exercise land rights in two or more parishes (usually in their father1s, mother*s brother*s, and wife*s father*s). Neither the parish nor its component sections has any clearly de­ fined corporate estate in land or in any other property. The individual seldom exercises such absolute rights to a given plot of land that he can dispose of it to outsiders without first consulting the opinion of others who claim either secondary rights of usage, or potential rights of inheritance. These latter persons are, however, related to the current user not as members of a corporate and enduring group, but by a multi­ plicity of inter-personal ties* When a man dies the land that he used for his gardens, and also the trees that he either planted or inherited, frequently become the focus of conflicting claims by various individuals, some appealing on the grounds of close agnatic connections, others 43 the bonds and obligations between matrilineal kinsmen, others of common residence in a named locality regardless of genealogical connection, and yet others the scale of their investment in the deceasedfs funeral. The most commonly accepted preference is that, all things being equal, land and its produce should pass from brother to brother or from father to son. The rights of the sisterls sons are given full recognition solely in respect to moveable property (mats, pigs and cash). As many men die with more liabilities than assets, the sisterls sons may in fact receive nothing. The liabilities are the responsibility of the principal investor in the funeral, generally a close agnate. *n almost all other respects the bonds between matrilineal kins­ men are expressed in terms of sentiment rather than in those of jural rights and responsibilities. Unlike north Raga, a man is in no way dependent on his senior matrilineal kinsmen for sponsorship in the graded hierarchy. In the earlier stages a boy is usually sponsored by his father or other close agnate, and in the later stages by some man of high rank whose favour he has won. The lack of parish solidarity is apparent in many contexts. Un-­ like both north Raga and Malekula, homesteads are scattered over the parish territory and show no more than a slight tendency for small clusters to centre on a club-house and associated ceremonial ground. A large parish may have six or more club-houses. Each man who rises to high or moderately high rank is likely to build a new one, and he considers it to be as much his own private property as is his residence. When still of moderate rank he and his sons may be the sole users of the new club but as his influence increases it gradually becomes the 44 social centre for the men of the parish. The political unity of the parish is in large part dependent on the presence of an exceptionally high ranking member. Parishes break up and reconstitute themselves as leaders fall or rise. The segment­ ary process is, in E a r n e s t )terms, catastrophic and largely unpredict­ able, as against the chronic and relatively predictable segmentation of many African lineage systems. West Aoba West Aoban society is of a type intermediary between those of east Aoba and Malekula. As compared with east Aoba, the absence of the dispersed matrilineal descent groups is correlated with a higher incidence of patrifiliation, and a correspondingly greater emphasis placed on parish solidarity and continuity. As compared with Malekula, the absence of named exogamous patrilineal clans is correlated with multicarpellary parishes, dispersed rather than concentrated settle­ ments, and correspondingly less parish cohesion and unity. As in many New Guinea Highland societies, the lineage like local groups can be said to be the result of “cumulative patrifiliation“ ^ ), and not of an explicit dogma of patrilineal descent. The most general 1. Barnes, J.A. “African models in the New Guinea Highlands“, Man. Vol. 62, Art.2, 1962, p. 8. 2. Barnes, J.A. ibid., p.6. “Thus although some Highland societies are appropriately classified as agnatic, the area as a whole appears to be characterized by cumulative patrifiliation rather than by agnatic descent. Here I am making a distinction between filiation as a mechanism of recruitment to social groups and to ascribed relationships and descent as a morally evaluated principle of belief... the principle of recruitment to a m a n ’s father’s group operates, but only concurrent­ ly with other principles, and is sanctioned not by an appeal to the (cont’d. next page) 45 kin term refers to all the known descendants traced through males or females from an apical male ancestor removed by about four to six generations from senior living members. The resultant cognatic stock acts as a category from which corporate and perpetuating kin groups are recruited through filiation operating in conjunction with a prefer­ ence for patrilineal inheritance, patri-virilocal residence and local group exogamy. Each cognatic stock is thus automatically divided into two categories - on the one hand, the co-resident property-holding core of agnatically related males, and, on the other, the widely dispersed non-agnatic kin descended from all the out-marrying female members. All or most of the male agnates descended from any one of these female members themselves constitute a segment of yet another agnatic core resident in yet another parish. All the parishes of the district are therefore bound to one another by a complex web of over­ lapping cognatic stocks. Though these are categories and not groups and are neither named nor exogamous, they nevertheless provide a formal -J though loosely structured framework for co-operation and interaction between members of different parishes. The preference for patrifiliation can be seen in the following figures. Seventy-two per cent of all adult male householders live in the same parish as did their father*s father1s father or more remote (cont*d from previous page) 2. notion of descent as such but by reference to the obligations of kinsfolk, differentiated according to relationship and encompassed within a span of only two or three generations. In each generation a substantial majority of men affiliate themselves with their father*s group and in this way it acquires some agnatic continuity over the generations. It may be similar in appear­ ance and de facto kinship ties to a patrilineal group in which accessory segments are continually being assimilated to the authentic core, but its structure and ideology are quite different.” All the above observ­ ations are true of west Aoban society. 46. agnatic ancestor, and as many as ninety-three per cent in the same parish as th e ir fath er. In east Aoba the equivalent figures are forty- one per cent and sixty-nine per cent respectively. Unfortunately I have no comparable figures for Malekula, but I doubt i f even amongst the Big Nambas the incidence of p a trifilla tio n is higher than th at in west Aoba. The absence of an ex p licit dogma of p a trilin e a l descent is apparent in many contexts. I f a member of a Malekula patri-clan should leave his parish and either jo in some other kinsfolk or establish a new s e ttle ­ ment, both he and a ll of his agnatic descendants over an indefinite number of generations continue to be known by the clan name, are bound by the rule of clan exogamy, retain the rig h t to attend ceremonies in the parent parish on the same basis as resident members, and may even at times take up residence with f u ll rights of land usage. th is is not so; In west Aoba the local groups, both parishes and parish sections, are the only named and enduring units in the society. Unless non­ resident agnates regularly return to work th e ir land, and to in teract and co-operate with resident parishioners, they soon cease to be known as members. Their land rig h ts are said to go "cold11• After two or three generations the two groups usually consider inter-marriage to be permissable, and when the genealogical connection is forgotten there is nothing else by which the bond can be remembered. In chapter X I discuss land rights at some length, in the present context i t is su fficien t to note that the principles of tenure sind inheritance are more clearly defined in favour of agnates than in east Aoba. In addition to the above sim ilarities and differences between the 47 two sides of the island, a similar pattern of significant variations against a common background can be seen on examining the graded hier­ archy, rites de passage, kinship behaviour, marriage regulations, magic and sorcery, and so on* 2« CONTACT BETWEEN EAST AND HEST AOBA Prior to the Christian era contact consisted primarily of visiting ( between families connected by marriage, warfare, trading and attendance at large scale pig-killing ceremonies, I shall discuss each in turn. Marriage Inter-marriage between east and west was, and still is, infrequent. The principal objection from the Nduindui side is that by marrying an eastern woman the man loses the dowry that his neighbours would pay. The people from the other side have two objections. First, in the east girls are tattooed as a necessary prerequisite to marriage, and the more intricate and extensive the design the higher the bride-price paid. In the west tattooing is not practised, and consequently an easterner who marries such a western girl is despised and has little chance of achieving even medium rank in the graded hierarchy. Secondly, the easterners dislike the idea of a woman who is without a matri-clan. The children of such a marriage can be automatically assigned to the opposite moiety to their father, but this still leaves unresolved the question of the clan. Though the lack of such knowledge is no great handicap to the easterners, they prefer to possess it. Despite the cessation of warfare and tattooing, the increased incidence of intra-moiety (and in some cases intra-clan) marriage, and the estabilsiim ent of many strong lin k s between the two communities follow ing the lin e s of common church denomination, in ter-m arriag e is s t i l l rare* From a t o t a l of 301 married couples liv in g in Nduindui, only nine wives and six husbands came from the other side (see Table IV, p. 56 )• By c o n tra st, th e re are nineteen members of other islan d s (mostly Malekula, Malo, and Santo) married and liv in g in the d i s t r i c t . I know of only th ree Nduindui men and th re e women who have l e f t the d i s t r i c t to s e t tl e w ith e a st Aoban spouses* The few cases of in ter-m arriag e ensure th a t a considerable number of w esterners can fin d k in and a ffin e s in some p a rt of e a st Aoba. For example, i f one man in a Nduindui p arish should have an e a ste rn w ife, th a t i s s u ffic ie n t to enable a l l members of both parishes to expect accommodation, h o s p ita lity and p ro tec tio n . G raded-society r i t u a l , w arfare and trad e Contact w ithin th e th re e frames of reference are in tim a te ly re la te d and can be considered to g e th e r. Graded-society r i t u a l was p racticed throughout the northern New Hebrides and provided one of the p rin c ip a l bonds between communities. This i s e sp e c ia lly tru e of those isla n d s where th e m a trilin e a l m oieties s t i l l e x is t or are said to have done so in the p a s t. Here the in s t it u t io n as a whole was known by the same name, ^ m a n y of the t i t l e s were sim ila r, and much of the r i t u a l and symbolism was id e n tic a l. One o f the b est known legends of the west 1 . Torres isla n d s (Hukwa) , Banks isla n d s (Sukwe or Supe) , Mwaevo (Sukwe), Aoba (Hungwe in west and Hiikwe in e a s t) , Malo (Sumbe), and probably most of Santo 49 Aobans tellyof a man who, having achieved the highest rank in his community, proceeded to increase his prestige further by sacrificing tusked boars on Mwaevo, Raga, Santo, Malo, and north Malekula. He is said to have set out on his expedition supported by a large fleet of canoes and one hundred armed men. On every island he built a club­ house and ceremonial ground, and invited local men of high rank to eat the sacrificial food and to drink kava with h i m . ^ The most regular form of contact between neighbouring islands was in the exchange of pigs and locally-manufactured insignia of rank. The west Aobans conducted most of their pig-trade with Malo, Tutuba and south Santo, but they also exchanged pigs, mats, skirts and bustles with their eastern neigbours. Many of these articles, though highly valued throughout the island, were only manufactured in certain districts. One of the principal garments worn by men of high rank in both eastern and western districts was a large bustle of finely woven mats that hung from the small of the back to the ankles. Such adornments were designed and coloured in different ways, each representing a specific rank* The three best known were called malo mahanga. kwahi mevute and toa manga manga. All three were in use throughout the island, but malo mahanga were manufactured only in Nduindui, and the other two in the eastern districts of Hakova and Malavungu. The exchange of pigs, mate and other locally manufactured products was conducted between formal trading partners. A man inherits his 1. The Aobans consider these events to be recent history. The man who performed the feats appears in many pedigrees as only three or four generations removed from senior informants. 50 . fath er* s p artn ers ( buluana ), and i f am bitious, he uses them as a means of extending h is network of trad in g re la tio n s h ip s . A buluana i s expected to p ro tect h is p artn er and provide accommodation and food. Men of one side of the islan d occasionally attended rank-taking ceremonies held on the other sid e . In some cases they were f u l f i l l i n g th e o b lig atio n s of close kinship or a f f in ity , but more o ften they went as e ith e r sp e c ia lly honoured guests of high rank, or as in v esto rs (see Chapter V III). Informants stre sse d the danger of such an undertaking. There was always the r is k th a t the man asstuning the new rank would be tempted to add human v ictim s to h is lin e of s a c r i f i c i a l p ig s. I s h a ll give ju s t two of many examples in which t h is i s said to have occurred. In th e f i r s t case a canoe-load of east Aobans from Lolosori and Loloivenue d i s t r i c t s are said to have come down to Lovanualigoutu p arish in c o a sta l Nduindui to perform a dance fo r the chief*s s a c r i f i c i a l ceremony. The Lovanualigoutu men f e l l on t h e ir v i s i to r s , tie d them up, and the c h ie f k ille d them as though they were p ig s. Only one man escaped, and i t was he who brought the ta le back to L olosori. Some years l a t e r a L olosori man of high rank sent an in v ita tio n to another Nduindui c h ie f to come and atten d h is ceremony. *. Two f u l l canoe-loads o f men a rriv e d a t the anchorage and proceeded inland to L olosori. They were given coconuts and kava, and when drunk the L olosori men f e l l on them. The follow ing day they were duly s a c rific e d . In th e second instance a Nduindui man (inland parish) in v ite d an e a st Aoba c h ie f of Abanga d i s t r i c t to come and a ct as one of h is sponsors. The Nduindui man had planned to murder him, but the guest managed to avoid the blow and fle d w ith h is supporters. Some time l a t e r a large 51. force of east Aobans from Abanga, Loloivenue, Lombaha, Longana and Kwaluneo districts attacked the offending Nduindui parish, destroying it and three neighbouring settlements. In both the above incidents trouble began through the desire to sacrifice a man in place of a tusked pig. of conflict between east and west Aoba. This was the principal cause Leaders frequently sent out parties of warriors to try and find unwary victims. In order to reduce the risk of retaliation it was considered preferable to conduct such raids as far away from home as possible. Generally the raiders went by canoe to eastern districts, though occasionally they captured a victim in other west Aoban communities. Only twenty years ago a man of Navuti parish is said to have been caught, sacrificed and eaten by the men of Amata (less than two miles from Navuti). Church denomination The most recent development in the relationship between the two sides of the island is the establishment of mission denominations with congregations represented in both communities. All Ghurch~of-Christ members expect and usually receive hospitality from all fellow members, not only throughout Aoba, but also in neighbouring islands. Visits between east and west do not, however, take place frequently. The principal occasion is the opening of a new church, an event which in certain respects is similar to a rank-taking ceremony. In 1959 a new church (Churcli-of-Christ denomination) was opened in Nasalakoro parish in Lombaha district and over 300 Nduindui men and women came up to attend the service and associated feast. The Nduindui church leaders 52 took a prominent part in lesson reading, speech-making, and in contribut­ ing to the expenses* Church elders also regularly visit remote districts all over the island to take Sunday services, perform marriages, burials, baptisms, and to arbitrate in disputes. Abel Bani, the chief elder of the Church of Christ, lives in Nduindui and periodically visits Malo, Tutuba, Santo, Mwaevo and Raga islands. Every year the Nduindui send two of their men to teach children on Malo and Tutuba. But for the average west Aoban the prospect of visiting an eastern district is far from alluring. At least 50 per cent of the adult males have never been east of Saranamundu. On one occasion when I went to Lombaha district to attend a rank-taking ceremony I was accompanied by two young Nduindui men. Although both had been to Lombaha before, and one of them could even speak the language fluently, the whole time they were ill at ease fearing that they might be the victims of sorcery. The tension and ever-present element of hostility was made especial­ ly apparent in 1959* A group of young Nduindui temporarily at work in Santo as wharf labourers started fighting with some Vietnamese over a card game. A man called Abraham of Abanga district tried to break up the fight but the youths knocked him down and cut his head badly. The Abanga men began discussing the possibility of radsing a force to raid Nduindui in revenge. In the end their leader Tari One, persuad­ ed them that the days of fighting were over and that they would be gaoled. a. He announced that he would himself sponsor Abraham in ^rank- taking ceremony based on the sacrifice of one hundred tusked boars. Some years earlier Abraham had given up pig-killing and was now recogniz­ ed throughout east Aoba as one of the leading elders of the Church of 53 Christ• Tari One knew that if Abraham performed a major sacrificial rite (the largest held on Aoba for many years) it would be a blow to the ardent Nduindui Christians who constantly complained about their eastern brothers' addiction to pig-killing. The ceremony took place a year later. Tari One, when present­ ing Abraham with the highest symbol of rank, a skull-cap decorated with beads and feathers, made a long speech recounting the details of the Santo fight, the talk of a raid, and his reasons for instead sponsoring Abraham. He stated that in addition to upsetting the Nduindui leaders he hoped that the secular blood (dai mwenda) lost from Abraham's head in the brawl would be washed clean by the sacred blood (dai kokona) of the one hundred pigs to be sacrificed and also by the sacred hat (ngwatu kokona)• On my return for my third field-trip a year afterwards I found that the affair was still remembered in Nduindui. There had been more rain than usual, and taro planting was seriously delayed. The explanation generally accepted was that some east-Aoban magician was causing the wet weather to yet further avenge the injury. The youth who had kicked Abraham's head had also suffered. His wife had died, he was seriously in debt, and was said to be living a drunken, dissolute life in Santo. Many people suggested that his troubles were also the result of east Aoba sorcery. A few months later when I went to Loloivenue to attend a minor ceremony I could not persuade anyone from Nduindui to accompany me. said that they were afraid. All those I approached 54 3* NDUINDUI DISTRICT The word nduindui means ”red ant”, and in i t s most precise usage as a place name i t refers to a small harbour notorious for the number of red ants in the vicinity* The term is also used in the wider sense as a general designation for the twenty-two parishes located within about three miles* These settlements are separated from other west Aoban parishes by minor physical b arriers, to the east by about a mile of rough uninhabited land broken up by a number of g u llies, and to the west by about a half-mile s trip of thickly forested lava, (see Map 3)* Between the eastern boundary and the f i r s t of the eastern parishes (Saranamundu), there is a small cluster of hamlets that are known collectively as Lovatulonga (Saranarawai, Saragamoha, Saraiuvi, Lone and Lolotinge). Culturally and lin g u istic a lly there is l i t t l e or no difference between the Nduindui and the Lovatulonga, and a considerable amount of inter-marriage takes place. To the west the Nduindui refer to the three parishes of Apopo, Tavala Hage, and Amata as Mwera Tavala Vatu (sometimes abbreviated to Tavala), a term meaning ”man other side stones”• The Nduindui consider th^t both the Lovatulonga and Tavala people have personality t r a i t s d ifferen t from th e ir own* The use of the name Nduindui for sill the parishes located between Lovatulonga and Tavala is not s tr ic tly accurate. Indeed, the further one moves away from the harbour the less appropriate i t becomes. Primar­ ily the expression refers to those parishes whose members sailed from Nduindui in le t rather than some other place on overseas trading voyages, 55 but in the early years of the recruitment it came to be applied generally to everyone who was signed on as a labourer there* Nduindui district could be defined as a territorially-based aggregate of people sharing certain common characteristics that they and their neighbours regard as distinctive* The factors mentioned are culture, language and kinship. Kinship A complex network of cognatic and affinal ties provides the principal basis for the Nduindui peoples1 awareness of themselves as an identifi­ able social entity. Almost everyone living in the district is a kinsman of everyone else. When a middle-aged man of Saralokambu gave me his pedigree for the proceeding six generations in the direct male line, he named 302 descendants of the original ancestor living in twenty Nduindui parishes and another forty-five from four Tavala parish­ es. If he traced his relationships through other relatives (such as his mother, mother1s mother, father*s mother and so on), he could give links with almost everyone in the district. Marriage between neighbouring settlements across the district borders is almost as common as marriage within them, but people visit one another more frequently when they live close together, and as a result they remember the links over a greater number of generations* The following table gives the natal membership of each partner of the 301 couples at present living in Nduindui. 56 TABLE IV PLACE OF BIRTH OF NDUINDUI MARRIED COUPLES I Husband K ife Number N duindui N duindui N duindui ' West Aoba, o th e r d i s t r i c t N duindui E a st Aoba 9 N duindui O ther is la n d 8 West Aoba, o th e r d i s t r i c t N duindui 3 E a s t Aoba N duindui O th e r is la n d N duindui 227 37 6 11 3011 The h ig h p e rc e n ta g e Ao f in tra -N d u in d u i m a rria g e i s a f u n c tio n o f a p re fe re n c e f o r m arrying c lo s e to home, and n o t o f a v o id in g i n t e r - d i s t r i c t u n io n s . T his can be shown by th e fo llo w in g f i g u r e s . I 4 I m a rria g e s (4 7 .2 p e r c e n t) w ere c o n tra c te d betw een members o f im m ediately n e ig h b o u rin g p a r is h e s . T h is f ig u r e can be broken down f u r t h e r in to 121 betw een members o f n eig h b o u rin g p a r is h e s w ith in th e d i s t r i c t , and tw en ty betw een n e ig h b o u rin g p a ris h e s a c ro s s d i s t r i c t b o rd e rs , a p ro p o rtio n o f s i x to o ne. Each p a r is h i n N duindui has from th r e e t o seven n e ig h b o u rin g p a r is h e s . From a t o t a l o f 89 neig h b o u r p a r is h li n k s f i f t e e n a r e a c r o s s d i s t r i c t b o rd e rs , a lso , a p ro p o rtio n o f s i x to o n e. T his p ro p o r tio n a te e q u iv a le n c e confirm s info rm an ts* s ta te m e n ts t h a t th e y have no o b je c tio n t o m arry in g o u ts id e th e d i s t r i c t p ro v id ed t h e i r a f f i n e s a re w ith in e asy v i s i t i n g d is ta n c e . . 57 Parish alliances The Nduindui never unite as a single body, and there is no cross cutting system of hierarchically-ordered relations such as would bind the constituent units into a corporate and solidary group* In the pre- Christian era no leader ever succeeded in uniting under his authority more than a maximum of half a dozen parishes. kind were rare and never endured for long. Even alliances of this A particular settlement that had at one time been part of a certain cluster would within a generation belong to another cluster as leaders died or lost their power, (see chapter X for a detailed analysis, of the changing political status of local groups). The parish wa3 normally the largest territorial group within which fighting was disapproved and seldom took place. Conflict between neighbouring settlements was common enough, but was usually settled within a few months. Communities separated by a number of intervening parishes sometimes remained on hostile terms for a number of years but the multiplicity of inter-locking ties and divided loyalties ensured that a settlement was eventually reached. Coastal versus inland parishes Three geographical zones can be distinguished - the settled coast­ al area extending about one and a half miles inland rising to about 500 feet above sea level, the settled inland belt extending a further two miles inland rising to about 1,500 feet, and the uninhabited ground beyond that is intensively cultivated, (to about 3*000 feet). The two settled zones comprise about seven square miles. As the 58 total population is ed part of Aoba. 1,400 persons, Nduindui is the most densely populat­ (It is in fact one of the most densely populated rural areas of Melanesia.) Apart from some small patches of rock and a few/ narrow ravines and gullies, all land within the inhabited area is fully utilized for copra and cocoa plantations, homesteads, road3 and a few gardens and pig pens. The coastal, and inland peoples refer to one another by the terms mwera tahi (man-salt-water) and mwera uta (man-bush). This distinction, though real and important, is neither as pronounced nor clear-cut as it is in many Melanesian islands. There is no abrupt break or uninhabited land between the two categories of settlement, and the designation of a number of centrally-located parishes depends on their chief alliances in kinship, politics, and economics. of the parishes on Map I give the present alignments 13. The passage from salt water to bush settlements coincides with a number of other changes. The land of all coastal parishes has been intensively planted with coconut trees. an occasional pig pen. There are few gardens and only In the inland area there is more bush, and though coconut groves are numerous the trees are younger and planted haphazardly. The higher the altitude the less the coconuts and the more plentiful the cocoa stands an$ gardens. The third zone which extends some two miles beyond the last settle­ ments, is the principal garden area. Most of it is owned by members of the inland parishes, though some coast dwellers have acquired plots through the realization of secondary inheritance rights sind also by purchase and adoption, (see chapter Y for further details). . 59 On the coast, where the climate is dryer, the principal crops are yams and bananas,with only a little taro. In the wetter inland the proportion is reversed, and taro is the staple crop. however, is The difference, not sufficient to result in regular markets. Much inter­ marriage takes place, and produce can be informally exchanged by kins­ folk. In the past the sea was mainly important for salt, for washing during prolonged droughts, and for travelling. (I have mentioned already that fishing is rarely practised). Each parish ha3 a tradition­ al right of access to Nduindui harbour or one of the minor inlets, but it has to be admitted that coast dwellers can always obstruct the inland people. In the past the difficulties were more serious, but even today there may be tension. In recent years, with the introduction of concrete construction, sand has become more valuable. In theory no salt-water parish disputes the right of the people of the inland to take as much as they need; in practice conflicts often occur. The location of the Church-of-Christ mission house, hospital, district church and council house close to Nduindui anchorage on land that belongs partly to Nanako and partly to Lovanualigoutu has given these two places an advantage. All important Church-of-Christ gather­ ings are held on the large clearing located nearby, and, partly as a result of missionaries being handy, most of the church leaders are members of Nanako, Lovanualigoutu, Navitora, Navuti, Lovaturusa and Vuinamwangwe. These six parishes, all on or near the coast, have there­ fore begun to emerge as a political centre. Mission affiliation Three denominations are represented in the district, the Church 60 of Christ, the Anglican and the Apostolic Church* Each parish possess­ es its own church, and with only a fewexceptions, all members belong to the same sect* Parish affiliations are shown on Map 3. In Table J I give the population figures for each of the five missions represented. TAB IE V MISSION REPRESENTATION IN WEST AOBA Lovatulonga Nduindui Tavala Walaha and Total Vilakalaka Roman Catholic 15 - - - 15 10 10 Seventh Day Adventist - - - Apostolic Church - 95 140 408 643 Melanesian Mission 71 302 - - 373 Church of Christ 27 1,003 64 - 1,094 113 1,400 204 418 2,135 Apart from Nataluhangele (Apostolic Church), all the Nduindui parishes belong to either the Melanesian Mission or the Church of Christ. These two denominations have divided the island into what are termed districts, and as these do not coincide with the traditional districts, some explanation is required. In Melanesian Mission organization the term ’’Nduindui district” refers to all communities that come directly under the authority of the native-ordained priest who lives at Nambangahage, where the district church and school are located. They comprise not only the seven parishes of Nduindui proper, but also three in Lovatulonga and two in Vuingelato (the last is in east Aoba). 61 . The C h u rc h -o f-C h ri3 t N duindui d i s t r i c t in c lu d e s tw elv e p a ris h e s i n th e t r a d i t i o n a l d i s t r i c t , one i n T a v a la , one in L ovatulonga and two i n Lolokaram buhi ( e a s t A oba). A ll th e s e s e ttle m e n ts c o n tr ib u te funds t o th e d i s t r i c t c o u n c il, a tte n d im p o rta n t s e r v ic e s in th e d i s t r i c t c h u rc h , and send r e p r e s e n ta tiv e s t o c o u n c il m e etin g s. The s tr e n g th o f t i e s based on den o m in atio n membership d iv id e th e t r a d i t i o n a l d i s t r i c t s i n t e r n a l l y and l i n k p a r ts w ith n eig h b o u rin g com m unities. F o r exam ple, th e members o f a l l th r e e T avala p a ris h e s a re c lo s e ly i n t e r - r e l a t e d by k in s h ip and a f f i n i t y , and i n d a y -to -d a y c o n cern s th e v a rio u s r e l a t i v e s r e g u la r ly c o -o p e ra te . Yet th e th r e e com m unities, because o f t h e i r d i f f e r e n t m issio n a f f i l i a t i o n s , have b u i l t up t h e i r own e x c lu s iv e e x t r a - d i s t r i c t c o n ta c ts . The Amata le a d e rs f r e q u e n tly go t o N duindui t o d is c u s s church m a tte r s , to h e a r d is p u te s and to a tte n d im p o rtan t s e r v ic e s h e ld in th e d i s t r i c t ch u rc h . The young men and boys go t o N duindui to a tte n d th e m issio n sc h o o l and to p la y f o o t b a l l . The T a v a la Hage and Apopo men have a s im ila r range o f c o n ta c ts w ith WaJLaha and o th e r A p o sto lic -C h u rch com m unities t o th e w e s t. W ith in N duindui p ro p e r th e r e i s a h ig h e r r a t e o f i n t e r - a c t i o n be­ tw een n eig h b o u rin g s e ttle m e n ts o f th e same denom ination th a n th e r e i s betw een th o s e o f d i f f e r e n t d en o m in a tio n s. The d e g re e o f s u s p ic io n , c r i t i c i s m , and a t tim e s even open h o s t i l i t y betw een th e C h u rc h -o fC h r is t and A nglican m is s io n a r ie s i s in la r g e p a r t r e f l e c t e d i n th e r e l a t i o n s betw een t h e i r r e s p e c tiv e c o n g re g a tio n s . The N duindui f r e q u e n tly s t a t e t h a t th e y would l i k e to s e e th e t r a d i t i o n a l d i s t r i c t d e v elo p in to a s in g le p o l i t i c a l community, and 62 they fully realize that the existence of the different denominations reduces the possibility of achieving this goal, ’’one people, we are kin ( bela ). divided by the missions’1. ^ e are”, they say, It is not good that we should be The difficulty in attempting to reconcile the opposed ideals of mission and district solidarity can be seen in the ambivalent attitudes displayed towards inter-denomination marriage. When the Nduindui think in terms of mission solidarity they state that it is best for marriage to be intra-denominational; when they think in terms of the district as a single kinship community they express strong disapproval of any attempt to consider religion as a significant variajble in marriage regulations. The mission endogamy ideal tends to be favoured by men whose status and influence depends on the degree of political cohesion between parishes of their own denomination, that is, church leaders. The ambivalence is also apparent in the difficulty of reconciling a willingness to take a wife from another denomination (she normally changes to her husband^ church) with a reluctance to thus lose their own women. The figures presented in Table VI indicate that though 25 per cent of marriages are mixed, there is nevertheless a pronounced preference for unions within the same sect. The tendency to marry within the same mission is clear in that though 64 per cent of married couples were b o m in Church-of-Christ parishes (383 men and women from a total of 602), yet 72.4 per cent Church-of-Christ men married women of their own sect. The trend is even more pronounced among the Melanesian Mission converts. 25*6 per cent of the total group were born into Melanesian Mission parishes, 63 yet 86,8 per cent of their men married women of the same sect, TABLE VI THE NATAL MISSION AFFILIATIONS OF NDUINDUI MARRIED COUPLES VFife b o m in: Husband b o m in: Church of Christ Melanesian Mis­ sion parish parish Church of Christ parish Apostolic Total parish Men 157 29 31 217 Melanesian Mis­ sion parish 7 58 2 67 Apostolic Church parish 7 - 10 17 171 87 43 301 Total women It is of some interest to note that the intra-denominational prefer­ ence amongst the Melanesian-Mission people is confined mostly to the men (29 of their women married Church-of-Christ men, but only seven of their men married women of other denominations). The reason is that though the Church-of-Christ men are happy enough to marry women of other sects, they are reluctant to allow their women to marry out. The numerical superiority and greater per capita wealth of the Church-ofChrist adherents enable them both to hold their own women and also attract wives from other denominations (14 women lost to 60 gained). The Melanesian-Mission members are understandably irritated. Many of them complain that because of the difficulty of finding wives for their young men from within the district, they are forced to arrange marriages . 64 with girls of Melanesian parishes both in Lovatulonga and in east Aoba. Despite the definite bias towards intra-denominational marriage it has not as yet become a major determinant in Nduindui regulations* As in the past, the most important considerations are the avoidance of specified kin and a desire to marry close to home* CHAPTER III PARISH STRUCTURE AND MEMBERSHIP COMPOSITION The central problem discussed in the following four chapters is the extent to which the parish forms a discrete, solidary and enduring social unit (the last characteristic is further discussed in chapter X) • Hogbin and Wedgwood have suggested that the cohesion and political stability of the Melanesian parish is correlated with the number of component carpels and the degree of variability and constancy in effect­ ive members. They stated: Monocarpellary parishes, in which marriage is necessarily exogamous, are exceptional. Their strength and stability as social units seem to be considerable when patrilineal descent is combined with patri-virilocal residence, for then the group of effective male members is closed and constant,Tl) Monocarpellary parishes in which matrilineal descent is combined with avunculo-virilocal residence may also possess considerable solidar­ ity, But the group of effective male members is neither closed nor constant, and therefore ’’they have not the same traditions of comrade­ ship and corporate life upon which to build as have the men of patri- 1, Hogbin, H,I. and Wedgwood, C.H. ‘‘Local Grouping in Melanesia“, Oceania. Vol, 23, No, 4, 1953, p* 65. 66 lineal patri-virilocal monocarpellary perishes, who have been effective birth members of the one parish since infancy.” 0 ) Monocarpellary parishes in vrhich na trilineal descent is combined with matri-uxorilocal residence are less likely to form cohesive and enduring units as it is the women and not the men who provide structural continuity. When parish membership is defined by descent, but without any emphasis on the male or the female line, the individual is, at least in theory, capable of exercising choice between a number of possibilities. Even when secondary considerations so limit the range that group affil­ iation is as invariant and constant as that found in conjunction with an ideology of unilinear descent and unilocal residence, the recognition of legitimate variation introduces an element of flexibility. There are, however, comparatively few Melanesian societies in which descent, whether unilinear or non-unilinear, is the sole criterion for local-group membership. Adoption, marriage, a parent^ or an ancestor^ former residence, utilization of land, participation in economic, ritual and other activities, etc. may, though perhaps only in special circum­ stances, be also considered valid. In this type of society the solidar­ ity and stability of the parish is in large part dependent on two factors; on the one hand, the ideological emphasis placed on descent, especially agnetic descent; ard,on the other, the statistical incidence of effective male membership acquired on secondary grounds. We can say then that in the most rigidly structured parish both dogma and facts conform to the agnatic monocarpellary ideal-type model. 1• ibid, p.65 The principal 67 aim of the present chapter is to determine the extent to which the Nduindui parish accords with or deviates from this extreme position* I first give a brief outline of the homestead and the elementary family, I then go on to abstract from genealogical and census data, oral traditions and sketch maps, the effective structural principles govern­ I ing the social composition of parishes and parish-sections. the full range of parish types on the basis of three criteria establish - the number of component carpels, the presence or absence of semi-autonomous parish-sections (both monocarpellary and multicarpellary), and the degree of variability and constancy in effective parish members* Homestead distribution Homesteads are scattered throughout the district, each standing on its own clearing separated as a rule by more than thirty yards from its nearest neighbours* Parish dwellings are sometimes, though by no means always, situated closer to one another than they are to those of neighbouring parishes. This is especially so in inland communities where gullies and other natural obstacles used as territorial boundaries are more formidable than on the coast* Within the parish the pattern of homestead distribution is correlat­ ed with the size of the group and the number of component carpels and multi-carpel-sections* There are thus considerable differences* At the present stage of the analysis it is sufficient to note that there is a tendency for carpel members to form a residential cluster located in the vicinity of a large clearing and menfs club-house* Some of the larger carpels are differentiated into a number of such groups, and 68 like the multicarpellary parishes, they tend to be located closer to one another than to similar groups in neighbouring parishes. Maps 4, 5,6, and 7 show that these clustering tendencies are not very marked. On the coast the scattering of homesteads within the parish is more pronounced than it is inland. This is because of an increase in the extent to which the members of tradjlonally corporate land-owning groups partitioned their ground into separate holdings (see chapter V). Bach individual prefers to build his homestead on the land that he alone uses. Even in inland parishes residential dispersal is greater than it was in the past, partly on account of the cessation of warfare and the traditional activities associated with the ceremonial grounds and club-houses. Household compositions In Navuti parish (population 109) there are 31 occupied houses giving an average of 3 »5 persons per household. Membership is as follows:A) Twenty each occupied by a married couple, three without children and seventeen with one to seven children (mean = three). B) Three each occupied by a young single man who intends to be married shortly. C) Four each occupied by a widower with children,and three without. D) Four each occupied by a widow with children, and one without. These figures reveal one of the more characteristic features of the society, the limitation of the household to either a single elementary family or an incomplete family (bachelors, widows and widowers). 69 In a family of three generations1 depth with the second generation all married, the surviving grandparents continue to live by them- 4 $, selves, though their real and classifatory grandchildren regularly visit them, sind often stay for long periods. If the husband should die first the surviving widow continues to live by herself, though more usually she moves into a small hut in the same clearing as a married son or a brother-in-law. Table VII indicates the place of residence of all widows in the district. TABLE VII PLACE OF RESIDENCE OF WIDOWS In deceased husband*s parish In hut near married son 24 In deceased husband*s house to With another widow 6 With widowed mother 2 In hut near married son 1 In hut near married sister 2 In parish of birth In m r r i e d sister1s parish Total: 45 In a household occupied by a married couple with children, the daughters when they marry leave to join their husbands* who are mostly members of other parishes. Sons leave their parents* household when they are about ten to twelve years old, and until they build their own house, normally not far from that of their father, they live a 70 roving and unattached life in club-houses and homesteads of various relatives in their own and neighbouring parishes. Many youths spend a part of each year attending mission boarding schools and when a little older make frequent trips to Santo to earn money as wharf labourers. The principal reason for the early departure of sons from the parents1 household is the absolute prohibition of any form of contact between siblings of the opposite sex. Even if a boy should have no sisters he must still depart because of a similar, though not so extreme, avoidance pattern between mothers and sons. These two relat­ ionships, which I discuss at greater length in chapter VII, result in the earlybreak up of the elementary family. Married brothers, and indeed all married men, maintain separate households. People told me this was to avoid the quarrels that would follow on the inevitable adultery. The disapproval of sexual inter­ course between a man and his brother1s wife is rationalized in the belief that a woman who knew the penes of two living brothers would contract a serious disease. M u l t males are forbidden entry to the dwelling of the married brother and consultations always take place outside. The limitation of household membership to the elementary family can also be interpreted as a manifestation of the emphasis placed on the individual. The balance that obtains between the apparently contradictory ideals of individual autonomy and group solidarity, especially that of closely related male agnates, will appear again and again in the course of the thesis. 71 Homestead types (see plates 2 te 7) The main building stood in a small clearing and was surrounded by a wall* The homestead is known as tata. though there is no term for the elementary family itself* Homesteads can be divided into two types. Formerly that of an unimportant man consisted of a house (ingwa) and a small hut nearby used by his wife during her mei&rual periods and at childbirth* dwelling itself was divided by a partition into two sections. The That at the back served as a bedroom for the wife and female children, the front as a kitchen and dining room and a bedroom for the husband and the young sons* Today the homesteads of young and unimportant married men are much as described except that they lack a fence. The traditional style building ha3 also been largely replaced by a construction in timber, fibre, concrete and corrugated iron. Often the kitchen is a separate structure where cooking can still be done in a stone oven. In the past the homestead of a man of standing was more elaborate. In addition to the main residence there were a number of additional buildings for the secondary wives (see chapter VI for further details on polygamous households)* Leaders also possessed a club-house (vale) situated at the edge of a large clearing (sara) • Sacrificial and dancing grounds The clearing known as sara (as distinct from the smaller tata) required the performance of at least one pig-killing ceremony, together 72 with associated feasts and dances* Today they are mostly used for the feasts and displays of wealth at rites de passage, and in some parishes for football matches* Each sara has a name, frequently that of the man who originally made it, sometimes that of a more famous descendant, and occasionally that of some natural object in the vicinity. Many of these grounds are no longer in use, though members can always point out their exact locat­ ion. Abandoned clearings can be identified by the presence of straight rows of cycas palms where pigs were sacrificed, by the stone mounds of graves, and in some cases by the stone tables erected by men of high rank. Within the parish a new segment was created each time a member cleared a new ground. Such a ground was initially called after the man who first sacrificed on it, for example, Sara i Vira. If Vira proceeded to achieve high rank his clearing became the social centre for members of a number of neighbouring homesteads. Other men of lesser rank would perform their ceremonies on Vira*£ ground, thus the name would become well known throughout the district. If the fame of this ground should continue for many years, and if there were no others of equal repute in the parish, then Sara i Vira might eventually super­ cede the old parish name. Only men of the two highest ranks had the right to clear a new sacrificial ground, decorate their dwellings with certain insignia, build a club-house beyond a specified length, or marry more than one wife. When low-ranking men acted above their station leaders invariably took action against them, either by public criticism, sorcery or even 73 m urder. T his r u li n g a ls o p re v e n ted an u n s u c c e s s fu l son from b u ild in g h is hom estead on h is d eceased f a t h e r fs sax a , he and h is b r o th e r s ( i f a ls o o f low ran k ) co n tin u e d to l i v e i n th e v i c i n i t y and to j o i n t l y u se i t s f a c i l i t i e s . I f , l a t e r on, two o f them should r i s e to h ig h ra n k , th e n u s u a lly th e f i r s t would move to h is fa th e r* s s a r a , and th e second would c le a r a new one n earb y . The c e s s a tio n o f p i g - k i l l i n g r i t u a l has meant t h a t th e c le a r in g s a re no lo n g e r so n e c e s s a ry . But an im p o rta n t man s t i l l needs a s u b s t a n t i a l ground on w hich t o ho ld f e a s t s and p u b lic exchanges o f w e a lth . From a t o t a l o f 317 male h o u se h o ld e rs, $3 l i v e on c le a r in g s d ig n if ie d by th e t i t l e o f s a r a . has a p p e a re d . W ith C h r i s t i a n i t y a new ty p e o f s a r a As each p a r is h was co n v erted th e members c o n trib u te d a sum o f money tow ards th e pu rch ase o f about h a l f an a c re o f la n d , which th e y c a lle d nGod>8 g a rd e n “ . T his th e y c le a re d , o r i g i n a l l y f o r th e ch u rch , though now i n many p a ris h e s th e communally-owned b u ild in g s and u t i l i t i e s ( e .g . f e a s t house, c o u n c il ho u se, c o -o p e ra tiv e s t o r e , r e s t a u r a n t , w e ll, sind f o o t b a l l f i e l d ) axe a ls o lo c a te d on i t . T his church s a r a a c ts a s a more e n d u rin g symbol o f p a r is h s o l i d a r i t y th a n d id th e t r a d i t i o n a l s a r a o f a s u c c e s s fu l p i g - k i l l e r . The m e n ^ clu b T h i s ,l i k e th e s a r a . v a rie d i n s iz e and s t y l e , and a ls o i n th e e x te n t to which i t was used by th e members o f one o r more h o u se h o ld s. The s m a lle s t w ere about 36 f e e t long and th e l a r g e s t 90. I n each p a r is h one, and in some c a se s two o r th r e e , c lu b s , c o n ta in e d th e s lit- g o n g s played d u rin g th e p i g - k i l l i n g r i t e s , to accompany dances 74. and to announce the different stages of burial ceremonies. of highest rank owned a full set of five* Only men Lesser men had to pay a few pigs for the temporary removal of the instruments to their own club. During the course of the rank-taking ceremony and for a few days afterwards, the candidate, together with other men of similar or higher rank who attended as sponsors, pig-donors or simply as spectators, re­ tired to the club to eat, drink kava and sleep. At the end of this period they returned to their families and could take meals with any­ body regardless of rank, age, etc. This is in marked contrast with the islands to the west of Aoba, especially Malekula, where a man who had sacrificed pigs ate food cooked in an oven reserved for men of the same rank located in a special section of the club. his time sleeping in the club rather than He also spent much of with his wife and children. It is clear that this difference had an effect on the relative importance and solidarity of the elementary family. In Nduindui it is only on special occasions and for short periods that a man is ritually separated from his wife and children. They themselves say that the men of the western islands are too proud, and that it is bad for a man to be permanently sacred, standing aloof from his family and lesser men. (For further implications of this difference between the two islands see chapter VII). The club also functioned as a guest-house, a meeting place for the men of neighbouring homesteads to drink kava and chat, and a dormitory for the youths and unmarried men. sara have lost much of their importance. These buildings, like the A few men still build them, but primarily as a means of seeking recognition as persons of substance. 75 They re c e iv e and e n t e r t a i n g u e s ts th e r e and sometimes garage t h e i r je e p s . The y o uth s d i s l i k e spending th e n ig h t in such a p u b lic p la c e , and p r e f e r t o g a th e r i n sm all groups i n modern s ty le houses r e c e n tly p re p a re d f o r a forth com ing m arriag e (where th e y can gamble and d r in k i n p r iv a c y ) . Each p a r is h a ls o p o s se ss e s a c e n t r a l c lu b where everyone,(women and c h ild r e n in c lu d e d ) assem ble and g o s s ip . The le a d e rs meet h e re , to o , t o d is c u s s m a tte rs t h a t a r e o f g e n e r a l concern and h e a r d is p u te s . P a r is h s tr u c tu r e The d e f i ni t i o n o f th e p a r is h a s th e l a r g e s t l o c a l body t h a t main­ t a i n s some d e g re e o f perm anent p o l i t i c a l u n i t y i s so im p re c ise a s t o make i t d i f f i c u l t to d e c id e w hether c e r t a i n groups q u a lif y . An a g g re g a tio n o f p eople who to d a y m a in ta in a hig h d eg ree o f independence and autonomy may, p erhaps i n tw en ty o r t h i r t y y e a r s , become a dependent s e c tio n o f a l a r g e r p o l i t i c a l community. L ik ew ise, a p a r is h - s e c tio n may, th ro u g h in c r e a s in g p o p u la tio n o r th e emergence o f an o u ts ta n d in g le a d e r , succeed i n i t s e l f becoming autonom ous. S e c tio n s w ith a t r a d i t i o n o f p a s t p a r is h s t a t u s u s u a lly c o n tin u e to o p e ra te s e p a r a te ly i n c e r t a i n c o n te x ts , e s p e c i a l l y i n re s p e c t t o la n d and m a rria g e . The b a s ic en d u rin g u n i t o f l o c a l o r g a n iz a tio n i s r e f e r r e d t o by th e term to k a k i vanua = '’l i v i n g on th e la n d ” , a p h ra se in d ic a tin g th e c lo s e a s s o c ia ti o n o f p e o p le and s o i l . I t c o n s is ts o f a c o re o f a g n a tic - a l l y r e l a t e d m ales, t h e i r w iv es, widowed m others and unm arried d a u g h te rs . The m a jo r ity a ls o in c lu d e a few noru-agnatic im m igrants and th e descend­ a n t s , m o stly a g n a tic , o f n o n -a g n a tes who jo in e d i n p re v io u s g e n e r a tio n s . 76 The senior male members can demonstrate their common descent from an apical male ancestor, who lived three to six generations ago. Marriage is prohibited within the group, and members are united primarily through a common interest in their land. k few tokaki vanua are patrilineages (plus wives and an occasion­ al male householder who has acquired rights on non-descent criteria), but the majority are more appropriately referred to as either quasipatrilineages (ramages with a strong agnatic bias) or as ramages with no marked unilineal emphasis. In order to avoid confusion I shall in future refer to all such groups by the neutral term carpel 0 ) # Though a carpel is the co-resident core of a larger dispersed cognatic stock, both have the same apical ancestor; in other words, carpels are not segments within a wider overarching genealogical structure of corporate descent groups. The parish, as distinct from the carpel, is known by the term ngwatu jL vanua = ’’head of the landH. Most parishes are multicarpellary. They can be divided into two categories} those in which one or more of the component carpels (or a number of them together) maintain a tradition of past autonomy, and still act as separate units in certain contexts; and those in which there is no such tradition. Semi-autonom- ous parish sections are also known by the term ngwatu i vanua. a speaker wishes to distinguish them from the parish If as a whole he 1. See footnote on page 41* Strictly speaking the carpel consists solely of the descent core of the tokaki vanua. However, as there are so few non-descent members (excluding spouses) it would create unnecessary terminological confusion to distinguish the two categories. In the following discussion carpel = tokaki vanua. In chapter IV I further discuss the relationship between descent and locality. 77 refers to this as ngwatu i vanua lakua = ’’head of the land big”« Parishes with semi-autonomous sections can be further sub-divided into two categories; those in which the component sections are monocarpell- ary, and those in which they are multicarpellary. Combining the carpel and section criteria, parishes can be divided into four categories* A) Monocarpellary (five) B) Multicarpellary (six) parish status* C) Each carpel maintains a tradition of past Marriage is permissable between the carpels* Multicarpellary (four). Each carpel maintains that it has always a*. been''dependent section within the same parish* The parish is exogamcus * D) Multicarpellary (seven). A number of semi-autonomous sections one or more of which is similar in structure to the type C parish. Marriage is permissable between parish sections. The four types can be represented diagramatically as follows: A B Each cross represents a carpel* C D The outer circle represents the group’s status as a maximal political unit. In types B and D the inner circle represents the section’s status as having once been a parish together with a still limited autonomy in certain contexts. In the following detailed analysis I have provided in the second last column the number of adult male householders who are full agnatic 78 members, and i n th e f i n a l h o ld e rs* . column th e number o f n o n -a g n a tic male house­ (By a_ f u l l a g n a tic member I mean a p e rso n whose most rem ote a g n a tic male a n c e s to r was e i t h e r a c a r p e l fo u n d e r, o r was known to have been b o m t h e r e . By n o n -a g n a tic male h o u seh o ld e rs I mean th e men who a r e im m igrants o r descended from im m ig ran ts.) The two columns th e r e ­ f o r e p ro v id e an i n i t i a l , i n d ic a tio n o f th e e x te n t to w hich a g n a tic d e s c e n t d e term in e s membership o f th e c o rp o ra te l o c a l g ro u p s. I n th e f i n a l s e c tio n o f t h i s c h a p te r I s h a l l b re a k down th e c a te g o ry o f nona g n a tic h o u s e h o ld e rs . Type A P a ris h e s The f iv e m o n o c arp ellary p a r is h e s . Two (N a ta lu and Longwaru) conform f u l l y to th e l o c a l exogamous p a t r i l i n e a g e i d e a l ty p e , and th r e e (Nangweangwea, Lomwandu and L ovatu ru sa) d e v ia te t o th e e x te n t t h a t a number o f th e male h o u seh o ld e rs a re e i t h e r im m igrants o r th e d escen d ­ a n ts o f im m ig ran ts. TABLE V III TYPE *Al PARISH Made h o u seh o ld e rs A gnates Non-Agnates P o p u la tio n C arp els N a ta lu 10 1 2 - Longwaru 21 1 4 - Nangweangwea 49 1 7 1 Lomwandu 37 1 6 2 L o v a tu ru sa 92 1 5 14 209 5 24 17 P a r is h 79 Nangweangwea (see Map 4) is the largest parish conforming to the exogamous-patrilineage type. Appendix 1i gives a skeleton genealogy. The only non-agnatic member is Ambrose (F 8), whose father1s father was born a member of Lovutikerekere (section of Saralokambu parish). Ngarai Bue ( D 4) married a Nangweangwea woman who had no brothers; her sons inherited Tololofs (C 4) land. as other men of the parish. Ambrose has the same rights He has no rights in Lovutikerekere. The agnatic monocarpellery structure of this parish is related to two factors. First, the group has sufficient members to be able to maintain its autonomy and prevent outsiders from acquiring land rights; secondly, a surplus of land meant that nobody has had to leave and join other groups. Lovaturusa, by contrast, is one of the least agnatically oriented parishes. The genealogical structure is given in Appendix 2. settlement is on the coast near Nduindui anchorage. The It is said to have once been a part of the neighbouring parish of Vuinamwangwe but to have become separate shortly after the introduction of Christianity. Jack Tau (C 1) and his brother Hangele (C 2) were the first Christians. They were joined by two ex-Queensland converts (C 3 and C 5) and to­ gether the four men built a church near Jack*s homestead. The other men of Vuinamwangwe refused to have anything to do with them and cont­ inued to participate in pig-killing ceremonies. Soon afterwards the brothers Peter Takaro (D 1) and John Vuti (D 3) married two of Jack*s daughters. They also were early converts, and because their parish of Lombanga was at the time pagan, they joined their father-in-law. The parish continued to grow by natural increase and immigration. 80 Ben Ngara (D 9) of Tavalavuti quarrelled with hi 3 elder brother and joined his sister*s husband, Wilson Boi (D 7). Shem Ngarai (E 10) of ea3t Aoba attended the mission school in Nduindui, and on his marriage his father-in-law (D 14)gave him land so that he could live nearby. Seth Vira (E 12) is a member of an almost landless family of Navuti (see Tab3.e XIX), and, recently, after living for a few years with hi3 father he accepted a small piece of land from his father-inlaw and moved. But he still visits Navuti and joins some of the ventures there. Edwin Ngarai (E 14) was adopted by his mother*s brother Job Ngeo (D 17),and, though mo3t of his land is in his father*s parish of Saralokambu (Saranavia section, see p.85) he runs a large retail store alongside the district football ground, church sind council house at Lovaturusa and has chosen to live there. Type B parishes Two or more type A parishes that are known to have merged into a larger unit. The common element in all of these six parishes is that each of thQ eighteen sections is monocarpellary. TABLE IX TYPE B PARISH Parish Pop. Parish section Pop. Carpels Made householders Agnates Saralokambu 84 Lokambu 25 1 4 Saranavia 35 1 3 Lotano 15 1 4 Mon-agnates 7 (cont*d next page) 31 TABLE IX (Continued) TYPE B PARISH Parish ]?op. P a r i s h section Pop. Carpels Male householders Agnates Lolongwalakesa Saranambuga 67 52 L ovutikereker e 1 1 1 Lolotitiraba 8 1 1; - Lolon g w a l a k e sa 29 1i 5 1 Sarakarangwa 311 1 6 1 Saramahanga 7 t t 1 Saranambuga 18 t 3 - 7 1 1! - Tambunangwaia 27 1i 2 t Natakaro 52 1 10 1i 8 1 4 % 60 1 10 4 N g w a r a i Nahaha 19 1 4 1 Lolobinananungwa 54 1 10 1 Lol o n g e l a t o 19 1i 4 4M Saranakwelu 7 t 2 - 422 1:8 75 19 Naroke N a takaro 60 Saraimboivutu Navi t o r a 79 LolobinanungweD 8 0 Non-agnates Navitora 82 Saralokambu (see Map 5) serves as a typical example# It consists today of five neighbouring communities, each of which is said to have once been a separate parish. The first person to settle is said to have been Turuki (Appendix 3, A 1 ). lower down near the coast# He was born in Natalu, a mile There is no known genealogical connection between the Natalu men and the descendents of Turuki, and the relations between the two parishes do not vary in any significant way from those between any other two parishes# At the time of Turuki, Saralokambu was used by men from a number of different parishes for taro gardens, and Turuki moved up in order to protect his cultivation. He became a man of high rank and made a large sacrificial ground which he named Saralokambu (= Sara in the fire) because part of the land is covered with a lava flow# Today, the known descendants in the direct male line number seven householders. Of these, Thomas (G 11) the parish leader, and his married son Aukis (H 1), live on the original sara of Turuki# Two more, Jo3hua (G 2) and Seth (G 3) are nearby. Two generations ago a great-grandson of Turuki called Vuti Roi (D 3) quarrelled with his agnates and made a new homestead a short distance away on the land of his mother*s agnates in Lomwandu. Today, Mathias (F 5) and Simeon (F 6), hi3 grandsons, live in Lomwandu but still retain rights at Lokambu where they own the land of their grand­ father. They frequently visit the place and are considered to be full members of the parish-section. is still prohibited# Inter-marriage between the two branches On the introduction of Christianity the Lomwandu men joined the Melanesian Mission and built their own church. later Lokambu was converted to the Church of Christ# A little S3 The remaining adult male agnatic descendant of Turuki is Peter (G 4)• He was born in Lokambu but left at marriage to live with his wife near the coast. As the last surviving member of Londua, she had inherited all her father*s land, which was well planted with coco­ nuts, Theoretically Peter still has full rights in Lokambu land, but he uses only a small area for taro. The seven men mentioned stress their common agnatic descent from Turuki; they form a strictly exogamous unit and each contributes towards the bride-price, dowry and funeral expenses of his fellows* The four who still live in Lokambu state that the land is ’‘one**, mean­ ing that they have preferential rights of inheritance over n on- agjiatic descendants of Turuki and that they would have to agree beforehand if any of it could be sold. cultivated before him. Each one uses the section that his father As their common ancestor is their FFFF they do not know when exactly sub-division occurred. (For a fuller discussion of land usage and inheritance see Chapter V), Informants said that not long after Turuki founded Lokambu Kwagi Lakua (Appendix 4> A. 1) moved from Tavalavuti and cleared a new sara close by. He called it Lotano, and today there are six agnatic male descendants. Of these, one (F 7) lives at Saralotano, three (G 1,2 and 3) nearby, and two (F 8 and G 4) in Nambangahage. joined his wife's kin. Kwarimaieto (E 4) This agnatic kin group, though like that of Turuki in that it is no longer confined to one parish, is exogamous, and the four men who still live in Lotano have a similar sort of arrange­ ment and share the same sort of sentiments about their land as do the Lokambu men. Noel, the senior non-resident member neither cultivates 84, the land nor makes any claims as he has inherited sufficient in Nambangahage. He and his son Zachaeas occasionally visit Saralokambu to attend feasts* In subsequent generations, immigrants from other parishes; founded three more communities called Lolotitimba, Lovutikerekere and Saranavia. (Appendices 5>6 and 7). There are three surviving married male agnates of Lolotitimba, one of whom lives there (5, E 3) and two (E t and 2) in Saranavia* This pair are brothers. The elder married a Saranavia woman and built his house on her land, and the younger bought a small piece of ground from his brother1s wife1s brother and lives near him. All three Lolotitimba men retain rights in their agnatic land. There is only one surviving male descendant, Reuben Vira (6, D 1) the founder of Lovutikerekere, and he also lives in Saranavia with his wife*s agnates. kere. He has land rights both there and in Lovutikere­ Four generations ago a man of Saranavia, Dura (A 2), joined his wife*s agitates in Lovutikerekere and today there are three surviving male agnatic descendants. One (E 1) lives in Lovutikerekere, its only resident, and the others (E 2 and 3) in Saranavia, where they were adopted by John Ngarai (5, E 2 and 7, E 1). Both retain land rights in Lovutikerekere. There are four surviving full agnates of Saranavia. Three still live there, but the fourth, Edwin Ngarai (7, E 6) has moved to his motherls parish of Lovaturusa. Edwin still retains land rights in Saranavia where he collects most of his copra and makes his gardens. In addition, to the five men from Lovutikerekere and Lolotitimba who have built their houses on Saranavia land, two other married men have joined 85 the group, one from Malekula island (S 11) after he married a Saranavia woman, and the other ( E 5) from Navuti after adoption. acquired extensive land rights in Saranavia. Both have The following diagram summarizes the above data Lovutikerekere _ - a) Lolotitimba Lokambu Lotano ^ Saranavia 3/(3) 2 Malekula island and Navuti parish The diagram represents the parish and the relative position of the sections. The figures in brackets beneath each name are the numbers of male agnatic householders still resident. The arrows point­ ing out of the circle show the full agnatic male members who are known to live in other parishes, and the arrow pointing in to Saranavia the two outsiders who joined that community. The arrows heading broken lines point to the number of men who have left the section they were born in but still live in the parish. All five sections are reputed at some stage to have been autonom­ ous parishes, but the story is largely unknown. From the information 86 available it appears that at about the turn of the century the position was roughly as follows* There were five clusters of homesteads, each known by the name of the original sara. and with the majority of the male members constituting a substantially autonomous t>riented carpel* As I mentioned, a man normally marries a girl from a community close to his own* these five agnatically- Over the past four or five generations communities contracted many marriages amongst themselves; the result was a highly complex network of cognatic and affinal ties binding them together* With each additional marriage it became increas­ ingly difficult to find a girl within the cluster who was related so distantly as to be eligible as a bride. About fifty year3 ago Tungu Nalevuhi (3, E 1), the father*s father of Thomas of Lokambu, rose to high rank and became known throughout the whole of Aoba and the neighbouring islands. Through his personal prestige and power he drew these five communities closer together, thus completing the process of merging. One informant said that the name of Lokambu "grew big", meaning that of the sara names, Lokambu was the one best known to outsiders. Here gatherings of thousands of people from all over west Aoba took place. Further integration occurred about fifteen years ago when Thomas persuaded the members to join together to build a church. This and the community associated with it were named Saralokambu. Today, the parish is united in recognising the leadership of Thomas, in supporting the church financially, in attend­ ing services, possessing a parish school for the young children prepar­ ing for the district school, in constructing a co-operative cocoa fermentary, and in running a store-cuin-restaurant and taxi. The two 37 marriages that have taken place in recent years between component car­ pels, met with mild opposition on the grounds that intra-parish marriage divides the community* Type C parishes A parish that is like type A in that it is exogamous, has no tradition of any part having been a separate autonomous unit, and in certain contexts the members behave towards one another as though they were members of a single carpel. The group differs from type A in that there is no known genealogical connection between the apical ancestors of the component carpels. In some cases members believe that there may have been a common ancestor, but they do not stress the fact. Each carpel is substantially autonomous in respect to land matters - for example, a non-resident si3ter*s son would almost certainly in­ herit in preference to male members of other carpels in the same parish. In type A parish the sister*s son would have small chance of inheriting so long as there were any surviving resident male agnates, no matter how wide the collateral span. TABLE X TYPE C PARISH Parish Nanako Population Carpels M a l e hou s e h o l d e r s A g nates 16 Non-Asmates 6" 103 4 Saratangaulu 21 3 5 Tavalavuti 27 3 6 Mataindanu 53 3 8 4 204 13 35 10 as Type D parishes Jl parish similar to type B in that it is composed of a number of previously autonomous sections. Theoretically, marriage is permissable between parish sections, though the greater the degree of integration the stronger the disapproval. The parish differs from type B in that one or more of the component sections is divided into a number of carpels. TABLE XI TYPE D PARISH Parish Pop. Parish section Pop. Carpels Male householders Agnates Nataluhangele Nambangahage Vuinamwangwe 95 80 4t Nataluhangele 43 2 8 Saranarivua 26 1 6 Lolotitimba 10 1 5 Nahala Lakua 9 Navingundungundu 5 Saranavimbanga 2 Nambangahage 4 23 Lololasi 3 1 2 1 1 1 9 54 Natiuleo Non-agnates 1 2 j 3 7 1 1 Vuinamwangwe 32 4 7 Mwalo Karivi 9 T 2 3 (cont1d next page) 89 TABLE XI (Continued) TYPE D PARISH Parish Pop* Parish section Pop. Carpel Male householders Agnates Non-agnates Navuti 109 93 Lovanualigoutu 42 Lokaritange Navuti 41 4 9 3 Tambunatari 68 3 4 9 Lovanualigoutu 72 1 2 14 Navitakua 26 2 7 1 Lokaritange 14 2 2 1 Lolobeveo 16 1 3 - Ahuku 12 1 1 3 Lombanga 84 3 14 1 Lerabuto 16 2 2 $ 565 33 94 43 ■ to o Lombanga 565 TABLE XII SUMMARY OF TABLES VIII-XI N u m b e r of Pop. Numb e r of N u m b e r of A v e r a g e Male householders Parishn u m b e r of Agnates INon- A g n a t e s Carpels Parishes carpels sections i p.parish Ty p e A 1 5 1 17 209 5 24 | Type B 6 422 18 1,8 3 75 I 19 Type C 4 204 - 13 3.2 35 1 10 ,Typ e D 7 565 20 38 5.4 94 22 1400 38 74 3 «4 228 43 | 89 90 The above analysis establishes that while patrifiliation is one of the dominant organising principles of the social system, there is also some degree of variability both in local group composition and in the status of such groups# If, for the moment, we ignore the distinction between parish and semi-autonomous parish-section, and instead concentrate on the 47 ngwatu i vanua (the nine parishes of types A and C, and the 38 parish-sections of types B and D), a number of significant points can be deduced from the data presented in Table XIII TABIE XIII AGNATES AND CARPELS Male householders One or more non-agnates Total 16 16 32 11 '4 15 27 20 47 All agnates Ngwatu i Vanua Monocarpellary Multicarpellary A. 34 per cent (16) of the ngwatu i vanua groups consist of a single maximal patrilineage, plus wives. B. A further 34 per cent (16) conform to this basic pattern to the extent that the group is monocarpellary, but deviate in that there are a number of non-agnatic members. C. 23#4 per cent (11) conform to the extent that all members are full agnates, but deviate in that there are two or more descent 91 groups. D. Only nine per cent (4) deviate both in structure and in membership composition. In the remainder of this chapter I shall further analyse the two principal deviations (i.e* non-agnatic affiliation and multiplicity of carpels) from the basic equation of one ngwati i vanua to one patrilineage. In the foregoing analysis I made a simple distinction between full-agnatic and non-agnatic male householders. The total proportion of 228/89 indicates that while patrifiliation (71«9 per cent) is significantly high there is also scope for a certain amount of second­ ary affiliation. The category of non-agnates is, however, a gross simplification in that it can include all of the male agnatic descend­ ants of a man who joined the group as many as three or four generations earlier. I have therefore provided in the following table a more detailed analysis of the general category non-agnates (B to D inclusive). TABLE XIV RESIDENCE AFFILIATION A. FULL AGNATIC MEMBERS Percentage of total Male householders who are living in the same parish as did the apical male ancestor of their carpel 228 71.956 (cont*d next page) 92 TABLE XIV (Continued) RESIDENCE B. AFFILIATION AGNATES OF AT LEAST TWO GENERATIONS Percentage of total Male householders living in the same parish as did both their F and FF but in which the latter or his F or FF lived 1) with his wife*s agnates 10 2) with his mother*s agnates 4 3) In his adoptive father*a parish 2 16 C. 5.4 % AGNATES OF ONE GENERATION Male householders living in their father*s parish but in which the latter lived 1) with his wife*s agnates 19 2) with his mother^ agnates 7 3) in his stepfather*s parish 1 4) in a friend*s parish 1 28 8.7 % Total living in father*s parish, ignoring latters own residence affiliation (A,B and C) 272 86.0 % > (cont*d next page) 93. TABLE XIV (Continued) RESIDENCE AFFILIATION D. RESIDENT IS AN IMMIGRANT Percentage of total Male householders living in 1) Mother*s father*s parish 8 2) Mother*s mother*s parish 1 3) Wife*s father*s parish 22 4) Wife*s mother*s parish 1 5) Adoptive father*s parish 7 6) Friend*s parish 4 7) Stepfather*s parish 1 8) Sister*s husband*s parish 1 • 45 Total male householders 14 % 317 100 % It is to be noted that in type C (1) residence ego is living in the parish of his mother*s agnates and in this sense it is the same as type D (1) residence. I have separated the two because in the former ego is living with his mother*s agnates as a result of his father having moved before him, while in the latter he himself joined his motherfs agnates. Likewise, in type C (2) residence ego is liv­ ing with his father*s mother*s agnates because he was born there. There are no examples of a man having left his father*s agnates to join his father*s mother*s kin. 94 General comments The evidence supports the assumption th a t rig h ts of residence and land usage pass prim arily through the d ir e c t male lin e of descent* Secondary a f f i l ia t io n s are appealed to only in sp ecial cases, as when the group in to which a man was born i s short of land and th a t of his w ife or mother has p len ty , or when he q u arrels with his agnates. E ig h ty -six per cent of the male householders liv e in the same p a rish as t h e ir f a th e r . Moreover, of the 45 (14 P©r cent) men who do not liv e so, 22 of them are immigrants from outside the d i s t r i c t . ^ Excluding these immigrants we are l e f t w ith only 23 (7.2 per cent) Nduindui men who are liv in g in a p arish oth er than th a t of t h e i r fa th e r. That i s to say 92*8 per cent of the male householders born in th e d i s t r i c t liv e in th e fath er* s p a rish (as ag ain st 71*9 per cent f u l l ag natic members)• A fu rth e r examination of these 23 cases rev eals th a t seven of them are liv in g w ith th e i r mother*s k in . (Six have re a lis e d contingent rig h ts of in h eritan ce as s is te rs * or daughters* sons. The seventh liv e s in h is mother*s mother*s p a rish but has n e ith e r garden nor copra making r ig h ts ) . Of the remaining six tee n non-agnates six liv e in the w ife fs p a rish as a r e s u lt of her having acquired land rig h ts through an absence 1 . Three are from ftalaha and V ilakalaka in west Aoba, eig h t from e a st Aoba, seven from Malekula, two from Raga and one each from Mwaevo and Mwere Lava (Banks group). F ifte e n of these immigrants m arried Nduindui women and a l l of them have acquired land rig h ts in t h e i r wives* p a rish es, some by purchase, some as g i f ts from t h e i r wives* agnates and some because t h e ir wives in h e rite d through a shortage of male agnates. Three more made frien d s w ith Nduindui men when working on Santo p la n ta tio n s and returned and s e ttle d down in the d i s t r i c t . Their frien d s l e t them share t h e ir land and as th re e are c h ild le ss the (co n t’d next page) 95. (fo llo w ed by p . o f c lo s e male a g n a te s , a s u rp lu s o f la n d , o r th e two com bined. Seven 96a) l i v e w ith t h e i r f o s t e r f a t h e r s from whom th e y in h e r ite d f u l l la n d r i g h t s , and can th e r e f o r e be counted as f u r t h e r in s ta n c e s o f a g n a tic a ffilia tio n . One l i v e s i n th e p a r is h o f h is s te p f a th e r , where he p urchased la n d , and th e l a s t i n h is s i s t e r * s husband*s p a r is h , t o which he b eto o k h im s e lf a f t e r a q u a r r e l w ith h is a g n a te s . His r i g h t s i n h is s i s t e r * s h u sb an d !s p a r is h a re r e s i d e n t i a l o n ly and th u s s im ila r to th o se o f th e man who jo in e d h is m other*s m other*s a g n a te s . The number o f f a t h e r s who liv e d in th e p a r is h o f t h e i r w ife , m other o r o th e r n o n -a g n a tic k in (19, 7 and 2 r e s p e c tiv e ly ) i s s im ila r t o th o s e o f th e p re s e n t g e n e ra tio n s who l i v e i n th e same way (2 3 , 19 and 6 r e s p e c t i v e l y ) . T h is su g g e sts t h a t th e r e has been no s i g n i f i c a n t r e c e n t change i n p a tte r n s o f re s id e n c e a f f i l i a t i o n . I have ex clu d ed th e seven men l i v i n g in th e f o s t e r f a th e r * s p a r is h . I t i s h ig h ly p ro b a b le t h a t a t l e a s t a s many d id lik e w is e i n th e p re v io u s g e n e r a tio n , and now a p p ea r i n th e g e n e a lo g ie s as tr u e so n s. The em phasis on p a t r i f i l i a t i o n i s f u r t h e r a p p a re n t in t h a t e ig h t men a re l i v i n g w ith t h e i r m other*s a g n a te s a s a g a in s t o n ly one w ith h i s m other*s m other*s a g n a te s , and 22 w ith th e w ife* s a g n a te s as a g a in s t o n ly one w ith h is w ife * s m other*s a g n a te s . The a l t e r n a t i v e s t o re s id e n c e w ith th e f a t h e r *s a g n a te s do n o t ex ten d th ro u g h many lin k s - the most (c o n t* d . from p re v io u s page) 1 . q u e s tio n o f tra n s m is s io n o f r i g h t s has n o t a r i s e n . Two more im m igrants were adopted as c h ild r e n by N duindui men and have i n h e r ite d f u l l la n d r i g h t s . The rem ain in g two a r e sons o f N duindui women who m arried o u ts id e r s and su b se q u e n tly i n h e r ite d lan d r i g h t s th ro u g h a la c k o f male a g n a te s . 96 (fo llo w ed by rem ote b e in g th e m other*s m o th er1s , and even h e re o n ly lim ite d r i g h t s 9( have been g ra n te d . As a f i n a l p o in t i t i s w orth n o tin g t h a t d e s p ite th e sm all number (7 ,2 p e r c e n t) o f men l i v i n g i n a p a r is h d i f f e r e n t from t h a t o f t h e i r f a t h e r , t h i s f ig u r e , when combined w ith th e 14 p e r c e n t ex-N duindui im m ig ran ts, and re p e a te d i n ro u g h ly s im ila r p ro p o rtio n s i n each g e n e r a tio n , i s s u f f i c i e n t t o give th e r e l a t i v e l y h ig h f ig u r e o f 2 7,7 p e r c e n t male h o u seh o ld e rs who a r e n o t f u l l - a g n a t i c members o f th e p a r is h i n which th e y l i v e . ( ^ ) The f i f t e e n m u ltic a r p e lla r y ngwat u i vanua (Nanako, S a ra ta n g a u lu , T a v a la v u ti and M ataindanu p a ris h e s j N ahala Lakua, Nambangahage, N a ta lu h a n g e le , N a tiu le o , Vuinamwangwe, N av u ti, T am b u n atari, N av itak u a, L o k a rita n g e , Lombanga and Lembuto p a r is h s e c tio n s ). The problem i s to a cc o u n t f o r th e p re sen c e o f more th a n one c a r p e l i n each o f th e s e ngwatu i van u a. T able XV (s e e n e x t page) p ro v id e s a number o f c lu e s . 1 • I f th e r e were no ex-N duindui male im m igrants and we assumed t h a t th r e e g e n e ra tio n s ago re s id e n c e a f f i l i a t i o n was f u l l y a g n a tic and t h a t i n each subsequent g e n e r a tio n 7 ,2 p e r c e n t re s id e n c e was n o n -a g n a tic , we would th e n fin d t h a t i n th e t h i r d g e n e r a tio n th e r e would be 8 .5 p e r c e n t im m igrants and 15*1 d e sc e n d a n ts o f th e im m igrants o f th e two p re v io u s g e n e r a tio n s . I n o th e r w ords, 23*6 p e r c e n t men would be nonm­ a g n e tic members o f t h e i r p a r is h o f r e s id e n c e . The c lo s e p a r a l l e l o f t h i s h y p o th e tic a l f ig u r e w ith th e a c t u a l f ig u r e o f 27.7 p e r c e n t i s a d d i t i o n a l evidence t h a t th e number o f n o n -a g n a tic re s id e n c e a f f i l i a t ­ io n s has been f a i r l y c o n s ta n t ov er th e p a s t few g e n e r a tio n s . TABLE XV ANALISIS OF MULTICARPELURY NGWATU I VANUA Coast Tradition of origin Inland No known origins Tradition of origin No known origins Total Multicarpellary 1 8 3 3 15 Mono carpellary 1 .6 19 6 32 2 14 22 9 47 The figures indicate a definite correlation between the monocarpellary ngwatu i vanua, inland location and tradition of origin, and to a lesser extent between the multicarpellary ngwatu coastal location and lack of any such tradition. i vanua. The following two factors are relevant in accounting for the greater structural simpli­ city of the inland groups. A. Copra plantations are of longer standing and more numerous on the coast than inland» In chapter V I shall argue that the change from subsistence gardening to cash-cropping has weakened the solidarity of the maximal groups. Greater autonomy exercised by minor segments and by individuals would render memorizing of a common genealogy unnecessary. B. Table XVI demonstrates that there are more non-agnates present in the coastal groups than in the inland. (Table XVI: see next page). 97 TABLE XVI COAST AND INLAND: AGNATES AND NON-AGNATES ---------------------— Male householders Inland parishes Percentage of agnates Agnates Non-agnates 130 24 84.4 98 65 60,1 Coastal parishes — There are a number of reasons why coastal communities should more readily accept immigrants. In the first place, they have always main­ tained a wide range of external relations through overseas trading. These contacts have resulted in a small though regular intake of out­ siders as husbands of female members, and also as friends brought back from other islands. In the second place, high population density has led to such intensive land utilization (even prior to cash cropping) that numerous mechanisms of re-allocating resources between small and large carpels has led to a high incidence of non-agnatic affiliation. This in turn laid the foundation for the emphasis placed on individual autonomy, and hence multiplicity of carpels, subsequently developed by the planting of coconuts. Inland carpels, on the other hand, have maintained their agnatic purity by periodically establishing new settle­ ments in virgin territory. This argument will be more fully developed in chapter V, I simply note it here as the principal factor accounting for the structural differences between coast and inland. To conclude the chapter I suggest that during a period of populat­ ion stability the changing political status of local groups would be 98 equally the result of, on the one hand, either internal segmentation of groups or the hiving off of individuals to. found new communities, as for example in the establishment of the five sections of Saralokambu parish, and, on the other hand, the fusion of two or more neighbouring communities into a larger political unit* population decline, such as the During a period of marked Nduindui experienced from about i860 to 1930, fusion would necessarily occur more frequently than either fission or hiving* Previously autonomous settlements so declined in numbers that the survivors found it necessary to re-group themselves into multi-section parishes* This would in part account for the fact that I could find only one example of two neighbouring parishes whose members could demonstrate genealogically that they were originally a single unit. The division is said to have taken place three generations ago* In recent years fusion on a wider scale has begun to operate in response to the challenge of new wants and new values* Examples are the multi-parish Church Councils associated with the mission sects, the multi-parish enterprises created in order to purchase large launches or to finance and run copra co-operatives, and in very recent years the first discussions concerning the introduction of a multidenominational west A.oba Government Council. These new processes of fusion above the parish level are as yet weak sind impermanent and have not resulted in the emergence of truly corporate sind enduring political units* In chapter X I shall discuss some of these organizations further. CHAPTER IV THE IDEOLOGY OF KIN GROUP MEMBERSHIP In recent years there has been much debate about whether certain societies, especially those of Melanesia 0 ) and Polynesia,(2) can be more appropriately classed as unilinear or non-unilinear. Contradictory verdicts, though sometimes due to ambiguities and gaps in the ethnographic data, are probably more often the result of the many contexts in which a given society can be said to be either unilinear or non-unilinear. Classification is relatively simple when descent group membership is the principal determinant of an individuals statuses, property rights and place of residence. In such a society the extent to which the unilinear principle is emphasized in descent group membership is parallelled by a similar emphasis in succession, inheritance and local group affiliation. Difficulties occur either when different types of descent groups (or categories) are present in 1. For Melanesia see Pouwer, J. "Loosely Structured Societies in Netherlands New Guinea", Bi.id.t Taal-« Volke, Vol. 116, 1i960. Pouwer, J. "Social Structure in the Western Interior of Sarmi", Biid., Taal-, Land- Volke, Vol. 116, I960, Pouwer, J. "New Guinea as a Field for Ethnological Study", Bi.id., Taal-. Land- Volke. Vol. 117, 1961. Van der Leeden, A.C. " Social Structure in New Guinea", Bi.id., Taal-, LandVolke, Vol. 116, I960. Barnes, J.A. "African Models in the New Guinea Highlands", Man, Vol. 62, 1962. Brown, P. "Non-Agnates Among the Patri­ lineal Chimbu», JPS, Vol. 71, 1962. Glasse, R. "The -Hali Descent System: A Preliminary Account", Oceania, Vol. 29, 1959* 2. (see next page) 100 the same society or when factors other than descent are relevant in succession, etc. For example, in east Aoba matrilineal descent (or adoption) is the sole criterion for membership of the clans and moieties. But these kin categories are of little importance in the recruitment of members to local, groups, in the transmission of land rights, and in the acquirement of leadership status. In both east and west Aoba the local group (tokaki vanua), despite its demographic and structural similarity to a locally-anchored exogamous patrilineage, is not, strictly speaking, a descent group at all; it is a territorial group in which most of the male members happen to be recruited on the basis of agnatic filiation. If, as appears likely, many of the so-called descent groups of Polynesian societies are similar to the tokaki vanua, it is then pointless to debate about them as patrilineages, ramages, non-uhilinear descent groups etc. Barnes has made a similar point in reference to the New Guinea Highlands. He wrote, nIf, as Fortes advocates, we continue to restrict the category *descent group* to groups in which descent is the only criterion for membership, then in many Highland societies it is hard to discover 2.(from previous page) For Polynesia see Goodenough,W.H. “A Problem in Malavo-Polvnesian Social Organization.0 A.A..V0I. 57, 1955» Firth, R. "A Note bn Descent Groups in Polynesia*', Man, Vol. 57, 1957. Davenport, W. "Non-unilinear Descent and Descent Groups", A.A.. Vol. 61, 1959. Fortes, M. "Descent, Filiation and Affinity", Man, Vol. 59, 1959. Leach, E. "Descent, Filiation and Affinity", Man. Vol. 60, 1960. Leach, E. "A Note on the Mangaian Kopu with Special Reference to the Concept of Non-unilinear Descent", A.A.. Vol. 64> 1962. Murdock, G.P. (ed.), intro, to "Social Structure in South-East Asia". Chicago, I960. Freeman, J.D. Review of Sahlins* "Social Stratification in Polynesia", Man. Vol. 61!, 1961!. Sahlins, M.D. "Review of Murdock" (1960), JPS.. Vol.72, 1963. Freeman, J.D. "On the concept of the kindred", JRAI.. Vol. 91, 1961. 101 descent groups” Even if it is granted that such Polynesian groups as the Mangaian kopu, Tongan haa, Tahitian ’’district” and Easter Island mat a , can he legitimately referred to as descent groups, further difficulties can result from discrepancies between the de facto composition of the.groups and the ideology of descent* D a v e n p o r t ^ and M u r d o c k ^ have recently classed all such groups as cognatic primarily because membership can be legitimately acquired on the basis of non-agnatic descent criteria. S a h l i n s , ^ F r e e m a n , ^ and L e a c h ^ As point out, the ideology is agnatic in emphasis, and there is little evidence to show that non-agnatic affiliation is significantly greater than that reported in such classic cases of patriliqy as the Tiv or the Nuer. Sahlins (7)' underlined the critical relevance of the descent dogma by contrasting the Tiv, where it is agnatic, and the T o ’ambaita of north /ox Malaita, v/here it is cognatic. In the Tiv' ' minimal tar 17 per cent of the adult men live with non-agnates, whereas in the T o ’ambaita (9) 1. Barnes, J.A. p.6* 2* Davenport, W. pp. 559“6l. 3* Murdock, G.P* pp. 11-12. 4. Sahlins, M. pp. 45~6. 5. Freeman, J.D. JRAI» 1961, P*200. 6. Leach, E. A note, p. 603. 7. Sahlins, M. pp.42-43. 8. Bohannan, P. Tiv Farm and Settlement, CRS No.15, London, HMSO, 1954> pp.10-11 and 73* 9. Hogbin, H.I. Experiments in Civilization, London, 1939» pp.26-7. 102 district group (parish) non-agnatic affiliation is only about 10 per cent. In the previous chapter I established that though most of the male members of the tokaki vanua recognise common agnatic descent, 18 per cent have acquired membership rights on the basis of other criteria. In a statistical sense agnatic descent can therefore be said to be one of the primaiy organising principles of the society. In the present chapter I examine the extent to which this principle is reflected in the ideological framework of descent, inheritance and residence. I do so by analysing three inter-connected sets of kin concepts - those relating to categories or groups defined solely in terns of descent - those relating to general ego-oriented kin categories - and those relating to specific kin categories defined by genealogical relationship to ego. Stated in slightly different terms the purpose of the chapter is to provide answers to the following two questions: (a ) D o the Nduindui recognise the existence of kin groups (or categories) in which descent is the sole criterion of membership, and if so, are these social units unilinear or non-unilinear? (B) T o what extent, if ary, does the system of kinship terminology reflect the high statistical incidence of agnatic affiliation? The cognatic stock (ngwatu i damu) Literally translated ngwatu i_ damu means "head of the yam”. At the widest it covers all the descendants, living and dead, of a single named ancestor. In this sense it is thus a cognatic stock as defined by Rade1iffe-Br own!^ 1. Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. and Forde, D. (eds.), African Systems of Kinship and Marriage, London, 1950 > p. 22. 103 A number of informants explained what they meant by the ngwatu i. damn in the following wqy. When a man plants a yam head the tuber grows in his garden, and the seed is carried into the bush and other gardens by the wind* The original head is called ngwatu equated with the founding ancestor of a cognatic stock;. descendants are said to be “head of yam one”. jl damu and is He and his When a man replants his garden the next season he uses yam heads saved from the previous harvest. All his domestic yams are thus descended in a direct line from the original head. This is equated with the agnatic male descendants of an apical ancestor who remain in the same locality (tokaki or ngwatu _i vanua); the female descendants are like the seed blown into the bush. As each seed moves on and produces more seed, so each female who marries out bears sons who remain in their father*s group and daughters who go elsewhere. The explanation indicates that while full recognition is given to the cognatic stock, in practice the emphasis is on the co-resident core of male agnates. A gardener*s interest lies in the line of tuber heads that remain in the garden; a man*s interest lies primarily in the agnates who stay in the locality. Each cognatic stock is said to '‘belong" to the parish where the agnatic core resides. Whenever I visited a parish the older men informed me that here there v/ere so maqy ngwatu i_ damu, and in giving the genealogies they started with the most remote ancestor and worked down through each generation, listing all his known descendants. They 104 usually recalled from three to six ascending generations but seldom mentioned a female till the time of the grand-parents (occasionally great-grandparents). Sometimes they pointed out certain persons living in other parishes as the descendants of some female agnate; but they neither knew who she was nor were able to establish her precise genealogical connection, Baloa A m a n fs children are sometimes referred to as his “thighs” (baloa), If his wife produced children of both sexes the sons are the “thigh of the head" (baloa ngwatuhiki), and the daughters the "thigh of the side" (baloa tavaluki). All of a woman’s descendants are also refer­ red to as baloa tavaluki to the continuous line of male baloa ngwatuhiki. On a number of occasions when I asked a man why he addressed a member of another parish by a kin term, he replied "he is head of yam with me, thigh beside" (u ngwatu i damu m a i ’au . baloa tavaluki), or more freely translated, "we are descended from a common ancestor, one of us through a son and the other through a daughter". This is a common way of expressing supposed kinship when no actual tie can be established. The baloa ngwatuhiki - baloa tavaluki distinction is sometimes used to emphasise the division of the cognatiuc stock into the agnatic core and the dispersed non-agnatic cognates. One man informed me that once when he was short of firewood he had hung up some leaves as a sign that no one was to take any from his land without first seeking permiss­ ion, When he discovered his father’s sister’s son taking some he was 105 angry and said: "You thigh beside, you stick thrown away" (Iningo baloa tavaluki. iningo kai kungu). Kai kungu expresses the action of knock­ ing fruit off a tree with a long pole; in a similar way my informants father*s sister and her son were knocked off the co-resident agnatic core, the baloa ngwatuhiki. This somewhat enigmatic phrase could thus be freely translated: "You belong to my oo gnatic stock, but you do not belong to my local group. Your mother is like the fruit knocked off a tree, both she and you should collect firewood in your father*s parish." In a similar way, if a man wants to insult a fellow parishioner, though with no more serious claim to accuracy than in our use of the term "bastard", he may say - "I am of the head, you are the feathers of my fowl" flnau ngwatuhiki. iningo vulu toa)• The feathers fall off a fowl in the same way that fruit is knocked off a tree. The implicat­ ion is that the speaker is a full agnatic member of the parish, whereas the man addressed is a descendant of a non-agnatic immigrant. Both of the above phrases clearly express the ideological emphasis placed on agnatic affiliation. There are, however, other phrases which emphasise the strength of bonds between non-agnatic cognates. For example "You are the flower grown from the seed of my kin" or more literally "my flower of the seed of my kin" (nongu vira vira i bela) • One should help and be kind to one*s flowers. Sometimes a man experiences some difficulty in reconciling the "thigh beside" and "flower" sentiments - that is, of treating closely related non-agnates simultaneously as outsiders and as kinsmen. In an account of a fight between two parishes a man of the defending group, who was about to be killed by his father*s sister*s son, appealed for 106 mercy by addressing his opponent as ,rthe flower of my seed". The attacker, shamed by these words, compromised by addressing his cousin as follows* “Good, my kinsman (belangu)» we will stay here until the end of the fight. If I hear that one of my kinsmen true (belangu pohoki - a phrase used in this context to indicate any member of the speaker1s parish, whether cognate or affine) has been killed I will take you to my seniors to decide what to do with you. hand, no one is harmed I will let you go home”. and the man released his mother*s brother*s son. If, on the other There were no casualties Informants considered the case most unfortunate, as usually such close kin wohld take good care to avoid one another in a fight. Bela L m a n fs cognates and affines are together said to be his bela: they are “many relatives of his” (rabelana). There is no special term to differentiate affines from cognates, though four terms of address apply only between certain affines (ngwelikana. takuna, vavine hina and tuana mwarasea)• by cognate terms. Other affines (FZH, MBW etc) are addressed Figure 1- gives the terras of address for a man*s affines, Figure 2 for a woman*s affines. Vagambela ks was mentioned, male agnates can be differentiated from all other cognates by the phrases baloa ngwatuhiki and baloa tavaluki. These terms are, however, normally used between individuals and not as general descriptive kin categories. When a man wishes to refer collectively Figure I NDUINDUI AFFINAL TERMS(Man speaking) Tamana EGO Ngwelikana \ (ZDH) Vavine Hina akuna Takuna (WB) \ (WBW) Ngwelikana Ngwelikana Naxuna (SW) ^ > '(DH) (WBC) Vagambuina (Spouses of grandchildren and sister’s grandchildren) Figur« 2 NDUINDUI AFFINAL TERMS(Woman speaking) 8 A ~ ~ Tamana (FZH) o T okana (MBWJ = a Hangwena (BW) a =6 Tuana Mwaraaea (ZH) O= K Tumbuna (HF) Tui^buya & ==■ £ Tokana (HMB) A=»o ä=A ECK) Tuana Mwarasea Kwaruena Hangwena (H,HB) (HBW) (HZ) A =-6 Vagambuina (Spouses of grandchildren) The term ngwelikana is normally reciprocal, but although a man applies it to his parents-in-law and children-in-law, a woman uses it for her children's spouses only: her parentsin-law she calls by the grandparent term(bumbu). The ngwelikana relationship is one of respect and formality, whereas joking and informality is expected between grandparents and grandchildren (see chapter VII). The reason the girl refers to her parents-inlaw by the informal term is the custom whereby she left her parents and lived with her future husband's parents from the age of about 10. The relationship was expected to be intimate and friendly. 107 to all his non-agnatic cognates he prefaces the term bela by the adject­ ive “far away1’ (vaga). They are his remote kin, his vagambela. MIt is," say the Nduindui, ”our sisters and our daughters who make our vagambela. They are far* away from us in the same way that the wild yams propagated by our domestic tubers are remote from our gardens.” Agnates, by contrast, regardless of either spatial or genealogical remoteness, are always bela. never vagambela. Karo na bela Matrilineal descent is recognised in the phrase ”rope of relatives” (karo na bela)• In the yam analogy the ”rope” is equated with the move­ ment of seed throughout the bush, and therefore with the continuous line of female descent moving on to new locally-anchored agnatic kin groups at each generation. The karo na bela is a special sub-category of the vagambela: whereas the latter includes all non-agnatic cognates, the former refers only to the matrilineal kin (male and female). The line of outgoing females ties together an endless number of locally-anchored agnatic kin groups, and hence helps to consolidate the people of the district as a single kinship community. In east Aoba the named exogamous (though dispersed) matri-clan is known as the karo. the ”rope” that ties together the members scattered throughout that side of the island. But there is a major difference between the karo of east Aoba sind the karo na bela of Nduindui. In east Aoba all members are known by the clan name (rat, pig, stone etc.), claim descent from^named mythological founder, are alleged to have distinctive personality traits and physical features, may not marry one another, and 108 raust p ro v id e m utual h o s p i t a l i t y and p r o te c tio n . I n a s in g le p a r is h , o r a sm all c l u s t e r o f n e ig h b o u rin g p a r is h e s , c la n members u n ite a s a c o -o p e ra tiv e group i n th e f e a s t s sind exchanges o f w ealth a s s o c ia te d w ith b i r t h , d e a th and m a rria g e . Moveable p ro p e rty i s a ls o in h e r ite d w ith in th e s e lo c a l is e d c la n segm ents. The N duindui k a ro na b e la i s , by c o n tr a s t, a vague c a te g o ry o f m a t'r ilin e a l ly r e l a t e d k in . I t i s n o t named, m arriag e i s p e rm issa b le pro v id ed th e c o n n e c tio n i s n o t to o c lo s e , and th e r e a re no lo c a l is e d c o rp o ra te segm ents. The c o n c e p t, though e x p re ssed i n d e sc e n t te rm s, does n o t r e f e r to en d u rin g d e s c e n t g ro u p s, & u n i l i n e a l d is p e rs e d c a te g o ry o f k in o f o n ly two to th r e e g e n e ra tio n s * d e p th , and w ith o u t means o f i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o th e r th a n d em o n strab le g e n e a lo g ic a l c o n n e c tio n , i s o b v io u s ly o f l e s s s t r u c t u r a l im portance th a n th e e a s t Aoba m a tr i- c la n . By no means a l l th e N duindui, e s p e c ia ll y th e younger g e n e ra tio n , a r e c e r t a i n j u s t p r e c is e ly what i s meant by th e term k aro na b e la . Some o f them were o f th e o p in io n i t sim ply meant " d e s c e n t” ( m a tr i lin e a l, p a t r i l i n e a l o r n o r w u n ilin e a l) • I n th e fo llo w in g s e c tio n I s h a l l show t h a t th e r e i s a p a r a l l e l u n c e r ta in ty i n c o r r e c t u se o f term s f o r c ro s s c o u s in s . K in sh ip te rm in o lo g y I s h a l l now b r i e f l y examine th e k in s h ip term s f o r co g n ates i n o rd e r t o see to what e x te n t th e s e r e f l e c t th e id e o lo g y o f d e sc e n t as e x p re ssed i n th e yam a n alo g y and i n th e meanings a tta c h e d t o such term s as b a lo a n s w a tu h ik i. b a lo a ta v a l u k i, b e la , k aro na b e la and vagam bela. F ig u re 3 p re s e n ts a number o f i n t e r e s t i n g f e a t u r e s , (1) Crow ty p e c r o s s - c o u s in te rm in o lo g y (FZS = f a t h e r ; and MBC = c h i l d ) . FZD = m other; Figure 3 NDUINDUI COGNATE TERMS OF REFERENCE (The suffix -na=third person singular possesive) Terms of address given in lower case (FFZ) bumbu 1 (FM,MM) bumbu (FF,MF) bumbu a = 6 A= = 5 A= (MMB) bumbu V o TUMBUNA TAMANA RETAHINA TAMANA RETAHINA TOKANA TOKANA TUANA (M,MZ) (MB) (MBW) (MMBS) (FFZD) (FZH) (FZ) (F,FB) indai tete tete bumbu mama indai mama 1 n 3 RETAHINA TAMANA RETAHINA TUANA EGO HANGWENA TAKUNA (FFZDD) (FZ3) (FZD) (B.FBS, (Z,FBD,MZD)(ZH) MZS) tete / tete indai mama indai iI j A4 RETAHINA TUANA HANGWENA (FFZDDD)(FZS3, (FZ3D, indai FZDS) FZDD) i NATUNA (C,BC) J DUvINA (zc) tete HANGWENA NATUNA m DT INA VAGAMBUINA V A G Ä B U I N A (FFZDDDD) (CC) (ZCC) Address ■ A vagS NATUNA (MBC) /l IBUINA (MBCC) © VAGAi®UINA Parents to young sori=mwerahi. Father to adult son= personal name or mama. Mother to adult son, no address. Parents to daughter(child) =bapi. Father to adult daughter=hati hati. All children address their mother as indai. Siblings of same sex address one another by personal name or as tulu= personal pronoun, third plural. For a woman the terms of reference are the same as those given above except Z= TUANA ,B=HANGWENA ,ZC= NATUNA. 109. (2) Special terms for MB and ZG, (3) Generation aunt terms (M = MZ = FZ). (4) The same term for all grandparents plus their siblings and for all ascending generations, (5) The same term for all grandchildren and siblings12 grandchildren and all descending generations. With the exception of points (1) and (2), the terms are based on the principle of generations distinction. If the lineal cross-cousin terms were eliminated the system would then be bilaterally symetrical, and as such a clear reflection of the cognatic descent category. The main problem is therefore to account for the slanting of the cross­ cousin terms. Murdock^^listed 30 societies with Crow type cross-cousin term­ inology. Of these, 23 are classed as matrilineal, 3 as patrilineal, 2 as bilateral and 2 as double-unilineal. Even when due allowance is made for the difficulties inherent in an attempt to either classify societies in such a manner or to treat them as quantifiable units, there can still be little doubt that therqi is some sort of correlation between this type of terminology and matrilineal descent. Radcliffe-Brown^)has explain­ ed that when the terminology is so extended that all the women of father1s matrilineage from father*s sister downwards are referred to by the term for father*s sister, and all the men are referred to as 1. Murdock, G.P. Social Structure. New York, 1949, pp. 223-259. 2. Radcliffe-Brown, Social Structure in Primitive Societies. London 1952, pp. 75-8. Figure 4 LQMBAHA DISTRICT(BAST AOBA) COGNATE TERMS OF REFERENCE A Same Tokana (MMMMB) moiety A O t h e r moiety A — • Tamana \Tumbune (FFF) \(FFM) 4 ~k Tumbune (FF2) A \ (FZS) ----- -- b A ' O Tumbune (FMM) Tumbune-tokana (FMF) Tumbune-tokana (FF) Hurine or tumbune-tokana (FZH) f r Tamana Tumbune-tokana (FFMB) " Tamana 71 Tumbune (FM) (FMB) O _ A— Tamana Retahine bulana toa (FZ) — Tumbune-tokana (MFF) (f ,f b ) - o A • Tamana Tumbune (MMF) (MMM) Tumbune (MFM) 5“ Tumbune (MFZ) = Tumbune Ratahine (M,MZ) Tateruana (MB) Tumbune (MM) {m'y \ Tumbune-tokana Netune Or Takaruana (MMMBC) (MMB) Vagambuine or Gahorana \ k Tumbune-tokana or Takaruana (MMMB) NeTune (MMBD) Retahine bulana toa (F^) Tuana Hangwena Tamana Ratahine-bulana-toa (FZS3) (FZSD) (FZD3) (FZDD) (s) Jt agambuine-t t ehine (SC) 6 Netune (D) Netune Vagambuil^ (DC) Netune Vagambuuie-tehine V: (S3C) (SDS) Aloana (zs) Aloana (ZD) Vagambuine-kokona Vagambuine (MBSD) (MBDD) 1 Aloana-nimboki or vagambuinetehine(ZDS) Jl ne-tehine etune (DDS) (DSC) (ZDSC) Aloana-nimboki Netune (ZDD) (MBDDD) Aloana-nimboki (ZDDD) Jl Tehine Hangwena (ZDDDS) (ZDDDD) Figure 5 LOMBAHAs OWN MATRILINEAGE Same moiety O Other moiety A Tamana =± # Tumbune Tumbune-tokana or Takaruana A Tumbune = :umbune Tumbune-tokana or Gahorana Netune Takaruana A Tamana = A Halana A = Halana or # Ratahine Wfeana ^amrwena angwena EGO E^O Tuana .oana Gahorana Netune Gahorana Netune Aloana Netune “S " Aloana-nimboki i Aloana-nimboki LOMBAHA: F A T H E R 1S MATRILINEAGE Figure 6 A S a m e moiety O O t h e r moiety A = Tumbune-tokana <5 Tumbune ~h — • Tamana Ratahine A = Tumbune-1 okana Hurine or Tumbune-t o kana A = Hurine or Tumbune-tokana Ratahine-bulana-toa Tamana Ratahine EGO Hangwena Ratahine-bulana-toa Tamana Ratahine Hangwena Ratahine-bulana-toa Tamana Ratahine Hangwena Hurine or Tumbune-tokana Hurine or Tumbune-tokana Figure 7 LOMBAHA: MOTHER'S FATHER'S MATRILINEAGB 4 Same moiety Tumbune Tumbune Tumbune Tumbune Tumbune Figure 8 Tumbune £ Tumbune A O t h e r moiety Takaruana Ratahine Takaruana Ratahine EGO LOMBAHA: FATHER'S FATHER'S MATRILINEAGE Tumbune-tokana 1 Tumbune Tumbune-tokana Tumbune Tumbune-tokana Tumbune Tumbune-tokana Ratahine-bulana-toa Tamana Ratahine-bulana -toa EGO 110 . f a t h e r , we a r e u n d o u b ted ly c o n fro n te d w ith a sym bolic e x p re s s io n o f th e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f m a t r i l i n e a l k in . I n N duindui we do n o t f in d t h i s e x te n s io n o f th e term s beyond f a t h e r s s i s t e r * s c h ild r e n , f o r h e r g ra n d c h ild re n re a p p e a r u n d e r th e p r in c ip le o f g e n e ra tio n d i f f e r e n t i a t ­ io n a s b r o th e r and s i s t e r . A b r i e f ex am in atio n o f th e e a s t Aoba te rm in o lo g y w i l l throw l i g h t on th e problem o f th e N duindui c ro s s -c o u s in te rm s, as w e ll as on o th e r f e a tu r e s o f th e system . I n f ig u r e 4 I g iv e th e cognate term 3 o f r e f e r ­ ence f o r a male sp ea k e r i n Lombaha d i s t r i c t . These p e o p le, s t a r t i n g w ith th e same prim ary e q u a tio n s as th e N duindui (tamana = F, FB and FZS; r a ta h in e = M, MZ, FZ and FZD ( l a s t two q u a l i f i e d ) ; n etu n e = C and MBC; vagambnine = GC and MBGC; tumbune = g ra n d p a re n ts; and tu a n a = B and FZSS), l o g i c a l l y ex ten d th e term s b o th g e n e r a tio n a lly and l a t e r a l l y in c o n fo rm ity w ith th e two p r in c ip le s o f m a t r i l i n e a l d e sc e n t and m oiety d i s t i n c t i o n . The in flu e n c e o f th e m o ie tie s i s e s p e c ia ll y ap p ar­ e n t in th e u se o f th e term s f o r e ld e r and younger s ib lin g o f th e same sex (to k a n a and t e h i n e ) to q u a lif y tumbune and vagambuine o f th e same m oiety (p ro v id ed th e sp e a k e r i s o f th e same s e x ) . W ith th e s in g le e x c e p tio n o f tumbune, a l l term s a re r e s t r i c t e d to members o f o n ly one m o ie ty . I have in d ic a te d t h i s by shad in g in a l l r e l a t i v e s o f th e same m o iety . I n f ig u r e s 5, 6, 7 and 8 I have fo llo w ed R a d c lif f e-Brow nrs method o f a n a ly s is i n o rd e r t o d e m o n strate th e f u l l r e c o g n itio n acco rd ed to m a t r i l i n e a l d e s c e n t. T h is i s achieved by th e sim p le e x p e d ie n t o f ex ten d ­ in g th e Grow p r in c ip le i n d e f i n i t e l y (FZ =: FZD = FZDD; F = FZS = FZDS; MB = MMB = MMMB; C = MBC — MMBC = MMMBC; DC = MBDG = MMBDC = MMMBDC). t11 The Nduindui terms do not reflect any such principle of lineage unity, neither matrilineal nor patrilineal* With the exception of the cross-cousin terms and the special terms for Z, MB and ZC, the system is of a type more in accord with a cognatic society. In the previous analysis of kin concepts we saw that though matrilineal descent is recognised in the karo na bela concept, there are no corporate and enduring uterine kin group*. The use of Grow type terminology combined with a return to the principle of generation distinction in the terms for FZDG and MMBG could be interpreted as functionally consistent with the un-named, non-exogamous and non-corporate characteristics of the karo na bela. An inconsistency in the generational placing of ZG (duvlna), reflects both the weakness of the matrilineal ideology and the confusion of the young men in attempting to define the karo na bela concept. FIGURE 9 MOTHER13 BROTHER AND SISTER*3 CHILD A 4 A TUANA T @ NATUNA (BC) Q TOKANA (MB) RETAHENA (M) A T Ö EGO HANGWENA (Z) @ NATUNA (C) @ DUVINA (ZC) © VAGAMBUINA (CC) VAGAMBUINA (ZCC) © NATUNA (MBG) © VAGAMBUINA (MBCC) 112 Arguing from the fact that the child of duvina»i.e. ZCC is referred to as vagambuina or CC, then duvina must be placed on a generational equivalence with natuna or child and MB with tamana or father. On the other hand, arguing from the cross-cousin terminology, (MBC * natuna or C), MB must be said to be generationally equivalent to brother (tuana). The latter interpretation is reinforced in that the term for MB (tokana) is the same as that used for elB in matrilineal east Aoba. A number of Nduindui informants were themselves aware of this inconsistency, and were quick to point out that it has its parallel in behaviour in that MB is sometimes said to be like father (a man to be obeyed and respected), while at other times he is said to be like a brother (a person treated with intimacy and equality). The respect attitude is commonly found in a matrilineal society where the MB is a figure of authority, whereas informality is more likely to occur in a patrilineally-oriented society. This same inconsistency is also apparent in that a number of the younger men did in fact give me sibling terms for cross-cousins when I first questioned them, though when I queried their reply they admitted a mistake. If this change in kinship terminology should become a general practice the cognate terms would be mostly organised on the basis of bilateral symmetry and generation distinction. In matrilineal east Aoba there is no such inconsistency in that ZSC is called child (netune) and not grandchild (vagambuine); and ZDC, as a member of ego*s own matri-clan, is called by a special qualified ZC term (aloana nimboki). The Nduindui cognate terms of address approximate most closely to what M u r d o c k ^ calls the patri-Fox type, of which he could find only 1. Murdock, G.P. p.235 113 three examples in his cross-cultural survey, the Bachama of northern Nigeria, the Koranko of Sierra Leone and the Seniang of south-west Malekula. The distinguishing features of these societies are patrilineal descent, patri-virilocal residence and Crow-cross-cousin terminology. Murdock deduces that this type must have evolved from double-unilineal societies when they lost their matrilineal descent groups. Matrilineal east Aoba is a double-descent society in that the male members of the local groups are mostly recruited by patrifiliation. Parts of R a g a , ^ ^ north M a l e k u l a , a n d A m b i y m ^ have even more pronounced double-descent systems. It would therefore seem reasonable to assume that Nduindui falls within the same general pattern, but is 1. Tattevin, E. “Organization sociale du Sud de l*ile Pentecoste", Anthropos, Vol. 23, 1928. Seligman, P. “Asymmetry in Descent, with special reference to Pentecost", JRAI, Vol. LVIII, 192Ö. Rivers, W.H.R. The History of Melanesian Society, Cambridge, 1914, Voi. I, pp. 198-213. Vol. II, pp. 66, 75* Codrington, R.H. The Melanesians; Their anthropology and folklore, Oxford, 1891, pp. 26, 45* 2. Layard, J. Stone Men of Malekula, London, 1942, pp. 96-173. 3. Rivers, W.H.R. "Descent and Ceremonial in Ambrymi' JRAI, Vol. XLV, 1915. Deacon, A.B. "The Regulation of Marriage in Ambrym," JRAI, Vol. LVII, 1927. Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. "The Regulation of Marriage in Ambrym", J.R.A.I. Vol. LVII, 1927. Seligman, B. "Bilateral Descent and the Formation of Marriage Classes", JRAI, Vol. LVII, 1927. Guiart, J. "Societe, rituels et nythes du Nord-Ambrym", J.S.O., Vol. VII, No. 7, 1951. Lane, R. and B. "A Reinterpretation of the ‘Anomalous12 3 Six-Section Marriage System of Ambrym, New Hebrides", S.W.J.A. Vol. XII, No. 4 , 1956* Goody, J. "The Classification of Double Unilineal Descent Systems", Current Anthropology, Vol. II, 1961, PP* 3-12. Lane, R. "Comments on Goody (1961)" Current Anthropology, Vol. II, pp. 15-17. Lane, R. and B. "The Evolution of Ambiym Kinship", S.W.J.A., Vol. XIV, 1950. Lane, R. and B. "Implicit Double Descent in South Australia and the Northeastern New Hebrides", Ethnology, Vol. I, No. 1, 1962. 114 distinguished, by an almost complete absence of the principle of matrilineal descent and a correspondingly greater emphasis placed on agnatic affiliation. In other parts of the New Hebrides the double-descent system has resulted in sections and sub— sections. In Nduindui the absence of the matrilineal descent groups, above all the moieties, has prevented aiy such development, and instead we find an ideology of kin­ ship based on the concept of cognatic stocks, but in which an important distinction is made between the co-resident property-owning core of male agnates and the widely dispersed non-agnatic cognates. The ideology of kinship, the terminology used between cognates, and the membership composition of the local group are v/hat might be expected if a society similar to that of east Aoba lost its matrilineal descent groups. This is precisely what the Nduindui themselves say has happened in west Aoba. A note on Needham's analysis of Mota (Banks Islands) terminology^ ^ (2) In i960, Needham analysed Mota terminology compiled from Rivers' ' and C o d r i n g t o n . ^ He stated that “the terminology may be consistently ordered as in a two-section system, i.e. in the three middle generations no term is shared by natal members of both s e c t i o n s . H i s diagram is reproduced in Table XVII. 1. I am indebted to Roger Keesing (at present working in Malaita, Solomon Islands) for the main points of the argument. 2. Rivers, W.H.R. The History of Melanesian Society, 2 vols. Cambridge, 1914, Vol. I, pp. 2Ö-30. 3. Codrington, R.H. The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folklore, Oxford, 1Ö91, p. 35» 3Ö* 4. Needham, R. "Lineal Equations in a Two-section System", Journal of Polynesian Society, Vol. 69, i960, p. 26. 115 TABLE XVII HUTA TERMINOLOGY A B (m ) s v1 ) tupui (MM) tupui (MF) B A .. tupui (FF) U ) tupui (FM) maraui (MMB) veve (M, MZ, FBI) gasala (SWM, DHM) tamai (F, FB, MZH) gasala (SWF, BHF) maraui (MB) mateima (MBW) usur (FZH) veve rus rawe (FZ) kwalika (WF) kwalika (WM) tugui (eB, FBSe, MZSe) mateima (WB, BW) rasoai (W) tutuai (Z,^ FBB, mzb] vuius (ZH, WB ) ego natui (MBB) natui (MBS) tasiu (yB, FBSy, MZSy) veve (vus rawe) (FZB) kwaliga (BH) mateima (ZSW) vanangoi (ZS) ftatui (B, BB) tupui (SS) tupui (BD) tamai (FZS) kwaliga (SW) natui (S, BS) vanangoi (ZB) tupui (SB) vanangoi (ZDD) tupui (DS) vanangoi (ZDS) 116 . He n o te d t h a t such an a s s o c ia tio n of Crow term in o lo g y w ith exogamous m o ie tie s e n t a i l s c e r t a i n lo g ic a l and p r a c t i c a l d i f f i c u l t i e s . ...W e . . . have a tw o -s e c tio n system w ith l i n e a l e q u a tio n s d iv id in g th e c l a s s o f c ro s s -c o u s in s in to c a te g o r ie s . I t i s very u n lik e ly th a t m a rria g e w ith one (th e p a t r i l a t e r a l c r o s s ­ c o u sin ) should he g e n e r a lly p r a c tis e d , and i t seems th a t i n f a c t i t happens only r a r e l y ; w h ile i t i s a ls o d i f f i c u l t to see how m a rria g e w ith th e o th e r (th e m a t r i l a t e r a l c r o s s ­ c o u sin ) should be p e rm itte d , s in c e she i s te rm in o lo g ic a lly eq u ated w ith d a u g h te r. From what c a te g o ry , th e n , i s th e spouse ta k e n in th e Mota system ?C l) Needham p re fa c e s h i s p a p er w ith ’’th e hope t h a t a s p e c i a l i s t in th e ethnography o f M elanesia may know o f a so u rc e o f which I am ig n o ra n t or may o th e rw is e be a b le to propose a s o lu tio n ” . (2) 7 On th e b a s is of ny e a s t Aoba m a te r ia l and a ls o a b r i e f v i s i t to Vanua Lava I s h a l l propose a p o s s ib le s o lu tio n to t h i s problem . I n N duindui, e a s t Aoba and Vanua Lava a man may only marry a woman whom he r e f e r s to as e i t h e r grandm other o r g ra n d d a u g h te r. Assuming t h a t th e same a p p lie s in Mota, w ith th e a d d itio n a l s t i p u l a t i o n t h a t she must be of th e o p p o s ite m o iety , Needham i s c o r r e c t in h is assum ption t h a t b o th c ro s s - c o u s in s a re exclud ed as p o s s ib le sp o u se s. The supposed d i f f i c u l t y r e s t s s o le ly on Needham’ s tw o -s e c tio n i n t e r p r e t a t i o n which n e c e s s a r ily im p lie s t h a t th e r e can be no women in ego’ s own g e n e r a tio n and th e o p p o s ite m oiety who f a l l i n t o th e tu p u i and hence m a rria g e a b le c l a s s . 1. Needham, R. p. 29 2. I b i d . , p .2 3 . H is d ia g ra m a tic r e p r e s e n ta tio n would 117 r e s u lt in the c la s s if ic a tio n of FZDC, (members of the f i r s t descending generation, own m oiety), as ch ild ren ( n a tu i) and MMBC, (members of the f i r s t ascending generation, opposite m oiety), as F and FZ Ctamai and veve rus rawe) • I f th is should be tru e then the Mota, lik e the Nduindui, lim it the Crow (ra a trilin e a l) p rin c ip le to only one generation. But in Nduindui MMBC and FZDC are both classed as s ib lin g s , an arrangement which leads to the appearance of a man^ MMMBSSD as tumbuna and h is FFFZDDD as vagambuina, In other words, fo u rth cousins of the same generation can marry one another provided they are descended from th e ir common an cesto r in complementary and u n ilin e a r lin e s (see chapter V I), In e a st Aoba we have seen th a t the Crow term inology i s extended in d e f in ite ly . Consequently a m an^ MMBDD i s re fe rre d to as grand­ daughter o f opposite moiety (vagambuine w ithout q u a lific a tio n ), and hence m arriageable. In the f i r s t descending generation the MBDD is likew ise vagambuine and can a lso be m arried. The qualifying terms kokona = “sacred” and simbona = ”h is own”, elim inate as possible spouses a man*s tru e vagambuine (GC) and a l l others of the same m oiety. A ll vagambuine without any q u alify in g terms are p ossible spouses. U nfortunately I did not v i s i t Mota and spent only a day in Vanua Lava, I have, however, l i t t l e doubt th a t the so c ia l s tru c tu re and c u ltu re of the two isla n d s d if f e r s only in minor p o in ts. In th e time a v a ila b le I could not obtain a f u l l and thoroughly checked l i s t of Vanua Lava kinship term s, but I did e s ta b lis h th a t MB (maruk) ^ = mmmb = FZH; th a t C (nutuk) = MBC = MMBC = MMMBC; = MMB th a t GP (tupuok) = CC = MBCC = MMBCC; th a t M (ridnok) = MZ = FZD = FZDD; and th a t F (tamok) = FB = (co n t'd next page) 1 . 1 recorded the terms in the 1 st person sin g u lar possessive. F ig u re 10 COMPARISON OF MOTA AND VANUA LAVA TERMINOLOGY (M o ta i n c a p ita ls : V anua L av a i n lo w e r c a s e ) A Sam e m o i e t y A O th e r m o ie ty A TU PU I O Tupuok I A UoUR M a ru k A TAMAI T am ok O VKVE VUS RAWS R id n o k ^ TUPUI # j Tupuok 1 A TAHAI Tam ok i 1VEVE \ * VEVE R id n o k TUGUI TASIU EGO R id n o k T o k o k T i s i k i M aru k I MARAUI M a ru k k TUTUAI T u tu o k 4 NATUI N u tu k 4 NATUI VANANGOI VANANGOI NATUI N u tu k N T a s i u T u t u o k Tam ok R id n o k N u tu k V a n a n g o k V a n a n g o k T u p u o k 1 TUPUI Tupuok 1 VANANGOI V anangok (correct m arriage) Tupuok 118 FZS = FZDS. The marriage rule is simple and like that of east Aoba - a man can marry any tupuok of the opposite moiety and same generation, which would include MMBDD. Unlike east Aoba, MBDD marriage is said to be "not straight", though quite a few men do marry this kinswoman. In figure 10 I give the Vanua Lava terms together with Rivers* and Codrington*s terms for Mota. The similarity between the two sets must remove all reasonable doubt that the Mota also extended the Grow princip­ le to FZDC and MMBDC. I could find no evidence that any distinction is made between same and opposite moiety-kin of the tupuok category* One further point is worth noting in reference to the east Aoba terminology* An indefinite extension of Crow terminology, when combined with carefully maintained moiety distinctions, poses a problem in the increasing divergence of generationality at each degree of cousinship. When, as in east Aoba, kin terms theoretically extend to all members of the society, some device for simplification or incorporation into other kin categories seems necessary* The Lombaha method is for a man to refer to the child of his male aloana. aloana nlmbokl. vagambuine tehine and female vagambuine as child (netune), and his ZDDDD as sister (hangwena). The designation of such generationally remote kin may seem gin idle intellectual exercise* In fact, the Lombaha consider these two points of cardinal importance as it enables them to extend the terminology, while at the same time maintaining moiety and generation distinctions. "Our cognates", they say, " are like a circle, they go out and they come back again"; a statement which they illustrate by pointing out that great-grand-children of opposite moiety are classed as children, and that after three generations of sisters* children (aloana etc.), the sister Figure II EAST AOBAs INCORPORATION OF REMOTE KIN(MMBDDD=D) A Same Moiety A Other moiety s ------------- Tumbune (MM) 1 1 l Ratahine (M) EGO I 2 , Tumbune-tokana (MMB) Netune (MMBS) Vagambuinekokona (MMBSD) A Netune (C.MBDDD) 2> Netune (MMBD) 1 Vagambuine (MMBDD) Figure 12 EAST AOBAs INCORPORATION OF REMOTE KIN (ZDDDD=Z) A Same Moiety A Other moiety EGO Hangwena \ Aloana \ \ Aloana-nimboki Aloana-nimboki or vagambuinetehine -J \ I Netune Aloana-nimboki \ \ \ \ Aloana-nimboki or vagambuinetehine ■ i Netune I Tehine * Hangwena Netune Aloana 1 CHAPTER V LAND AND SOCIETY The degree of rigidity of a social system is largely dependent on the extent to which rules and regulations control the inheritance, utilization and disposal of property, especially durable productive resources* The Nduindui, like most agriculturalists, consider that land is their most valuable possession. In the present chapter I attempt to establish the relative emphasis placed on group as against individual rights in land and produce. The argument Worsely, in his re-analysis of Fortes* material, made the follow­ ing observations concerning the relationship between lineage organiz­ ation and productive property: We have already pointed to the absence of strongly-marked corporate lineages in these African societies where shifting cultivation is the rule, and in which other important product­ ive property than land is not found. There seems to be ample evidence that, as in Tale land, the existence of valuable material property in productive resources is a pre-condition for the formation of corporate lineages... It is especially in agricultural communities stabilized into groups around fixed plots of land, and with a predominantly sexual division of labour, that unilineal affiliation becomes af great importance, as it is in Taleland. ) 0 12t He further notes that though unilineal kin groups may be found in communities with an economy based on hunting and gathering such as the Australian aborigines, “the absence of durable material property which might be transmitted from one generation to the n e x t " , ^ ) inhibits the formation of corporate and solidary lineages. The majority of Melanesian societies occupy an intermediary posit­ ion between the Tallensi and the Australian extremes. Though the local­ ly-anchored kin groups may at times look and function like corporate lineages, the dogma of descent is either weak or absent, and group a. solidarity is frequently counterbalanced by high value placed on individ­ ual autonomy. On the other side of the equation, though horticulture and animal husbandry sire more important than hunting and gathering, the system of land utilization requires greater mobility and larger plots than is common in such African societies as the Tallensi. An­ other relevant factor is the comparatively small scale of the Melanesian productive work group. Yet despite the general validity of this contrast between the two types of society, we must remember that in many Melanesian communities the locally-anchored kin groups do in fact approximate to the ideal model of the corporate and solidary lineage. Despite the relative absence of durable productive property, and despite the mobility assoc­ iated with a system of shifting cultivation, a number of additional factors can lead to what Forde has termed a “permanent attachment of a (from previous page) 1i. Worsely, P.M. “The Kinship System of the Tallensi: A Revaluation“, J.R.A.I. Vol. 86, Part I, 1i956, p.69« 1. ibid 122 regulated body of persons to an aggregate of fixed resources.” ^ ) When valuable assets, especially fertile land, are concentrated in specific localities, the resultant territorial separation of groups can lead to an identification of interests between members. In the Trobriand islands, where there are marked differences in the resources available to each local community, the largest and highest ranking matri-clans possess the most fertile garden land and the most strategic positions for manipulating exchange r e l a t i o n s h i p s . T o an extent unusual in Melanesian societies the lineage segments act as corporate units in garden making and in recognising the authority of hereditary leaders* Then, even in those areas where resources are evenly distributed, a shortage of gardening and hunting land that is easily available can lead to a restriction of rights to exclusive kin groups, usually lineages* This would appear to be the case in the more densely populat­ ed parts of the New Guinea Highlands. produced evidence that at first glance correlation. Yet Brown and Brookfield have contradicts any such simple They have observed that though the population density of Mae Enga is lower than that of southern Ghimbu (til0-250 persons per square mile as against 300-500), the principle of agnatic solidarity is more marked among the Enga than among the Chimbu. They write: The effect of relative land shortage on social structure is thus by no means uniform* In Chimbu the resulting enhanced 1. Forde, G*D* ”The Anthropological Approach to Social Science”, Advancement of Science. 1946, p*21§. 2* Singh Uberoi, J.P. Politics of the Kula Ring. Manchester, 1962, pp. 2,3,43^46* 123 v a lu e o f la n d and p ro p in q u ity o f men seems to have le d t o a f l u i d s o c ie ty , w ith numerous and e x te n s iv e mechanisms f o r re d u c in g d i f f e r e n t i a l s by a d o p tio n , m ig ra tio n , tem p o rary m o b ility and tem p o rary and perm anent la n d t r a n s f e r , War b o th o b s tru c te d and supplem ented t h i s p ro c e s s . Among th e Enga, on th e o th e r hand, th e re sp o n se t o r e l a t i v e lan d s h o rta g e seems to be a g r e a te r r i g i d i t y o f la n d r e l a t i o n s h i p s a t th e c la n l e v e l , ( U The p ro b a b le answ er to t h i s d i f f i c u l t y , f o r which I s h a l l s h o r tly produce f u r t h e r ev id en ce from N duindui, i s t h a t th e c o r r e l a t i o n betw een la n d s h o rta g e and c o rp o ra te lin e a g e s c e a se s to be v a lid when a c e r t a i n th re s h o ld o f d e n s ity has been re a c h e d , I s t a r t w ith th e a ssu m p tio n , as o u tlin e d above, t h a t i n s o c i e t i e s whose economy i s based on s h i f t i n g c u l t i v a t i o n , th e e s s e n t i a l p re ­ c o n d itio n f o r th e fo rm a tio n o f c o rp o ra te lin e a g e s i s s u f f i c i e n t s c a r c i t y o f good la n d to r e s u l t in a u n i l i n e a l r e s t r i c t i o n o f r i g h t s , ^ But a lin e a g e i s , by d e f i n i t i o n , a c o n s ta n tly expanding g r o u p , ^ t h e optimum s iz e o f w hich i s d eterm in ed by v a ry in g te c h n o lo g ic a l, e c o lo g ic a l and o th e r fa c to rs . I t fo llo w s t h a t when th e group re a c h e s i t s u p p e r l i m i t th e r e must be s u f f i c i e n t la n d a v a ila b le f o r in d iv id u a ls o r m inor segm ents to move away and e s t a b l i s h new s e ttle m e n ts and g a rd e n s. I f , on th e o th e r hand, th e p o p u la tio n o f th e t o t a l community has reached th e p o in t w here, a lth o u g h a l l th e v i r g i n t e r r i t o r y has been c laim ed , a few sm all lin e a g e s , 1 , Brown, P a u la and B ro o k fie ld , H.C, "Chimbu Land and S o c ie ty “, O ceania, V o l, 3 0 . N o.1, p ,7 5 . 2 , I do n o t, o f c o u rs e , exclude th e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t r i g h t s may be r e s t r i c t e d by some o th e r mechanism. 3« See S a h lin s , M. “The Segm entary L ineage: An O rg a n iz a tio n o f P re d a to ry E xpansion“, American A n th ro p o lo g is t. V ol, 63, No. 2 , 1961, 124 have a surplus, then it is likely that the sort of re-allocation mechanisms mentioned by Brown and Brookfield will develop* In such circumstances individuals acquire rights over scattered plots which they do not share with their lineage mates* If the population should continue to expand the point may eventually be reached where the interdigitation of land and residence is so widespread that the lineage no longer exists as a territorial unit* In support of this interpretation it should be noted that among the Chimbu there is no unclaimed ground*^' The task of providing evidence in support of correlations between social structure, ecology and demography is never easy. When compar­ isons are made between two or more societies there is always the possibil­ ity that differences in group organization may have little or nothing to do with either land or population* The difficulties are minimized when comparison is confined to variations found within a single community* In earlier chapters I have explained that the Nduindui tokaki vanua varies in the extent to which it conforms to the ideal model of a corporate patrilineal descent group* In the following analysis I shall show that these structural variations are closely parallelled by further variations in land utilization and population density* Lardutilization, population density and social structure In Chapter two I stated that all territory within the settled part of the district is fully utilized for house sites, tracks, ceremonial 1* Brown and Brookfield, p.73* 1:25 grounds, gardens and plantations. All adults, females as well as males, know precisely to which plots they have rights of usage, of inheritance or of disposal. The principal taro planting area is also subject to clearly defined rights. Large tracts are claimed as part of the corporate estate of the most inland parishes, though a number of plots have been acquired through secondary inheritance rights, purchase, adoption etc. by some of the men who live near the coast. At a high altitude there is an extensive area of land, much of it suitable for cultivation and even settlement, which is only occasionally used for hunting and gather­ ing. This territory is also sub-divided into blocks, each claimed by an inland parish. In the pre-cash crop era th8 population was well in excess of the present figure of 1 ,400, and therefore the density was at least as great as that of the Mae Enga. Further, the consumption nowadays of imported foodstuffs has reduced the amount of land needed for gardening and pig­ grazing. These two factors, when combined with the unusually large number of coconut groves, have created conditions I assume to be favour­ able to the formation of corporate lineages. This was, and still is, especially true of the inland parishes where large carpels can preserve their agnatic purity and corporateness by periodically establishing new settlements in areas hitherto devoted to gardening, and extending taro cultivation into hunting and gathering territory. ^n coastal parishes, on the other hand, high population density (today 290 persons per square mile against 165 ia inland parishes)^) intensive planting of cash crops, and an absence of surplus territory available for expansion have together prevented the formation of the 126 large-scale agnatically-oriented carpels. The statistical information presented in chapter IV confirms this interpretation. For the reader* s convenience I repeat the relevant data in summary form. Proportion of multi to single section parishes Coast 8/2 Proportion of multi to monocarpellary sections 9/7 6/25 98/65 130/24 Proportion of agnates to non-agnates Inland 5/7 In the pre-cash crop era the response to high population density was in all probability similar to that described for the Chimbu. Large carpels, unlike those in the inland areas, had no means of preserving their agnatic and corporate characteristics by establishing new settle­ ments in virgin territory. Instead, like the Chimbu, the people develop­ ed "numerous and extensive mechanisms for reducing differentials" between large and small carpels. If, as is almost certain, population density a hundred years ago was in the order of 350-500 persons per square mile, the similarity between coastal Nduindui and Chimbu society is all the more striking. In recent years a new development has taken place. The spread of coconut growing has so increased land values that even those carpels with large plantations and few members are reluctant to grant land rights to their less fortunate non-agnatic kinsmen. land-hungry agnates Consequently have begun to insist on a more precise definition of their individual rights to a particular section of the agnatic land. (from previous page) 1. These are mean figures and based solely on the settled part of the district. If the garden and hunting territory were included the density of the inland parishes would fall well below 100 persons per square mile. In some coastal areas the figure is as high as 400. 12? I n o th e r w ords, c o m p e titio n f o r lan d has s im u lta n e o u s ly r e s u lte d i n a h ig h e r in c id e n c e o f a g n a tic a f f i l i a t i o n and a re d u c tio n o f c a r p e l s o lid a rity . The in d iv id u a l e x e r c is e s g r e a t e r autonomy w ith in th e p a ris h b u t has l e s s chance o f e s ta b lis h in g a l t e r n a t i v e group a f f i l i a t i o n s . The e x is te n c e o f th e p re -c o p ra system o f la n d r e - a l l o c a t i o n i s , a t l e a s t so f a r a3 i t a p p lie s t o c o a s ta l com m unities, n e c e s s a r ily based on i n d i r e c t evidence and d e d u c tio n from f i r s t p r i n c i p l e s . I can , how­ e v e r, d em o n strate t h a t a s im ila r re sp o n se to lan d sh o rta g e s t i l l ta k e s p la c e in some o f th e la r g e in la n d c a r p e ls where co p ra and cocoa groves a re b eg in n in g to sp read i n t o gard en a r e a s . (See Namberumwele c a r p e l p p . 1 3 5 -1 3 6 ). The e sta b lis h m e n t o f c a s h -c ro p s i n a s o c ie ty p re v io u s ly b ased on s h i f t i n g c u l t i v a t i o n does n o t always underm ine th e c o rp o ra te p r o p e r tie s o f l o c a l l y anchored k in g ro u p s. I f , in t r a d i t i o n a l N duindui s o c ie ty , c a r p e l members had r e g u la r ly c o -o p e ra te d i n g a rd en in g and o th e r p ro d u c t­ iv e t a s k s , i t seems l i k e l y t h a t th e y would have p la n te d th e t r e e s j o i n t ­ l y , c o lle c te d th e h a rv e s t and shared th e c a s h - y ie ld . In p o in t o f f a c t , n o t o n ly was a g r i c u l t u r e m o stly c a r r ie d o u t by th e in d iv id u a l (o r th e e le m e n ta ry fa m ily ) b u t he o r she had a b s o lu te r i g h t s i n p ro d u ce. As each garden la s t e d f o r o n ly one o r two seaso n s and had to be l e f t fa llo w f o r about te n y e a r s , i t was p e r f e c t l y f e a s i b l e to m a in ta in a c l e a r d i s t i n c t i o n betw een in d iv id u a l r i g h t s o v er produce and sh ared r i g h t s o f a c c e ss to th e la n d . In th e in la n d p a ris h e s r i g h t s i n fa llo w la n d were re c o g n ise d o n ly to th e e x te n t t h a t a man w ish in g t o u se a p lo t t h a t somebody e l s e had r e c e n tly c u ltiv a te d was fo rc e d to seek p e rm issio n f i r s t . On th e c o a s t, however, r i g h t s i n fa llo w la n d 128 were usually transmitted from generation to generation* With the introduction of copra growing the tra d itio n a l d istin ctio n between individual rig h ts to produce and jo in t rig h ts to the land could no longer be so easily maintained* This was especially so where rights in fallow plots were already well defined* The coconuts planted by the individual remain on the land throughout his lifetim e and for a generat­ ion or two a fte r him* The inevitable re su lt is th at individual rights to the trees tend to be applied to the land also* In the following two sections I provide evidence in support of th is interp retatio n by f i r s t examining the inland parish of Lombanga, where cash-cropping is s t i l l of minor importance, there is s t i l l some surplus land, and the carpels are large, solidary, and strongly agnatic* I then analyse the coastal parish of Navuti where the opposite conditions prevail* Lombanga parish The formal structure is represented diagramatically in Figure 113 (see next page)* The numbers in brackets represent the adult male householders* Map 6 shows a plan of the settlement* Informants assert th at in the past the two parish-sections (Lombanga and Lembuto) were normally separate and autonomous (ngwatu i vanua lakua), though a t times they temporarily united i f a leader of outstanding a b ility appeared. About the turn of the century Lembuto declined as the re su lt of an epidemic, and when the missionaries arrived a l i t t l e la te r the survivors joined the Lombanga people to build a common church* Only two f u ll agnatic male members of Lembuto remain, the other five house- 129. holders are natal members of Namberumwele carpel who inherited land through ties of complementary affiliation# FIGURE 13 STRUCTURE OF LCMBANGA. PARISH Lombanga parish (22) Parish-sections Lombanga (2) Lombanga (15) Lembuto (7) Carpels Carpels Namberumwele (8) Lomwandu (5) Nanungwa-Lakua (3) Narukuruku (4) In certain contexts parish members think of their territory as a single indivisible unit in which all share similar rights; indeed, the designation of the parish as ngwatu i vanua so defines it# The leading men take an interest in all land within the parish boundaries, and if money is needed for a communal project, such as building a new church, well, store, etc., normally everyone is expected to contribute cash proceeds from one or more harvests of copra or cocoa. Individuals who refuse to contribute, risk censure and loss of status. best The concept of a corporate estate in land can be/seen when a man attempts to alienate rights to an outsider for pigs, mats or cash. The 130 invariable reaction is for parish leaders to protest, and if the deed has not yet been finalised, one or more of them may offer to purchase the plot and thus keep it within the community. The offer is only turned down when the potential salesman has the support of his carpel or parish-section mates. At present all Lombanga land is in the control of either resident members or a few men who were b o m in the parish but have left to join their wives or mothers agnates. Table XVIIEgives the place of residence of all of the known adult male agnatic descendants of the apical ancestors of the five carpels. TAB IE XVIII RESIDENCE OF THE ADULT MALE AGNATIC DESCENDANTS OF THE FOUNDERS OF LOMBANGA PARISH Own carpel Namberumwele Non-agnatic Immigrants Adult male agnates resident on land of: Carpels 8 Other carpel same parish Other parish 5 v. 6 - 3 1 N N ^ Lombanga 1 Lomwandu 5 - > Nanungwa Lakua 1 - - Narukuruku 1 - - s mm \ \ p * *3 Lombanga parish-section The three carpels of Lombanga parish-section form an exogamous unit, and though there is no known common ancestor, the people consider 131 themselves to be agnatic kinsmen (there is but one exception, Timothy ,8, Elj of Lombanga carpel) on the grounds that the founding ancestors were all bora in Saranarivua, a community a mile to the west* These men gardened at Lombanga and eventually set up permanent homesteads to protect their cultivations. Today the Lombanga people are on the same terms with the Saranarivua as with the inhabitants of other parishes. They frequently marry the girls, and traditions tell of several fights. Most of the land of the three carpels is situated on the lower slopes of the parish territory. The growth of population and coconut and cocoa planting have led to a slight shortage, to which the people have responded in several ways - by opening up new territory further inland, by acquiring rights in areas previously used by men of other parishes, and by the loss of members to carpels with a shortage of manpower and a surplus of land. They have not as yet reached the stage of permanently dividing the agnatically inherited land. I shall now examine each carpel in detail. Lombanga carpel The only full agnatic male householder still living on Lombanga land is Joseph Livo (8, E 4). About 45 years ago three of his carpel mates, Harry Vai (D 1), Solomon Toka (E 3) and David Takaro (E 5) left the then predominantly pagan parish in order to establish, in conjunct­ ion with others, the new Christian settlement of Mataindanu on the coast. They purchased land from men of Amata, and this they now use as a housing site and for their plantations. Today only Solomon appears at Lombanga to make an occasional taro garden* The rights of all three have gone so "cold1 1 that the residents would resist them if they attempted to plant cash crops* The remaining Lombanga carpel land is held jointly by Joseph and the immigrant Timothy Malakai (E 1)* Timothy was b o m on Malekula, but when working on a plantation in Santo met and married Rebecca Kweundu (E 2). Joseph welcomed him and gave him permission to build his house and make his gardens in Lombanga* Over the past twenty years these two have jointly planted a good deal of the land* As yet there has been no talk of partition, and each simply collects copra or cocoa whenever he feels the need of money* Lomwandu carpel Aru Ngeo ( 9, A 1) is said to have lived near Sara Lombanga* For some reason now forgotten he decided to move about half a mile inland to the garden area# Here he made a new sara which he called Lomwandu (which means **garden land”), and today his five agnatic descendants have houses in the vicinity. His three sons pioneered a large area of mountain extending about a mile inland. This area, which is mostly used for gardening and pig hunting, is known by the names of one or other of these three men (B 1, 2, and 3)* Titas Liu (E 1), who is about 45 years old, assured me that in his father*s and grandfather*s time all members of the carpel jointly cultivated the land named after Aru Ngeo and his three sons* There was no internal partition, and each man took whatever portion was most convenient. But Longa Kokona ( C 3 ) in addition acquired rights in 133 a small extra plot from the neighbouring community of Lokambu (this was in settlement of a pig debt). His son Bob Tangwali (D 2 ) inherited these rights but did not share t h e m with Vira Lingi (D 1 ) or the sons of Ruru Kgundu (C 1 )♦ A further sectional interest arose from the fact that Vira Lingi*s mother was the last surviving member of a carpel which at that time was part of Saralokambu parish. He bore the greater part of her funeral expenses and thus acquired full rights in a substant­ ial portion of the carpel*s land* (I discuss the importance of funeral expenses in the inheritance section)* his father • Titas inherited these rights from He asserts that although he can alienate this ground should he wish to do so, he might feel ashamed to act in a manner so contrary to the best interests of his cousins. Recently he purchased a further small plot nearby from a Saranarivua man. He told me that this origin­ ally belonged to Mue Ngwaravu ( B 2 ) who lost it in settlement of a debt. Zachaeas and his brothers did not contribute to the payment and thus have no rights. Summing up, we can state there are three categories of land now owned by these five patri-parallel cousins - the joint agnatic estate inherited from Aru Ngeo and his three sons, two portions controlled by Titas alone (one inherited from his father*s mother and the other purchased), and the plot jointly held by Zachaeas and his brothers which their father acquired in settlement of a personal debt. As some of these plots are located in territory normally used by members of other parishes, a small amount of the Chimbu type of interdigitation of land and residence has occurred even in this comparatively land-wealthy inland area. 134 The autonomy exercised by individuals and carpel-sections over non-agnatic land varies in accordance with group integration* For example, at a particular period one of the men may achieve high rank, and through his authority and competitive relations with leaders of other groups, succeed in creating a greater so lid arity than obtains a t other times. Such a leader would use pressure to prevent alienation. He would invest in the funeral expenses of his carpel mates and thus gain control over land th at would otherwise have become subject to sectional in te re sts. Titas assured me th at three generations ago Lomwandu carpel was much larger, and th at th is is why Hue Ngwaravu (B 2) and Mue Lombanga (B 1) made gardens high up the mountain in what is now hunting t e r r i t ­ ory. But over the past ten years the group has again begun to grow. (Titas and his cousins have between them twelve sons aged from 5 to 20 years). Titas is a man of ideas, and a few years ago he decided that the parish members ought to co-operate in clearing a large paddock on the mountain as a pasturage for a bullock herd. To do th is i t was f i r s t necessary to build a road th at could be negotiated by jeeps. He is now encouraging the people to plant gardens high up the slopes anH even to establish new settlements there. He thus sees the project as providing a means of absorbing the increase in population without having to divide carpel land or lose members to other communiti e s » When the project began in 1960, most of the parish members helped in the road making and fencing, but by 1962 the only regular workers were Titas sind his cousin Captain. Both are contemplating settin g up permanent homesteads near the paddock so th at they can protect th e ir . 135 bullocks. If they should do this there will be repetition of the carpel segmentation that is said to have occurred five generations earlier when Aru Ngeo left Lombanga and established Lomwandu. The account provides an example of what happens when a carpel increases in size and there is still a possibility of expansion into virgin or long unused territory. A brief examination of Namberumwele carpel will illustrate the loss of members from expanding groups to others having a land surplus. Namberumwele carpel Namberumwele (see appendix 10) is one of the largest carpels in the district. Of the nineteen known adult male agnatic descendants of the founder Vutangwa ( A 1 i ), eight live in Namberumwele, five in Lembuto parish-section, and six in other parishes. There are no immigrant members of Namberumwele. The first point to note is that the men of any one of the three major segments descended from Vutangwa*s sons (Toundu, Taumbai and Takaro) have preferential rights of usage and inheritance over the men of the other two. Each segment also claims the right to alienate land to outsiders but agrees that to do so would be undesirable. At present all land is held by carpel members. Within the Toundu major segment, three men HSampson (F 1 ), Mathew (F 2) and Adam (G 1)j, use one part of the land jointly, and the brothers Ephraim (F 5) and Silas (F 6) another part. This separation occurred so long ago that nobody can now give the reason. A probable explanation is that the population density resulted in an early development of heritable rights in fallow land: certainly today such rights are 13 6, inherited, whereas in Lomwandu anyone can cultivate ground that is currently unoccupied. The first agnatic descendant of Vutangwa to leave the group was Vira Ngeletu (E 8), Sometime during the first world war he married a Narukuruku woman whose father had no sons and only two agnatic cousins, both childless, As Narukuruku territory extended a long way up the mountain Vira Ngeletu was offered full rights, his three adult sons still live in Narukuruku and no longer make any claims in Namberumwele. They are considered to belong fully to Narukuruku carpel and Lembuto parish-section* Robert (F 3) and Mathias (S 12) married girls of neighbouring parishes and have both left Lombanga to live with their wife’s agnates. Neither makes any use of Lombanga land, and it seems certain that their sons will remain in the parish of their mother • Andrew Rarai (F 4) joined the three Lombanga men who founded Mataindanu. He still makes his gardens in Namberumwele but his plantation is in Mataindanu. The brothers Charlie (F 15) and Luke (F 14), who recently died, joined their wifers agnates in the neighbouring parish of Lolopgwalakesa. The sons Knock (G 4), Johnson (G 2), and John (G 3) are young adults and still live in Lolongwalakesa. This parish is poor, and as there are only two resident members of the Taumbai segment of Namberumwele carpel, it is generally expected that one or more will return to the agnatic land, perhaps on marriage. Finally, Simon (F 12) was adopted by a Nanungwa Lakua man who had no sons} he thus inherited as an agnate. He has never lived at Namberumwele nor worked the land. 137 Navati coastal parish (see Map 7) Navuti has a total population of 109 and a density in the order of 350 persons per square mile* The parish lacks any tradition of its origin, and none of the senior informants could name ancestors farther back than great-grandfathers. Thirteen of the twenty-five adult male householders are either first or second generation immigrants. summary of the details of each is presented in Table X1X A . Skeleton genealogies of the six parish-based descent groups are given in appendices 12-19. A plan of the parish is supplied in Map 7. In terms of the general theory that I am expounding, it is signific­ ant that with only one exception (Robert) all immigrants joined the parish between 1915 and 1935» the population In the decades immediately proceeding was declining and the people practised shifting cultivat­ ion and pig-grazing. In such circumstances, most men could live on the land of their agnatic ancestors with no more than an occasional adjust­ ment necessary between large and small carpels. But the introduction first of Christianity, and later of copra growing led to conflicts over land rights. Many Christians decided to leave pagan parishes and join affines and non-agnatic kin who had already been converted. Navuti was one of the earliest centres of Christianity in the district, and hence has a great many non-agnates. Three of the early immigrants (Timothy, Alec Kwani and Martin Boi) were converts who married Navuti girl 3 , whose fathers had no close male agnates. The sons therefore inherited full rights through their mothers* By about 1930 ths position had radically altered. Almost the whole TABLEKIX NAVUTI NON- AGNATES Immigrant Age Date of ( Gen.Ref) Reason arrival TIMOTHY MOLI 70 1915 (13,DI) Land rights Adult sons (more details chapter Z) Christian from pagan His wife,a8 last sur­ HARRY VATU parish in east Aoba. viving member of car­ PETER MEMEA 35 Made friends with Na- pel, Inherited full ABRAHAM 50 vuti Christian in Sa­ land rights in Navuti TIMOTHY 23 43 nto and married his daughter. MOSES TANGA 42 1915 (13,D3) His father was an imm- Inherited land from grant from Mwaevo who adoptive father and lived in Lovanualigoutu subsequently purchased Moses was adopted by a few more £lots TIMOTHY'S WFB. ALFRED COULOÜ 50 1935 (13,El) Married daughter of House site in Navuti. TIMOTHY. Dispute over Gardens and plantations land rights with agnates. in father's parish Won dispute but left par­ ish ALBERT BALA 50 1920 (14,B2) Adopted by mother's brother, Full rights in Navuti a full agnate of Navuti Seldom visits his fat­ Nil her's district and no rights (d.1925 )I92I Quarelled with parish leader ARU KVAGA (17,B2) MARTIN BOI (I7,B3) <d.I935: JOSEPH VIRA and plantations in brother in Navuti father's parish 1925 Christian from east Aoba. His wife inherited a Relative of TIMOTHY who look­ few Navuti acres. Plan­ ed after him and arranged his ted a small area in marriage east Aoba (d.I95C )I925 Quarreled with agnates in Navitora . TIMOTHY gave him (13,E7) House site Navuti. Gardens and Joined wife's mother's House site Navuti. Plant­ (d.I9 W) I 9 2 7Christian from Natakaro. Married Navuti girl (15,F3) WILLIB VUTI35 . SETH PETER Planted large area ALEC KVANI of wife's land in Navuti . Made an DAVID KOLOTI (18,El) 43 ROBERT TARI 28 ( 18,El) 1920 Adopted by Navuti man occasional garden in F's par. House site Navuti. Three Nil acres in wife's parish 1959 After death of wife and three Land of mother's carpel children and his own long long since taken over by illness(all TB) he left the other Navuti men. Plantations parish of his father(sara- in father's parish. nabuga) fearing sorcery anc came to his mother's birth­ place 30 ations in father's parish protection ALEC KVANI „ JOSEPH .44 (/tvt Ma-lo Mond ) SOLOMON 40 Nil 28 20 138 district was nominally Christian and for soma years all the available land had been planted. After this date only two men have been admitted into the parish (Alfred and Robert), and both garden on land inherited from their father. and collect copra In the same period four Navuti men joined relatives in less densely populated communities (three have left the district). Between 1927 and 1960 the population increased from 81 to 107» This factor, coupled with the universal desire for exclusive rights over as many coconuts as possible, has resulted in a break-down of the traditional ideal of the carpel as a corporate group sharing rights in a common estate. In order to demonstrate how individualism has develop­ ed I shall briefly examinine Navuti*s largest and as yet most solidary and agnatic carpel, (appendix 16). In about 1920, when Isaac (D 4) was a young man, Singo (C 1) lived at Sara Navimbanga (cleared by his grandfather Bakeo Lakua^ Tuku Boi (C 2) about 200 yards south at Sara Karangwa (which he himself had made), and Bakeo (C 4) about 100 yards north at Sara Lakua (cleared by his father). Each of these three men gardened and grazed pigs in the immediate vicinity of his homestead. From 1927 onwards Joseph ( D 1), Isaac (D 4) and Jonas (D 9) began to plant coconuts. Each chose ground previously occupied by his father (all the seniors were dead by about 1925). Each man has continued to gather the harvest from his trees alone and has come to look on the land itself as private property. Isaac, who has six sons and would like to see them inherit rights to Joseph*s and Jonas* estate is, as might be expected, the one who most likes to keep alive the notion that ancestral land should remain within the carpel. 139 But he has not trusted solely in his sons* claims as close agnates* Fearing that Joseph*s sister's son Reuben Moli (E 1), a man of the neighbouring parish of Saranambuga, might stake a claim by presenting large quantities of pigs and mats at his uncle's funeral, Isaac persuad­ ed Joseph to adopt his son Esias (E 3)« By doing so he has ensured that Esias will have an indisputable right to refund any contributions that Reuben might make and thus cancel his land claims. But Isaac is more worried about Jonas, Over the years the two have had many quarrels and Jonas seems determined to disinherit his cousins. He has already taken the first step by publicly announcing that his land is to be divided into numerous small plots, one each for every member of the parish. On the strength of thi3 arrangement he has collected £f> from every adult male bar Isaac and his sons (who refuse to pay as they say the whole estate should become theirs). Isaac maintains that he will frustrate Jonas by refunding the money. The issue will undoubtedly be resolved by the scale of investments in the funeral expenses. Partition of carpel ground has progressed even further in that Isaac, who is now an old man, has already indicated which area he wants each of his sons to have. Salathiel and Simon already work their own portions• A similar development has taken place in all coastal and in some inland parishes. The planter alone uses the produce of his trees, though not all have reached the point of making a division. Most like to feel that their families will use the inheritance in happy co-operation. Some brothers attempt to maintain this ideal. But when they in turn 140 have children they usually decide on formal partition in order to protect the boys1 future interests« Frequently the actual allocation follows an accusation that one of the brothers is collecting more than a fair share of copra* community« The arrangement is formally recognised by the The senior men walk around the area, decide on the boundary marks, and constitute witnesses« Navuti, despite the multiplicity of carpels and the absence of genealogical unity, acts as a corporate and solidary group with greater effectiveness and in a wider range of contexts than is the case with Lombanga. The parish runs its own co-operative store, restaurant, launch, jeep, church, well and football team.^^ Isaac Vira, the current leader, takes an interest in all matters of general concern, and his authority and influence is considerable» If money is needed for a communal project he suggests collecting a round of copra from all Navuti land« During my two years1 stay everyone save Jonas fell in with the plan. For the past five years the parish has financed a young man as missionary and teacher on Tutuba island« Community funds also support a boy attending a three-year course at a Government boat-building school in the Solomon Islands Protectorate. The unity of the parish seems to be directly related to the break­ down of the carpel« The men think of themselves as autonomous house­ holders and plantation owners owing allegiance to the larger rather than the smaller group. In Lombanga the reverse holds true, and carpel solidarity inhibits the development of parish unity. Titals bullock project is typical of all the recent co-operative efforts there« 1 « Economic co-operation will be more fully analysed in Chapters IX and X. 141 Inheritance and funeral expenses The inheritance of land rights is controlled by a number of principles* The first, already discussed in connection with Lombanga parish, is that the range of potential inheritors is primarily determined by the source from which the land was originally acquired« I showed that the restriction of rights to carpel segments results from the opening up of new territory by the segments apical ancestor, from the inheritance from non-agnates, from adoption and from the cancellation of personal debts« The second principle is that non-agnates only inherit rights that they in turn transmit to their inheritors, when there are no surviving carpel members descended from the original cultivator« The third principle, which at times negates both of the above, is that heavy investment, especially of long burial mats, in the d e c e a s e d ^ funeral expenses, gives the donor a stake in the estate until such time as the rightful inheritor or inheritors (in terms of the first two principles) refund the goods) (practices of this kind are found in many Melanesian societies,^)) In Nduindui the custom helps to ensure periodic adjustments between carpel size and amount of available land« A declining carpel is especially open to the threat of outside investors; it also is in a poor position to buy them up« Indeed, the desire to increase in numbers and thus maintain or achieve full parish status, may make such outsiders welcome as full resident­ ial members« On the other hand, large and wealthy carpels have both 1« See especially Oliver, D«L« A Solomon Island Society, Cambridge 1955, pp. 215-18. 142 the means and the d e sire to r e ta in land r ig h ts w ithin the group. Kinship i s the primary co nsideration in determ ining who can in v est and who can buy up oth er p e o p le d c o n trib u tio n s. The basic ru lin g is th a t any surviving member o f the carp el (or carp el segment) has the r ig h t to refund p re s ta tio n s of non-members. In order to i l l u s t r a t e how th is p rin c ip le operates I s h a ll again tu rn to Namberumwele carp el of Lombanga p a rish . The male agnatic descendants o f Taumbai (Appendix 10, B 2) a s s e rt th a t i f , when Abraham (F 13) d ie s , a member o f e ith e r the Toundu (B 1) or the Taicaro (B 3) segments should present mats a t the fu n era l they have the r ig h t to cancel any possible land claims by retu rn in g the goods. The donors may s ta te th a t they have no p roperty am bitions. In such circumstances a sim ila r amount of goods w ill be returned by a Taumbai man when the m at-giver or one o f h is close agnates d ie s , A c lo se ly re la te d non-agnate of Abraham, even a s is te r* s son, would a lso have to renounce r ig h ts in the Taumbai land i f h is fu n eral c o n trib u t­ ions should be refunded. But i f Abraham and Paul ( F 16) have rig h ts in h e rite d from t h e i r mother or fath er* s mother, or i f t h e ir fa th e r or fath er* s fa th e r acquired r ig h ts by purchase o r in settlem ent of debt, then only the agnatic descendants of Tambui (D 8) would have the rig h t to buy up Abraham*s s is te r * s sons. Women and land Women, sp in ste rs as w ell as wives, have an indisputable r ig h t to c u ltiv a te a p o rtio n of t h e i r father*s lan d . Almost a l l women bom in inland communities who marry c o a sta l men e x ercise the rig h t - indeed, 143 the shortage of coastal garden land has made an inland wife a most desirable asset. The figures in Table X X are based on a random sample of 100 married couples taken from each of the two areas. The bias in favour of inland women marrying coast men as against coast women marry­ (35 ing inland men is apparent. per cent as against 12 per cent). TABIE X X INTER-MARRIAGE BETWEEN COAST AND INLAND Natal Parishes of Wives: Coast Husbands Inland Husbands Coast 59 Inland 35 84 12 Outsider Total 6 to o 4 100 Most of the 35 inland women married to coastal men regularly make gardens on their agnates* land. Of the remaining $9 coastal husbands a further 27 are the sons of inland women and they also have an indisputable right to make gardens on their mother*s agnatic land. But the sons of such men, that is, the second generation descendants of female agnates, have no such rights. If they wish to continue to use the land they must first get permission from the resident male members of the carpel. Today, in coastal parishes the outmarrying female members can no longer exercise their traditional garden making rights. Instead, their fathers usually allocate them a small grove of coconut trees which they can use during their lifetime. But when they die their 144 surviving husbands and sons have no further rights* This development has therefore led to an increase in the agnatic emphasis in the trans­ mission of property rights# I t also largely accounts for the low percentage of inland men who marry coastal women - they mostly prefer to find th e ir wives in other inland parishes in west Aoba# A woman may establish herself in a dominant position in parish a ffa irs when her father is the sole surviving agnate with rig h ts in a p articu lar piece of land. In the following case Leah succeeded in controlling a large plantation in Saranambuga parish. Michael Ala (appendix 11, H 1), Wilson Vatu (H 2) and Leah (I 6) each have th e ir own separate plantations on land inherited in the d irec t male lin e from Doro Kambu (C 2). The p artitio n was the resu lt of th e ir fathers having planted independently of one another. Leah, who has been widowed for about 20 years, lives on her father*s land with two more elderly widows, one her daughter Elizabeth ( J 3), and the other, her brother*s widow Nellie ( 1 2 ) . She is recognised as having exclusive rights to that portion of the lard planted by her father, and she and the other two regularly pay wages to anyone w illing to collect copra and prepare gardens for them. In recent years she gave permission to her sister* s son Reuben Moli (J 1) and her daughter*s husband Bob Tamwata (J 4) to collect copra. This infuriated Wilson Vatu, (Michael Ala takes l i t t l e in te re st in the dispute - he was adopted by Aru Kwagei (G 1 )and has sole rights in another large plant­ ation inherited from his true father) as he did not lik e seeing out­ siders gaining p ro fit from Saranambuga land. He repeatedly abused Leah, who responded by le ttin g more and more copra go to her re la tiv e s. In 145 1961 she announced that she wished Reuben to inherit all her land rights* Informants were divided about the respective claims by Wilson and Reuben. Some stressed the earlier division of the land, and hence the exclusion of Wilson from Leah’s share; others felt that it would be bad if a non-agnate and non-resident should take precedence over such a close relative as the father’s brother’s son of the man who planted the coconuts. It is probable that Wilson, supported by all other members of Saranambuga, will invest heavily in Leah’s funeral and refuse to accept any contributions sent by Reuben. Leah has achieved dominance primarily because the development of individual rights in coconut trees has prevented her male agnates from exercising authority over the land planted by her father. She also had the unusual advantage of marrying a man (Moli Ngutu, I 5) of the parish in which she herself was b o m . This meant that when her father (Sile,H 3) died her husband was able to control the funeral and thus secure the rights. At that time Michael Ala and Wilson Vatu, whose fathers had died many years earlier, were young. I shall now analyse a conflict over land rights illustrating the importance of both political and economic factors. (As in this case also a woman was exercising dominant rights in a large and valuable plantation, I hasten to point out that the Leahs of Nduindui are rare). Natalu land conflict Natalu is a monocarpellary parish. When Dali (appendix 12, D 2) died about thirty years ago the only remaining members were Bani Mahava ( D 8), Lumu Ala ( D 9 ) and their two young sons Job Muleti (E 11) and 146 Simon Takaro (E 12), Dali*s three sisters and one sister1s son, Tau Ala (E 3) were already dead; another sister*s son, Joseph Ala (E 4) was a high ranking man of about 40 living in the neighbouring parish of Navitakua; and his daughter Elizabeth (E 2) and another sister*s son, Andrew Toka. ( E 7) of Natakaro, were both young children. There were thus but three adults (Bani Mahava, Lumu Ala and Joseph Ala) to inherit Dali*s estate# The two agnates were both old men of low rank with few possessions and when Joseph stepped in and conducted his mother*s brother*s funeral they were in no position to object# Both died a couple of years later and Joseph again organized and financed the burial ceremonies. For many years Joseph used most of the Natalu land by himself, and though he continued to live in Navitakua,only a few minutes* walk away, he gradually planted most of Dali*s share with coconuts. ground covers at least four acres and today yields from two The to three tons of copra per annum* (Price in 1.959 £A60 per ton), Natalu and Navitakua axe today so reduced in numbers (Natalu 10, Navitakua 25) that they have become partly incorporated in their larger and more powerful neighbours of Navuti and Lovanualigoutu. Joseph, as the leader of Navitakua, first decided that his parish should join with Navuti# In practical terms this meant that the Navitakua sent their children to the school, attended the services, contributed towards the upkeep of the church, and provided labour for the undertakings initiated in Navuti# When Dali died he owed two tusked pigs and a 1 # These political reallignements are more fully discussed in Chapter X, 147 bullock to one of the Vuinamwange leaders. As Joseph had recently been converted he had no boars of his own with which to repay the debt. Accordingly the creditor demanded a share in Dali*s land. Joseph approached a Navuti man who agreed to supply the animals. Later, when he began planting, most of his labour came from the Navuti parishioners. These two factors gave the Navuti leaders a strong interest in the Dali land. Joseph died about fifteen years ago* His sole surviving agnates were his sons Simeon and Wilfred (F 1 and 2), who were then in their early teens and living in Navuti under the protection of the leader Isaac Vira. Job Muleti (E 11), the senior Natalu man, organized the funeral and made the biggest contribution • But Elizabeth and Andrew (E 2 and E 7), who were by now adult and married, sent a large number of burial mats and pigs. By doing so they asserted their long-dormant rights in the Dali land. Over the next ten years the only persons who actually collected copra were Elizabeth and her husband John Taka; Job occasionally made a garden. At that time Andrew (E 7) was not interested, and both Simeon and Wilfred had plenty of land in Navitakua. The trouble began about five years ago when Andrew started grazing bullocks. Elizabeth immediately objected. She sent numerous messages to Andrew telling him to keep off, and every time she visited Natalu she untied the beasts. After some time Andrew decided to have the dispute sorted out in a public discussion. He summoned leading men from a number of parishes, but Elizabeth and John refused to attend. (October, 1959). US As far as I am avare there were no further incidents during the next two years ( I was resident in Nduindui for about nine months of this period), kept quiet. to hospital. Andrew continued to graze his bullocks, and Elizabeth Then in June 1961 she became seriously ill and had to go She returned so convinced of her approaching death that she summoned all those interested in the disputed land. Andrew, Job, Solomon (F 5), Wilfred, Simeon and Anderson (F 4) >accompanied by Isaac and Abel Bani (the senior elder of the Church of Christ), attended.:v. I was not present at the discussion, but Abel gave me the following account, which Solomon and Isaac confirmed. Elizabeth began by saying, ”1 am nearly dead now and think it good that Anderson should have the land and give me some present for willing it to him.” The statement stunned the audience, for Anderson is far removed from Dali. Abel explained Elizabeth*s preference on the ground that Anderson is a classificatory brother and fellow parishioner of her husband John Taka, who would thus be able to go on using the area after her death. Isaac interrupted, n0h no, you cannot do this. those trees in Natalu. You did not plant Joseph planted them, and when he joined Navuti he wanted us to help him win the land by cancelling Dali*s debts. ground does not belong to you alone. was to go to his sons. The Joseph told me that some of it Now if you take a present from Anderson I will prevent any Navitora man from entering Natalu. We in Navuti have strong claims to that land because we planted it and helped Joseph. Your word is worthless. We must divide the ground.” Andrew began by swearing at Elizabeth, ”If you take any money fl*om 149 Anderson. I will summon a district council meeting* mother have a right to the ground You have never listened to me* - I myself or Anderson*s Anderson has no right at all* You are always causing trouble#” The meeting broke up with nothing settled. went back to hospital, for a month* A week later Elizabeth On her return (October 1961) she sent for Solomon and told him that he, Job and Simon could have the land if they paid her £1,000. Solomon kept his opinion to himself and told her that they would talk about it* the three Natalu men, (all Natalu men) That night together with Isaac, had a discussion* They first of all decided that the part of the area that the Navuti men had acquired for Joseph by cancelling Dali*3 debts was Simeon*s and Wilfred*s* of it* Elizabeth therefore had no right to dispose They then agreed to offer her £200 for the remainder. Solomon 'A was appointed messenger, but as he felt certain that she would be dead within a matter of days he decided to wait. Elizabeth obliged by expiring on November 15th. A few days later Job, Solomon, Simeon and Wilfred agreed to work the land in co-operation* Job is now old, and as Simeon and Wilfred have more land than they can work in Navitakua, it seems certain that this arrangement will leave Solomon in effective control. If in future Andrew wishes to graze his bullocks or collect copra he must first seek Solomon*s permission. A number of conclusions can be drawn from this case. First, when there are no surviving male agnates the determination of who shall control the land is as much a matter of economics and politics as it is of kinship. This was seen in the importance of Joseph*s status as leader of Navitakua, his alliance with Navuti, control of Dali*s funeral, planting of the land with coconuts, and the help given him by 150 Navuti• Secondly, though daughters and their sons have strong rights when the deceased!s father has no closely-related male agnates, they can not be transmitted to the following generation. After more than thirty years of non-agnatic outsiders claiming and exercising an interest in Natalu land, the rights of agnates have now been firmly re-establish­ ed thanks to Sol o m o n ^ successful manoevering. CHAPTER VI BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE In thi3 chapter I discuss three inter-related topics - the extent to which marriages are arranged in accordance with social interests: whether the associated exchanges of wealth are test consider­ ed as transactions between specified Individuals, between ego-oriented and dispersed categories of kin, or between corporate and enduring groups: sind marriage stability. Polygynoua Marriages Today all marriages (with but two exceptions, both widow inherit­ ance) are monogamous, and the great majority of young people are wed between the ages of 17 and 25. In the past polygyny was common and at least a quarter of the male population remained bachelors all their lives or only succeeded in inheriting a widow in middle age. Men of the highest rank, who seldom exceeded half a dozen for the whole district usually had from four to ten wives; those of the second main rank about two to three; and the remainder either one or none at all. A. polygynous household wa3 a basic necessity for those men who wished to achieve the highest ranks. 1.52 Titles were acquired by sacrificing pigs, making payments and holding large feasts. As women looked sifter the animals, plaited the mats, and maintained the gardens, success was directly dependant on the number of females the household had. Polygyny was also a help because the man could prostitute his secondary wives. One wife, usually the first betrothed in childhood, was known as 11the woman sacredu (vavine kokona) • Adultery with her was prohibited, and if discovered the lover had to pay ten full-circle tusked boars. Husbands, however, invariably encouraged their secondary wives to distribute their favours as widely as possible mats or a small pig. - in return for a few The great number of bachelors ensured a steady income. Arranged marriages The majority of marriages, other than those of widows and widowers and the secondary unions of high ranking men, were arranged in childhood by the parents. Today, despite mission pressure, the custom is still kept up, though the parties are now much older; moreover, they often fail to keep the contract, Bach of the following factors is relevant in the frequency of arranged matches, t) The long series of prestations that begin with the engagement and culminate in the marriage exchanges proper constitute a substantial part of the total pattern of contractual relationships, the success­ ful manipulation of which provide the principal means by which individuals and corporate groups can advance their interests and 153 ambitions* Pressure is thus brought to bear on the fathers of young children to open up new fields of investment by announcing early betrothals* 2) In such a small scale community, where nearly everyone is kin to everyone else, a wide knowledge of the complex network of relation­ ships is necessary so that the incest prohibitions may be preserved* The increasing tendency for the young to choose their partners is a cause of anxiety amongst the older and more responsible men. The most common complaint is that incorrect marriages result in confusion in the use of kin terms between the offspring of such unions and their parents cognates* There is also a widespread belief that the population decline of the past century is directly correlated with a supposed increase in incestuous marriages* 3) In Nduindui, as elsewhere in the New Hebrides, there are more men than women (the ratio is 115:100)* Wife-seeking is hence highly competitive, and there is a strong incentive to eliminate rivals by making a contract as early as possible* The recent advance in the age of betrothal is possibly more directly correlated with the reduction in competition through monogamy than with mission teaching. Choice of spouse The principal marriage regulations can be summarized as follows: 1) Union is prohibited between members of the minimal ngwatu i vanua (types A and C parishes and the semi-autonomous sections of types 1. It is worth noting that in the age group 0-13 the imbalance is less marked - 105 males to every 100 females. 154 B and D). The only exceptions to th is rule are when eith er the husband, his father or his wife*s father joined the group as an immigrant. I f, in either of the la s t two instances, the father married a local g ir l, then his children can only marry a natal member of the same community provided there is no known genealogical connection. From a to ta l of 301 married couples only six lived in the same minimal ngwatu i vanua prior to th e ir marriage. In each case eith er the husband or his father was an outsider. 2) Though marriage is permissible between members of the component sections of a multi-ngwatu i vanua parish, the preference is for in tra parishional matches. This is especially so i f a number of generations have passed since the component sections lo st th e ir f u ll autonomy. There are only fourteen examples of th is type of marriage. 3) Marriage is considered to be incestuous between a man and a l l women whom he refers to as s is te r (hanewena) , ^ ) mother (retahina) . sister*s daughter (duvina) and daughter (natuna) . In theory, th is rule holds regardless of genealogical distance: in practice, objections are lik ely only i f the common ancestor is four or less generations removed. 4) The only form of marriage between kin th at is approved (in theory) is when the couple are related as grandchild to grandparent (vagambulna - tumbuna) j f the relationship can be genealogically demonstrated there is an additional stipulation th at the common ancestor must be 1. In the following pages I give the English equivalent for the mo3t closely related kin for each of the Nduindui terms. This is merely to a s s is t the reader. The further extensions of a l l terms are given in Figure 10. 155 removed by at least four generations* Informants explained the double bv requirement of kin relationship and genealogical distancej^saying that though a man could marry vagambuina he must wait for vagambuina ta lemba lemba bakarua. The latter term can be translated as Mgreat-great grand­ child” (ta lemba lemba ® again; bakarua = twice). At first I mistakenly took the statement to mean that a man can only marry a kinswoman whom he himself refers to by this term. As all such women are removed from their prospective husbands by at least three generations (the nearest would be a man*s MBCCCC), such^ regulation would make a correct marriage virtually impossible. Further investigation established that the term referred not to the category of relationship between living kin but to the number of generations*descent from the prospective couple1s common ancestor. A man can therefore only marry a vagambuina kinswoman who is herself the great-great granddaughter of their common ancestor. In the accompanying diagram H and I are both vagambuina ta lemba lemba bakarua of A. I refers to H as vagambuina and marriage is considered both legitimate and desirable. A proposal that F should marry G would, however, be critic­ ised as an incestuous union, (see diagram next page). (from previous page) 2. As the great majority of marriages are between kin, and as all cognates other than those related as vagambuina tumbuna fall under the incest prohibition, the Nduindui could be said to have a prescriptive marriage system. But I dislike the term because it is inapplicable in that a man can marry a non-relative, and because there is a considerable gap between theory and practice (see Table XX1 ,p..158),. Though I cannot prove the point I feel reasonably certain that the vagambuina-tumbuiia stipulation is a survival of an earlier period when matrilineal moieties coincided with the present system of localized agnatic kin groups. It is probable that deuble-unilineal descent was correlated with a section system similar to that reported in the Small Islands, north Ambrym and south Raga. (cont*d. next page) 156 A A ___ L B A D A F A OC hangwena relationship incest OE natuna - retahina relationship incest O G natuna - retahina relationship A vagambuina - tumbuna relationship H O I legitimate The slanting of the cross-cousin terminology (MBD=D and FZD=FZ=M) means that a pair of fourth cousins who address one another as vagambuina aid tumbuna must be descended from their common ancestor in complement­ ary and unilinear lines# Any other form of descent would postpone the required relationship for an indefinite number of generations# Therefore, when the Nduindui state that a man must wait for vagambuina ta lemba lemba bakarua. the reference is to the number of generations that must pass before the female line of descent (karo na bela) can return to the agnatic core from which it originated# The necessary result of this arrangement is that not only are all agnates eliminated as possible spouses, but also all non-agnates other than this one narrowly defined category. A further consequence of the slanting of the terminology is that a man cannot marry a woman who is a direct agnatic descendant of one of (cont*d from previous page) 2# The evidence against such a possibil­ ity is that the Nduindui strictly prohibit sister-exchange marriage, and the kin terminology could not possibly co-exist with matrilineal moieties# 157 his own female agnatic ancestors. All such women automatically fall into one or other of the prohibited categories.^) In other words, every marriage between two groups is sin impediment to further marriages between them. This in turn results in a wide dispersal of the matrimonial alliances of each localised exogamous kin group parish-section. - whether parish or Barnes, when noting the same phenomenon in the New Guinea Highlands commented that it ’’accords well with the emphasis on a multiplicity of freshly established inter-personal connexions rather than on group and inter-group solidarity’’. (2) 1 By this he meant that individualism is emphasised by the tendency for each male member of the local group of agnates to have a personal sind unique network of nonagnatic and affinal relationships. The observation applies equally to the Nduindui. Table XXI (see next page) indicates the extent to which marriages conform to kinship requirements. The 99 couples not shown are those who had no idea what, if any, kin term was applicable to their relation^ship prior to marriage. In 54 of these non-kirwmarriages either the husband or the wife was bora outside the district. In the kirwcategory there were only 45 technically incorrect marriages, 3 between fourth cousins, 2 between fifth cousins, and 40 between kin who could not establish any genealogical link. Informants expressed some mild 1 • This is not strictly true - a man refers to his FZSSD as vagambuina and there would be no objection to hj». marrying her. The probability of hie finding such a kinswoman of a suitable age is, however, remote. If he went up a generation and looked for a vagambuina relate© amongst his FFZ descendants he would have to wait an impossible number of generations (FFZDDDDDQ). 2. Barnes, J. A. p.8. 15Ö criticism of the fourth- and fifth-cousin marriages but none at all of the remainder (though they were still said to be ’’not straight”). TABLE XXI KINSHIP BETWEEN HARRIED COUPLES Husband refers to wife as: Demonstrable Genealog­ ical connection: 4£h No known 5th 3rd cousins cousins cousins connection Total Grand-daughter (Vagambuina) - $ 3 81 B9 Grand-mother (Tumbuna) - 3 2 63 68 Sister (Hangwena) - - 1 8 9 Mother (Retahina) - 2 1 9 12 Daughter (Natuna) - 1 - 14 15 Sister*s Daughter (Duvina) - - - 9 9 - 11 7 184 202 6) Sister-exchange marriage is prohibited. 7) Two brothers can marry two sisters (only one example at present in Nduindui), though the arrangement is not favoured as it reduces the potential spread of extra-parishional ties. 8) In the past a man could inherit his brother*s and mother*s brother*s widows. There is only one such case today (one of the two men who has two wives), and church leaders severely criticised it. 159 . Marriage prestations I shall now give a b rie f descriptive outline of the various exchanges of goods made from the time of the childhood betrothal up to the fin a l prestations when the couple set up a household. The sequenee described is for a tra d itio n a l marriage arranged during early childhood. Many marriages did not go through a l l stages. Where necessary I shall indicate differences between past sind present. There are four main stages, the infant or childhood betrothal ( la i homu) a f i r s t (raga roso) and a second (ngwatu duvi duvi) re-affirm ation, and the marriage ceremony proper (tuvage). Lai homu The boy*a father, usually afte r consultation with senior agnates, who have a b etter knowledge of the genealogical background, makes the f i r s t move. Ife approaches the girl*s father, who in turn discusses the matter with the older men of his community. I f the proposal is accepted word is sent to the boy*3 parents who then bring a small amount of food, a shell bracelet (homu), and the t a i l of a sow to the g ir l. She wears the bracelet as a sign th a t she is now betrothed and keeps the sow*s t a i l to be worn many years la te r at the marriage ceremony; her parents make no return g if t. Today, the procedure is the same other than the replacement of the bracelet and the pig*s t a i l , which are said to be pagan, with a number of handker­ chiefs • 160 Raga Roso The next stage takes place about three to four years later. It is another prestation called raga roso (mat many) made by the boy*s parents to those of the girl. Usually this consists of a specific amount of cooked food made up in a large basket, two small pigs and ten mats. The gift further consolidates the contract and marks the beginning of frequent visits by the young girl to her future parents-in-law. day she goes every few months and stays about a week. To­ Informants assured me that in the past she would have been there for a longer period. From now on the boy is expected to help his father-in-law in garden work and in collecting copra, a duty which he must keep up for the rest of his life. In the following generation his son continues the service by assisting his mother*s brother. A short time later the boy*s father makes a small feast for the close kin and neighbours of both families. Re spreads out two large coconut leaves, places some pudding on each, and the betrothed pair sit and eat together. The act symbolises the bond between them and serves as a warning that no other man can henceforth share a meal with the girl. (In normal circumstances, however, even husband and wife do not eat together in public.) The eating ceremony is seldom performed today. Ngwatu duvi duvi Within a year or two the boy*s parents again prepare food, this time on a larger scale, perhaps two or three baskets. As in raga roso a few close kin (especially the boy*s brothers, father*s brothers and mother*s brothers) make small contributions and help with the preparations. 161 . T h is fo o d , to g e th e r w ith tw e n ty mats and two medium s iz e d p ig s a ls o goes t o th e g i r l ' s f a t h e r . Ngwatu d u v i d u v i l i t e r a l l y means "head on each s id e s i d e ” , and r e f e r s to th e two p ig s p laced on e a c h /o f th e m ats and b a sk e ts o f cooked fo o d . A gain, th e g i r l ' s fa m ily make no r e tu r n g i f t . Today ra g a ro so and ngwatu d u v i d u v i a r e u s u a lly combined i n a s in g le la r g e p r e s t a t i o n known as taum bim bia (a common term meaning "b in d in g c o n tr a c t" ) when th e boy i s ab o u t f i f t e e n o r s ix te e n . I t c o n s is ts o f two o r t h r e e b a s k e ts o f cooked fo o d , a dozen o r so m ats, a s im ila r number o f b la n k e ts , about £10 c ash , and a sm all s u itc a s e c o n ta in in g p re s e n ts f o r th e g i r l , in c lu d in g soap, s c e n t and u n d e rc lo th e s . Tuvage The tuvage exchanges and a s s o c ia te d r i t u a l mark th e f i n a l d e p a rtu re o f th e g i r l from h e r p a r e n t s ' p a r is h . The f i r s t p a r t o f th e two day ceremony i s perform ed a t th e g i r l ' s f a t h e r 's hom estead, th e second a t th e b o y 's . On th e f i r s t day th e g i r l i s bedecked i n th e homu b r a c e l e t s , p i g 's t a i l ( t i e d around h e r neck) and a woven mat known as m atai t a l a i . She a l s o has a few fo w ls ' f e a th e r s i n h e r h a ir and s p e c ia l p a in t marks on th e f a c e . O ther th a n th e b r a c e le ts and p i g 's t a i l , she th u s w ears th e same in s i g n i a a s t h a t o f a man about t o s a c r i f i c e p ig s f o r one o f th e lo w er r a n k s . hungwe) • She i s s a id in f a c t to "make h e r s a c r i f i c i a l r i t e " (v a i nona A good tu sk e d b o a r su p p lie d by h e r f a t h e r i s te th e r e d to a s a c re d cycas palm, and th e g i r l dances around i t to th e rhythm o f a s in g le s l i t gong. Then she e i t h e r k i l l s i t h e r s e l f o r a llo w s h e r f a t h e r t o do so on h e r b e h a lf . By t h i s a c t o f s a c r i f i c e she becomes a sacred 162 wife (vavine kokona) . The groom confirms her s ta tu s by stepping forward and layihg h is bow across the head of the dead animal* The weapon bears w itness th a t he, w ith the support of h is p a rish group and other clo se kin, w ill sla y any man who attempts to have sexual in te rco u rse w ith h e r. He and h is frie n d s then take the carcass back to th e ir p arish and prepare i t fo r the follow ing day* A number of women and g i r ls from the groom's p arish who a re re la te d to him as grandmother (tumbuna) or grand-daughter (vagambuina) now appear in fro n t of the g i r l 's f a th e r 13 homestead* Dressed as men, they perform a dance in which the company enacts a r i t u a l fig h t w ith the women of the b r id e 's p a rish . Both sides use snakes as weapons, and amidst h i l a r i t y they throw p ig 's ex creta, d i r t y water and a clinging type of vine a t one anotxier. That saune n ig h t the same women of the groom's p arish make ra id s on the b r id e 's settlem ent to capture g i r ls and take them home. Anyone they find they hold p riso n er u n t i l women of her place o ffe r a pig as ransom* This custom i s spoken of as "taking w ives". The following morning the g i r l 's fa th e r, the whole of h is p a rish and a larg e company of other kin and a ffin e s from throughout the d i s t r i c t , take the g i r l to the ceremonial ground n earest the groom*3 homestead. They lead her to the cen tre and seat her on a mat. She i s clad in her f u l l re g a lia , and the women of her p arish now proceed to cover her w ith dozens of mats supplied by numerous k in . These mats form a s u b s ta n tia l p a rt of th e g i f t made to the groom's people. Meantime some of her male k in lay out the baskets o f cooked food prepared the night before and on a mat nearby others hold two or th re e tu sk le ss p ig s. 163 When a l l is prepared the men of the groom1s parish perform the same dance that the women presented the night before, and again there is a mock fig h t• When order is restored the groom*s father touches each of the g ifts from the bride*s people* His helpers then carry on the bride- price, which consists of from two to ten tusked boars and many coconuts and mats* The goods are said to ’’uncover”the g irl, and the mats conceal­ ing her are now removed. This act completes the ceremony of handing the g ir l over to her husband’s people* The two companies return to th e ir respective parishes, each with a large gathering of supporting relativ es, and s e ttle down to a feast* Late at night everyone returns to the groom’s homestead for a dance u n til dawn. Tuvage means ’’put over there”, a reference to the tran sfer of the g irl: the resu lt of tuvage is la g i, a word th at describes the condition of being together as man and wife. The g ifts sent with the g ir l are known as soso a tanga (soso. untranslatable; tanga = ’’basket”)* The soso a tanga is specifically a small basket th at contains the girl*s reg alia. Thi3 is her own property, and la te r on she presents i t to one of her daughters as a b rid al g ift* . The pigs and mats are also said to be her property but are distributed to those of the husband’s close kinsmen who helped with the bride-price. The cooked food is divided up amongst a l l those who attended the ceremony as supporters of the groom. The value of the goods sent with the g ir l are usually slig h tly greater than the bride-price. The groom and his family have, however, already sent three unreciprocated g ifts (la i homu, raga roso and ngwatu duvi duvi) • No further exchanges are made a fte r tuvage. Missionaries have attacked two aspects of the trad itio n al marriage 164 - the scale of goods exchanged and all elements considered to be pagan or for some reason unseemly (the sacrifice of the tusked boar, the dancing [still permitted by Melanesian Mission}, the mock fights, the ritual stealing of •’wives” and the covering of the bride with mats.) The tuvage exchanges are still carried out with the exception of the ’•pagan” regalia in the girl’s basket (the bracelet, pig’s tail, feathers, dancing apron and face paint*) Earlier in the Christian era only a few pigs and mats are said to have changed hands at the tuvage ceremony. But in recent years the decline in mission influence and the growth of copra industry have resulted in inflation. In the struggle for prestige men contribute larger and larger quantities of European manufactured goods, cash, pigs, cattle, and mats. In the following section I shall present an analysis of a recent exchange in an endeavour to assess the relative emphasis placed on inter-personal as against inter-group relationships. The marriage of a Nanako boy and a Navuti girl. The analysis is based on the transfer of goods that culminated in the marriage of Magie (13, E 5), a Navuti girl, and Amon, a Nanako boy, in July 1959* The case is a little unusual in that Magie *s father Timothy(13, D 1) was an immigrant from east Aoba (see Table XVTII) who married the last surviving agnate of^avuti carpel. He has maintained no contact with hi 3 agnates, and they do not appear in the exchanges. Accordingly no special emphasis should be laid on the fact that the principal Navuti contributors, other than Timothy himself and his sons, are Magie’s classificatory matrilineal kin. Their prominence rests on 165 the fact that they are the leading men of her natal parish; men who in normal circumstances would be her father*s agnates, not those of her mother. The parents had arranged the betrothal three years earlier when Amon was 20 and Magie 16. was taumblmbia The first gift sent by the boy and his family and consisted of one small pig, three fowls, £5 in cash and ten mats. All were supplied by Amon, his father Abel, and his brother Seth. Timothy kept the first three items and divided the mats amongst the senior and most closely related kinsmen of Magie in Navuti. No further exchanges took place until the first part of the tuvage, the soso a bokis, 0 ) was sent to Nanako. One man when speaking of the coming event mentioned that Navuti was making the soso a bokis and sending it to Nanako, implying that it was a transaction between parishes. When pressed further he added that though Navuti made and sent the gift, it belonged to Timothy. I shall now attempt to assess in terms of labour, contributions and financial liability how far eithar of these statements accorded with the facts. Preparation of the cooked food and the accumulation of the goods took place on the church clearing. During the previous couple of days small groups of Navuti men and women went out to collect cooking leaves, taro, yams and bananas needed for the prestation and also to feed the visiting contributors from other parishes. The bulk came from the gardens of Timothy and his three adult sons, though a few Navuti men 1. The new term for the traditional soso a. tanga. The basket (tanga) with the regalia has been replaced by trunks full of soap, scent, calico etc. Bokis is the pidgin for a large box or trunk. 166* made small gifts from their own gardens • Timothy purchased an additional 400 taro from his daughter^ husband, a member of the inland parish of Saralokambu. Donors and helpers poured into Navuti. The most literate man in the parish sat in the club-house, and as each visitor arrived he recorded the name, parish, and amount of the contribution* He also noted whether the item was a gift offered without expectation of a like return, a settling of a past debt with Timothy or one of his sons, or a new debt to be squared on a similar occasion in the future. The clerk, in consultation with Timothy or any other senior Navuti man near­ by at the moment decided which was the appropriate category. Table X X H provides a preliminary analysis of the goods presented. Instead of listing the quantities of each separate item I have indicated the approximate cash value. TABLE XXII CONTRIBUTIONS TO MAGIE13 SOSO A BOKIS Donors Airtimd a European Goods Mats and Blankets Cash Total Timothy and sons £180 (2 bullocks 15 pigs) £28 £1;3 - £226 Navuti (17 men and 4 women) £70 (4 pigs and 2 fowl) £37 £22 £55 £184 £18 £10 £18 £ 47 £9 £8 £3 £ 21 Navitora (10 men) ( 2 fowl) Lovanuailigoutu (10 men) £1 ( 2 foul) t 2ont *d ne:ct page) 167 . TABLE XXII (cont*d, ) CONTRIBUTIONS TO MAGIE *S SOSO A BOKIS Donors Lovaturusa (2 men and 2 women) Nanako (7 men) Vuinamwangwe (3 men) Animals European Goods Mats and Blankets Cash Total £ 6 £ 4 £ 2 £ 13 £ 9 £ 3 £ 6 £ 18 £ 2 £ 2 £ 2 £ 7 £ 2 £ 2 £ 1 £ 5 £ 4 £ 4 £ 2 £ 4 (2 fowl) - (2 fowl) Saralokambu (2 men and 1 woman) - Lombanga ( 2 men) - Saranambuga (2 men and 1 woman) - £254 - £ 1 £112 £ 75 - £ 1 £ SB £529 Other than those contributions from Timothy*s own son§ the only free gifts; were small items of garden produce and loaves of bread for feeding the guests (not listed in the above table). If Timothy had been a natal member of Navuti it is probable that some of his close agnates, similar particularly his true brothers, would have made substantial^donations• Of the total contributions made, other than those of Timothy and 168 his sons, ( i.e . £529 -£226 = £303), £132 (43.5 per cent) was in settlement of g ifts made e a rlie r by Timothy and his sons. The remain­ ing sum of £171 (56,6 per cent) consisted of debts that Timothy etc. would have to se ttle in the future. Thus the to ta l expenses, other than a few minor items of food, ultim ately devolve on Timothy. The statement that Navuti was making the payment could be in te r­ preted as meaning two things. The members acted as the principal labour force for Timothy in carrying out the large-scale operations, and even i f Timothy and his sons are not counted, the value of th e ir contribut­ ions was greater than th at of a l l outsiders combined. (£184 worth of goods as against a to ta l of £119 from a ll other parishes.) All adults a t the time resident in Navuti made some contribution, both in labour sind in goods. I t is worth noting th at Nanako, though the home of Magie ’s future husband, and hence the recipient of the goods, was a big contributor, neighbours and The two communities are/hence in ter-related by numerous tie s of kinship, a ffin ity and indebtedness. Seven Nanako men f e lt obliged therefore to help Timothy. They also contributed to Amon’s bride-price. This observation highlights the fact that marriage prestations constitute not only transactions between both specific individuals and corporate groups but also a complex m ultiplicity of inter-personal exchanges between the principal actors and a wide supra-parish network of th e ir kin, affin es, debtors and creditors. Other than Timothy’s creditors, most of the contributors from the remaining parishes were honouring a personal connection with Navuti e ith e r as a birthplace of th e ir wives, mothers or other kin, or as the 1 6 9 p l a c e o f s o n s . O n ly h e r i m t h e s o s o N m a v u t i i n g r e s i d e n c e a w a t f o r l e a s t T i m o f w o t h y * s , a n d t h e l a m o u n t f o o d a n d b e a n d o f g o o d s D IS T R IB U T IO N A - t h n im a ls o f 4 0 0 s e n t h o w s i m in e d f i n t o N a n a k o ( s o s o a b o k i s ) G t o i f t s , . i t h t h e t o T i m o r g o o d s a t m u c h f o r a d v i c e . e a c h o f T A B L E X X I I I G O O D S P R E S E N T E D t e n d s M t o b y t h e s e t o m s o n s T IM O T H Y M a ts a n d B l a n k e t s a s a n d a n d c o m p e n s ­ s q u a r e a t t e r s X X I I I t h r e e T O t o d i s p o s a l o th y T a b l e t h e p i g s h i s e i r l l i d e n t i f y f l a v o u r ­ r e t a i n e d a o f e a n w h ile d o n a t e d t h r s 1 m e m b e r v a r i o u s T i m i n s i s t e a n y a s s i s t e d d e c i s i o n a n u f a c t u r e d s , e n t y h o w o r o t h y . y a m t w o t h y , a l a g ie 1 0 0 t h e o f f e r e d G o o d s S e n t M r e s e r v e d a l l o c a t e d M , N a n a k o , m u c h p l y o f s i s t e r s , n e g o t i a t i o n s w t a r o T i m t o T h e O F t h e i r t e e n e x a m t o t h a n e v e n i n g d e b t s . o t h e r s r e l a t e d r a t h e r p a r i s h , t h e e r e d a u g h t e r s , a s p e c t t h e o r k e r s , o f t a i n a r r i e d w a v u t i s h o u l d f e w t o N t h e a t h e T h i s i t h L a t e m i n o r i t y p r e p a r i n g m u c h t h e m e i r c a b b a g e s , m e n h o w t h i l y . w e r e a n d s e n i o r a t i o n f a m o v e n s . d e c i d e d a l l b o k i s m e n i n t h e s m e d i a te l e a v e s c o o k a o f o f f w a s i n d i c a t e s c a t e g o r i e s . C a s h T o t a l £ 1 4 5 £ 7 7 £ 3 0 £ 7 5 £ 3 2 7 £ 1 0 9 £ 31i £ 2 5 £ 1 3 £ 1 7 8 £ 4 £ 2 0 - h e l p e r s ' ' ' H e ld b y T i m o th y - £ 2 5 4 £ 1 1 2 £ 7 5 £ 8 8 £ 2 4 £ 5 2 9 170 The follow ing morning th e Navuti people, helped by many o f the outside donors, c arried the soso a bokis to the c e n tra l c le a rin g in Nanako. A fte r they had la id i t out Timothy and Isaac (13, D 2 ), the p arish lea d er (also Magie*s MB by adoption), made short speeches* Abel Bani, the fa th e r of Amon and the lea d er of Nanako, touched each g i f t in acknowledgement and made a b r ie f re p ly . th e b rid e -p ric e forward* The Nanako men then brought This consisted of £100 cash, two b ullocks, two bags of r ic e , one bag of sugar, one case of tinned meat, te n liv e p ig s, a hundred loaves of bread, th re e hundred coconuts, and £35-worth of mats and blankets* The t o t a l cash value was about £350, ag ain st the Navuti g i f t of £327. The Navuti fo lk c a rrie d the b rid e -p ric e home and d is trib u te d the bread and coconuts among those present* Timothy opened h is second oven and the company sa t down to spend the r e s t of the day fe a s tin g . Timothy*s f in a l balance sheet can be summarized as follow s. His £529 investment was made up of £226 personal expenditure, £132 c re d it and the c re a tio n of £171 worth of new d e b ts. From the b rid e -p ric e he received £350-worth of anim als, mats, goods and cash. The goods and money enabled him to pay o ff the £171 of debt and to o ffs e t h is own expenditure of £226 by th e remaining £176-worth of goods. The end r e s u lt was th ere fo re a d ir e c t expenditure of £57 in goods and cash and th e lo ss of £132 i n i t i a l credit* (from previous page) t . The cooked food and the goods presented to h elp ers were divided up by th e Navuti men in to separate p ile s , one fo r every p a rish th a t had sent co n trib u tio n s or workers. They calcu lated th e amount according to how many were present and the t o t a l a ssista n c e in terms of work and siz e of g ift* The old er men of each re c ip ie n t group then divided the share among the most deserving members. 171 A week later the Christian marriage ceremony took place in Nanako in the presence of approximately 1,000 people. After the church service the parish held a modern-style feast at which the guests were served with either chicken or beef, vegetables and rice, bread, butter, cakes and other European delicacies. The main items (bullock, fowl, rice, sugar, tea sind flour) came from the soso a bokis. All other expenses were borne by Amon and his father and to a lesser extent by his father fs father*s brother*s son Joshua. which £40 The total amounted to about £100, of was raised by a collection, to which everyone contributed a few shillings, after the church service. The Nanako people supplied the necessary labour. A few days later, Abel, his sons Seth and Amon, his father *s brother *s son Joshua, and their four wives met outside Amon*s house to divide up what was left of the Navuti gifts. A A Abel O A Joshua 41 i_____ • i ________ O ‘ No children r Seth A. — O 1 Amon/d <_____i These four men are the sole surviving adult members of one of the four carpels of Nanako parish. of the goods - OMagi© «------ 1 that Two considerations influenced the division Amon and Magie should retain a reasonable amount for their own use (especially the household' goods) and that donors to the bride-price should be in part compensated. In theory all of the 172 goods wer© Magie*s - th e y were p re se n te d to h e r by h e r f a t h e r and o th e r k in s f o lk and she should have had th e f i n a l say i n t h e i r d i s t r i b u t ­ io n . I n p r a c tic e , a young g i r l i s to o ig n o ra n t to ta k e a l l f a c t o r s in to p ro p e r c o n s id e ra tio n , and u s u a ll y she i s c o n te n t to l e t h e r p a r e n t s - i n law work th in g s out f o r h e r . Should she s u s p e c t t h a t th e y a r e d e p riv ­ in g h e r and h e r husband o f t h e i r f a i r sh a re , however, she can a p p e a l t o h e r own k in t o r a i s e o b je c tio n s . a r e common enough. Q u a rre ls o v er th e d i s t r i b u t i o n I n t h i s p a r t i c u l a r in s ta n c e Abel*s w ife made most o f th e d e c is io n s i n c o n s u lta tio n w ith th e o t h e r s .o f th e two b u llo c k s one was consumed a t th e wedding f e a s t , and Abel to o k th e o th e r in r e t u r n f o r th e b e a s t he had c o n trib u te d to th e b r i d e - p r i c e . The p ig s went t o Joshua sind t o Amon*s m other*s b r o th e r , a man o f th e n eig h b o u r­ in g p a r is h o f N a v ito ra who had a ls o c o n trib u te d g e n ero u sly t o th e b rid e -p ric e . The rem ain in g goods were d iv id e d as shown i n T able XXIV. The c a te g o ry o f " o th e r s ” r e f e r p r im a r ily t o S e th , A bel, and Jo sh u a , th ough i t in c lu d e s a number o f o th e r men who made m inor c o n tr ib u tio n s . TABLE XXIV DISTRIBUTION BETWEEN GROOM*S KIN M anufactured Goods Mats Cash T o ta l Amon and Magie £35 £10 £30 £75 O th ers £42 £20 £45 £107 R e c ip ie n ts : 173 Comments In an important sense the tuvage exchanges can be described as personal transactions between the father of the bride and the father of the groom (or whoever may be considered jurally responsible for the marriage), but a number of other individuals invest in the exchanges from a variety of personal motives* At another level the proceeding can be regarded as transactions between two parishes effected through the medium of the parents of the couple with a complex network of out­ siders contributing to the group prestations. Finally, the exchanges can be viewed above the parish level as taking place between indetermin­ ate non-corporate categories of kin, affines, creditors and debtors of the interested parties* I shall conclude this section by listing those contexts in which parish unity is most apparent* I) The ritual fights and the stealing of wives in the traditional tuvage ceremonies* II) The statement that such and such a parish is lending" its dowry or bride-price payment. III) The predominant contribution made by parish members as against that made by outsiders. IV) The enthusiasm with which parish members provide the necessary labour in cooking the food, in receiving the non-parish donors, in treating them as guests, and carrying the gifts to the groom*s parish. V) The modern-style feast after the «hurch service in which the members of the groom*s parish act as hosts to all visitors and ensure that these return home with some small gift. 174 Broken Engagements I t is now necessary to consider ju st how binding the betrothal is on the young couple and what sort of factors lead to a breakdown. The figures below indicate th at during the past half century (a) the age a t which the couples have been affianced has risen and (b) fewer engaged youths and g irls marry one another. In the inland parish of Lombanga 15 of the 21 householders were betrothed by th e ir parents in childhood and of these only one failed to marry the g ir l. At the time of the la i homu prestation the average age of the youths was eight and that of the future wife four. Of the remaining six men two married east Aoban g irls when working as labourers in Santo; two became the lovers of Nduindui g irls whose intended husbands agreed to relinquish th e ir claims in return for large quantities of pigs and mats; one made his own arrangements with the father of an uncommitted g irl, and the sixth married the g ir l promised to his brother recently deceased. All were the younger sons of unimportant fathers. The figures can be contrasted with the present arrangements for the children and adolescents of Lombanga and Navuti. (As noted ea rlier, Navuti is less conservative than Lombanga .SeeTable XXV#n v next page). The gradual rise in age at betrothal and the increasing number of broken contracts is clear. The same trend can be seen in th at whereas a l l the Lombanga arrangements were made by the parents without reference to th e ir ch ild re n s preferences, three Navuti g irls and two boys select­ ed th e ir future spouses. 175 TABLE XXV BETROTHAL DATA N av u ti: Bbys T o ta l unm arried Number b e tro th e d * Average age when b e tro th e d Not y e t b e tro th e d aged 12 o r more Not y e t b e tro th e d aged 1 - 1 1 B e tr o th a l broken, no new c o n t r a c t 0 ) Lombanga: G irls Boys G ir ls 28 13 30 22 5 4 6 10 17 12 14 8 $ 1 4 - 16 10 19 11 2 3 1 1 U ndoubtedly th e p r i n c i p a l cause o f th e r i s e in age i s th e accep tan ce o f monogamy and hence a r e d u c tio n in th e c o m p e titio n f o r w iv e s. Loss o f p a r e n ta l a u th o r ity and p ro b a b ly m issio n te a c h in g a re re s p o n s ib le f o r th e in c re a s e i n th e number o f broken c o n t r a c t s . I n th e p a s t a man depended on h is f a th e r f o r e a r ly su cc e ss i n th e graded h ie ra rc h y and f o r e s ta b lis h in g a household b e fo re he reach ed m iddle a g e . Today, young men, though s t i l l lo o k in g to t h e i r f a th e r s and o th e r a g n ate s f o r b r id e - p r ic e , 1 . The N avuti b o y f s b e t r o t h a l was te rm in a te d because h is f a th e r q u a r r e lle d w ith th e g i r l ’s f a t h e r - no r e t u r n o f g i f t s was made. The second N avuti boy was d is c o v e re d having an a f f a i r w ith a n o th e r g i r l - a g a in no r e t u r n o f g i f t s . The th r e e N avuti g ir l s * engage­ ments came to an end when t h e i r f u tu r e husbands were d is c o v e re d as th e lo v e rs o f o th e r g i r l s - i n two c a se s about h a l f o f th e g i f t s were re tu rn e d i n o rd e r t o m a in ta in f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s betw een th e p a r is h e s co n cern ed . The Lombanga b o y ’s f u tu r e w ife d ie d and h e r f a t h e r re tu rn e d th e g i f t s i n f u l l . The Lombanga g i r l ’s f u tu r e husband became th e lo v e r o f a n o th e r g i r l and by m utual co n sen t th e c o n tr a c t was te rm in a te d ab o u t h a l f o f th e g i f t s w ere r e tu r n e d . 176 are in other respects less subject to control* They can earn good wages preparing copra or working on the Santo wharves, and during boy­ hood many of them are as much concerned with the authority of the mission teachers as with that of the father. Missionaries, though they do not attack betrothal in itself, urge that it be entered into at a later age and in accordance with the b o y ’s and the girl’s preferences* Pre-marital sexual intercourse In theory the betrothed youth and girl are forbidden even to speak to one another, but in practice the majority of them become lovers. body pays much attention provided they are discreet. No­ Even when a girl has conceived little criticism is heard and there is not much concern about who the father might be. At the same time the parents try to speed up the marriage arrangements. The matter is more serious when a boy and girl who are not betrothed to one another are discovered in compromising circumstances, especially if he or she is promised elsewhere. One of the fathers summons a meet­ ing of the senior men of the parishes concerned (there may be four of them - those of the boy and of his betrothed and of the girl and her betrothed.) Proceedings open with an interrogation of the accused, if necessary reinforced by hair pulling and punching, in the hope of extract­ ing a confession. Once they have admitted the fault the difficult and serious task of satisfying all injured parties has to be undertaken. First the guilty youth must pay compensation, anything from £10 - £50, to the father, or whoever is jurally responsible, of his paramour. The father of the boy and of the girl who were promised to the offending Figure 14 GROUP AFFILIATIONS IN NANAKONAVITORA CONFLICT 1 LOVATURUSA 1 1 1 MANAKO N A V IT O R A 1 A ABEL BANI A & E O R O B 1 1 (55> \ (55) AREUBEN \\ (50) 1 1 1 A O | 6 ALBERT May Rebecca (25) (I9)| (16) L_ AJOSEPH (50) \ ...L _ 1> \ May (15) WILSON MATHEW (25) | (20) 1 1 A A SIMON (23) ________ 1 o Renette (22) 1 177 couple may then make a demand, A straightforward ca 3e is usually settled by the payment of a few mats or pound notes. But if there are further complications, as is usual, the parents may demand that the respective contracts be terminated, I shall now describe a case complicated by a variety of factors, including prestige, inheritance of property, parish rivalry and personal financial gain. The principal actors, their immediate kin links, and parish affiliation are set out in Figure 14* Late one night in January 195^, Abel Bani of Nanako (the leading Church-of-Christ elder of the district) discovered two Navitora youths, Simon and Mathew, sitting at the edge of his homestead clearing. He has two unmarried daughters and assumed that the youths were waiting to meet them. Next morning he summoned a meeting of the senior men of Nanako, Navitora, Lovaturusa and Navuti. Although closely examined, the lads steadfastly denied that they had any intention of seeking the girls. No one believed them, and Abel announced that each must pay a fine of £25 and spend a month doing road-repairs. He took £30 for him­ self and gave £5 each to the four parishes represented at the Court. The £5 were added to the parish funds used to finance the end-of-year feast. As this was an isolated incident and no serious misdemeanour had occurred the fathers of the girls promised to the boys and the fathers of the boys promised to Abel*s daughters refrained from making further demands. Many people, especially the Navitora folk, were of the opinion that the penalty was outrageous, and they blamed Abel for his autocratic a. behaviour. One Navitora informant remarked, "This wair very bad court. 178 If those two had been found in the courtyard of a lesser man there would have been no fine. Who does Abel think he is? Does he regard his courtyard as tambu so that no man may go inside? He melees his law in the same way as a Hungwe Lakua ( a man of the highest traditional rank) - That is no good. - Bye and bye we in Navitora will humble that man,” Four months later, the opportunity presented itself, Simon, one of the young men Abel had accused, was promised to May, a Lovaturusa girl. The tuvage exchanges had already taken place and the girl was now living in Navitora, where she was the responsibility of the men of that place. About a week before her wedding day two young men were found with her in circumstances that left no doubt as to their guilt. These men, Albert of Lovaturusa and Wilson of Nanako, were both single, George,the father of Wilson is prominent in both parish and district affairs and a close friend and supporter of Abel, The Navitora men summoned a court and all three confessed that sexual intercourse had taken place. Abel gave the gathering a long lecture on the loose morals of youth in general. He especially attack­ ed a group of older women sitting outside the building: ”Now you women there, if anything should happen to your daughter you are the first to hear of it. But you never say anything. and keep it secret. daughters.” You think of your good name You are bad witnesses to the court and to your By thus castigating the women Abel was attempting to put Navitora in the wrong once more. Joseph, a Navitora leader, leapt to his feet shaking with rage, ”Abel, your talk is no good. of the boys. You blame the women when it is the fault At the last court you made us Navitora men pay £50 when 179 our boys did nothing - now your boys have made much tro u b le fo r Simon. I t i s a bad business and they must pay £100.” No one objected, and the youths1 fa th e rs each handed over £50 to Simon. But Joseph was not y e t s a tis f ie d . He again jumped up and declared th a t the engagement of Wilson and Renette (Navitora) should be term inat­ ed. Simon, who had been adopted as a child by R enette1s fa th e r Reuben, a lso objected. Reuben i s one of the most powerful men in the d i s t r i c t . He has a larg e p la n ta tio n and runs a d is tric t-w id e co-operative th a t purchases and exports copra, operates a launch, and m aintains and ta x i in Santo fo r the convenience of Aoban wharf lab o u rers. a h o te l As he has no tru e sons Simon hopes eventually to in h e r it the wealth and succeed to the p o sitio n . But fo r some years past Reuben has shown a preference fo r h is daughter’s affia n ce Wilson, whose fa th e r i s in f lu e n tia l in church a f f a i r s , the one sphere where Reuben so f a r has had l i t t l e success (see chapter X). He had re c e n tly b u ilt a fin e modem house close to h is own fo r Wilson and Renette a f te r th e m arriage. This was much more im pressive than th e dwelling he b u ilt fo r h is adopted son. In ev itab ly Simon d is ­ lik e d Wilson and was jealo u s of h is in flu e n ce . Reuben was a t the time in Santo, and as h is presence was considered necessary fo r a f in a l d e cisio n the meeting broke up with ten sio n between th e two p a rish es. On Reuben's re tu rn two weeks l a t e r , the court met again. by saying th a t the £100 fin e was too much. He began He returned h a lf to the boys* fa th e rs and of the remainder he gave £20 to Simon, £10 to the g u ilty g i r l (who was by then married to Simon) and £5 each to the four 130 parishes represented in the court* He then addressed the gathering, "You made the last court as though you were two parishes fighting in the old way* You tried to make one trouble square with an earlier one. we make law in this fashion it will be bad for us here on Aoba. If If we hate one another in court there will be much trouble." His words evidently had little effect. George, the father-of Wilson, had earlier been incensed by J o s e p h ^ suggestion that his son*s engagement to Renette should be broken. "Reuben, I will not touch the money you now give back because I have heard too much rubbish talk in Navitora." He then added, turning to Joseph, "Why do you say that girl is finished with my son, why do you speak such words?" Joseph, also in high temper, replied "Who said that? I* You lie George." It was not Joseph was now denying his earlier statement as Reuben had since told him that he did not want the engagement broken at any cost. He continued, "You are all against me. Very well, from to­ day I am finished with the council, finished with the church and finished with Navitora." He left the building and in the next half-hour the main issues were satisfactorily resolved. Reuben affirmed that he wanted the marriage to go ahead and George accepted the £25 with a hand shake. Simon, deferring to R e u b e n ^ authority, said nothing. Abel remained quiet but was obviously displeased with the turn of events. For many years he and Reuben have been engaged in a bitter struggle for power. Joseph was acting in a manner typical of the Nduindui when dis­ pleased with their fellow men - a threat, seldom fulfilled, of withdrawal from the offending sectors of the community. It is worth noting that 181 h© i s n o t a tr u e N a v ito ra man, b u t th e l a s t s u rv iv in g member o f a n e ig h b o u rin g s e ttle m e n t t h a t has f o r many g e n e ra tio n s a l l i e d i t s e l f w ith i t s more pow erful n e ig h b o u r. A few weeks l a t e r he s e n t cooked food t o George, who re c ip r o c a te d w ith a s im ila r g i f t . Ha d id n o t le a v e N a v ito ra and was soon a tte n d in g ch u rch . A y e a r l a t e r W ilson m arried R e n e tte and jo in e d N a v ito ra . A d u lte ry , s e p a ra tio n and d iv o rc e I s h a l l c o n s id e r th r e e a s p e c ts o f th e s tr e n g th and s t a b i l i t y o f th e m a r ita l bond - th e freq u e n cy o f a d u lte r y and r e a c tio n to i t , th e e a se w ith which tem porary and perm anent s e p a r a tio n can be e f f e c t e d , and d iv o rc e and re -m a rria g e . A d u lte ry As p re v io u s ly s t a t e d , a d u lte r y w ith th e sac re d w ife n e c e s s ita te d th e payment o f te n tu sk ed b o a rs . I f th e g u i l t y man re fu s e d t o hand o v er th e an im als i t u s u a lly meant t h a t he could depend on th e su p p o rt o f h is fe llo w p a r is h io n e r s , who were p o s s ib ly an x io u s t o p r e c i p i t a t e a f i g h t . I t was r a r e f o r a man to d iv o rc e h is w ife f o r a d u lte r y , even a sa c re d w ife who p e r s i s t e n t l y o ffe n d e d . The husband*s main c o n s id e r a tio n was t o re c e iv e th e p ig s , and he was r e l u c t a n t t o lo o s e a p ro d u c tiv e member o f h is household team . Ife would o n ly g e t r i d o f h e r i f he had a d d itio n a l p ro v o c a tio n , such a s l a z i n e s s o r i l l n e s s . Even to d a y , d e s p ite h a l f a c e n tu ry o f m issio n a ry d is a p p r o v a l, a d u lte r y i s n o t s e r io u s ly cen su red by th e p eo p le th e m se lv e s. Most N avuti 182 men sa id th a t a l l wives other than t h e i r own had a t one time or another committed ad u ltery , some with g reat reg u larity * A few men even admitted ru e fu lly th a t th e ir own wives had on occasions been g u ilty . The husband’s rea ctio n la rg e ly depends on how many people know of the a ffa ir* In one case the wife was a notorious a d u lte re ss and the husband of v io le n t temper. w ith h is w ife. One night he caught a youth attem pting to make contact The th re e of them sa t down and the husband calmly to ld the lad th a t he would say nothing i f given £5. The boy paid up, and the two shook hands. A month or two l a t e r th e same young man succeeded in cohabiting with the w ife. Word got around, and the husband flew in to a rage and announced th a t he would k i l l the a d u lte re r, who, however, fle d to Santo. The man summoned a p a rish meeting and demanded £20. The headman, who was a ls o th e youth1s c lo s e s t agnate, took the money from the s to re and handed i t over. p arish The boy was expected to re tu rn the sum when he came home. Once again the husband*s temper evaporated, and he declared th a t he would be w illin g to shake hands with the offender. But a year l a t e r , when i t became public knowledge th a t his wife had taken s t i l l another lo v er, he became «So angry th a t he burnt down a new men’s club th a t he had spent most of the year b u ilding a t considerable expense. At the subsequent court he demanded f u l l compensation, and though many considerbe ed the lo s s t<MTis own f a u lt, the a d u lte re r was in stru c te d to hand over £30. S ep aratio n and divorce The Nduindui d istin g u is h between sep aratio n and divo rce. The 183 former, which is termed u mwahiaki vavine hina (= he separates from woman h is), is a fa irly common occurrence, usually brought about by complaints from the wife that her husband is lazy, d irty , impotent or physically violent* Her parents or other close relativ es, provided they consider her complaints ju stifie d , are certain to give her accom­ modation and protection. The husband can do l i t t l e about i t short of persuading his fellow parishioners to take up arms, an unlikely event even in the past. I f he should demand a return of the bride-price he may find himself the loser by having to refund an even larger soso a bokis. He continues to be ju ra lly responsible for his absent wife. For example, i f she is found cohabiting with other men i t is he, not her father, who is en titled to compensation. The payment is known as roroi vavine. the term also used to describe the fine for seducing a single g ir l. Separation becomes divorce only i f some man takes the woman permanently into his household and sends a larger payment known as banga to the f i r s t husband. The amount is calculated on the basis of the original bride-price with an appropriate reduction on account of the age of the woman. The new husband further legitim izes the bond by send­ ing a small payment, perhaps some cooked food and a few mats, to her kin. Today the Church-of-Christ missionaries prohibit divorce, and the elders do th e ir utmost to prevent i t . Even prolonged separation rarely takes place, as husbands, knowing that i t is well nigh impossible for them to re-marry, do everything they can to make th e ir wives content. There is only one householder in the d is tr ic t who has attempted, and in part 184 succeeded, in divorcing his first wife and in acquiring a second in conformity with traditional procedure. But he has failed to get his banga payment and no one had been prepared to sanctify his new marriage in church. As the case provides a good indication of the extent to which the individual can succeed in defying the mores of the society, I shall conclude the chapter by describing it in some detail. About fifteen years ago Adam Dura of Nataluhangele married Agnes, daughter of Walter, headman of Lorawandu. Within a year she had become notorious for running away to visit various lovers. As the years passed her behaviour grew more and more scandalous, and somewtimes she remained away for months at a time. Her father and other men repeatedly took her back to Adam, who consoled himself with the fines from the adulterers. As long as Agnes constantly changed lovers Adam had no chance of securing a divorce through a banga payment. Further, he could not take a new wife without risking censure by church leaders. Indeed, he would have found it hard to persuade any father to part with a daughter, regardless of how many pigs, mats and cash might be offered. About four or five years ago, however, Agnes began staying with Jonas, an elderly widower of Natakaro. The regularity of the liaison soon caused concern, and Andrew, the leader of the parish, summoned a court on four occasions (1956, 1958* 1959 and I960). He said his sole concern was to punish Agnes for committing one of two sins - either that of divorce from Adam or adultery with Jonas. But the intensity of his disapproval and also that of his fellow parishioners was undoubtedly caused by the unpopularity of the man she had chosen. Jonas lived by himself at the edge of the group territory close to his mother1s agnates 185 in the neighbouring community of Nangweangwea. The people of Natakaro the belong to^Church of C hrist and are thus opposed to kava d rinking, whereaB th e Nangweangwea fo lk belong to the Melanesian Mission, which permits it« Jonas was an addict and spent most of h is time g e ttin g drunk with h is m a trilin e a l kinsmen. To make m atters worse, kava needs p lenty of w ater and Jonas was w ell known fo r h is s k i l l in rain-m aking. Year a f t e r year the Natakaro men accused him of causing downpours j u s t when they needed a dry s p e ll to prepare th e i r gardens fo r burning. A ll I could find out about the f i r s t two courts was th a t although on both occasions Jonas agreed to send Agnes home to Adam w ith a p resen t,sh e always l e f t again a f t e r a few days. In September 1959 Adam decided to secure a divorce in the tr a d itio n ­ a l manner. Supported by s ix Nataluhangele men, he went to the a d u lt­ e r e r ’s house and demanded banga payment. Jonas refused on the grounds th a t divorce was ag ain st the church ru le s , and again he offered to re tu rn the woman. As th is was the l a s t th in g th a t Adam wanted he led h is men to Andrew’s house, and to g eth er they decided to summon a meeting. The next day most of the leading men from the d i s t r i c t met in Natakaro. The case was considered to be of unusual importance in th a t t h is was the f i r s t time fo r a t le a s t twenty years th a t anyone had attem pted to divorce h is spouse. The follow ing points were ra is e d . Andrew, the Natakaro le a d e r. "Jonas, t h is is the th ird time we have made a court fo r your tro u b le - you behave lik e a p ig ." Wilson, another prominent Natakaro man. "Jonas, you are by your­ s e l f now - no man w ill h elp. Give Adam £100 banga. ” Solomon, a r is in g young church man from Navuti. "Today in Nduindui 186 we follow the new way* Jesus said that no man may divorce his wife or break another man*s marriage. That is our way for the new life* When someone asked Jesus was it good to have a divorce in the fashion of Moses, he replied that God did not make man like that - that Moses framed the rule for divorce in the hardness of his heart. we will follow the law of Moses But today - if you have enough money in your box go now and get £100 banga.” Solomon had explained to me on a number of occasions that in difficult situations it is advisable to seek a compromise between the old and the new ways. If the church leaders abide too rigidly by Christian precepts, they may force individuals or whole communities either to revert to paganism or to change to another denomination. He said he had frequently found the utterances of Moses and the prophets a great help. Zachaeas, the married son of Jonas, then spoke angrily against his father. MI do not want my father to get this woman. If he is strong in his heart to get her then I shall leave him and join some other kins­ man.” Zachaeas, unlike Joseph in the Navitora case, used this threat in the hope of changing his father*s attitude - not to express his displeasure with the parish as a whole. Andrew then made a collection of £50 from the Natakaro men and placed it on the ground in the centre of the assembly. He spoke to Adam, ”This money is not for banga. it is to put on the shoulder of the woman to bring her back to you again.” Adam exploded with the most solemn curse of the Nduindui, ”1 marry ray sister - I will not have the woman.” 187 Wilson, "Then we had better take her and the money to her home in Lomwandu." Adam, realizing that he might loose the £50 as well as his hope for banga. decided to try some dramatic action« He ran out of the building to the edge of the bush where he had concealed a gun, loaded it and announced, "You are all pushing me too hard myself," - I will kill Three men disarmed him without any difficulty. He immediate­ ly picked up the £50, exclaiming, "This money is enough for banga. I will make no more trouble for you Jonas, woman is for you. The banga is for me, the If we meet again I will not show my angry face, we are good friends now," Andrew, who had consistently opposed the divorce was determined that Jonas should not get the woman, and protested, "Oh no, Jonas must not have the woman, no man is to break this marriage," He then ordered Agnes to stay with her father and told Jonas that he had better leave Nduindui for a year to be a teacher in Malo. ^onas strode away without making any reply; also Adam remained quiet, Walter, the woman*s father, flatly refused to have anything to do with his daughter, "This is not my fault, I am tired of sending her back to Adam, This business has nothing to do with me," The meeting then broke up with no one satisfied and nothing settled. The next day Jonas sent word to Andrew that he had no intention of going to Kalo, Adam, who had taken the £50, also sent word to Natakaro that regardless of anyone else*s opinion he considered himself finished with Agnes and that she was now Jonas* wife. Two months later I heard that, Agnes, after a period of general 188 prom iscuity, was back again with Jonas* f e l t th a t they could do l i t t l e about i t . The Natakaro men grumbled but Zachaeas, Jonas* son, had meanwhile acted on h is th re a t and moved to the lower p art of the p arish . About a year l a t e r Andrew again summoned a meeting in th e hope of p a rtin g th e couple. This time i t was agreed to re tu rn her to Adam, and another £10 was c o lle c te d . She went to Nataluhangele but immediately s ta rte d h u rling stones a t Adam*s house. He ran in to the bush, but a f te r an hour he took courage and ordered her to go to her f a th e r. so w ith a la c r ity . She did For the past year she has made Lomwandu a base for her frequent v i s i t s to Jonas and o th ers. E arly in 1961 a man died in Apopo ju s t west of N ataluhangele. i s the most conservative p a rish in west Aoba. This Most of the men were s t i l l pagan, though l a t e r th a t year they b u i lt a church. Mam took the widow in exchange fo r larg e q u a n titie s of p ig s, mats and cash. Though m utterings were heard from church lea d ers, no fu rth e r meetings had been held up to the time I l e f t the f ie ld in December. CHAPTER VII SEX SEPARATION AND THE SACRED KIN In the previous six chapters I examined the solidary, corporate and enduring characteristics of the various social groups based on locality and descent, I now take the analysis of structural rigidity a stage further by discussing two related aspects of role differentiat­ ion - sex and kinship* Sex Separation in Melanesia My interpretation of the relationship between the sexes is based on the results of an as yet unpublished comparative analysis of New Guinea and Solomon islands societies. In this study I argued that there is a close correlation between, on the one hand, the degree of social and ritual differentiation between adult males and females, and, on the other, the emphasis placed on unilinearity in descent, residence and inheritance. The most highly-developed sex separation was found in those societies in which all or most of the men of the locality (home­ stead, hamlet, village-section or village) form a single exogamous patri­ lineal descent group. The effective group of male members constitute an ongoing corporate group united by common descent and co-residence,whereas 190 the women are eith er daughters surd siste rs who depart on marriage, or spouses who come in from elsewhere. Such an arrangement must serve to emphasize sex d ifferen tiatio n . In those societies where the men of the lo c ality are united by m atrilineal descent the stru ctu ral p o ten tiality for the existence of a marked sex division is reduced in that male co-residence is only achieved a fte r an i n i t i a l period of close association with the fa th e r’s matrilin e a l kinsmen. The combined sex, lo c ality and descent tie between mother1s brother and s is te r ’s son only begins afte r puberty, when i t must contend with the well-established pre-puberta l bond between father and son. I f a l l other conditions are favourable, especially i f the locally anchored lineages form discrete, corporate exogamous units and i f there are no cros3-cutting groups, the sexe3 might well form d istin ct and opposed categories. When the continuity of the local group is provided by the core of effective female members, that is , when m atrilineal descent is combined with uxorilocal residence and local exogamy, the p o ssib ility of a social and r itu a l emphasis on sex d ifferen tiatio n is almost as great as in the p a trilin e a l p a tri-v irilo c a l category. In such a society the women are united by common descent and co-residence whereas th e ir brothers and sons depart on marriage and th e ir husbands come in as outsiders. In a l l three types of society sex separation is greatest when the local groups are monocarpellary and s tr ic tly exogamous and the descent groups are discrete rather than o sc u la n t.^ ' All departures from these 1. Hbgbin, H.I. and Wedgwood,C.H« "Local Grouping in Melanesia", Oceania. Vol. 23, 1953, p.243. A. discrete unilinear descent group has i t s social centre in one parish; an osculant decent group has sections in two or more parishes. 191 three requirements, especially the presence of additional groups that cut across the locally anchored lineages, serve to reduce the emphasis on a sexual dichotomy sind the degree to which i t finds expression in the domestic, economic, p o litic a l and r itu a l lif e of the community. At th is point I must emphasize that the hypothesis in no way implies that there mu3t inevitably be a pronounced sex separation in strongly un ilin eal so cieties. Nor does i t exclude the p o ssib ility th at such a division may occur in societies where neither descent nor kinship are of much importance in the regulation of social relatio n s. I merely suggest that eg alitarian unilineal societies with exogamous monocarpellary and discrete parishes have a high stru ctu ral p o ten tiality for the development of social and ritu a l barriers between adult males and females. Social d ifferen tiatio n of the sexes may take various forms - there ) may be resid en tial separation, a marked division of labour, a relatio n ­ ship of superoriination and subordination, a r itu a l expression in the form of exclusive r ite s , and an ideological polarity of a ll things male and female. In ray comparative analysis I found th at there was a near perfect correlation in the degree to which the various social, ritu a l, symbolic and ideological indices coincided with the terras of the hypo­ th e sis. I concentrated primarily on the sphere of r itu a l, both because of the information available sind because Melanesians invariably conceive of the sex relationship in mystical terms. The problem th at I set myself to solve could be expressed in reverse - what, i f any, correlation obtains between social structure and the presence or absence of r ite s and ceremonies reserved exclusively for eith er males or females? In Melanesia such r ite s f a ll into that 192 b r o a d c l a s s w h ic h h a v e b e e n v a r i o u s l y r e f e r r e d t o a s i n i t i a t i o n o r p u b e rty r i t u a l . T he s t r u c t u r a l h y p o t h e s i s I h a v e p u t f o r w a r d t o a c c o u n t f o r t h e i r d i s t r i b u t i o n and l o c a l v a r i a t i o n s n e i t h e r c o n f l i c t s w ith n o r c o n t r a d i c t s t h e m any t h e o r e t i c a l c o n t r i b u t i o n s t h a t h a v e b e e n made t o o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f b o t h t h e r i t e s th e m s e l v e s an d o f s p e c i f i c c u l t u r e tra its a s s o c i a t e d w i t h th e m . D e s p ite t h e i r , a t tim e s , c o n tr a d ic to r y n a t u r e , t h e r e i s , n e v e r t h e l e s s , m uch t h a t i s t r u e a n d i m p o r t a n t i n t h e t h e o r i e s t h a t h a v e b e e n a d v a n c e d b y s u c h e x p o n e n ts o f u n i l i n e a r e v o l u t i o n a s S c h u r tz , ^ ) L ang, ^ a n d L o w i e ^ a n d L oeb, ^ 'a n d Von D en S t e i n e n , ^ b y su ch d i f f u s i o n i s t s a s b y su c h p s y c h o lo g is ts a s F re u d , ^ R e ik ^ R o h e im ^ and B e tte lh e im ^ B u t w hen i t com es t o a n s w e r in g t h a t b a s i c q u e s t i o n o f w hy i n i t i a t i o n r i t u a l sh o u ld be p r a c t i s e d i n one s o c ie ty and n o t i n a n o th e r , n e i t h e r th e e v o l u t i o n i s t s , d i f f u s i o n i s t s n o r p s y c h o lo g is ts can p ro v id e u s w ith a t r u l y s a t i s f a c t o r y a n sw e r. T he r i t e s a r e fo u n d i n s o c i e t i e s t h a t on a l l o t h e r c o u n ts m ust b e p la c e d on d i f f e r e n t p o in ts o f a n y p o s t u l a t e d e v o lu tio n a ry s c a le , and t h e t h e o r i s t i s t h u s f o r c e d t o m ake u n s a t i s f a c t ­ o ry s ta te m e n ts a b o u t c u l t u r a l s u r v iv a ls . 1 , S c h u rtz , T h e d i f f u s i o n i s t , w hen f a c e d H, A l t e r s k l a s s e n u n d M a n e rb u n d e . B e r l i n , 1 9 0 2 , 2 , L a n g , A , C ustom a n d M y th . L o n d o n , 1885, p p , 2 9 -4 4 * 3# V on D en S t e i n e n , U n t e r d e n N a t u r v ö l k e r n Z e n t r a l - B r a s i l i e n s , B e r l i n , 1897, p . 268. 4* L o w ie , R .U , P r i m i t i v e S o c i e t y . L o n d o n , 1 9 2 1 , p p . 2 4 5 -3 2 3 * L o w ie , R .H . ”A ge S o c i e t i e s , ” E n c y c lo p a e d ia o f t h e S o c i a l S c i e n c e s , V o l. I , 1 9 3 0 . 5* L o e b , B .M , “T r i b a l I n i t i a t i o n s an d S e c r e t S o c i e t i e s ” , U n iv , C a l i f . P u b s , i n A m er. A r c h , a n d E t h n . V o l. 2 $ , 1925* 193 • w ith gaps i n d i s t r i b u t i o n , i s fo rce d to make e q u a lly u n h e lp fu l s t a t e ­ ments about p ro c e sse s o f accep tan ce and r e j e c t i o n in e i t h e r p sy ch o lo ci c a l o r f u n c tio n a l te rm s. The p sy c h o lo g is t i s seldom concerned w ith answ ering th e q u e stio n as t o why one s o c ie ty r a th e r th a n a n o th e r should p r a c t is e th e r i t e s . In M elanesia i n i t i a t i o n r i t e s a re n o t on ly p r a c tis e d in some communities and a b se n t i n o th e r s , b u t where th e y do e x is t wide v a r ia tio n s a re found b o th in form and i n c o n te n t. The r i t e s may be v o lu n ta ry o r com pulsory; th o se i n i t i a t e d may form in c lu s iv e c u lt g ro u p s, age g rad e s, a r i s t o c r a c i e s o r d i s c r e t e and v o lu n ta ry s e c r e t s o c i e t ie s ; membership may be re se rv e d e x c lu s iv e ly f o r m ales o r fem ales o r th e two sex es may be j o i n t l y a d m itte d ; p u b e rty may be emphasized as th e c o rr e c t age f o r i n i t i a t i o n o r i t may be w holly o r la rg e ly i r r e l e v a n t ; b u l lr o a r e r s or f l u t e s may form an im p o rtan t p a r t in th e cerem onies o f one t r i b e , where­ as in a n o th e r th e y may be absenb; th e youths may be su b je c te d t o such o rd e a ls as c irc u m c isio n , in c i s i o n , s c a r i f i c a t i o n , long p e rio d s o f s e c lu s io n and o r food ta b o o s , o r th e y may be exempt from any u n p le a sa n t e x p e rie n c e s . Such a f i e l d o f v a r ia b le s p re s e n ts an immediate c h a lle n g e . Is i t (co n t* d . from p rev io u s page) 5 . Loeb, B.M. ’’The Blood S a c r if ic e Complex”, American A n th ro p o lo g is t, V ol. 30, 1933* 6« F reu d , S . Totem and Taboo, New York, 1913, pp. 231-265. F reu d , S . Moses and Monotheism. London, 1928, pp. I 47 , 205-210. F reu d , S . ’’Some P sy c h o lo g ic a l Consequences o f th e A natom ical D is tin c tio n Between th e S ex es’’, in C o lle c te d P a p e rs» London, 1950. 7 . R eik, T . R itu a l:P sy c h o -A n a ly tic S tu d ie s . London, 1931> pp* 91-166. 8 . Roheim, G. ’’The Symbolism o f S u b -In c is io n ”, The American Image, V ol. VI, 1949. A lso ’’P a sso v er and I n i t i a t i o n ” , Man, V ol. 23, 1923. 9 . B e tte lh e im , B. Symbolic Wounds« London, 1955. } 194. a mere accident of history and culture contact that the Trobrianders are without any form of initiation ritual or is it perhaps possible to provide an answer in the form of a deduction from general principles? There can be no doubt that diffusion constitutes a major factor in the distribution of the rite3. Yet in itself the mere recognition,and even detailed unravelling, of this historical process, is of little more than descriptive value. To arrive at general explanatory principles it is necessary to go a stage further and ask why the lines of diffusion are as they are - for instance, why circumcision or incision is found throughout the Sepik region of New Guinea but not in much of Papua, or why are bullroarers found in north Bougainville and parts of the north­ ern New Hebrides but not in the intervening Solomon islands? It is theoretically possible that the distribution of these and other assoc­ iated traits is solely the outcome of chance contact, that there is neither rhyme nor reason in the pattern other than that found in the caprices of wind and current, the hazards of mountain ranges or the unfriendly and warlike behaviour of neighbouring communities. M y own broad impression is that it would not be far from the truth to assume that all or most Melanesians know of neighbouring communities which practise some form of the rites. The abstract conception I have in mjnd is that of Melanesia as a series of overlapping social systems, each connected with its neighbours by varying intensities of social relations, each forming a distinctive structural arrangement of parts, and each presented at one time or another with the opportunity to take over and adapt to its existing institutions some form of initiation ritual. The basic reason why one society should accept the rites and 195 a n o th e r r e j e c t them, and why among th o s e t h a t do a c c e p t, th e cerem onies su b se q u e n tly ta k e on a new form and meaning, i s t o be found in c e r ta in v a r ia b le s i n th e s o c ia l s t r u c t u r e . Such a manner o f c o n c e iv in g o f th e problem i s sim ply a t r a n s l a t i o n o f th e p s y c h o lo g ic a l assu m p tio n s o f th e d i f f u s i o n i s t - t h e o r y in to s o c io lo g ic a l term s# C e r ta in i n i t i a t i o n cerem onies a r e more o b v io u sly c o r r e la te d w ith and c o n s t i t u t e a sym bolic e x p re ss io n o f th e p o l a r i t y o f male and fem ale th a n o th e r s . T h is i s e s p e c ia ll y tr u e o f th o s e r i t e s t h a t in c o rp o ra te a l l o r most o f th e fo llo w in g f e a tu r e s : 1) Compulsory f o r a l l y o u th s . 2) Performed a t o r ab o u t th e age o f p u b e rty . 3) Mark th e s e p a r a tio n o f th e la d s from t h e i r m others and o th e r c lo s e kinswomen and r e s u l t in t h e i r in c o rp o ra tio n in to a male w orld o f r i t u a l . 4) A s tro n g em phasis p la c e d on th e s e c re c y o f th e r i t e s , w ith s u ita b le t a l e s o f d e c e p tio n f o r th e women and c h ild r e n . 5) A se v e re p e n a lty imposed on any woman who should w itn e s s th e rite s . O th er, and a t f i r s t s ig h t n o t so o b v io u s, m a n ife s ta tio n s in c lu d e b lo o d - l e t t i n g o p e ra tio n s (c irc u m c is io n , in c i s i o n , s c a r i f i c a t i o n and nose b le e d in g ) ; sym bolic r e p r e s e n ta tio n s o f d e a th and r e b i r t h ; th e use o f b u l l r o a r e r s s a id t o be th e v o ic e s o f s u p e r n a tu r a l b e in g s come to devour th e n o v ic e s; and a b e l i e f t h a t th e p e n is o p e ra tio n i s th e male e q u iv a le n t o f m e n s tru a tio n . The more th o ro u g h ly male i n i t i a t i o n cerem onies a r e c h a r a c te r is e d a s men!s b u s in e s s ( t a l e s o f d e c e p tio n f o r th e women, b lo o d - l e t t i n g r i t e s , 196 etc.) the more women*s sexual and reproductive functions are surrounded by taboos and made the basis for secret rites performed by females* The men*s ceremonies stand in balanced ritual opposition to women’s menstruat­ ion and reproductive functions* This opposition most frequently takes the form of mystical forces that must be kept apart* Furthermore, though opposed to one another in terms of the dangers believed to be inherent in any contact, they are sometimes explicitly equated. Hogbin^)reports that the Wogeo refer to incision as men*s menstruation and similar beliefs have been recorded for the Busama, Arapesh, Gahuka-Gama, Kuraan, Abelam and north Malekulans. All these symbolic elements occur in societies in which there is a marked social separation of the sexes, and they all fully conform to the positive terms of my hypothesis (the Busama alone provide an apparent exception - see page 202). The more a given society deviates from the terms of the hypothesis the less do the rites incorporate such elements. This discovery provides convincing evidence in support of a psycho­ analytic theory put forward by Bettelheim to account for just such symbolic elements* On the basis of clinical work Bettelheim came to the conclusion that such blood-letting rites as circumcision, incision, etc. can be best interpreted as a symbolic expression of the “great biological antithesis of the two sexes, which creates attraction and envy betvfeen them“. (2 ) ' He assumes that sexual ambivalence, or the envy of one sex of the bodily characteristics and functions of the other is 1* Hogbin, H.I* "Native Culture of Wogeo", Oceania* Vol. V, 2. Bettelheim, B. p. t04* 1934>P*330. 197 an universal human characteristic. . He further postulates that sexual ambivalence is primarily a function of the differences in the status and prerogatives of men and women. If his argument should be correct, and I am convinced that it is, it would then be reasonable to expect that such a universal psychological force would be most likely to manifest itself in ritual form in societies where men and women are sharply differentiated as social categories or groups, I have argued thai in Melanesia, and most probably in all societies where kinship is of primary importance, sex separation is greatest when patrilineal descent is combined with patrivirilocal residence or matrilineal descent with uxorilocal residence. The discovery that blood-letting rites and other associated symbolic expressions of sexual envy are confined almost exclusively to such societies confirms both my own sociological hypo­ thesis and Bettelheim!s psycho-analytic theory. The two combined enable the anthropologist to provide an explanation for a wide range of social, ritual and symbolic behaviour, I shall now give a brief summary of the New Guinea and Solomon Islands evidence. Patrilineal societies Eighteen societies were analysed under this heading. Compulsory male rites of initiation were practised in thirteen: The Gahuka-Gama^ ^ 1, Read, K.E. ttN a m Cult of the Central Highlands, New Guinea”, Oceania, Vol. 23. No. t, 1952. Other articles by the same author are in Oceania, Vol. 25, 1955; South Pacific, Vols. 5 and 7; and SouthWestern J o u r n a l of Anthropology, Vol. 10, 1955* I9ö and the K u m a n ^ of the Central Highlands, New G u i n e a ; ^ the A r a p e s h , ^ Iatraul,^ Kwoma, ^ Abelam, Wogeo,^ Manam,^ and T c h a m b u l i ^ of the Sepifc region, New Guinea; the Elema^iU^ of the Gulf coast of Papua; the Mailu (ll) (12) ' of southern Papua; the Ngwarawapum New Guinea; and Goodenough island^1 1 ^ 3 2 0 9 7 6 5 * 'of the upper Marfcham valley, in the Massim area, New Guinea* 1* Niiles, J* "The Kuman of Chimbu", Oceania, Vol. 21, 1951« 2. Unfortunately I have not yet had the opportunity to analyse the more recent studies of such Highland societies as the Enga, Chimbu, Pore, Huli, Kuma, KyaCa, Mbowamb, Mendi and Siane* The varying extent to which these deviate from the agnatic segmentary model should provide an interesting test case* 3* Mead, M. Sex and Temperament in three Primitive Societies, London, 1953» PP* 3-166; also "The Mountain Arapesh.I* An Importing Culture”, Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History* Vol. XXXVI, Pt* III; and "The Marsalai Cult among the Arapesh", Oceaniat Vol. IV, 1933* 4* Bateson, G. Naven, Cambridge, 1936; and "Social Structure of the Iatmul People", Oceania« Vol. 2, 1932. 5. Whiting, J.V/.M. and Reed, S.W. "Kwoma Culture", Oceania, Vol. IX, i93ö, and Whiting, J.W.M. Becoming A Kwoma, New Haven, 1941. 6. Kaberry, P.M. "The Abelam Tribe, Sepik District", Oceania,Vol.XI,1941. 7. Hogbin, H.I. "Native Culture of Wogeo," Oceania, Vol. V, 1934; see also Oceania, Vols. XIII, XV, and XVI for further articles on Wogeo. 0. Wedgwood, C.H. "Report on Research in Manam", Oceania, Vol. IV, 1934* Also further articles Oceania, Vols. Ill and. VII. 9. Mead, 1953, pp. 237-276. 10. Williams, F.E. The Drama of Qrofcolo, Oxford, 1940. See also Oceania, Vol. IX and Anthropology Report, No. 17, 1936, (Port Moresbyj; Holmes, J. "Initiation Ceremonies of Natives of Papua", J.A.I. Vol. 32, 1902. 11. Saville, W.J.V. In Unknown Nev/ Guinea, London, 1926. Malinowsfci, B. "Native of Mailu", Royal Society of South Australia, Vol. X l IXI, 1915• 12. Vol. Vol. 13. Read, K.E. "Social Organization in the Maridham Valley", Oceania, XVII, and "The Political System of the Ngwarawapum", Oceania, XX, 1949. Jenness, D. and Ballantyne, A. The Northern D fEnrrecasteaux, London,192 199 I n each of th e s e s o c i e t i e s th e s o c ia l s t r u c t u r e i s based on lo c a lly anchored exogamous p a t r i l i n e a l d e sc e n t g ro u p s. M ale-fem ale p o l a r i t y i s most h ig h ly developed where th e r e a re no marked s t r u c t u r a l d e v ia tio n s (Gahuka Gama, Kuraan, A rapesh, Abelam, Kwoma, Ia tm u l, M ailu, Ngwarawapum, and Goodenough). The p resen ce o f c r o s s - c u ttin g r a a tr ilin e a l m o ie tie s (Wogeo), h e r e d ita r y s o c ia l c la s s e s (Manam), cerem o n ial g ro u p in g s (Tcham buli and Elema) and a r e d u c tio n in c la n s o l i d a r i t y a re a l l c o r r e la te d w ith an in c re a s e d em phasis on th e p r e s tig e and e n te rta in m e n t fu n c tio n s o f th e r i t e s and a c o rre sp o n d in g re d u c tio n in th e sym bolic r e p r e s e n ta tio n s o f se x u a l am bivalence and envy. Four p a t r i l i n e a l s o c i e t i e s (Mekeo, Roro, K o ita , ^ and M a f u l u ^ o f e a s te r n Papua) a re w ith o u t any form o f i n i t i a t i o n r i t u a l and in each I found t h a t one o r more o f th e above m odifying f a c t o r s a re more pronounced and o f g r e a t e r s t r u c t u r a l s ig n if ic a n c e th a n in th o s e s o c i e t i e s where th e r e a re such r i t e s . T h is was e s p e c ia lly tr u e o f s o c ia l s t r a t i f i c a t i o n , m u ltic a r p e lla r y and o s c u la n t p a ris h e s and a low le v e l o f lin e a g e and c la n s o lid a rity . The Waima s u b - tr ib e of th e Roro p ro v id e an a p p aren t e x c e p tio n in t h a t th e y p r a c t i s e com pulsory r i t e s o f i n i t i a t i o n . Seligm an was of th e o p in io n t h a t th e Waima had ta k e n over th e ceremory from th e n eig h b o u r­ in g Elema people in th e G ulf a r e a . Yet he makes no m ention o f th e fo llo w in g Elema f e a tu r e s - th e e la b o r a te hoaxing o f th e y o u th s ; th e r e p r e s e n ta tio n o f s u p e r n a tu r a l b e in g s who a re supposed to v i s i t th e raen*s c lu b ; th e u se o f 1. Seligm an, C.G. The M elanesians of B r i t i s h New G uinea, London, 1910 (Mekeo, pp. 41-194; Roro, pp. 311-373; K o ita , pp. 19 5 -3 1 0 ). 2. W illiam son, R.W. The M afulu: M ountain peo p le o f B r i t i s h New G uinea» London, 1912. 200. bullroarers; and the deception of the women. The Waima rites instead consist of periods of seclusion during which the older men instruct the novices in the making of such decorative objects as masks, armlets, anklets and bracelets, and alternating periods during which they wear these ornaments and indulge in numerous flirtations with the girls of the village. No mention was made of any idea that the masks represent supernatural beings - they are simply decorative objects worn at dances in which the women also participate. The Waima have thus stripped the Elema rites of their sexual connotation, and instead utilised them in the purely social context of a ritual transition to the status of adult manhood. The remaining society (Orokaiva) designation patrilineal. barely qualifies for the Cognatic elements are prominent in maiy aspects of the social structure - residence follows no fixed pattern and the bilateral family is of exceptional solidarity and autonomy. The Orokaiva rites, though compulsory, provide the one and only Melanesian example of the joint initiation of boys and girls. Matrilineal societies I analysed eleven matrilineal societies. Lesu (2) ' in northern New 1. Williams, F.E. Orokaiva Society, London, 1930. Chinnery, E.W.P. and Beaver, W.N. "Notes on the Initiation Ceremonies of the Koko Papuan", JRAI» Vol. 45, 1915. 2. Powdermaker, H. Life in Lesu, London, 1933, pp. 25-60, 102-140. Groves, W.C. "Tabar Today”, Oceania» Vol. 5, 1935, and "Secret Beliefs and Practices in New Ireland", Oceania» Vol. 7, 1936. 201 I r e la n d and n o rth B o u g a i n v i l l e ^ )b o th p r a c t i s e u x o r ilo c a l re s id e n c e and in o th e r r e s p e c ts conform c lo s e ly to th e term s o f my h y p o th e sis* In th e s e two com m unities sex d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n i s a s marked as i t i s i n th e extrem e p a t r i l i n e a l p a t r i - v i r i l o c a l categ o ry * The com pulsory male r i t e s o f i n i t i a t i o n in c lu d e most o f th e ex p ected sym bolic elem ents (c irc u m c is io n , s e c lu s io n , masked r e p r e s e n ta tio n s o f s p i r i t s e tc * ) Three p r a c tis e a v u n c u lo - v ir ilo c a l re s id e n c e - th e Trobriand(^) i s la n d s , p a r t o f G u a d alc a n al(3 ) i n th e Solomon is la n d s and Busama(4 ) in th e Huon Gulf* As p r e v io u s ly n o te d , t h i s co m bination o f d e s c e n t and as re s id e n c e i s n o t / l i k e l y t o g iv e rd.se to a s o c ia l em phasis on sex d i f f e r ­ e n t i a t i o n as e i t h e r p a t r i l i n e a l p a t r i - v i r i l o c a l o r m a t r i l i n e a l u x o r i­ lo c a l* Busama p ro v id e s an a p p a re n t e x c e p tio n a s th e dicl^om y i s most pronounced and i s f u l l y e x p re sse d in th e sym bolic c o n te n t o f com pulsory male i n i t i a t i o n cerem onies* But a c lo s e ex am in atio n o f th e s o c ia l s t r u c t u r e re v e a ls t h a t i n c e r t a i n r e s p e c ts Busama approxim ates to th e p a t r i l i n e a l p a t r i - v i r i l o c a l type* The m a trilin e a g e s a re unnamed,* i n 1 . Blackwood, B. Both S id e s o f Buka P a s sa g e , O xford, 1935, p p .17-270. Thomas, G. «Customs and B e lie f s o f th e N a tiv e s o f Buka«, O ceania, V o l.2 . 1931. 2 . M alinow ski, B. S e x u a l L ife o f S av ag es, London, 1 9 2 9 ,p .6 , p p . 53-54* M alinow ski, B. A rgonauts o f th e W estern P a c i f i c , London, 1922* 3 . Hogbin, H .I. « C u ltu re Change in th e Solomon Is la n d s « , O ceania, V ol. 4, No.3, p p . 235-252, and u n p u b lish e d m an u scrip t A G uadalcanal S o c ie ty : The Kaoko s p e a k e rs * 4* Hogbin, H.I* T ra n sfo rm a tio n S cene. London, 1951, PP* 23-34, 54-61, 94-150, 204-232. A lso «Sex and M arriage i n Busama«, O ceania, Vol* 17, 1946-47, and K inship and M arriage i n a New Guinea V illa g e , London, 1962# 202 theory no distinction is made between the male and female lines of descent; avunculo-virilocal residence is only a tendency; and the village is nrulticarpellary and most marriages take place within the community. There are also clubs which in many respects are similar to patrilineal descent groups, even to the point of maintaining a rule of exogamy. Yet despite these extenuating circumstances the Busama come closest to providing an exception to the hypothesis. Of the remaining matrilineal societies one was found to be patrivirilocal (Rossel Island)0 ) another mostly patri-virilocal (Siuai of south Bougainville) and four bilocal (Dobu, the Wamira of Bartle B a y ^ Wagawaga, Tubetube and - all four in the Massim area 3 outh of the Trobriands)• With the exception of the Wamira, no initiation ritual is practised in any of these societies. The Wamira rite3, though compulsory for all men, have little or nothing to do vitfMiex dichotomy. They are held at about three or four years1 intervals and the age of the novices is of small concern. There are no male secrets, bodily mutilations, bullroarers, deceptions or hoaxes. During the so-called period of seclusion the youths x^ork in the gardens and can be seen by women and children. Throughout the ceremonies the emphasis is placed on a ritual transition to a new status of increased prestige, rather than any gulf 1. Armstrong, W.E. Rossel Island, Cambridge, 1928, pp. 31-59, 93-103. 2. Oliver, D.L. A Solomon Island Society, Harvard, 1955* pp# 102-125» 177-208. 3* Fortune, R.F. Sorcerers of Dobu, London, 1932, pp.1-5, 57. 4. Seligman, 1910, pp. 435-659. 203 to be established and symbolised between the sexes* Cognatic societies The possibility of a marked social and ritual division of the sexes occurring in a non-unilineal society must be considered of a low order* In cognatic societies there are no descent groups at all and the structure is based primarily on discrete and autonomous family units, overlapping personal kindreds and local groups (as, for example, in such south-east Asian societies as the IbanO) of Borneo). The struct­ ural importance of the conjugal tie and the equivalence of siblings necessarily reduces the possibility of any pronounced separation of the sexes. I have not examined the literature fully but so far as I am aware initiation rites seldom if ever occur under such conditions. No truly cognatic societies have been reported in Melanesia. There (2) are, however, two communities, the Mowehafen in southern New Britain and the T o ,ambaita^'^in north Malaita, where cognatic stocks are combined with a bilateral dogma of descent. The potentiality in this type of society for sex separation depends primarily on the type of post-marital residence. In T o ,ambaita society residence is 90 per cent virilocal, and though there are no initiation rites there is a most explicit concept 1. Freeman, J.D. “The Iban of Western Borneo” in Social Structure in South-Sa3t Asia (ed. Murdock, G.P.), New York, 1960, pp. 65-88. 2. Todd, J.A. “Report on Research in South-west New Britain”, Oceania. Vol. 5, 193$. 3. Hogbin,H. I. Experiments in Civilization. London, pp. 25-125.(11939). 20/+ of male - female polarity and avoidance. This intermediary position is very much what I would expect in a de facto agnatic society with a bilateral dogma. Nduindui is the closest parallel that I have found in Melanesia, and as I shall shortly demonstrate, the relationship between the sexes is very similar to that found in north Malaita. The Mowehafen differ from the T o rambaita in two respects - residence follows no regular pattern and there is a hereditary division into aristocrats and commoners. Todd reported that the Hiion Gulf initiation ceremonies, which are based on the polarity of the sexes, were recently introduced into Mowehafen society. But these people have transformed the sexual significance of the rites by jointly initiating boys and girls and by excluding commoners. What was initially a symbolic expression of sex differentiation has been thus altered to reinforce the Mowehafen class structure. This example of diffusion, together with the Elema - Waima, provides convincing evidence of the close correlation between symbolism, ritual and social structure. The Torres, Banks and northern New Hebrides The social separation and ritual polarity of the sexes is, though in varying degrees, a characteristic feature of this ethnographic area. The range of structural variants (see Table III) provides an interesting means of further testing the validity of my hypothesis. A brief comparative analysis will also enable me to arrive at a fuller under­ standing of this aspect of Nduindui society and culture than would otherwise be possible. 205 Torres and Banks islands^) Descent in this area is wholly matrilineal, and though the evidence is far from clear, it seems probable that the only true descent groups are moieties in the Banks and three phratries in the Torres* On Mota island there are lesser divisions within the moieties, and though partly based on descent they are, in R i v e r s ^ opinion, more closely correlated with named localities* Codrington, in referring to these divisions, noted that change of membership is possible and frequent and that there is no prohibition against intra-marriage* From these few hints, and from personal enquiries made during a brief visit to Vanua Lava, I have little doubt that the social units referred to by these authors are local groups in which descent, especially in the female line, is the normal but by no means the sol9 criterion of male membership. They are not dispersed exogamous matrilineal clans such as are found further south* When we consider the implications of two and only two matrilineal exogamous descent groups it is evident that there is a strong structural potentiality for a social division between ths sexes. In a clan organiz­ ation we found that there were sufficient grounds when either the men or the women of the locality all belong to the one clan and their in­ coming spouses to a number of different clans. When there are only two 1. Codrington, R.H. The Melanesians, Oxford, 1.891, pp* 23-25, 35-45, 63-67, 7 4 ^ 5 , 101-111, 235. Rivers, W.H.R. The History of Melanesian Society, Cambridge, 1914, Vol. I, pp. 20-213. 206 descent groups it follows that all the wives of all the men of one moiety must necessarily belong to the other. Ignoring for the moment the relationship between descent and locality, it can be said that throughout the area in which the same moieties are recognised, approx­ imately half of the men are bound to one another by putative descent, while all of their wives are equally bound to one another by membership of the opposite moiety. If, in addition, residence should be avunculo- virilocal and the local groups exogamous, it would be hard to conceive of a society in which the structural cleavages coincided more fully with the sex division. But in the Banks islands local organization is loosely structured, intra-parish marriage is common, and though residence tends to be avunculo-virilocal, alternative choices are commonly made. It is a highly individualistic society and groups are short lived and variable in membership. These and other factors serve to reduce the structural potentiality for sex opposition and separation. k similar balance sheet can be drawn up for the ritual side of the equation. Sex differentiation is evident in all the following points: 1) The Sukwe society is for men only, and though in theory voluntary, in fact all men enter the lower grades. 2) The Tamate and other secret societies are for men only. 3) Women and children are told that the hat and cloak disguises worn by Tamate members are ghosts. 4) The destructive activities of the Tamate members are partly aimed at terrifying women and children, 5) k wide area surrounding each secret lodge is prohibited to all non-members, especially women and children. 207 6) The long initiation ceremonies held by the Qat secret societies include a number of elements associated elsewhere with sexual envy and separation. Though the rites are voluntary and the age of the candidates is of no significance, most men are initiated early in life. They are subjected to numerous hoaxes and such unpleasant ordeals as passing through a tunnel lined with nettles, standing on hot ashes, and remaining secluded in a special building for some months without washing. Informants assert that the sole purpose of these secret societies is the learning of a dance (Qat)culminating in its public performance. On the negative side of the balance sheet the ritual life of the Banks islanders can be shown to be as much concerned with status as with sex differentiation: 1) The absence of a single inclusive male cult entered via compulsory rites of initiation. 2) No blood-letting operations. 3) The multiplicity of secret societies, each thriving on its differ­ ence from, and opposition to, the rest. 4) The destruction of property by Tamate members. 5) The stratification of the Sukwe into a large number of grades, each with its own fireplace in the club and each with its own rites of admittance. 6) The emphasis placed on the hoaxing and bullying of the novices. 7) On Motlav island, when the young boy was first admitted into the Sukwe, the person who conducted him into the building was his father’s sister accompanied by a number of other women. 208 Raga ^ ) North Raga social structure conforms more closely to the positive y terms of my hypothesis in that most of the adult male members of the parish or parish-section form a single exogamous matrilineage* The individualism of the Banks islands is counterbalanced by a strong emphasis on parish-clan solidarity, the principal indices of which I have already listed in chapter II. What little information is available on the ritual life of this area indicates a more highly developed sex-polarity than that described for the Banks* 1) The secret societies '.are less numerous and not so powerful. 2) The Qat (north Raga term is Qatu) appears to be correspondingly more prominent - the rites are held at fairly regular intervals of about five to six years and most of the novices are unmarried youmg men, The hoaxes are severe, seclusion lasts about five months, the novices are symbolically killed and brought to life again, and the nettle-lined tunnel is said to represent a shark. Codrington reports a case of a girl who inadvertently witnessed the novices washing at the end of their seclusion, and despite seeking protection at the mission she was subsequently buried alive. ^ 1* Codrington, 1891, pp. 67, 86-94; Rivers, 1914» Vol. I; Speiser,F. Ethnographische Materialen aus den Neuen Hebriden und der Banks-Inselm, Berlin, 1923, p* 204> Lane, B. 1962 (Two unpublished manuscripts on north Raga Land Tenure and Leadership). 2. Codrington, p. 87* 209 3) A compulsory rite of d ouble-incision.^ Speiser mentions the existence of the rite but gives no information. Codrington likewise states no more than that circumcision is practised in this area and has lately been introduced to south M w a e v o . ^ 4) An institutionalised homosexual relationship between the recently incised boy and his adult sponsor. Layard^'has convincingly argued that in Big Nambas society male homosexuality is intimately associated with the ritual polarity of men and women. Pig-sacrificing men and menstruating women present such a threat to one another that men prefer to have sexual relations with their own sex. Deacon (^has also shown that Big Nambas homosexuality is bound up with circum-incision. South Raga is the only remaining area in the northern New Hebrides where circum-incision is practised, and here too homosexuality is a prominent institution. North Raga alone practises double-incision, the next most complicated operation, and though homosexuality is less developed than in the other two communities, it is surely no coincidence that it has 1. Layard (p.476) distinguishes circum-incision from incision and circumcision. Incision is the simplest operation - a longitudinal slit in the foreskin. In north Raga two slits are made, one dorsal and one ventral. Circum-incision begins with a longitudinal slit which is then continued around each side and results in the removal of the foreskin. True circumcision as practised in Europe is not found in the northern New Hebrides* 2. Codrington, p. 234* 3. Layard, ,l.. The Big Nambas represent an extreme form of patrilineal culture which they have carried to a pitch exceeding all other New Hebrides tribes in the very low status which they accord to women. It would appear, therefore, that both circum-incision and organised homo­ sexuality are an expression of the extreme holiness of men over against women... I suggest that among the Big Nambas the act of homosexuality may well represent to the natives a •.• transmission of male power by physical means.” (p.4^9). 4. Deacon, pp. 260-7 210 been reported nowhere else in the northern and central islands. It is even less of a coincidence that these three societies conform most fully to the positive terms of my hypothesis (discrete, exogamous and monocarpe 11 ary pari she s ), East Aoba My hypothesis would lead me to expect few if any ritual manifestat­ ions of sex separation in this loosely structured society where the autonomy of the individual is more highly regarded than the solidarity of the group. The parishes are multicarpellary; the carpels are non­ unilineal with a slight agnatic bias; intra-parish marriage is common; and the matrilineal descent groups, both clans and moieties are dispersed throughout the territory. The two main ritual institutions of the Banks islands, the graded hierarchy and the secret societies, are also found in east Aoba, but less emphasis is placed on exclusively male participation. The Sukwe (Hukwe in east Aoba) club is only used as a dormitory and dining room for married men on ritual occasions. At all other times husbands sleep with their wives and children in the ordinary dwellings. Women part­ icipate in the rank-taking ceremonies and, if sufficiently industrious and ambitious can themselves sacrifice pigs. Secret societies are said to have existed in the past but what little I could find out about them indicates that they were relatively unimportant. The rites were seldom held, women as well as men were initiated, and there were no permanent clubs. Finally, there were no compulsory male puberty rites, no blood-letting operations and no 211 in s titu tio n a lis e d B ig N am bas and M a le k u la , ^ R aga S m a ll T h ro u g h o u t a n ch o red in d o m in a n t R aga m en th is N ew s h o u ld a re a o f (a n d p o s s ib ly s o u th B anks and n o rth e rn N ew b ased on s o u th R aga m o ie tie s , no and b u t in flu e n c e G u in e a , th e p rin c ip a l u n lik e on th e m a tri-m o ie tie s th e s e v e rity e s p e c ia lly d is tr ic t in and th e H e b rid e s w ith in D eacon, A .B . 2 . L a y a rd , pp. 3 . T a tte v in , th e and a re an d th e th e in c is io n . o r e n d u rin g g ro u p s, do m ost no m o re b e tw e e n fu lly to and M a le k u la : th e th a n a g n a te s and m o d ify sex es. th e p o s itiv e B ig p a trilin e a l N am bas A V a n is h in g s im ila r o f th e sex es o f n o rth S m a ll in in r ite s l i t t l e in c o n s titu te and lik e N ew W ogeo, re d u c e o f my h y p o th e s is , v illa g e s o f S e n ia n g th e in N ew th e n o rth - H e b rid e s , London, des M is s io n s , 4# R iv e rs , o r th e s lig h tly te rm s th e m a tri- W ogeo, a g a in is is la n d s , have c o m m u n itie s P e o p le in in itia tio n th e y As th e m o n o c a rp e lla ry in d is p e rs e d is la n d s m a le to th e re s id e n c e . s o c ia l th e lo c a lly - c o m m u n itie s m a le In p ro p e rty -o w n in g on e x c e p tio n a d d itio n n o rth e rn as o n ly c o m p u ls o ry in b ased o p p o s itio n W ith a re in h e rita n c e s o u th -w e s t 1 . o r th e re d iv is io n d is c re te th e th e s e ap p ear c o n fo rm s th e M w aevo) th o s e e ith e r c o rp o ra te M a le k u la lif e . A m b ry m c o -re s id e n t o f s o c ia l th a t A m b ry m ^ ; is g ro u p s, s e p a ra tio n am azem ent c u s to m ). s tru c tu re d escen t c irc u m -in c is io n n o rth a p ro fe ss R ag a^^an d s o c ia l th e th e su ch s o u th th e G u in e a , A obans have p a trilin e a l fe a tu re e ith e r (a ll is la n d s , exogam ous s o c ie tie s a h o m o s e x u a lity 1934* 4 7 3 -5 2 8 . E . "S ur P a ris , JR A I, le s b o rd s de la 1 9 2 6 -7 • 1915, PP* 2 3 0 -2 3 2 . m e r S a u v a g e ,“ R ev u e d ^ s t o i r e 212 west* Deacon has f o r t u n a t e l y pro vid ed us w ith a g ra p h ic d e s c r ip ti o n o f th e way in which th e S9niang people co n ceiv e o f th e r e l a t i o n s h i p betw een th e sexes* He w r ite s : There a re two h o s t i l e q u a l i t i e s o r p r o p e r tie s - ig a h and i l e o th e form er e s p e c ia ll y b e lo n g in g to women, and by a n alo g y to th e fem ale o f a l l s p e c ie s , a s , f o r in s ta n c e , a sow; th e l a t t e r b elo n g in g to a l l th in g s male* I le o has been t r a n s l a t e d " s a c re d 1*, b u t i t would be a g r e a t m isap p reh en sio n to t r a n s l a t e ig a h as " p ro fa n e 11. . . ig a h i s n o t used w ith re f e r e n c e to th in g s t h a t a r e p ro fa n e , b u t r a t h e r to th o s e t h a t a re p o sse sse d o f a k in d o f s a n c t i t y t h a t i s d i f f e r e n t from , and indeed opposed to t h a t w hich i s i l e o * The r e l a t i o n betw een ig a h and i l e o i s som ething l i k e th e r e l a t i o n o f p o s itiv e and n e g a tiv e e l e c t r i c a l p o te n tia ls * T hings which a re s tr o n g ly ig ati a re d e f i n i t e l y fe a re d by th e men because th e y c o u n te ra c t and d e s tr o y th e i l e o p ro p e rty a p p e r ta in in g to m ales and to m en ^ r i t u a l o h je c ts* On th e o th e r hand th e p o s s e s s io n o f th e q u a lity o f ig a h o r o f o b je c ts imbued w ith t h i s q u a lity c o n fe rs power and p r e s tig e upon women. The dichotom y o f said o p p o s itio n betw een th e sex es i s a f e a tu r e o f th e s o c ia l l i f e o f th e M alekulans and i s th u s r e f l e c t e d in t h e i r r i t u a l l i f e a l s o . O ) In th e s o c ia l l i f e th e sex dichotom y i s a p p a re n t in th e r e s id e n ti a l. arrangem ents and in th e p h y sica l, la y - o u t o f th e v i l l a g e i s d iv id e d in to two s e c tio n s s e p a ra te d by a fence* ( 2 ) . The v i l l a g e On one s id e a re a l l th e d w e llin g s , occupied f o r th e most p a r t by women and c h ild r e n , and on th e o th e r th e dancing ground, s l i t gongs and c lu b house (Amel) ♦ The women1s s id e i s s a id to be ig a h , and th e men’s ile o * The most I le o sp o t o f a l l i s a sm all p a tc h o f dense bush lo c a te d behind th e club* In accordance w ith th e p r in c ip le t h a t th e f u r t h e r from th e n a a i sev e (d iv id in g fe n c e ) th e more i l e o th e p la c e , we fin d t h a t in th e amel i t s e l f , which i s d iv id e d up in to a number o f compartments 1 , Deacon, p*23 2* Deacon, p* 24* 213 one for each of the ranks in the graded society called the Niman^Jiki, (which corresponds to the Sukwe of the Banks Islands), the "cömpartment belonging to the highest grade is situated at the back, while that of the lowest lies nearest the door.O) During daytime and early evening the two sexes keep to their respective sides of the village. At night, "most of the married men go to the dwelling houses, while others, who for some reason wish or are constrained to keep apart from their wives, together with all boys and bachelors, settle down to rest in the amel»"(2) Inside the dwelling the husband sleeps in one corner and his wife diagonally opposite. Unmarried daughters sleep in their mother's corner and young sons up to about the age of twelve on their own mat in either corner. The woman crosses over to her husbands mat for sexual intercourse. Young boys who still live with their mothers are said to be igah, and the first necessary step in becoming ileo is taken in the rite of incision and the subsequent ten days* seclusion in the amel, The youths then become increasingly ileo by taking higher and higher rank in both the Nimanghki and Nalawan graded hierarchies. The Nimanghki is similar to the open Sukwe organisation of the Banks, while the Nalawan rites are in many ways similar to those associated with the Tamate secret societies. But sociologically the difference between the Nalawan and the Tamate reflects the Banks islands concern with differentiation between men and the Malekula concern with male - female differentiation. The Tamate rites were associated with initiation into separate and discrete secret societies and resulted in the novices becoming members 1, Deacon, ibid. 2. Deacon, p,40 1 214 of corporate on-going social groups* The secrecy of a Tamate society was mainly concerned with its autonomy vis a vis other like groups, and only secondarily with male - female differentiation. The superficially similar Nalawan rites were associated with the internal grades of a single inclusive hierarchical organisation that counted amongst its members all or almost all adult males. The impression I get from Deacon*s material is that though the different grades of the Nalawan, like those of the Nimanghki, were concerned with the status differ­ entiation of males, the institution was more related to the increasing sacredness of men and their separation from women and children. loung girl3 begin to acquire igah potency when their two upper incisor teeth are knocked out at puberty and then increasingly so as they advance through the ranks of a women*s secret society known as the Lapas* Women are also said to be strongly igah during menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth. In Lambumbu district, a little to the north of Seniang where the social structure appears to be similar, sex differentiation is further highlighted in a mock battle that takes place between the men and the women of the village every afternoon during the period of twenty days when the youths are secluded after the rite of incision. In the double-unilineal societies the separation between is not as marked as in west Malekula. the sexes The Small-island village has no separate male and female sections, and though the men’s clubs are important institutions, married men only occasionally sleep in them. But the principle of sex separation is firmly maintained within the family compound* Each homestead is divided into two courtyards, the 215 o u te r c o n ta in in g th e w i f e ’s house and th e in n e r th e hu sb an d ’s* Unmarried d a u g h te rs l i v e w ith t h e i r m other, and young boys who have n o t y e t been in c is e d l i v e w ith t h e i r fa th e r* Each c o u rt p o s se ss e s i t s own yam s t o r e ­ house and oven, and th e cooking arran g em en ts a r e q u ite s e p a r a te . Layard d e s c rib e s th e sex dichotom y as i t a f f e c t s th e fa m ily group in th e fo llo w ­ in g te rm s . T here i s no fa m ily g a th e r in g f o r th e m eal, however, f o r one o f th e fundam ental p r in c ip le s u n d e rly in g s o c ie ty in th e s e is la n d s i s t h a t th o s e who have perform ed th e Maki r i t e s Cthe e q u iv a le n t o f th e S eniang Nimanghki and Aoba Hungwe), t h a t i s to say p r a c t i c a l l y th e whole male p o p u la tio n , have th e re b y become so h o ly t h a t th e y may n ot e a t w ith women* T h is sex dichotom y which d e c re e s t h a t a l l th e men, a p a r t from sm a ll boys who have n o t y e t ta k e n t h e i r f i r s t s te p in th e Maki, must e a t s e p a r a te ly from women, i s one o f th e most marked f e a tu r e s o f S m a ll- is la n d s o c ie ty and has f a r - r e a c h in g r e s u l t s . (1) The p o in t t h a t I want to em phasise i s t h a t th e r e s u l t s a re n o t so f a r re a c h in g a s in th e S eniang v i l l a g e - p a r t i t i o n , th e Lambumbu mock b a t t l e o r th e Big Nambas i n s t i t u t i o n a l i s e d hom osexuality* The d if f e r e n c e betw een th e u n i l i n e a l and th e d o u b le - u n ilin e a l s o c i e t i e s can be b e s t seen i n th e av erag e age o f th e i n i t i a t i o n c a n d id a te s and in th e number o f y e a rs which s e p a ra te th e r i t e s . I n M a le k u la ^ a n d so u th Arabrymte) th e l a d s ’ a Se v a r ie s from ab o u t e ig h t to tw e lv e , and th e i n t e r v a l betw een cerem onies i s no more th a n th r e e to fo u r y ears* As i n a l l th o s e s o c i e t i e s in New Guinea where sex s e p a ra tio n i s h ig h ly developed, th e f i r s t c o n s id e r a tio n i s t h a t th e boys should be a t o r about 1 . Layard, p. 4 5. 2* S p e is e r , p* 203. 3 . S p e is e r , 288. 216 puberty and the rites should mark their transition from the world of women to the secret world of male ritual. In the Small islands ^ a n d (2) north R agav "the rites take place every six to ten years, and the age of the novices varies from four to over twenty, while in south R a g a ^ Tattevin reports that the boys are circumcised (circum-incised) when they are about five or six years old, Layard makes an interesting comment on the Small islanders1 lack of concern as regards the age of the incision candidates. This sacrifice of physiological considerations in favour of a communal social organisation and pride of display contributes towards a humorously cynical attitude on the part of the natives towards initiation which tends to place considerably more emphasis on the enjoyment of t’ ' t the expense of the novices than might otherwise Hbgbin has likewise noted that the double unilineal Wogeo tend to regard their initiation ceremonies with some light-hearted cynicism - in fact they consider their tales of deception and masked dances as a great joke rather than as a necessary means of keeping the women in their place. Amongst the Tcharabuli and Elema the corporate patrilineages are weakened by cross-cutting ceremonial groups - and yet again the emphasis is placed on the entertainment aspect of the rites, and as in the Small islands, little attention is paid to the age of the novices* 1 • Layard, p. 495. 2* Codrington, p, 92, 3* Tattevin, p, 401* 4* Layard, p. 495. 217 The Qat (Banks) and Na Ngwatu (Aoba) ceremonies are in many respects similar, especially in symbolic content, to the compulsory rites of Raga, the Small islands and Malekula* Yet there is no operation on the penis, initiation is voluntary, age is immaterial, and the emphasis is on theatrical entertainment, and the enjoyment of the initiators is even more marked than in the Small islands* The close correlation that obtains between all these symbolic and ritual variants and further differences in social structure provides striking confirmation of the validity of my hypothesis* Nduindui Nduindui social structure differs from that of Malekula and the Small Islands primarily on two grounds - multicarpell ary instead of raonocarpellary parishes and an absence of corporate kin groups whose male members are recruited exclusively on the basis of patrilineal descent. I would therefore expect a less marked sex dichotomy than that found in the western islands. But as compared with east Aoba the Nduindui emphasis on patri-virilocal residence, patrilineal inheritance, parish exogamy and an absence of cross-cutting matrilineal clans and moieties are together likely to accentuate sex differentiation. To*ambaita society in north Malaita provides the closest Melanesian parallel to Nduindui - both are strongly patri-virilocal, the parishes are multi- carpellary, and there are no true agnatic descent groups. I shall now show that these two societies are also alike in that though sex separat­ ion is a pronounced feature of the social life it does not find clear expression in ritual and symbolic behaviour. 213 Male and fem ale r i t u a l p o ten cy I n N duindui th e c o n ce p ts kokona and h a t i a r e i n many r e s p e c ts s im ila r to th e Seniang i l e o and ig a h . T here i s a ls o a b e l i e f t h a t th e sex es p re s e n t a t h r e a t to one a n o th e r when th e men in d u lg e i n s p e c i f i c ­ a l l y male r i t u a l a c ts and when th e women a r e m e n stru a tin g o r g iv in g b i r t h t o c h ild r e n . But th e r e a r e a number o f n o ta b le d if f e r e n c e s which I s h a l l now a tte m p t to o u t l i n e . A ll women, d u rin g t h e i r m e n stru a l p e rio d s and when g iv in g b i r t h t o c h ild r e n , must r e t i r e t o a sm all hut lo c a te d a s h o rt d is ta n c e from th e h o u se. T h is i s o l a t i o n i s b a se d , as i t i s i n Seniang and i n many p r im itiv e s o c i e t i e s , on m en's f e a r o f m e n stru a l b lo o d . The N duindui view i s t h a t m e n stru a l blood f a l l i n g on a m an's s le e p in g m at, o r h is e a tin g food cooked by a m e n stru a tin g woman r e s u l t s i n h is becoming i l l and p erhaps d y in g . I t i s a ls o s a id t h a t a m e n stru a tin g woman's v i s i t i n g a garden c au se s th e p la n ts to w ith e r, and any f i s h n e t she makes would f a l l to p ie c e s . M e n stru a l blood and e v e ry th in g t h a t comes in to c o n ta c t w ith i t i s r e f e r r e d to as h a t i . The i s o l a t i o n h u t i s known a s .v a le h a t i , th e p a th t h a t le a d s to i t as h a la h a t i and th e woman h e r s e l f i s v av in e h a t i . A ll h a t i p erso n s and o b je c ts p o sse ss a s u p e r n a tu r a l power c o n sid e re d to be e s p e c ia ll y dangerous t o men who have a c q u ire d th e o p p o s ite kokona a t t r i b u t e s by perform ing r i t u a l . A man who has had se x u a l in te r c o u r s e w ith h is w ife d u rin g h e r m e n stru a l p e rio d o r w ith in a p e rio d o f about fo u r months a f t e r c h i l d b i r t h has done som ething h a t i . Be has endangered h is h e a lt h and c o u n te ra c te d w hatever kokona s a n c ity he may have p o sse sse d . 219 In all the a.bove respects the Nduindui hati concept closely parallels the Seniang igah, though igah is more than the dangerous powers iniierent in female physiology. Women become permanently igah when their two front incisors are knocked out at puberty, and then increasingly so by participation in the rites of the graded Lapas society. In Nduindui hati has no ritual counterpart - there are no girls1 puberty rites, and the women have no equivalent of the Lapas society; nor is hati solely a female attribute, for defecation and urination are at times referred to by the same term* Kokona. like ileo, is primarily a male form of sancity or ritual potency. Men become kokona by sacrificing pigs, by wearing insignia, by having salt water (known literally as kokona) and coconut milk poured over them, and by eating special food cooked on a fire lit under ritual conditions. When a man is kokona the implication is that he is, on the one hand aulu. and, on the other the possessor of a spiritual strength or supernatural power( huirana or tangaroa karea. 3ee pp, 253-4 ) • Aulu means literally “high" or "above" in both the ordinary sense and also in the metaphorical sense of authority. Men of the highest rank are sometimes given the title of Siroi Siroi, "sweeping high over" like a hawk with his wings spread out. A title taker, when he dances around his tusked pigs before killing them extends his arms, a perform­ ance called "Hawk's dance". In the final analysis the killing of tusked pigs is a sacrifice to the sky-dwelling creator diety Takaro, and it is because the sacrifice!* is thus identifying himself with Takaro that he is symbolised as a hawk. The supernatural power he acquires comes from the close association with Takaro, 220 The simplest way to describe the sacredness or kokona quality is to say that by sacrificing pigs a man becomes aulu, he achieves authority and superiority over other men. The principal sanction for this is the power supernaturally acquired. Clearly there is a strong concepts. similarity in the kokona and ileo Men become increasingly kokona. or ileo by taking higher and higher rank in the Hungwe or Nimanghki. and when they are in such condition of ritual potency they must be kept apart from women,menstruat­ ing women above all. But the concepts also differ. The Malekula man, once he has been incised, is constantly ileo and as such must maintain permanent residential separation from the igah women and children. is not so in Nduindui, This A man who takes part in a Hungwe sacrifice is kokona only at that time and for a few days afterwards, during which he is required to sleep and eat in the club. At all other periods he is profane (mwenda) like ordinary people and as such can visit his house and eat food cooked by his wife. By stating that such a man is mwenda the Nduindui do not in any sense mean that he has lost his spiritual strength. What they do mean is that when he is kokona his strength is beyond his control and is automatically dangerous for all mwenda persons with-whom he associates. At other times his power acts only when he so wills it, as in sorcery and magic. The traditional residence was divided by a flimsy partition into inner and outer compartments, the former serving as a bedroom for the husband and young sons aged from three to twelve, the latter as a kitchen and dining room for the whole family as well as a bed room for the wife and unmarried daughters. When the husband was in a ritual 221 condition th a t n e ce ssitated sp e c ia l food he cooked fo r him self e ith e r in h is compartment or in a club nearby; and when the wife was m enstruat­ ing or giving b ir th she r e tir e d to her sp e c ia l hut* O rd in arily the women prepare the food and the men cook i t , an arrangement th a t co n tra sts w ith the Small Isla n d s, where the homestead is divided in to separate courtyards each with i t s own oven and storehouse. A fu rth e r d ifferen c e between Nduindui and Seniang i s th a t whereas ile o i s ex clu siv ely a male form of sa n city , the Nduindui women can a t times become kokona» I have already noted th a t a man^ f i r s t wife wears kokona in sig n ia and s a c r if ic e s a tusked pig a t the tu vage marriage exchanges. I f her husband should r is e to high rank he may p e rio d ic a lly se t aside a boar fo r her to s a c rific e during the course of h is own t it l e - t a k i n g ceremony. On such occasions th e woman wears kokona in sig n ia , k i l l s a kokona pig, e a ts kokona food and lik e men, i s thereby assured of an honoured place in the a f te r - lif e * An even c le a re r dem onstration of the comparative weakness of the Nduindui male - female p o la rity is th a t women as w ell as men p a rtic ip a te d as novices in the s e c re t, though voluntary, Na Ngwatu and Na Mwai r ite s .^ In th is resp ect sex d if f e r e n tia tio n is le s s pronounced in both e a st and west Aoba than i t is even in the Banks and Torres isla n d s . The n earest approach to a compulsory i n i t i a t i o n ceremony was the p iercin g of a young man*s septum,an operation performed whenever th ree or four youths in the p a rish had reached the age of puberty* Their fa th e rs prepared a sp e c ia l house surrounded by a fence and the boys 1 * N either of these r i t e s has le a s t 30 years* been performed in Nduindui fo r a t 222 retired with the operator for a few weeks until the wounds had healed* Towards the end of this period they came out for a little exercise at dusk but took care to avoid sunshine, and any path leading to a menstrual hut, both said to prevent the healing of the wound* The fathers of the youths prepared their foodj meat, a particular species of cabbage, and coconut milk were all prohibited. Decorative sticks or p i g s 1 tusks were subsequently worn in the septum. From this brief account it is evident that there are a number of elements similar to the compulsory rites of incision or circum-incision held elsewhere in Melanesia. The isolation of the youths, the prohibit­ ion against eating food cooked by women, and the dangers said to be inherent in walking on a w o m a n s path are all expressions of the ritual polarity of male and female. Septum piercing could also be interpreted as a weak symbolic substitute for the more usual penis operation. But on the negative side I could discover no evidence of any mythology associated with the ritej there were no hoaxes or severe ordeals, no representation of death or rebirth or of monsters come to devour the youths, no tales told to the women, no mystery or solemnity surrounding the ceremony, no secret imparted to the lads, and no theory that the operation was the equivalent of menstruation. (The rite has not been performed anywhere in west Aoba for at least thirty years, though circum-incision and incision still take pla.ce in Malekula, the Small Islands and Raga.) The sacred relatives In Malekula sex separation is initiated at puberty, gradually increases as men and women advance through the grades of their respective, 223 and in soma cases, secret ritual associations, and is both continuous and general rather than periodic and specific. In Hduindui the concepts of kokona and hati, though primarily associated with men and women respectively, are not exclusively so. In the previous section I mention­ ed that sex avoidance, at least in so far as it applies to the marital relationship, is restricted to special occasions. In the present section I shall demonstrate that it is also confined, though in varying degrees, to specific kin and affinal relationships, and that it more­ over affects the behaviour pattern expected between male kin who are related to one another through a female, or female kin related through a male. The twelve categories of relationship terminologically recognised by the Nduindui can be divided into those that are ritually potent (kokona or hati) and those that are without such potency (mwenda or vale vale). For a man, the hati kin are, in order of importance, the sisters (hangwena), sisters1 daughters (duvina), mothers(retahina), daughters (natuna).and wiveö* mothers (ngwellkana). All of these relationships coincide with the incest (kalika) prohibition and are characterised by either total or partial avoidance. His wife is said to be hati when menstruating or giving birth. A m a n ’s kokona relatives are male kin and affines related Mm directly through one of his hati relatives. to They are, in order of importance, his sisters’ sons (duvina)* sisters’ husbands (takuna)> mother’s brothers (tokana). wife’s brothers (takuna), and wives’ fathers (ngwelikana). The emphasis is on formality and avoidance of any reference to sexual matters* 224 The vale vale relationship, which is considered to be the polar opposite of the hati, is between alternate generations (tumbuna and vagambuina) and is characterised by lack of formality and a constant ribald reference to sexual matters. The teasing and joking element is strongest when between people of opposite sex. This is the only- relationship that does not fall within the incest prohibition. The remaining relationships, those between siblings of the same sex, mother and daughter and father and son are mwenda or ordinary. They are characterised by neither avoidance nor joking and vary between the authoritative and egalitarian extremes depending on generation and age. Table XXVI gives a brief summary of these twelve kin categories. I have described each relationship as it applies to the most closely related kin - the more remote the genealogical connection the less the distinguishing characteristics apply. TABUS XXVI SACRED, JOKING, AND ORDINARY KIN Terminology Type Primary Characteristics Sibling of opposite 36x Hangwena Hati Total avoidance from puberty to senility Mother*s brother Tokana Hati Sister*s daughter duvina Same as hangwena though violations not regarded as seriously. Father - daughter Tamana natuna Hati Partial avoidance from puberty to senility Mother - son Retahina natuna Hati Partial avoidance from puberty to senility Relationship (cont*d. next page) 225 TABLE XXVI (c o n tin u e d ) SACKED, JOKING, AND ORDINARY KIN R e l a ti o n s h i p T erm in o lo g y W ife 1s m o th er d a u g h t e r s husband n g w e lik a n a Husband - w ife Tuana m w arasea - v a v in e h in a M other*s b r o t h e r Tokana - s i s t e r * s so n d u v in a - Type P rim a ry C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s R a ti P a r t i a l a v o id a n c e - L im ite d a v o id a n c e a t s p e c i f i e d p e r io d s Kokona An a m b iv a le n t r e l a t i o n s h i p w hich a tte m p ts t o com bine fo rm a l r e s e r v e w ith a n in tim a c y s i m i l a r t o t h a t b etw een b r o th e r s * The MB te n d s t o re g a r d h i s ZS a s more kokona th a n v ic e v e r s a . Kokona W ife 's f a t h e r N gw elikana Kokona A l l o f th e s e a f f i n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s s t r e s s form ­ a l i t y and a v o id a n c e o f an y r e f e r e n c e t o s e x u a l m a tte r s . The ZH i s more kokona th a n t h e WB, and t h e WB more so th a n th e WF. G ra n d p a re n ts G ra n d c h ild re n Tumbuna vagam buina V ale v a le J o k in g r e l a t i o n s h i p w ith s tr o n g s e x u a l c o n n o ta tio n * F a th e r - so n Tamana n a tu n a Mwenda In tim a c y sind a f f e c t i o n u n t i l so n le a v e s h o u se a b o u t 10 t o 1 2 . From th e n on em phasis on a u t h o r i t y o f f a th e r * M other - d a u g h te r R e ta h in a n a tu n a Mwenda A c l o s e and f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s h i p m a in ta in e d th ro u g h o u t l i f e . S i s t e r * s husband - Takuna w i f e 's b r o t h e r ( c o a t 'd n e x t p ag e) TABLE rar (continued) SACRED, JOKING, AND ORDINARY KIN Relationship Siblings of same sex Sibling Terminology Typ« Tuana Mwenda Primary Characteristics A reciprocal relationship with strong emphasis on equality of status. It is significant that un-­ like both east Aoba and Malekula there are no terms for elder and younger sibling. of opposite sex The avoidance rule between siblings of opposite sex is one of the most pronounced features of the social structure. The separation begins when the boy is weaned at the age of two or three and he moves into the inner compartment of the house to sleep with his father. For the next four or five years he continues to talk and play with his sisters, but during the subsequent stage, till puberty, his parents and other adults spend more and more time explaining that too close an association is both bad (hati) and shameful (malmai). Eventually the father, or any senior relative, who sees him in the company of his sister beats them both. The boy leaves his parents* house when he is close to puberty. He can never again enter it so long as one of his sisters is still a resident. He is equally prohibited from entering a married sister*s or sister*s daughter*s house. 227 M u lt siblings of opposite sex should never converse and so far as possible avoid seeing one another. I f they meet on a track the s is te r runs into the bush and hides h erself. I f a man should by chance see his s is te r when she has climbed a tree to collect f r u it she is ashamed and may commit suicide by jumping. Hsr shame arises from the fact that her brother might see her g enitals, a vision so dangerous that he might possibly die* In order to compensate she must ask her father or husband to send the brother a small pig or a number of mats. A. woman cannot eat a pig sacrificed by her brother or mother^ brother, nor can she eat a pudding covered with coconut milk extracted by eith er of these re la tiv e s. A man cannot eat any food th at has been handled by his s is te r or sister* s daughter. In theory, these prohibitions apply equally to a l l those kin of opposite sex who f a l l within the hangwena, duvina and tokana categories. In practice the rules are maintained with considerable stric tn ess i f the genealogical connection is known, and even more so, i f they liv e in the same parish. Missionaries have constantly attacked the rules of avoid­ ance but with l i t t l e success. Mother and son The mother - son bond is notable for i t s formality and reserve rather than physical avoidance. They must not sleep in the same house, but may speak to one another provided they face in opposite directions. When an elderly woman is widowed one of her married sons usually makes a hut in his compound for her. They may then ta lk together frequently, but when doing so must observe the rule of looking in opposite directions and avoid direct reference to sex* Father and daughter The father - daughter relationship is similar to that between mother and son, though there is less formality. The unmarried daughter can sleep in her father*s house but must remain in the outer compartment with her mother. After her marrige the father is prohibited from entering her husband*s dwelling, though she frequently returns for short visits. Interpretation Radcliffe-Brown^1) considered avoidance to be an extreme form of institutionalized joking in that both are means of reconciling the hostile and friendly, or disjunctive and conjunctive components characteristic of certain kin and affinal relationships. Firth^ similarly emphasised the part played by avoidance and restraint in reducing the possibility of conflict between close relatives. This type of functional interpretation, though obviously valid, fails to add much to our understanding. The question of why such relationships differ from one society to another remains unanswered. I do not intend to put forward a general explanation, but rather to demonstrate that in Aoba the various degrees of avoidance and restraint are in part related to the ideology of male - female polarity and in part to the 1* Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. Structure and Function in Primitive Society, London, 1952, pp. 90-104. 2. Firth, R. We. The Tikopia, London, 1936, pp. 322^4, 229 ideology of matrilineal descent* The Nduindui state that a man must avoid close contact with his sacred female kin because they are hati. Such women possess a super­ natural power inherent in their physiology that automatically results in weakness, illness or death for any man who is sufficiently foolish to ignore the various prohibitions* Wives and vagambui and tumbui women are hati and dangerous only when menstruating and giving birth to children. But sisters, sisters* daughters, mothers and daughters are constantly hati - they are like a woman who never stops menstruating. The sexual basis of avoidance is also apparent in that copulation between a man and any of his female sacred kin is regarded as incestuous* The more sacred the relationship, the worse the fault; or, put slightly differently, the stronger the pattern of avoidance the louder the condemnation and severity of the penalty imposed. Informants assured me that if in the past brothers and sisters, or mothers* brothers and sisters* daughters, were discovered in sexual union they would either be killed by their close kin or commit suicide* I was unable to discover any actual cases of incest between full siblings, though it is common between classificatory brothers and sisters. During the course of my fieldwork I heard of two cases of sexual inter­ course between a man and his true daughter and one between a man and his own mother. All three provoked strong indignation and criticism, though the penalties imposed were no more than heavy fines paid to the district church council and some months* suspension from church member­ ship. 230 F o x h a s recently produced evidence which, though by no means fully establishing, nevertheless raises the probability that there is a direct correlation between an avoidance or separation pattern initiat­ ed at an early age between siblings of the opposite sex, and a correspondingly strong desire for sexual intercourse during adulthood and severe penalties* The desire element is difficult to establish without the aid of psycho-analysis, but at least the Nduindui give plenty of overt evidence that it is present in considerable strength. Nduindui society began with a series of incestuous relationships between brothers and sisters and the theme regularly crops up in myths and dreams. In real life the sexual adventures that men take the greatest delight in recounting are those with closely related classificatory sisters, and to a slightly lesser extent sisters* daughters. coincide with Fqx *s hypothesis The remaining factors - avoidance is begun at an early age and is extreme and the penalty is said to have been death. In the mother - son,and father - daughter relationships there is a correspond­ ing reduction in both the degree of avoidance, the severity of the punishment, and if the evidence of mythology and dreams is worth any­ thing, most probably the desire. The kokona category of sacred relatives consists of kin and affines who are related to a man through a woman and vice versa. The sexual basis of this extension is evident in a number of contexts. Firstly, the Nduindui state that the mothers* brothers, sisters* sons, and sisters * husbands are kokona because of their close association with 1* Fox, J.R. "Sibling Incest”, British Journal of Sociology. Vol. XIII, No. 2, 1962. 231 the h ati mother and sisters* . I t is for th is reason that these relatives are considered to be more sacred than the wife*s parents* Secondly, the principal re stric tio n in the kokona type of relationship is that no reference should be made to sex, menstruation or childbirth. Thirdly, the kokona and h ati sacred relativ es are identified in the context of swearing* I f a man is accused of some crime and wishes to demonstrate his innocence he swears by the head of one of these rela tiv es, the most convincing being th at of a s is te r, s i s t e r cs son, mother or mother^ brother. I f he should have perjured himself the h ati or kokona power of these relativ es w ill re su lt in a serious illness* The east Aobans also d is tin g u is h between avoidance, respect, intimate and joking relationships, and, though the basis of c la s s ific a t­ ion is superficially sim ilar to th at of the Nduindui, at le a st as regards the more extreme forms, there are a number of significant d iffe r ences. As among the Nduindui, to ta l avoidance is practised between siblings of opposite sex and mothers* brothers and sisters* daughters, and in a modified form between a man and his mother* But the further extensions of these terms group together a d ifferen t set of kin. The principal difference is th a t the east Aoban avoidance rule applies only to opposite-sex kin and affines who are of the same moiety. The range is therefore narrower than in Nduindui as, from the male point of view i t excludes such kin as fa th e rs' siste rs (and a ll retahina bulanatoa) , and daughters. The evidence from the northern New Hebrides suggests th at there is close inverse correlation between the degree of general separation between the sexes and the severity of the avoidance rules between 232 , specified kin* In Malekula general separation is highly developed but there are no specific prohibitions against interaction between siblings of opposite sex, or between parents and children. Indeed, Deacon reports that brothers and sisters are expected to be close friends. In Nduindui the general separation is less marked, and varying degrees of avoidance are practised between all kin of opposite sex other than those in the grandparent - grandchild category (tumbuna - vagambuina)* In east Aoba there is a further reduction in the general sex division, and avoidance relationships are confined to the same moiety. Inform­ ants from both sides of the island emphasized that the Easterners1 avoidance relationships, especially that between mother and son, are stronger, and when violated more severely penalized than in Nduindui. Nduindui joking relationships apply to all true and classificatory grandchildren and grandparents. In east Aoba the principle of matri- lineal descent again makes its presence felt in restricting this kind of relationship to members of the same moiety who refer to one another as tumbune or vagambuine. The extension of these terms result^in a joking relationship between a woman and her husband*s brother, a man and his mother*s brother*s wife and various other relatives between whom such light-heartedness would in Nduindui be unthinkable. All inter-moiety relationships, including the tumbune - vagambuine, are supposed to be respectful and verging on the formal. Mother*s brother and sister*s son I shall now conclude the chapter by examining in greater detail two of the most important non-agnatic roles - that of the mother*a 233 b ro th er and th e fath er* s s i s t e r . In a so ciety such as Nduirudui, where in h eritan ce i s p a tr ilin e a l and residence p a tr i - v ir i l o c a l, a man*s mother*s b ro th er, m other's brother*s son, m other's mother and m other's fa th e r liv e to g e th e r in the same parish* In such conditions th e re a re , broadly speaking, two ways in which he can th in k of h is m other's b ro th er, e ith e r as a close m a trilin e a l kinsman, and as such id e n tifie d w ith the m other's mother, or as a member of a co -re sid en t property owning group of male agnates and th e re fo re id e n tifie d w ith the m other's f a th e r and m other's b ro th e r’s son. In thoroughly u n ilin e a l s o c ie tie s th e re are no such a lte rn a tiv e s* In the m a trilin e a l case, e ith e r w ith u x o rilo c a l o r av u n cu lo -v irilo ca l resid en ce, the mother’s b ro th er liv e s ap art from his male agnates and m aintains a close bond w ith h is s i s t e r 's son. When descent-group a f f i l i a t i o n i s exclu siv ely agnatic and residence p a tr i - v ir i l o c a l a man's primary m a tr ila te r a l o b lig atio n s are towards h is m other's fa th e r as the sen io r member of a lo c a liz e d lin e ag e , and only secondarily towards h is m other's brother* In Nduindui the ag natic p rin c ip le i s most evident during childhood and adolescence. Boys and young men in te r a c t w ith and help t h e i r m other's fa th e r more freq u en tly than t h e i r m other's b ro th e rs. On numerous occasions when I asked youths where they had spent th e day they re p lied th a t they had been helping t h e i r m other's father* This p a tte rn i s e sp e c ia lly n o ticab le when a man's own fa th e r i s s t i l l alive* The youth goes to help h is m aternal grandfather not so much as th e expected behaviour of a close cognate but ra th e r as a s o rt of secondary a f f i na l re la tiv e * By t h is I mean th a t he helps h is grandfather as a continuation 234 of the same assistance given by his own father to the latter!s wife’s father. This sort of thinking is evident in an informants statement about his son, who was aged about six. He was a conscientious son-in-­ law who frequently helped his wife’s father, Gabriel, in collecting copra and in gardening. "It is good that I help Gabriel all my life, and good too that I help his son John a little bit. When my son Leri is big enough he, too, will help Gabriel plenty and John a little. When Gabriel dies, then Leri will help John much more. Leri follows me in this business; I help my wife’s kin, my son helps his mother’s kin." When we examine the affective side of these relationships the matrilineal element is more prominent. Anthropologists have frequently noted that in patrilineal societies the mother’s brother - sister’s son tie is characterised by familiarity, and at times even ritualized joking. In the most thoroughly agnatic societies, where the terminology is of the Fox type (MB, MBS and MBSS etc., all referred to by the same term), a similar type of relationship is extended to include all of the mother’s male agnates. But this is not so in Nduindui. A man jokes with his mother’s father but he does not take such liberties with his mother’s brother. He should show respect towards his "sacred” uncle, though there is little of the authoritative element characteristic of most matrilineal societies. The relationship is thus a compromise between the joking and the matrilineal avunculi potestas extremes. Though a man tends to group his mother’s father and mother’s brother together in terms of help and services, he differentiates between them in affective and behavioural terms. 235 When discussing the kinship terminology I pointed out that there was a parallel inconsistency in the generational placing of the m o t h e r ^ brother. From one point of view he is a sort of elder brother and from another a generation senior to his nephew. A compromise is reached in behavioural terms in that though the uncle should be respected he has few if any actual demands over his s i s t e r ^ son. In conversation the two can joke together, but they must avoid the obscenity considered proper between alternate generations. In matrilineal east Aoba joking is prohibited, and the relationship is more authoritarian than in Nduindui. In Nduindui there are few rights, duties and obligations associat­ ed with the avuncular relationship. The nephew should help his uncle in preparing feasts, gardening and copra production. But his uncle cannot demand such services, in fact he frequently finds it necessary to pay wages. of help. ffe is not expected to return this rather dubious sort The avoidance rule between a man and his sister makes it difficult for him to visit while the s i s t e r ^ son is still a boy at home. Should he wish to do so he approaches the house with caution and calls the nephew out. This same difficulty accounts for the fact that while a man frequently visits his wife *s brother, the latter seldom, if ever, reciprocates. The mother*s brother is supposed to take a close interest in the welfare of his nephews - he should let them make gardens on his land and help them achieve their rank-taking or commercial ambitions. In fact, however, this sort of help can hardly be distinguished from that offered by more remote cognates. In one instance a young man . 236 was in serious difficulties over the breakdown of his engagement as a result of a quarrel between his parents and those of his fiancee. When I asked his uncle for further information, I found that the man had not even heard of what was going on - and this despite a formal hearing of the case at which about fifty senior men, including a number from the uncle1s parish, had been in attendance. In many patrilineal societies the sister*s son has the right to take his mother*s brother*s property without first seeking permission. This is also the case in Nduindui, with garden produce, cooked food and minor personal possesions such as clothes. The most extreme form of this custom, "ritual stealing", has been interpreted by Goody ^ as a symbolic expression of the submerged inheritance rights of the sister*s son in a patrilineal society. Because the nephew is excluded from full rights in his uncle*s property he asserts his residual rights by openly "stealing" within the context of ritual. I could find no evidence of any such custom in Nduindui, and though the point is a minor one, it is consistent with my interpretation of the avuncular relationship as partly, though by no means wholly, controlled by agnatic sentiments. Father*s sister and brother*s child The role of the father*s sister cannot be so simply correlated with descent, residence or inheritance. In neither matrilineal nor patrilineal societies is it usual for group membership and rights in 1. Goody, J. The Mother*s Brother and the Sister*s Son in West Africa, JRAI. Vol. 39, Pt. I, 1959, pp. 61-87. 237 property to be transmitted from a woman to her brother1s children, Radcliffe-Brown attempted to overcome this difficulty by introducing his extension-of-sentiment argument. He stated that in a patrilineal society the father*s sister is a person of outstanding importance because she is a sort of female father - like the true father she is in a position of authority over her brother*s children. But this >argument fails to account for those matrilineal societies in which she is also recognised as being of special significance. In east Aoba she is honoured because she is a female member of the father’s matri-elan, not because she is a sort of female agnate. This is clearly expressed in the statement ”We respect our father’s sisters because they axe matrilineal kin of our father (havai tamanguV ’, In the section on kinship terminology I noted that the east Aobans differentiate the father’s sister from the mother by the use of the qualifying term “ray fowl“ (bulangu toa), essence of the relationship - services by the father’s sister The phrase indicates the the performance of numerous ritual for each of which she must be given a fowl. When a child is bora the mother rubs a dead fowl on the infant’s navel and then presents the bird to her husband’s sister. The act is said to unite two matrilineal descent groups in the form of a child. The father’s sister responds by naming the infant. When a girl reaches puberty the father’s sister tattoos her, and in return receives another fowl. The father’s sister must also be present during the first night after the girl’s irarriage to ensure that the husband succeeds in breaking the hymen. Should he fail the older woman makes the girl bleed 23Ö with a roll of nettles* Again, the father must give his sister a fowl* Each time a man sacrifices pigs he must present a ritually-cooked fowl to his father’s sister, and when he dies she must stand on his grave and summon his spirit to come and eat the food that she has prepared for him* She then eats a portion herself and leaves the rest on the grave* In all these ritual prestations the father*3 sister is honoured as a senior female member of her matri-clan. If the true father *s sister is dead or not available, then her daughter or any other woman referred to as bulana toa takes her place. This sort of case cannot be explained by Radcliffe-Brown *3 theory. In Nduindui the father*3 sister is less clearly differentiated. Terminologically she is simply "mother" with no qualifying adjective. Her brother*3 children do not have to present her with fowl, and she has no specific duties to perform. Whether or not she is present for important ritual depends on personal and variable factors. She is in practice less likely to attend than the mother*3 sisters or father*s brothers* wives. When a girl marries and leaves her father*s parish her brother*3 sons must regularly help the men of her household. Requests from the father*s sister*3 husband cannot be lightly ignored, and as with a man and his wife*3 and mother*s close kin, the traffic is one way. When discussing the mother*s brother I noted that the emphasis is on the affinal link between two agnatic groups. The sister’s son tends to regard his mother’s brother as the son of his father *3 wife’3 parents rather than as a primary matrilineal kinsman. The affinal element is 239 is similarly emphasised in the bond between a man and his father *s sister* Unlike the east Aobans, who maintain a direct ritual relation­ ship with the father*s sister and her daughter, the Nduindui are more concerned with maintaining friendly inter-group relations with her husband, and to a lesser extent her son. CHAPTER VIII TRADITIONAL RANK AND LEADERSHIP Rank, environment and wealth in Melanesia The looseness or flexibility of Melanesian societies consists in large part of an absence of formal political structure and little or no social stratification. Leadership is typically competitive and open to all men with the necessary ambition and ability; there are seldom any important hereditary offices or, with only a few minor exceptions, v age grades, social classes or ranked descent groups. Pouwer, when noting the Papuan's dislike of plantation labour, described an egalitarian ideology typical of most Melanesian societies. He wrote, The lack of social classes, the slight differences in status, and the ideal of equality, together with the strongly maintained principle of reciprocity, have the consequence that he has difficulty in considering himself in a relationship of inferior to superior.(1) Pouwer argued that the absence of hierarchy, like all other manifestations of loose structure, is correlated with a very unfavourable natural environment which demands great power of adaptation on the part of the population. There is frequently 1. Pouwer, J. nNew Guinea as a Field for Ethnological Study1*, Bi.idr. Taal-. Land«-. Volkenk, Vol. 117, 1961, p. 13. 241 even a surplus of foods prized by the people, e.g. fish and sago. However, the limited technical equipment possessed by the Papuan - a cultural factor, therefore - sind the geographical distribution of sources of food (sago areas, the necessity for extensive shifting cultivation) keeps yields low in relation to the time expended on them, and militate against an economic surplus. (1) Barnes, when noting the low level of lineage solidarity in the New Guinea Highlands (as compared with that found in such African societies as the Tiv, Nuer and Tallensi), made a similar observation. Before the coining of commercial crops there were in the Highlands, apart from groves of nut pandanus, comparatively few tree crops or sites of particularly high fertility such as in Africa often forms a substantial part of the collective capital resources of a lineage segment. In New Guinea a man's capital resources consist largely in the obligations which he has imposed on his exchange partners and, on his death these resources may be dissipated or disappear entirely. Hence to a greater extent than in Africa every man in the New Guinea Highlands starts from scratch and has to build up his own social position. Once again, we must not carry the contrast too far. Clearly even in New Guinea it is generally an advantage to be the son of a big man, just as in Africa the eldest son of an eldest son does not attain leadership without some personal ability; but the contrast remains.(2) The point that I want to emphasize is that the same economic factor, an absence of heritable wealth, prevents the development of both corporate lineages and hereditary leadership. It is for this reason that the principle of reciprocity, which implies equality of personal status, is of such importance in Melanesian societies. A man who desires to become a leader, and hence capable of financing large-scale feasts and ceremonies, can only do so by building up credit through 1. Pouwer, p. 3. His use of the phrase ’'economic surplus” is questionable. What he is clearly referring to is an absence of valuable heritable wealth - the same point that Barnes makes in the following quotation. 2. Barnes, J.A. "African Models in the New Guinea Highlands”, Man Vol.62,1962,p.8. 242, the successful manipulation of a complex series of g ift and counter­ g if t. The personal q u alities required, intelligence, industry, generosity, etc« are of such a kind that the great majority of adult men possess them in varying degrees. The re su lt is an open diffuse system of leadership in which important policy decisions are arrived at in public meetings in which a ll the adult men of the community p articip ate. There are, of course, a number of Melanesian s o c ie tie s^ ) where hereditary leadership and social s tra tific a tio n do ex ist, even i f no­ where so highly developed as in parts of Africa and Polynesia. But the general v alid ity of my in terp retatio n is supported by two observ­ ations - the hierarchical structure is never more than a secondary modification superimposed on an otherwise open and competitive system of leadership, and hereditary rank invariably coincides with unusually valuable and heritable possessions, eith er m aterial (land, fishing grounds, hierlooms, mats, e tc .), immaterial (magic,sorcery, and other forms of esoteric knowledge) or both. The p o litic a l structure of the Trobriand islands has recently been analysed by Singh Uberoi from th is point of view. His two main points are th at though rank is an important social principle Mit is not to be understood as a reflectio n of authorityM, ^ a n d th at 11the rank of a local lineage should be regarded as the outcome of a combination of three things: 1. economic advantage, which means a village with f e r tile 1. Trobriands; the Koita, Mekeo, Roro and Manam of New Guinea; Mowehafen in New B ritain; Saa and parts of San Gristoval in the Solomon Islands; and most of the central and southern New Hebrides. 2. Singh Uberoi, J . P o litics of the Kula Ring. Manchester, 1962,p.43# A3 gardens, or one particularly well situated for fishing; 2. the extent to which it is a centre integrating the economic activities of its neighbours; and 3« its position in the network of overseas alliances•“ ^ ) The marked local variations in soil fertility, availability of fishing grounds, and strategic positions for trade, together provide an ecological background well suited to the development of wealthy, and hence socially superior, lineages. The institutions of polygyny and urigubu prestations (annual harvest contributions sent by a man to his sister1s household) enable men of high rank to accumulate large surplus produce. The authority and influence of the hereditary Trobriand “chief“ is therefore, like all Melanesian leaders, based primarily on his wealth. His membership of a superior lineage gives him an initial advantage over his competitors, but unless he can accumulate and distribute wealth, his rank gives him little or no authority and influence. In the Trobriands the principal political consequence of rank is that it limits the size of the political unit that an aspiring leader may compete for. A man who succeeds in establishing himself as the headman of a low-ranking lineage is limited to the extent that he can never assume village leadership - a privilege reserved for a member of the dominant lineage in that particular community. At a yet higher level, a village-leader of low-rank is excluded from the headmanship of a village-cluster or district. Malinowski describes these low- ranking leaders as ‘‘nothing more than the primus inter pares in a group of village elders, who deliberate on all important matters 1. ibid. 244. together, and arrive at a decision by common consent.” 0 ) Elsewhere he refers to a category of “notables”, who in a village of high rank consist of close kinsmen of the chief. But in low ranking villages the notables are described as “old men, especially those who either practise an important form of magic, or have acquired an outstanding position by virtue of personal skill in some industry, or the knowledge of some pursuit, such as sailing, fishing or gardening.” (2) -phe political structure of these low ranking villages is thus similar to the common Melanesian council system in which all responsible adult males have the right to contribute to policy making deliberations. Hereditary rank is operative primarily in limiting the arena within which each man can legitimately compete for power and influence. The political structure of the northern New Hebrides occupies an intermediary position between the egalitarian model of the unrestricted council, possibly best represented by the New Guinea Highlands, and the hierarchical model in which positions of authority are confined to high ranking lineages. Througout this area the typical Melanesian compet­ itive system of leadership operates within a formal structure of ranked titles. But unlike the Trobriands, personal ability rather than birth determines a m a n *3 status. The graded society can be described as a hierarchy of ranked positions for which ambitious men can compete. The assumption of the higher titles provides a means whereby leaders are publicly recognised and acknowledged, and in so far as the titles are associated with office, they enable their holders 1. Malinowski, B. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London, 1922,p.62. 2. Malinowski, B. Coral Gardens and their Magic. Vol.I,London,t935, p.39. Ä45 to consolidate and yet farther increase their authority and influence. As compared with the Trobriands, the absence of hereditary ranked lineages is correlated with a natural environment (especially in Aoba) in which resources are so evenly distributed that no one local group has a marked economic advantage over its neighbours. But as compared. (1) with the Highlands, the New Hebrideans have valuable and durable manufactured possessions, especially slit-gongs and mats, A full orchestra of gongs takes many years to manufacture, but once possessed greatly increases the speed at which the owner can advance through the ranks of the graded society. The mats, which last for many generations, provide a convenient form of storable and heritable wealth that can be converted when needed into pigs, insignia of rank, wives, labour or even slit-gongs. Unfortunately there is insufficient information to establish what, if any, ecological factors are correlated with local variations, especially the development of hereditary principles in north Malekula and north Raga. I can only suggest that the high mountainous terrain of these two communities is associated with marked differences in the availability, quantity, and fertility of land suitable for gardening. A brief visit that I made to north Raga indicated that this could well be the case. I shall now discuss the two components of Nduindui leadership, the open and informal council system, and the superimposed and more rigid 1. The Highlands are not, of course, without some forms of heritable and valuable possessions - especially shells. But they are used in a narrower range of contexts and are not so easily convertable into other commodities as is the case with the New Hebrides mats. 246 hierarchy of titles* The council system of Leadership The c o u n c i l ^ is an informal body of men who meet to discuss matters that are of concern to the community. There are no hard and fast rules of membership; the principal qualifications are permanent residence, adulthood, and the respect of one’s neighbours* Young men have little to contribute and though no one objects to their active participation it is considered more appropriate that they should remain silent and learn from their elders* Women cannot enter the clubs when meetings are held, though they frequently participate by sitting outside and making forceful comments • The typical pattern is as follows* A person who has a serious problem first discusses it privately with a number of the senior men in the parish* If they consider the matter to be of general concern one of them summons a meeting by blowing a conch-shell in the principal club* The instigator, or some senior person responsible for him, opens the discussion by presenting the facts in detail* speaker then follows* Speaker after Some of them may be directly interested in the outcome, but others simply use the occasion to display their wisdom, the. 1 * In Nduindui, as in most Melanesian societies^same body of men act as both council and court* I shall use the term council other than in those contexts where the group is obviously operating in a judical context* The Nduindui make no terminological distinction - any large meeting of men who come together to talk, either as council or court, is referred to as ”senior men talk-talk” (mwarasea kwakwa kwakwa). 247 powers of oratory or influence. There are no formal conventions as to priority, though the older men tend to bide their time until the main issues are clear. As the discussion progresses the arguments of certain men begin to gain ground and gradually dissenters withdraw and say no more. Their silence does not necessarily imply that they agree with the majority opinion, but simply that for the sake of overt unanimity they have decided, at least for the moment, to keep their opinion to themselves. If they do not seriously dissent, they may co-operate in whatever action is necessary. The influence of leaders is most apparent when there is any difficulty in reaching a decision. In the discussion they wait until lesser men have had their say, and then when they speak they do so forcibly and leave no room for ambiguity or doubt as to their opinion. Usually such a speech results in the rapid withdrawal of those who expressed a contrary point of view. But if debate 3till continues, two or three of the senior men may go outside the building and confer. Should they be able to agree they return and one of them takes the floor, states the solution, and reminds the company of the desirability of reaching a settlement. If the leaders are not unanimous the meeting is adjourned to a later date. Council meetings are most commonly held by parishes, though some­ times the members of smaller neighbourhood groups, especially semiautonomous parish sections (ngwatu 1 vanua), meet to discuss matters of private concern. The association of clubs with all segments of local grouping, from the single homestead up to the district, make clear who is expected to attend a given meeting. The instigator 248 simply blows the concha-shell in the relevant club* When the issue to be discussed is of interest to a number of neighbouring parishes a joint meeting is held. Young married men who might properly attend and contribute to a parish meeting would be considered to be acting with presumption if they regulafly took a prominent part in these larger inter-community discussions. At a higher level, meetings held by all Nduindui Church-of-Christ parishes are supposed to be attended only by those men who axe known as elders, teachers and deacons (see chapter IX). There are about a hundred of these title holders (divided between twelve parishes), though as a rule not more than about half of them attend any particular meeting. Parish meetings are mostly to discuss some current co-operative project (such as a store, or a restaurant), or to make arrargements for a feast or a wedding, or to consider some matter recently raised at a district meeting, (perhaps an inter-denominational football match, the raising of funds for a new district church, or the financing of teachers who are being sent to other islands), or to act as a court in resolving some dispute between members. If a parish court fails to reach a settlement after three meetings, a district meeting is summoned. If this also results in a deadlock either the French or British district agent is called in. In the two years that I spent in Nduindui the only dispute to reach this last and much disliked stage was a difficult land issue complicated by inter-mission hostility. Methods of acquiring leadership status In Nduindui, as in a n Melanesian societies, the generous use of 249 wealth in financing feasts and ceremonies is the basic means of gaining prestige and leadership. Prior to the introduction of cash crops the three main forms of wealth were pigs, garden produce and mats. Of these only mats could be accumulated and stored in the form of capital. Pigs, especially those of highest value with artificially deformed tusks, were difficult to raise and keep. To have them on hand, so that they might be immediately available (for the highest ranks as many as a hundred were necessary) entailed a heavy burden, and the investment could be wiped out if the animals died. Nor could a single family maintain the large numbers required for major feasts, marriages, or rank-taking ceremonies. Rigidly structured societies,in which the solidarity of the group is more highly regarded than the autonomy of the individual, can over­ come the difficulty of perishable wealth by making large-scale occasions the co-operative concern of corporate social units such as clans, lineages or villages. The garden produce, animals and other goods required can be accumulated or village members. through the joint contributions of clan But in Nduindui, as in the majority of loosely structured Melanesian societies, the individual either alone or in substantial part finances these major undertakings. He finds the means to do so by gradually putting a large number of other individuals into a position of indebtedness. In chapter VI I demonstrated how this system operates in the exchange of wealth associated with marriage. A man who wishes to raise the bride-price for his son announces the date and then waits for all those to whom he made loans in the past, or who themselves wish to create future credit, to present him with 250 the necessary goods. Given such a system it is apparent that an ambitious man must devote a greater part of his energies to building up credit. He must make bigger gardens than his competitors, maintain more pigs and fowls, and encourage his wife or wives to manufacture surplus mats, so that when he attends other people*s feasts and ceremonies he can make large donations. When the time comes for him to marry off his daughter or to hold a sacrificial rite, his reputation is enhanced by the quantity of goods that he has at his disposal. A further political consequence of this investment system is the pressure that a man can bring to bear on his debtors. This was apparent in the Natalu land conflict discussed in chapter V where I showed how the Navuti leaders were able to influence the final decision through the earlier debts contracted by Dali and Joseph Ala. who owes pigs and mats is always likely to lose A man his land rights, and in order to prevent such an occurance he is eager to support his creditor at all times. An individual*s influence extends beyond the limits of his own credit relationships. When he decides to realize his claims it is probable that many of his debtors do not at the time possess the necessary goods. other individuals. This means that they, too, have to make demands on The repercussions of a single transaction may ramify indefinitely from parish to parish, district to district, and sometimes even island to island. Clearly the greater number of such relationships that focus upon a particular individual the more powerful and influential he will be. At a later stage I shall demonstrate that 251 one o f th e p r in c ip a l ad v an tag es o f h ig h ran k i s t h a t i t g r e a t l y in c r e a s e s th e range o f d e b t and c r e d i t r e l a tio n s h ip s t h a t th e h o ld e r can e n te r i n t o . But f i r s t I must e x p la in a number o f c o n ce p ts t h a t a re b a s ic to a f u l l u n d e rs ta n d in g o f N duindui le a d e rs h ip and a u th o r ity . Mana C o d rin g to n ’s c l a s s i c i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h i s common P a c if ic concept i s alm o st e n t i r e l y i n a cc o rd w ith th e r e s u l t s o f my own e n q u irie s in N duindui. He w ro te, I t i s a power o r in f lu e n c e , n o t p h y s ic a l, and i n a way s u p e r n a tu r a l; b u t i t shows i t s e l f in p h y s ic a l f o r c e , o r i n any kind o f power o r e x c e lle n c e which a man p o s s e s s e s . T h is Mana i s n o t fix e d i n any­ th in g , and can be conveyed i n alm o st a n y th in g ; b u t s p i r i t s , w hether disem bodied s o u ls o r s u p e r n a tu r a l b e in g s , have i t , and can im p a rt i t ; and i t e s s e n t i a l l y b elong s to p e rs o n a l b e in g s to o r ig i n a te i t , though i t may a c t th ro u g h th e medium o f w a te r, o r a s to n e , o r a b o n e .^ ) I n th e e a r l y s ta g e s o f a m an's c a r e e r h is su ccess i n g a rd e n in g , p ig -b re e d in g , o ra to ry and i n h o ld in g m inor f e a s t s , i s s a id to be because he has s tro n g mana. ^ 12 3) I n t h i s c o n te x t th e concept r e f e r s to th e sum t o t a l o f h is a b i l i t i e s p lu s t h a t in ta n g ib le elem ent w hich i s th o u g h t t o account f o r h is above av erag e s u c c e s s . iL m an's mana i s h is i n t e l l i g e n c e , w ill-p o w e r and p h y s ic a l s tr e n g th to g e th e r w ith some­ th in g e x tr a which m ight w e ll be t r a n s l a t e d a s "lu ck " 0 ) 0T «the magic to u c h ” • 1 . C o d rin g to n , f o o tn o te , p . 119. 2 . Mana i s th e a c t u a l term used in N duindui. 3 . Hogbin H .I. Mana, O ceania. V ol. VI, No. 3 , 1936, p . 265. The a u th o r s i m i l a r l y compared Mana a s used i n G u ad alcan al and M a la ita w ith lu c k . 252 Tangaroa Later on, when the aspiring leader tackles bigger and more complicat­ ed enterprises, his success is in part attributed to a more specific power known as tangaroa» A tiu tangaroa is the utterance that accompanies all forms of magic, sorcery and prayer, A man whose spells are reputed to be powerful and effective and whose prayers are believed to be answered, is said to have a tangaroa that is strong (karea). T angaroa is similar to mana in that both refer to a man^s inherent capacity to be successful in whatever he undertakes. But whereas mana accounts for ordinary skill and knowledge that is unusually effective, tangaroa refers to a m a n 13 capacity to manipulate supernatural forces. I nave perhaps over-emphasized the distinction. One informant stated that mana is that which makes tangaroa effective. He argued that this must be so as otherwise it would be impossible to account for those men, who, either by inheritance or purchase, possess numerous spells which are either ineffective or result in misfortune for themselves. In practical terms, the distinction between a spell and the inherent capacity to make it work (between tiu tangaroa and tangaroa karea), whether or not accounted for in terms of mana. provides a convenient rationale for the weakness of hereditary principles. The son of a powerful leader may inherit many spells and prayers, but unless his tangaroa is strong they are of little use to him. Nor do the Nduindui believe that mana and tangaroa are constant and unchanging attributes. Lazy men who decide to work hard, acquire knowledge and sacrifice pigs can increase their powers, while old and senile men who were once power­ ful leaders lose much of their former authority and influence. 253 Kokona and hulrana In the previous chapter I explained that men periodically became sacred (kokona) by making payments, wearing insignia and killing pigs* The kokona condition is not itself a power, but rather the most effect­ ive and certain means whereby a man can acquire strong mana and tangaroa. The pigs are killed to placate supernatural beings, which include ancestral spirits (tamate). independent spirits of the bush and seashore (tamate pohoki and vui) and Takaro the creator deity. Of these three Takaro is the greatest. He presides over the land of the dead and admits only those who have sacrificed pigs. Lesser men are sent back to their parishes, where they wander as malicious and unhappy ghosts. The recognition of Takaro as the ultimate source of supernatural power is expressed in the triple utterance of his name as a preface to all spells and prayers. The identification of deity and personal power is also apparent in that the word takaro is itself a linguistic variant of tangaroa. In this context it is worth noting that the Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Marquesan, Tahitian and Hawaiian deity is known by the same name.^ Men who have achieved the highest ranks in the graded society are generally considered to have such strong tangaroa that they are aided by supernatural beings. Ghosts, though they may occasionally act in such a manner, are mostly considered troublesome beings and are best avoided. The bush spirits sometimes befriend a man and give him useful spells and magic objects, most commonly a means of increasing 1. Williamson, R.W. Essays in Polynesian Ethnology, edited by Piddington, R., Cambridge, 1933, PP* 238-43* 254 his supply of pigs and mats. But the greatest powers result from Takaro*s special favour, which can be won only by sacrificing many pigs. The two most effective forms of death sorcery (takwakwohi and mala kangwaleva) may be inherited or purchased, but unless a man has acquired a special power known as huirana. the spells and objects are useless. Huirana. like tangaroa. can be best understood as a specific manifestation of mana; it is the mana that makes death sorcery effective. Huirana can only be acquired by men who have achieved such high rank that they are no longer like ordinary mortals. They are men who are so close to Takaro that they are said to be ’’high" (aulu) and constantly sacred (kokona). Indeed, the greatest men identify themselves with Takaro by announcing at the conclusion of a sacrificial rite the impressive words ”1 am in the sky high above - I am Takaro.” (Inau taitai aulu - inau Takaro). The graded society (Na Hungwe) The term Na Hungwe^ )is used in a number of contexts. A man is said to make Na Hungwe. to make it in a particular way (Moli. Levuhi and Vira), to take a Hungwe title, and to himself be a Hungwe. A. man who has made his Moli (val nona Moli) is known as a ”Moli man” (mwera Moli) and is said to be a ”small Hungwe” (Hungwe kelekele). Some 1 • As previously described, most west Aoba parishes had ceased to perform the sacrificial rites,at which the titles were assumed, by 1930. The last Hungwe ceremony was performed.in Apopo in 1953, a year prior to my arrival. As the system is still operative in east Aoba, I use the present tense throughout to avoid confusing alterations. 255 Levuhi men, especially those who are parish leaders, and all Vira men, are dignified by the title "big fiungwe“ (Hungwe Lakua)• standing ability who has completed the full cycle A man of out­ of ceremonies can either repeat the Moli stage (Moli Bakarua = Moli twice), perform the semi-secret Na Ngwatu or Na Mwai rites, or sacrifice sharks or men in place of pigs. He is referred to as a “big big Hungwe" (Hungwe Lakua Lakua) or as Sirol Sirol. The adjectives small and big indicate that the priveleges, rights and powers associated with each of the main ranks differ in degree and not in kind* The cycle of ceremonies culminating in the highest grade of the Moli rank (Hakwa Moli) are almost exactly the same as those that lead to Hakwa Levuhi and Hakwa Vira, The three differ only in the amount and type of pigs that must be sacrificed, the insignia that must be purchased and the scale of the payments that must be made* In political terms authority and influence gradually increase as a man advances from stage to stage. Rank is thus a formalised expression of graded status and diffuse leadership. In Table XXVII I give the names of the eight sacrificial rites culminating in Hakwa Vira. TABLE XXVII THE RANKS OF THE GRADED SOCIETY Name of Rank Toa Moli Name of Sacrificial Rite Hehe Toa Animale Sacrificed Ten fowls Kwalau Utu Karo Na Ngwevu One tusked boar Ifehe Moli Ten tusked boars of medium grade Hakwa Moli Ten sows (cont'd. next page) 256. TABLE XXVII (c o n tin u e d ) THE RANKS OF THE GRADED SOCIETY Name o f Rank Name o f S a c r i f i c i a l R it e A nim al S a c r i f i c e d Höhe Marabu H angavulu Ten tu s k e d b o a rs o f mambu e ra d e Hakwa L evuhi Ten c a s t r a t e d p ig s Hehe V ir a Ten tu s k e d b o a r s o f th e h ig h e s t g ra d e (a la ). Hakwa V ir a A p p ro x im a te ly 100 p i g s , some c a s t r a t e d and some sow s. L evuhi V ir a “Meaning*1 o f ra n k names The f i r s t , hehe t o a . i s a r e l a t i v e l y m in o r and u n im p o rta n t cerem ony p erfo rm e d by a l l men f o r t h e i r so n s when b a b ie s o r young c h ild r e n * The seco n d , kw alau u t u k a ro n a ngwevu. i s a p r e li m i n a r y s a c r i f i c e t h a t i s a p a r t o f t h e c a o li com plex. The re m a in in g s i x c o n s i s t o f t h e hehe and hakwa s ta g e s o f th e t h r e e m ain c e re m o n ia l c y c l e s . Hehe i s a t e c h n i c a l word t h a t r e f e r s t o th e a c t o f k i l l i n g a tu s k e d b o a r w ith a c e re m o n ia l c lu b , and hakwa means "dance*1. A man i s s a i d f i r s t o f a l l t o k i l l (h e h e ) h i s n a o li and th e n c e l e b r a t e i t w ith d a n c in g . k i l l s and d a n c e s a t t h e hehe and hakwa s t a g e s . I n p o in t o f f a c t he b o th The p r i n c i p a l d i f f e r e n c e i s i n th e ty p e o f p ig t h a t m ust be s a c r i f i c e d - tu s k e d b o a r s (k w a ri) o r tu s k e d h e rm a p h ro d ite s ( rak w e) f o r t h e h eh e s t a g e , and sows ( d u r a ) o r 257 castrated pigs (boi vota) for the hakwa. Toa means “fowl”• Moli is a common noun, “orange” though informants asserted that as a rank: name it had some other, but long forgotten, connotation. Layard stated that the word can be traced back to the Indonesian paluh meaning “the one who sacrifices”. He pointed out that the Atchin verb pal and the south Raga mbal both mean “to sacrifice”. As a title the same word reappears in various parts of the northern New Hebrides as mal, moli, mol, mbalias and balias. (1 1)23 Levuhi has no literal meaning though one informant expressed the opinion that in remote times it was an alternative for rusa, “many”. ^ It is possible that its use as a rank name is connected with the increased lavishness of the rite3. Vira is a common noun, “flower”, and there can be no doubt that the rites of this name are thought of as the full flowering of Na Hungwe. Layard was informed by the linguist Capell that the word sukwe is derived from the Indonesian semba, ”to worship, or honour”.^) I have already indicated that though the Nduindui emphasise the political aspect of the rites, they also consider them to be most solemn affairs and a necessary means of gaining the support of Takaro and ensuring a satisfactory after-life. Rank and Leadership The titles are acquired by those men who have the necessary means 1. Layard, p. 715. 2. Codrington translates this word as used in East Aoba as ”many”,p.113. 3. Layard, p. 693. 25# and s k i l l to perform th e com p licated r i t u a l s a t which th e y a r e assum ed. In th e low er ra n k s th e c o m p lic a tio n s a re m inim al and e n tra n c e no heavy d r a in on th e re s o u rc e s o f th e p a r t i c i p a n t s . The h ig h e r ra n k s become s u c c e s s iv e ly more and more c o m p lic ate d and d i f f i c u l t . Only men o f g r e a t a m b itio n and u n u su al a b i l i t y can g a in th e to p . From th e evidence o f g e n e a lo g ie s and in fo rm an ts* s ta te m e n ts I would deduce t h a t a t ab o u t th e tu r n o f th e c e n tu ry th e r e were approxim ate­ l y h a l f a dozen men o f Ifekwa V ira o r h ig h e r ra n k in N duindui d i s t r i c t (ab o u t one to e v ery fo u r p a r i s h e s ) . They were acknowledged le a d e r s o f t h e i r own p a ris h e s and u s u a lly e x e rc is e d a c o n sid e ra b le d e g re e o f a u t h o r i t y in a l l n e ig h b o u rin g com m unities where th e le a d e r s w ere o f low er ra n k . Each p a r is h co u ld b o a s t o f from one to th r e e Levuhi and ab o u t h a l f a dozen M oli men. Most o f th e rem ain in g a d u lts would have reach ed some p re lim in a ry s ta g e in th e long c y c le o f cerem onies c u lm in a t­ in g i n th e hakwa m oli s a c r i f i c e . In th e o ry any man can r i s e t o th e to p r e g a r d le s s o f th e ra n k o f h is f a t h e r o r o th e r c lo s e kinsm en. H e re d ita ry p r in c ip le s a re o p e ra tiv e o n ly to th e e x te n t t h a t a le a d e r can, by v i r t u e o f h is su p erio r re s o u rc e s and in f lu e n c e , en su re t h a t h is son s t a r t s w ith an i n i t i a l ad v an tag e by ta k in g him th ro u g h th e low er s ta g e s when s t i l l a boy. But f o r th e h ig h e r ra n k s t h i s te c h n iq u e i s im p o ssib le as th e c a n d id a te h as to fin d numerous spo n so rs and i n v e s t o r s . G enealogies in d ic a te t h a t though th e r e i s a ten d en cy f o r c e r t a i n k in groups t o c o n s i s t e n t l y produce le a d e r s o v er a number o f g e n e r a tio n s , o th e rs d e c lin e o r advance i n s t a t u s . i n c e r t a i n com m unities. Nor do h ig h ra n k e rs a p p e a r o n ly Almost ev ery p a r is h i n th e d i s t r i c t can b o a st 259 of a Hungwe Lakua Lakua in recen t generations* From the p o litic a l point of view the most im portant oonsequences of high rank a re , on the one hand, the b e lie f th a t supernatural powers are acquired by s a c rific in g p ig s, and, on the o th er, the r ig h ts and p riv ile g e s which confer a u th o rity and the means of accumulating w ealth. The higher anyone climbs in the hierarchy the g re a te r the number of people who are d ir e c tly dependent on him fo r fu rth erin g t h e i r own ambitions* For example, a Moli man who wishes to proceed to the f i r s t stage of the Levulii rank (hehe mambu hangavulu) ^ ^must k i l l te n boars whose tusks have completed almost a f u l l c ir c le . The length o f time (seven to eight years) and the constant a tte n tio n necessary to ra is e th ese animals ensure th a t only the o ld est and highest-ran k in g men w ith many wives own more than two or th ree a t the most* A man planning h is hehe mambu hangavulu ceremony would consider him self fo rtu n ate i f he had even one, and to make up the required number he must th ere fo re persuade a number of seniors to help him. years building up c re d it and Unless he has previously spent some seeking favour with h is p o te n tia l donors, he has l i t t l e chance of achieving h is goal* Some months l a t e r the candidate holds a fu rth e r ceremony (vi hage mwele hangavulu) a t which he repays w ith one hundred per cent in te r e s t those men who le n t him the mambu boars* At the same tim e, he hands over larg e q u a n titie s of pigs and mats in payment fo r various services 1 . Mambu means "boar w ith almost f u l l c ir c le tu sk " . " te n " • 2« Vi hage means "ceremonial payment"* black palm th a t is "sacred" (kokona) * Hangavulu means Mwele is the name of a small 260 and insignia supplied at the earlier sacrificial rite* A rule whereby only men of the rank aspired to or higher can provide this form of assistance guarantees that the two essential, ingredients of leadership, dependants and wealth, increase in direct proportion to rank, A parish-leader usually has a club full of young men who are eager to help him in his various projects in the hope that he will sponsor them in the lower grades. His older, and more senior, debtors, anxious to secure his favour and thus move up a further step in the hierarchy, give him support in disputes and in council discussions. The payments he receives from those men whom he chooses to sponsor enable him to acquire secondary wives. These women in turn multiply his possessions so that he can contemplate more ambitious projects. He may clear a new dancing and sacrificial ground, manufacture a set of slit-gongs, build an exceptionally long club-house, organize a na ngwatu ceremony, or perhaps even sacrifice pigs on neighbouring islands. The lesser privileges of rank include the light to eat sacred food on ritual occasions; to drink kava; to build an imposing grave; and to look forward to an after-life spent in the company of men of like rank. I must emphasize, however, that a given rank does not automatically result in the continuing support that enables a man to proceed still higher. Those seeking sponsors and investors can give their support to whoever they think will best serve their interests. Neither kinship nor any other formal requirement limits this freedom of choice. If a youth offends his father he can always turn for help to some other man. If a parish leader makes himself unpopular* he soon finds his club 261 d eserted and h is income reduced. Moli I s h a ll now give a b r ie f o u tlin e of the p rin c ip a l Moli r i t e s and ceremonies. TABUS m m TIE MOLI RITES P* "' U U .... '■ ............. .........■ M Name of r i t e -------------- - « C entral a c tio n in r i t e Kwalau u tu karo na ngwevu T itle - ta k e r k i l l s one tusked boar Vi haee mwele hangavulu T itle - ta k e r makes payments Vor a T itle - ta k e r fe a s ts p o te n tia l donors and sponsors fo r hehe moli ceremony. V ik alala T itle - ta k e r e n te rta in s p o te n tia l donors and sponsors w ith food, kava and dances. Kihi Loans promised to t i t l e - t a k e r flehe moli T itle - ta k e r s a c r if ic e s te n mambu boars. Vi hage mwele haneavulu T itle - ta k e r makes payments fo r hehe m oli. Torea Sows presented to candidate fo r hakwa m oli. (cont*d next page) 26a TABLE XXVIII (continued) THE MOLI RITES Name of rite Central action in rite Taundi mwanso Candidate made "sacred" with salt water and coconut milk. Hakwa moli Candidate kills ten sows. Kwalau utu karo na ngwevu Literally translated this phrase means "run break vine of the yam"* Informants compared the breaking of a yam vine to the launching of a young man into the full cycle of ceremonies by sacrificing a single tusked boar. The rite is performed during childhood or early adolescence and is attended by the youth1s most immediate neighbours and kinsfolk only. The lad*s father, provided he has himself performed the sacrifice, acts as sponsor and introducer, A small company of men from the candidate^ own parish open proceedings with a short informal dance. The sponsor then drags the boar to the centre of the ground, tethers it to a stake and leads the candidate in a stylized dance three times around the animal. The youth proceeds to kill it with a blow of a club, places a foot on the carcase and announces that he has a new name. appropriate for each rank, Certain names are considered A suitable choice for this humble stage would 263 be «Moli Little« (Moli Kelekele) or »Moli Softly« (Moli Tambe). Vira men can select such impressive names as "Takaro Big« (Takaro Lakua), «Vira Lightning» (Vira Na Langi) or «Thunder« (Ngwatu Hari). The candidate wears a few simple insignia, such as a single leaf (ngarlhi ala - a leaf that curves in a circle like an ala tusk) on the small of his back and a single feather (siviru) in his hair. Later on, when he kills a further ten boars for the hehe moli stage, he adds ten more leaves and feathers. By this means rank can be ascertained at a glance - a device particularly useful in determining at what oven an overseas (or east Aoba) visitor should eat. The youth wears a few spots of red paint on his forehead, and a dancing apron hangs from his waist to his knees• Each of the eight ranks from hehe toa up to hakwa vira has its distinctive apron. Vi hage mwele hangavulu The candidate has to make substantial payment for the boar and insignia, an account which he publicly settles some months later. The Vi hage ceremonies are attended by as many spectators as are the sacrific­ ial rites and are considered to be just as important. Even when the sponsor is the candidate^ own father, who usually supplies his son with the necessary mats and pigs, the formalities must be observed. Proceedings open in the evening with a series of dances that continue to dawn. The candidate, assisted by a couple of men, ties ten tuskless pigs to the cycas palms. Accompanied by a man of moli or higher rank he dances three times around them, places his foot against each and calls out to his sponsor, «here are your pigs«. This man steps forward, 264 circles the animals, touches each with a croton leaf as a sign of accept­ ance, and retires* Assistants remove the pigs and ten more (or one mambu) are brought forward as payment for the dancing apron, and one hundred roso mats for the leaf, feather and paint. The candidate and his close kin then make a feast for the company. Vora The young man has now completed his introduction to the moli rank and must begin his preparations for the major sacrificial rite, hehe moli. He needs ten boars, three with the tusk about to re-enter the lower jaw (mambu) and seven with the tusk just showing through the upper jaw (livo). Further large quantities of pigs, mats and garden produce are required to pay for his insignia and to feed the many hundreds of people who attend as spectators, dancers, donors and sponsors. Ha takes considerable length of time to accumulate these resources and build up sufficient credit. His first formal act is to perform a minor ceremony known as voro. When he has ten tuskless (but good-eating) pigs and sufficient vegetables and kava to entertain a gathering of about 1-200 persons, he beats a rhythm on his largest slit-gong (if he does not possess one he must pay a few mats to a neighbour to lend him the instrument), announcing the forthcoming celebration. The men of his own and neighbouring parishes who are contemplating helping him in his hehe moli ceremony attend. The event could therefore be interpreted as a deliberate canvassing of support. If his vora is poorly attended he may well have to decide to postpone his sacrifice. for the next stage. But if all goes well he proceeds to make ready a 265 Vikalala Vlkalala ( lite ra lly "to dance in a circle") is a dance fe stiv a l. Separate companies from about four to six neighbouring parishes perform in turn a dance known as virombo. When they are finished the host presents mats and pigs to each company and entertains them with a feast. As in the vora ceremony, he is demonstrating his generosity, estimating his popularity sind hoping to induce his guests to reciprocate his hospitality by supporting him in his hehe moli sacrifice. Kihi The next stage, kihi ("contract making", or "the making of a promise to f u l f i l l an obligation in the future") is the occasion on which a l l those who are planning to contribute to the hehe moli expenses indicate precisely what they have in mind. They arrive at the future tit le - ta k e r ^ homestead grouped into companies, each led by the highest ranker. The host plants a stake in the centre of the clearing and tie s dozens of leaves to i t . He then places piles of coconuts of a l l sizes and degrees of ripeness nearby. When the scene is set one of the v isitin g companies dances forward in a body. The leader takes one or more coconuts and throws i t to one side. According to the number of nuts selected and how ripe they are he has thus informed his host th at when the time comes he w ill present him with so many pigs of such a such a grade. Other men from the same group then do likewise, some taking coconuts, others leaves. Each le af is an indication for either a roso mat or a very small pig. The leader then makes a short speech stating how happy he is to help his host. 266 When a l l those present have declared th e ir intentions the candidate again feeds his guests* I f the candidate needs eight s a c rific ia l animals he puts aside an equivalent number of coconuts of the type th at represent mambu and livo tuskers. I f some of them are not accepted he has suffered a great humiliation and must cancel his plans. I t is therefore a matter of v ita l importance that he should indulge in intensive lobbying beforehand. But even i f a ll eight are accepted he cannot s t i l l be certain th at the f u ll number w ill be presented when the time comes. In an attempt to reduce the p o ssib ility of such a humiliation occuring he performs a magical ceremony. Kaingau Kalngau is a generic term for a ll forms of magic designed to induce others to do what the magician desires. Most men eith er in h erit or purchase Kaingau. though some have to pay an expert to perform th is service. The most powerful Kaingau is as follows. The magician takes four or five young green coconuts, opens them, in serts some sacred leaves, sind breathes a sp ell over them. An assistan t places a nut at the entrance of each of the main paths leading to the s a c rific ia l ground. A slit-gong is then dragged into the open and the contents of the la s t nut is poured over i t . his sp e ll. The magician so ftly taps the gong and repeats The sound is believed to carry the magic in every direction so that i t w ill affect a l l those who have to contribute pigs and mats. They now feel an ir re s is tib le compulsion to honour th e ir contract. The performance of th is r ite emphasizes the extent to which the 267 candidate is dependent on the goodwill of men of higher rank. Despite all his earlier endeavours he still fears that his potential supporters may let him down. Hehe moli Early in the morning the men of a neighbouring parish perform a dance. The candidate pays them a few small pigs, some yams and taro and about forty roso mats. The men who had previously promised to help now present their pigs and mats. As each donor runs forward he extends his arras in imitation of a hawk*s flight, and the full orchestra of slitgongs beats out a special rhythm. An assistant ties the animal to one of the ten cycas palms planted in a straight row at the side of the clearing. The donor then points his bow and arrow at the boar and calls out, MYour pig, I shoot it into your moli" (Mwasamu, nu vene i tilolo moli). Mwasa is the name of the ornamental club used to kill the pigs. In this context the speaker equates club and pig. The candidate accepts the animal by touching it with a croton leaf and thanks his donor. When all the pigs and mats have been thus presented the high ranker who agreed to supply the candidate with his insignia (in addition to those he already possesses from the first sacrifice, he must now purchase a headdress, a dancing apron, a pearlshell armband, a belt, nine feathers, nine leaves, a bustle skirt and paint marks) circles the ground and makes a long speech.* An assistant gives the various items to the candidate, who then drags forward the many pigs and mats in payraait. When the business side of the proceedings have been concluded 26a the candidate, his sponsor, the principal donors and any other man of high rank attending, retire to array themselves in their insignia* When ready they form a line and proceed to dance three times around the clearing and three times in and around each of the ten boars. candidate now performs hi3 sacrifice. The Hs first stamps his foot on the ground beside the best boar, catches it by the neck, and just prior to delivering the blow calls out, "I cut my mwasa (meaning the boar), I am moliH (Horn tai na mwasangu. inau moli)• He then goes down the line killing each pig, returns to the first, places his foot on the carcase, and announces whatever personal name he has chosen. Assistants run forward and quickly cut out each jawbone to discover the precise growth of the tusk. The better the curvature the greater the achievement and the stronger the tangaroa the sacrificer is believed to have acquired. The tusks are hung on the cycas palms where they are left for some days. Later on, the owner removes them and hangs them beside the door of his house. The cycas,which are sacred plants and must not be touched by anyone who has sacrificed less than ten boars, remain on the clearing as a memorial to the m a n ^ achievement. Helpers carry the dead boars to the donors who take them home the following morning and distribute the meat to their fellow parishioners. Meanwhile one of the sponsors prepares a special oven ftnatakambu na hehe moli) in the club, for which service he is paid a good tusker. The boar that the candidate first killed is cooked in it together with some taro and cabbages. The candidate and all men of hehe moli or higher rank who assisted him remain for some days in the club eating this food and drinking kava. The oven and the food are both said to be sacred (kokona). 269 Immediately after the sacrifice the men of the candidate's parish kill large numbers of ordinary pigs and divide them up among the guests. These are cooked in numerous ovens dotted around the clearing and after a night of continueus dancing are eaten, Vi hage rawele hangavulu A month or two later the candidate makes his payment for the sacrificed boars and also any services or insignia that he failed to honour at the previous ceremony, Hakwa moli is the final stage that makes a man of true moli rank and gives him the right to be known as a Hungwe. The series of events leading up to this ceremony may extend over a number of years and require considerable organizational ability and resources. The following are the main stages, Torea Torea is the name of a circular bamboo fence about a yard in diameter and two yards high. The candidate erects four or five, the number depending on how many men have agreed to sponsor him, fills them with coconuts and tethers four young pigs beside each. He then beats a slit-gong to summon the men who have contracted to present him with the sacrificial sows. The torea is a part payment that is said to be ‘•profit” (seme sene tiuka). At a later stage he hands over a further four pigs to eacli donor, a payment said to be Meye eye” (mata mata), indicating that the four pigs are of precisely the same value as the sow. During the subsequent weeks the candidate must hold a series of 270 small feasts for those men and women who assist him in numerous preparatory tasks. The two most important are the manufacture of hundreds of baskets and the construction of a wooden table (bata) about four feet high. Taundi mwango The candidate and his helpers erect a circular fence about the same size as the torea. Beside it they place 100 young green coconuts, each with two leaves inserted in a hole, and 100 short bamboos filled with salt water. They then cover the lot with cycas leaves. All these objects are ritually potent (kokona) and are the basic ingredients in most forms of magic. The candidate retires behind the fence and a man of high rank, preferably vira. comes forward and kneels beside the coconuts. He removes the leaves, gently waves them backwards and forwards, and blows a spell over the objects. He repeats the action four times and then hands the nuts and bamboos, one by one, to the candidate, who proceeds to pour the contents over his head. The rite serves a double function. Like the kalngau magic, it makes the candidate^ tangaroa so powerful that his donors will honour their obligations and hundreds of spectators will attend the ceremony. But taundi mwango is also a religious rite in that it makes the candidate so sacred that he must now retire to his club for three or four days where he maintains a strict fast and talks to no one. Hakwa moli Hakwa moli is a three day ceremony. The first stage (vai makia) 271 is the actual sacrifice, the second (toreki) is the settling of accounts and the third (rangai toa) is the day on which the sacred fire (matakambu kokona) is lit, and an offering made to the ancestors. 1) Vai makia The procedure differs from that two respects - described for hehe moli in only there is no formal dance, and the sows are tied to ordinary (mwenda) stakes. 2) Toreki Toreki is similar to vi hage. The candidate first gives the mata mata (making square) payment to the sow donors. He then settles his account in the usual manner with those who performed services and supplied insignia. 3) Rangai toa Early in the morning some men cover the wooden table (bata) with leaves and a layer of earth. On top of this they spread out the small stones used in making an oven and cover the lot with a great pile of dry wood. They then attempt to light a fire by rubbing pieces of hard wood on green and sappy branches (ranga). a task which may take many hours. Eventually one of them succeeds and carefully carries the smouldering twig to the table and ignites the timber. When the stones are hot an oven is prepared and one fowl and one yam are cooked. The green wood, the fire made from it, the oven, the table and the cooked food are all said to be sacred. 272 When the oven is ready one of the sponsors makes a speech in which he recounts the achievements of the candidate and welcomes him to the company of f u ll moli men. He then eats a piece of the fowl and yam and hands the remainder to the candidate who proceeds to throw a morsel of each over the roof of the club, calling out as he does so, ‘'Here is your food, grandfather (bumbu) : come and eat i t " . He does not name any p articu lar grandfather, or, to be more correct, ancestor, in case some of them might be offended. The candidate, together with his sponsors and other men of Hakwa moli or higher rank, now re tire to the club, where they eat and drink kava for a couple of days. Each evening a fowl and a yam are cooked in the sacred oven and the offering to the ancestors is repeated. The complete cycle of ceremonies beginning with the sacrifice of a single tusked boar and culminating in Rangai toa is sometimes called makia. The subsequent levuhi and vira r ite s have nothing to do with malri-a. a circumstance which suggests that the Hungwe is a comparatively recent in stitu tio n superimposed on an older r itu a l complex sim ilar to the maki of the Small Islands or the nimanghki of Malekula. The Nduindui believe that makia is "true Aoba custom", whereas Na Hungwe came from Malo and Santo* The Hungwe and inter-parish relations The rule whereby a candidate can find his sponsors anywhere, the influence that a man can bring to bear on his creditors, and the sim ilarity of the rite s and ceremonies throughout west Aoba, together ensure that the graded society provides strong inter-parish bonds. The following account of the action taken by a number of high rankers in enforcing th e ir 273 authority demonstrates th is district-w ide aspect of the in stitu tio n , About 1920 a man called Vira Hehe held his hebe moli sacrifice in Saranavia parish-section* When he danced around his ten boars his wife, also clad in moli regalia, danced behind him and proceeded to k i l l her own pig. For a high title -h o ld e r th is was a legitim ate means of honour­ ing his sacred wife, but for a moli man i t was an unheard of presumption Vira Hehe did i t on the false assumption th a t, regardless of his rank, he was of such reputation and influence, p articu larly in respect to sorcery, that he could successfully break the ru les. The introduction of some new element in the ceremonies is a recognised means of asserting superior­ ity - provided no one dares to take exception. Vira Hehe overestimated his powers. Attending the ceremony were over a dozen of the highest-ranking men in the d is tr ic t. They said nothing at the time but met a few days la te r in Navuti, where the most senior man in the d is tr ic t lived, to discuss the matter. Failure to take action would have amounted to a ta c it admission of Vira Hehe’s equality i f not superiority. They therefore decided that he must die and chose Paul Hungwe, a Navuti man of v ira rank, to administer the poison. On the appointed day Paul went up to Saranavia, joined Vira Hehe in a dice-playing group, and offered him some ra t poison on a slice of melon. The following morning Vira Hehe was dead. People I asked why the Saranavia did not avenge the death by attacking Navuti replied th at Paul acted as the representative of a district-w ide body, not as a parish member. A meeting of high rankers is it s e l f known by the term Hungwe, and the decision is said to be the ’’word high on the banyan tre e ” (&_ leoki u hivp lo bgnga), a phrase implying 274 that the decree is backed by the combined supernatural powers of all men who are "high in the sky" (aulu lo taitai) and close to Takaro. phrase could almost be translated The as "God has spoken". Hungwe and "peace" Graded-society ritual is closely associated with the concept of "peace" or "quietness" (tamwata) as against "wax" (vuro). Those men who rise to parish leadership perform a separate peace-making ceremony at the conclusion of the sacrificial rite. Assistants hang bows and arrows on a rope suspended from two cycas palms and the title-taker breaks each and announces that from henceforth there must be no fighting within his sphere of influence. If any iniividuaiVfroup should break his "sacred law" (korokoro kokona) he would order his men to kill them# ife himself would never fight unless attacked or to punish offenders. There are three reasons for the emphasis placed on peace religious, political and economic. - The religious reason is that men who have sacrificed many pigs are thereby so sacred that they should abstain from any form of violence or strenuous activity. They should preferably avoid sexual intercourse, gardening, fighting, talking in a loud voice and at times even eating. The emphasis is on immobility and quietness and the more a m a n !s life approaches this ideal condition the stronger his supernatural powers become. The\ political reaeon is of possibly greater significance. As previously stated, the Nduindui are of the opinion that pig sacrifices have only recently tleen introduced into west Aoba# I was informed that prior to this event men who wished to become leaders could do so only by 275 acquiring a reputation as fighters. The graded society subsequently ♦ offered an alternative means of asserting superiority. Regardless of the historical truth of this assertion, it expresses the contemporary exclusiveness of the two systems of leadership. When a man of high rank imposes his law of peace he does so primarily because successful fighters represent a potential prohibiting threat to his authority. By war he forces all ambitious men to demonstrate their abilities in a field of activity in which he himself is already an acknowledged expert. The economic reason is obvious. Success in the graded hierarchy depends on the skill with which a man can manipulate a district-wide net­ work of debt and credit relationships. Visitors must come from far and wide to donate pigs and mats, to perform dances and to witness the sacrifices. None of these things is possible when fighting is widespread and men are afraid to leave home. Rigidity versus flexibility I shall now briefly consider the extent to which the graded society provides an element of rigidity in the structure of Nduindui society. The first point to note is that a man*s authority and influence is directly proportionate to his rank. From this it follows that the rigidity of the system, at least in so far as rigidity implies a loss of individual autonomy, is a function of the formal requirements of rank. I have shown that though these are numerous, precisely specified and onerous, any man, provided he has sufficient ambition and ability, can rise to the top. The aspirant to high rank is therefore limited only by his own personal 276 qualities and his willingness to conform to the mores of the society. The rule whereby everyone must begin at the bottom and gradually work his way up prevents the emergence of either ranked descent groups or hereditary leaders. The youth of humble birth can choose from a wide range of potential sponsors, and the son of a prominent father must find additional backers when he reaches the Hehe moli stage. The individual versus the group Throughout the Banks and northern New Hebrides islands the graded society has two distinct, though closely related, political functions. As a hierarchy of privileged positions it provides a formal framework within which individuals can compete for power. As a series of large- scale rites and ceremonies it provides the principal occasions on which local groups of kinsmen can express their solidarity and identity vis a vis other like groups. Both functions are always present, though there is a wide range of variations in the relative weighting. in east Aoba, the individuals. In Nduindui, and even more so emphasis is placed on status differentiation between In the Small Islands and north Malekula, group rivalry is of equal if not greater importance. As I have previously contrasted the relative rigidity of these three societies from the point of view of parish structure and sex differentiation, it is worth digressing for a moment to elaborate on this further difference. In Big Narabas society (where descent is patrilineal, residence patri-virilocal, the parishes monocarpellary and the sexes separated by a wide range of social and ritual barriers), the two top of the four 277 ran k s may be e n te re d o n ly by h e r e d ita r y c h ie f s and t h e i r sons and n e a r (1) r e la tiv e s .' In Lambumbu d i s t r i c t , where th e r e a re a ls o h e r e d ita r y c h ie f s , th e r e a r e »'groups o f people i n th e community who a re n ev er allow ed to e n te r th e Nimangki a t a l l * . . These d e p re sse d p e o p le e a t a p a r t from o th e r men a t a f i r e o f t h e i r own" so t h a t we have h e re "a s t r a t i f i c a t i o n o f s o c ie ty w hich i s re m in is c e n t o f fe u d a l c o n d i t i o n s " ^ ) In n o rth Raga, where th e one c la n - one p a r is h e q u a tio n i s alm ost as marked a s i t i s i n n o rth M alekula, Lane ^ r e p o r t e d t h a t th e men o f th e h ig h e s t ran k e x e r c is e g r e a te r power and a u th o r ity th a n i n n e ig h b o u rin g is la n d s , and t h a t h e r e d ita r y p r in c ip le s appeared t o be developing* In th e Sm all I s la n d s th e r e a re o n ly two main ra n k s , and a l l a d u lt m ales b elo n g to one o r th e o th e r* T h is sim p le d u a l d iv is io n , w hich c o in c id e s w ith th e m a tr i- m o ie tie s , g r e a tly re d u c es th e s ig n if ic a n c e o f th e ra n k s as a s t a t u s h ie r a r c h y . Layard p re fa c e d h is d is c u s s io n o f th e Maki w ith th e fo llo w in g comment. One o f th e c h ie f c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s * . , t h a t d is tin g u is h e s th e Maki i n a l l th e Sm all I s la n d s from any re c o rd ed v a r ia n ts o f th e r i t e i s t h a t , w hereas in a l l o th e r d i s t r i c t s o f w hich we have ad eq u ate re c o rd advancement i n th e h ie ra rc h y o f ra n k s i s ach iev ed by in d iv id u a ls s a c r i f i c i n g p u re ly on t h e i r own a cc o u n t, h ere th e whole community in any g iv e n v i l l a g e ta k e s p a r t , each " lin e " o r m a rria g e s e c tio n c o n s is tin g o f a l t e r n a t e g e n e ra tio n s i n th e male l i n e perform ­ in g th e r i t e in a l t e r n a t i n g s u c c e s s io n .(4) 1 . Deacon, M alekula. p*372. 2 . ib i d , p .3 4 7 . 3 . Lane, R*B. u n p u b lish e d p a p e r. 4* Layard, p . 271. 278 In Nduindui a Hungwe ritual resulted in only one man new title, the sacrificer himself. The decision to hold the ceremony, the organization, and above all the alone. assuming a final reckoning is his responsibility It is only in a secondary sense that his fellow parishioners identify themselves with his success. The contrast between the Hungwe and the Maki is evident in a number of contexts. There are six Hungwe ranks and the ritual associated with each is identical throughout west Aoba. In east Aoba, where group solidarity is even less noticeable than in Nduindui, there are fifteen main ranks, and a number of lesser importance. In both sides of the island differentiation is therefore between individuals rather than between parishes. In the Small Islands the reverse holds true. cycles, which are much longer than the The Maki ceremonial Hungwe equivalents in Aoba, (fifteen to twenty years in Vao and up to thirty in Atchin)^^are only two in number but differ considerably from village to village. I have emphasized the absence of hereditary principles in Nduindui qnH their presence in north Raga and north Malekula. appear to fall between these two extremes. The Small Islands (2) Layard reported' 'that in each village there is a “dominant family“ whose senior members acquire supernumerary titles by killing the finest tuskers at the mass sacrifices. The influence of patrilineal succession is evident in that Layard refers to such a family as the “senior branch“ &) an£ that “an attempt is made 1 • Layard, p. 271. 2. ibid, p.297. . 279 to keep the succession pure in that ‘eldest sons’ may not be adopted. 1. ibid, p. 297. »CD CHAPTER IX CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP The graded society appears at first glance to dominate almost all aspects of life in pre-Christian Nduindui. In so far as this is true some explanation is required for the swiftness with which it collapsed. In chapter 1 I provided part of the answer by demonstrat­ ing that land shortage made it virtually impossible simultaneously to maintain large pig herds and copra plantations. The Nduindui, under the combined influence of mission attack on pig keeping and their own desire to possess European manufactured goods, chose cash-cropping. The point that I now wish to make is that the abandonment of graded-society ritual was facilitated by the fact that it was not an essential component in the traditional system of leadership. The sacrificial rites and associated hierarchy of titles were primarily a means of publicly expressing and confirming power and influence previously gained through industry, generosity and a skilful manipulat­ ion of debt-and-credit relationships. It was only in a secondary sense that a position of high rank conferred political authority by virtue of institutionally, defined rights and privileges. In so far as this interpretation is valid, it follows that both the titles and the rites of assumption could be abandoned and yet leave 281 untouched the main body of processes controlling leadership. two qualifications are necessary. Only In the past the foundations for leadership were laid in acquiring control over wealth and labour. This was achieved partly by successful gardening, pig-breeding and matmanufacture, but mostly by building up credit through making numerous loans. If the new economy should either increase or decrease the possibilities of similarly manipulating and controlling resources, the system of leadership would inevitably undergo some alteration. The second qualification is that unless the emergent leaders could find new means of symbolizing and consolidating their authority, there would almost certainly be a sharp increase in the competitive struggle for power and a corresponding decline in the size, solidarity and continuity of the maximum political units. In the present chapter I shall there­ fore examine the political implications of the new cash-crop economy and the extent to which the formal hierarchy of church titles parallel those of the graded society. Commerce and Leadership Today the Nduindui devote the greater part of their time and energies to harvesting, processing and exporting cash-crops and import­ ing and retailing consumer and capital goods (e.g. vehicles, launches, tools and building materials). The various stages of this economic cycle provide numerous opportunities for ambitious men to accumulate wealth and demonstrate their superior abilities. But Barnes*s comment that the New Guinea Highlander builds up his resources from scratch is less true of modern Nduindui than it was of the traditional society. 282 The planting of all suitable land with long-lasting, and hence heritable, cash-crops has introduced a relatively fixed scale of economic advantages and disadvantages. The absence of virgin land and the reluctance of owners of large plantations to sell rights to others limit the extent .ax to which an ambitious man can overcomeVpoor inheritance. Table XXIX gives the approximate acreage of planted land (95 per cent coconuts) controlled by 20 adult male residents of Navuti parish. I include only those who are married and whose fathers are deceased • The acreage figures are calculated from reasonably accurate sketch maps compiled by the author. The tonage estimates, based on the year 1959* are less reliable as only the larger producers kept written records. The income column is purely hypothetical as I assumed a constant net profit of £50 per ton.v^ TABLE XXIX ACREAGE OF PLANTED LAND OWNED BY RESIDENTS (Gen.) Agnates(Age) Depend­ ents Acres Acres Tons Copra Navuti Else­ Copra Income where 1959 15 1.8 5 9 £450 (18.E1) Joel Tari (36) 5 20 - 8 £400 ( U . F 1 ) Sampson Vira (33) 3 19 - 8 £400 (16.D9) Jonas Moli (70) - 15 - 6 £300 (16.D1) Joseph Vuturi (60) - 7 - 3 £1:50 (16.D4) Isaac Vira (55) Status Elder and Headman (table cont*d. next page) 1. This figure would necessitate a Santo price of about £70 per ton, whereas in 1959 it varied between a minimum of £60 and a maximum of £82. The 1959 price of copra was the highest in post war years. Over the past two decades the average January price in Santo was £46 (max­ imum £80 - minimum £12)• 283 TABLE XXIX (continued) ACREAGE OF PLANTED LAND (MED BY RESIDENTS (Gen,) Agnates(Age) Depend­ ents Acres Acres Tons Copra Status Navuti Else­ Copra Income where 1959 (15.E1) Simeon Taka (50) 1 6 _ 2k £125 (15.E2) Simon Toka (47) 2 6 - 2£ £125 (15.F1) David Toka (32) 7 x8 - 3 £150 (17.D2) Enock Hava (45) 8 8 - 3 (17.D1) Francis Ngwera(50) 2 4 5 3i Non-wAgnates (further details Table ' £150 (Deacon) £175 (Deacon) • XIX) . 20 8 £400 - 5 £250 12 5 (ex-Deacon and £250 \influential) 2 2£ £125 < ^(Deacon) 3 5 3 £150 2 6 - 24- £125 (13.E7) Peter Vira (28) 6 1 5 2 £100 (18.S1) Robert Tari (28) - - 3 t £ 50 (16.D5) David Koloti (43) 1 - 3 1 £ 50 (U.E2) Albert Bala (50) 1 3 - 1 £ 50 60 79% £3ft75 (13.E1) Alfred Goulon (50) 11 - (13.D1) Timothy Moli (70) 14 13 (17.E2) Solomon Gamali(40) 5 ■ » (13.D3) Moses Tanga (42) 1 5 (17.E3) Willie Vuti (35) 5 (15.F3) Alec Xwani (20) 142 - The range of variation in land holdings is a consequence of two factors - the amount of land held by Navuti residents in the 1910-1930 285 the meat and drying. Each plantation owner usually clears his land once every two to three months. Provided he owns no more than about 20 acres he collects the nuts with the help of his wife and children. He then announces that on such and such a day he intends to split them, extract the "meat” and start converting it to copra by smoke-drying. One man can fill about 6 to 7 bag3 of green copra in a dayfs work (see plate 2t). A plantation of about 30 acres produces sufficient nuts to fill 50 to 60 bags every two months. (One ton dried copra equals about 40 bags green meat and 8 bags after drying). As most men prefer to get the full harvest to the dryer in a single day*s work, a plant­ ation of this size needs about ten labourers. Regardless of kinship the owner pays full wages to all those who turn up. Some men even pay their wives and children. In 1959 the standard rate was 5/- per bag of green copra to each sheller and 1/to the splitter (usually one is sufficient)• Men poor in land can therefore earn from 30/- to 35/- per day, and in addition receive a free meal of rice and tinned fish. By this means they can gradually save sufficient capital to increase their status by holding a feast or investing in some such capital item as a small store, a concrete well or a share in some co-operative venture. If they are lucky they may \ even find someone who is prepared to sell them an acre or two of land. When the green copra has been bagged the owner and one or two helpers carry it to the smoke drier (see plate-22)• This consists of a platform on which a metal mesh has been placed, the whole being covered with a leaf roof to hold in the heat and protect the drying copra against the weather. Below the platform a fire is lit and the 2ä6 co p ra i s "cooked“ f o r about 24 hours* The owner th e n packs i t in to bags and a rra n g e s f o r t r a n s p o r t t o th e c o a st* Jee p owners ch arg e 4/ - t o 5 / - f r e i g h t p e r bag, and a s about te n can be ta k e n on each jo u rn e y th o s e f o r tu n a te enough to p o sse ss such a v e h ic le e a rn good money pro v id ed th e y can a v o id ex p en siv e r e p a irs * - In 1959 th e r e were 22 je e p s i n th e d i s t r i c t o f which ab o u t 12 were in more o r l e s s c o n s ta n t w orking o rd e r. Nine were owned e i t h e r by in d iv id u a ls o r by two o r th r e e c lo s e ly r e l a t e d kinsmen* The rem aining 15, though n o m in ally th e common p ro p e rty o f a p a r is h , were m o stly o p e ra te d as a n e a r - p r iv a te p o s s e s s io n by one man. Some je e p owners a ls o u se t h e i r v e h ic le s as t a x i s and as a means o f tr a n s p o r tin g tr a d e goods from th e c o a s t to r e t a i l s t o r e s . In N a v u ti, Is a a c and J o e l b o th p o sse ss je e p s i n good w orking o r d e r . Up to about 1930 a l l copra produced i n N duindui was s o ld to one o f th e two o r th r e e r e s id e n t European t r a d e r s who th e n tr a n s p o r te d i t to S an to and shipped back fo o d , c lo th in g and o th e r tr a d e goods t o s e l l in th e ir s to re s . S in c e t h a t d a te th e N duindui have g ra d u a lly extended t h e i r economic a c t i v i t i e s from sim ple p ro d u c tio n and consum ption to th e p o in t where th e one rem ainin g European t r a d e r i s g ra d u a lly b ein g fo rc e d out o f b u s in e s s . As e a r ly a s 1907 P e te r P e n te c o s t was o p e ra tin g th r e e sm all tr a d e s to r e s in o p p o s itio n to Purdy and th e French t r a d e r . Over th e n e x t few d ecades more and more e n te r p r is in g men and sm all companies s e t up f u r t h e r s t o r e s , and by th e e a r l y 1930*s had accum ulated s u f f i c i e n t c a p i t a l and e x p e rie n c e t o b e g in p u rc h a sin g lau n ch es and th u s e n t i r e l y b y -p a ss th e E uropean tr a d e r s by e x p o rtin g d i r e c t t o th e S anto b u s in e s s houses and im p o rtin g goods a t w h o lesale p ric e s * Up t o th e end o f th e second w orld war th e s e com m ercial v e n tu re s 2S7. were small in scale, and through ignorance and internal conflicts seldom lasted for more than a year or two. When the Americans left Santo and copra prices began to recover from the 1944-4-6 slump, the ^duindui, now armed with numerous jeeps, increased mechanical and commercial knowledge, and extensive and mature plantations producing something in the order of 800 - 1,000 tons of copra per annum, began forming multi-parish co-operatives to purchase larger l a unches (one cost £5,000), to build stores almost as big and as well stocked as the European traders*, to buy and sell copra on consignement to Marseilles, to operate restaurants and taxis and to establish a hotel for Aobans visiting Santo. As the scale and complexity of these commercial ventures increased, the advantages of a large plantation began to recede into the background. In the early stages of a man*s career a good copra yield still enables him to accumulate sufficient capital quickly to open a small store, to invest in other m e n ’s projects, to build a good modem-style house and to donate generously to parish co-operatives and to the district church. But like the favoured son who could rapidly advance to the Hakwa Moli grade through his father’s sponsorship, the fortunate inheritor of a large plantation has little or no hope of establishing himself as a leading man in his parish, and even less so in the district, unless he has sufficient intelligence and leadership qualities to persuade other men to co-operate in financing and running parish and multi-parish ventures. The Nduindui approach commerce in a competitive spirit that closely approximates to that described in graded society ritual. The success; 288 of a rising leader depends in large part others to support his various schemes* on his ability to induce At one end of the scale there are those young or mediocre men who operate a store that has an annual turnover of about £50 worth of cigarettes, rice, sugar and a few other basic necessities; at the other, men like Reuben Mara (see pages 309-10 ) of Navitora parish who has at various stages persuaded almost all members of the district to invest in a large launch, stores retailing such luxuries as French perfume, wireless sets and guitars, a producers1 co-operative, and a taxi service and hotel in Santo* The foundations of Reuben’s career were laid in the wealth derived from a large plant­ ation he had inherited, but his subsequent success has depended primar­ ily on his outstanding personal qualities* influence Like the Hungwe Lakua his reflects the extent to which he stands at the centre of a complex network of debt and credit relationships. In recent years Reuben1s influence has begun to decline* Only three parishes now support him, whereas ten years ago as much as threequarters of the total tonnage produced in west Aoba passed through his hands* The parallel with the Hungwe is again apparent. When pig owners donated their animals to a title-taker they did so on the under­ standing that they would shortly receive their investment back with one hundred per cent profit* Reuben has so far failed to make adequate return and his investors are therefore losing seek out new leaders. faith and beginning to They say that Reuben’s tangaroa is not as power­ ful as they had thought it to be - especially since the company ship was wrecked on a reef. The parallel breaks down in so far as the community tends to 289 identify itself with the success of its leaders to a greater extent than in the traditional sacrificial ceremonies. a result of the broadening This is in large part social horizon of the Nduindui. Increased contact with alien peoples and the cessation of fighting have together created a greater sense of common purpose and shared ambitions than existed in the past. The enthusiasm with which thousands of Aobans, both east and west, initially contributed to the cost of purchasing the launch operated by Reuben was primarily through their determination to force the European traders out of business. A further flaw in the parallel is that the traditional system of debt relationships is coming into ever-increasing disrepute. The aspiring leader who establishes a store by persuading others to contribute towards the initial expenditure extends the principle by offering almost unlimited credit. It is only by bitter experience of countless failures that the Nduindui are beginning to realize that though such a technique was to their ultimate benefit in a society without capital, it has unfortunate repercussions when they are dependent on maintaining outside relations with European business houses. Store owners are therefore giving less credit, and unless they are very careful they thereby run the risk of an accusation of that cardinal Melanesian sin of accumulating but not distributing wealth. A few of the more success­ ful retailers overcome this difficulty by adopting a technique common in many western societies - by making lavish donations to the local church. The third and most important difference between the graded society and modern commerce is that the successful retailer cannot symbolize 290 and consolidate his position of authority by publicly assuming title believed to be backed by supernatural sanctions* a It is primarily for this reason that the most ambitious men begin to withdraw from commerce in the middle stages of their career and concentrate on acquiring a high-ranking position in the formal church hierarchy, part­ icularly in the Church-of-Ghrist parishes* Church-of-Christ authority structure The Church of Christ is a Protestant organization that is both congregationalist and evangelical. In theory, it tries to avoid the hierarchical authority structure of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, though in practice formal differences are recognized in the rights, privileges and duties of such ranked office holders as Pastors, Elders, Deacons and Teachers* In Australia the Church*s aim is to select suitable men and give them an intensive training at a theological college* These full-time specialists are then appointed as Pastors and allotted a community in which to conduct services, spread the Gospel and confer the three lesser titles on enthusiastic parishioners* Both Pastors and Elders have the right to conduct church services, including the sacraments; Deacons can conduct minor services but are mostly concerned with the material side of the church work; Teachers are usually junior officers who instruct children in weekly classes* A number of the Pastor graduates of the theological college are appointed as missionaries* Their aim is to select leading local men, a. appoint them as Elders and train them to takev prominent part in the administration of the church* 291 Up to about 1932 the European Pastor missionaries were the dominant p o litic a l figures in Nduindui. They periodically appointed a number of young men as teachers to conduct elementary classes but i t was not u n til then, when the Government ordered the missionary out of the New Hebrides sifter accusations of various crimes were made, that the Mission Board appointed the f i r s t local Elders, Joh Ngwero of Lovaturusa and Isaac Vira of Navuti* During the next four years the d is tr ic t had no resident missionary and these two men with the help of about a dozen teachers, appear to have run the Church with considerable competence* In subsequent years the policy of the missionaries was to tran sfer more and more responsibility and authority to the Elders so that eventually a local Pastor could be appointed in charge of a fu lly autonomous church* Though th is stage has not as yet been reached the missionaries are now of rela tiv ely minor significance in Nduindui politics* Major decisions affecting the Church*s economy, or who should be sent as teachers to more backward islands, or when a wedding is to be held, or how disputes are to be se ttle d , are made by a small group of church leaders in the name of the d is tr ic t council. The missionaries* opinion is seldom sought for and when offered may have l i t t l e effect on the outcome* The one apparent power s t i l l held by the missionaries is th at of recommending to the Board whom they consider f i t to be Elders* But in practice, the senior Elder, Abel Bani, informs the missionary of men whom he has himself selected and confidently expects his choice to be approved* There are at present five of these senior office holders 292. and they are without doubt the most influential men in the district. Abel Bani, is, indeed, the most powerful leader in the northern New Hebrides. Teachers and Deacons are appointed by the Elders, and though the people consider both titles to be important, the missionary has little or no idea who the incumbents are and, indeed, does not even officially recognise their existence. two distinct varieties. There are today about thirty teachers of The highest ranking are the recognised leaders of those parishes that cannot boast of an Elder. Head Teachers. These are called The junior Teachers are young and ambitious men recently graduated with good results from the mission school. They usually conduct elementary lessons for a year or two, then switch to commerce, and finally establish themselves as prominent leaders with the title of Deacon or Head Teacher. The Deacons number approximately one hundred and are the next most senior and influential persons in the district. The principal qualifications are above average organizational and entrepreneurial abilities and at least a nominal interest in Ghurch matters. There are a number of similarities between these Church-of-Christ titles, at least as used by the people, and the traditional set. In both hierarchies three principal ranks are recognised and approximately the same number of persons occupy each. Elders and Vira men exercise authority throughout the district, Head Teachers and Levuhi men are leaders of parishes without any higher title-holder, and Deacons and Moli men include most of the remaining senior and responsible persons whose opinions are respected in council discussions. 293 Elder3 alone have the right to conduct baptisms, weddings and funerals and to appoint Teachers and Deacons in a formal laying-on-of hands ceremony. In theory, anyone, regardless of rank, can conduct the ordinary daily and weekly services. In practice, only the mission­ aries or Abel Bani conduct the main Sunday service held at the d is tr ic t church in Lovanualigoutu, and only Elders, Head Teachers and a few of the senior Deacons o ffic iate a t the parish Sunday meetings. School Teachers and Junior Deacons eagerly compete for the privilege of leading prayers and hymns a t the major services and themselves conduct smaller daily meetings in the parish-churches. Seating arrangements neatly reflec t the hierarchy of rank. Elders and Head Teachers s i t on small benches placed on each side of the a lta r, and in the main body of the building the remaining title-h o ld e rs tend to occupy the front benches. between the sexes, The centre-aisle serves as a dividing lin e A sim ilar pattern is apparent at a l l modern-style feasts. Elders and Head Teachers eat with missionaries and any other use Europeans present. They s it at tables covered with white clo th ,/cu tlery and crockery and are served by young g ir ls . Lesser Teachers and Deacons also s i t a t tables and use European implements but have no table cloths and miss out on a few delicacies such as cake and lemonade. The remain­ ing men and youths are served simpler food (perhaps beef instead of chicken or pork) and eith er eat at tables with no cutlery or s it around on the grass, Women and children collect th e ir helpings and re tire to the edge of the clearing separated by a good distance from the men. Informants compared these feasting privileges with the trad itio n al correlation between rank and oven. . 294 In the past, ambitious men of medium to high rank were the most mobile members of the community* They regularly visited fellow rankers and sought out men to support them in their title assumptions* They were constantly in demand at other men*£ ceremonies in order to sponsor them, invest pigs and mats, or to perform some service for payment* Today, the Elders, Teachers and Deacons are the busiest men in the district. They visit other parishes as guest speakers at Sunday services, to perform baptisms, dedications, weddings and funerals and to attend any sort of gathering where there might be a chance to make a speech. Whenever high-ranking Church officials perform some service, no matter how trivial, they receive payment. This applies not only to religious ceremonies but also when they are asked to attend secular feasts. A young man who builds a small store celebratesthe opening day by holding a modest feast. He sends invitations to all those Elders and Teachers whom he has reason to hope may add to his prestige by attending. One or more of these dignitaries makes a speech in which he congratulates his host and concludes with a prayer. The youth reciprocates by presenting his guest with a few pound notes or a couple of mats and a live chicken. Lesser guests depart with a loaf of bread or a small tin of food. The same procedure applies when a business co-operative or a parish holds its annual feast in the December to January festive period. The relative success of these feasts is in large part measured by the number of prominent leaders who attend. Elders and Head Teachers, especially those who make speeches and take a prominent part in the inevitable church service, can expect a reward of at least £5, a large 295 bu n d le o f cooked food, and p erhap s a sm all p ig o r a few fo w ls . The payment f o r perform ing a wedding o r a f u n e r a l s e r v ic e v a r ie s from £10 to £20 p lu s fo o d . The p a r a l l e l w ith th e payments made a t s a c r i f i c i a l r i t e s i s o b v io u s. I n b o th c o n te x ts th e in d iv id u a l o r group f o r whom th e s e r v ic e i s perform ed i s th o u g h t t o a c q u ire s tro n g ta n g a ro a . I f th e t r a d i t i o n a l t i t l e - t a k e r f a i l e d to pay f o r h is i n s ig n ia o r oven th e y would be w o rth le s s o r power­ l e s s (mwenda) . They o n ly become sa c re d (kokona) and th u s g iv e th e r e c i p i e n t power (ta n g a ro a ) i f su p p lie d by a man o f s u p e r io r s p i r i t u a l s tr e n g th and th e n p aid f o r . A ll magic s p e l l s and o b je c ts a re s i m i l a r l y u s e le s s u n t i l th e a p p r o p r ia te payment has been made. Today, a s i n th e p a s t, th e a s p ir in g le a d e r f i r s t accu m u lates w e a lth . He th e n c o n v e rts p a r t o f i t in to p o t e n t i a l s p o n so rs, in v e s to r s and fo llo w e rs by making lo a n s , and p a r t o f i t i n t o s p i r i t u a l s tr e n g th by making payments to e s ta b lis h e d le a d e rs (men who a re c lo s e to th e so u rc es o f s u p e r n a tu r a l power, i . e . a n c e s to r s , Takaro o r th e C h r is tia n d e i t y ) . The two in v e stm en ts r e in f o r c e one a n o th e r and u ltim a te ly le a d to p o l i t i c a l power. The p r in c ip a l change t h a t has ta k e n p la c e i s t h a t w hereas th e m a te r ia l and th e s p i r i t u a l a s p e c ts o f le a d e r s h ip were once w e ll in te g r a te d i n a s in g le i n s t i t u t i o n a l complex, th e y now te n d to o p e ra te in d e p e n d e n tly . I n te g r a t i o n th e r e c e r t a i n l y i s ; and i t i s in c r e a s in g . Up t o ab o u t te n y e a rs ago le a d e rs i n commerce and in r e l i g i o n were m o stly d i f f e r e n t p erso n s and a t tim e s opposed t o one a n o th e r . But i n r e c e n t y e a rs th e r e has been a n o tic e a b le in c r e a s e in th e com m ercial a c t i v i t i e s o f church­ men and i n th e d e s ir e o f c o -o p e ra tiv e le a d e r s t o e x e r c is e a u t h o r i t y in re lig io u s a f f a ir s . CHAPTER X COMPETITIVE LEADERSHIP AND PARISH POLITICS So far my analysis of social structure has been synchronic rather than diachronic* Despite my constant endeavour to relate the present to the past, especially the period immediately proceeding the conversion to Christianity, I have as yet done little more than make comparisons between ’’two ethnographic presents’*. This approach, though useful as a means of isolating some of the relevant factors associated with radical and unique structural change, leaves untouched the less dramatic, though equally important, cyclical or repetitive structural alterations that are inherent in even the most stable socic-cultural systems# In this chapter I shall attempt to penetrate more deeply into the dynamics of social relationships by employing a modified version of what Gluckman^ ^and his associates have termed ’’the extended case/method”. I shall analyse a series of connected events that occurred in Navuti , and a number of neighbouring communities in the period 1927 to 1961. (2) 1 • Gluckman, M. ’’The use of Ethnographic Data in Social Anthropolog­ ical Analysis in Britain”, (unpublished paper). 2. My reconstruction of the earlier events is based on numerous life histories, accounts of specific events given in other contexts or when seeking other information, sketch maps drawn by Isaac and other senior men showing house locations, dancing grounds, stores and churches as they existed at different periods, general comments made by informants concerning motives, and complete pedigrees of all members of Navuti and neighbouring communities, „ • 297 By combining the results of earlier chapters dealing with local organiz­ ation, and the information that I have recently supplied concerning rank and leadership, I shall demonstrate how the size, solidarity and continuity of local groups constantly alters with the rise and fall of outstanding leaders. Navuti is centrally located in the district (see Map 3) about one mile directly inland from Nduindui anchorage. It is at present one of the largest (109 persons), wealthiest and most powerful parishes in west Aoba. At some remote stage in the past the northern section is said to have been a separate and fully autonomous parish called Tambunatari. When or how Tambunatari lost its independent status and became a section (tokaki vanua) of Navuti parish (ngwatu i. vanua) is unknown. The male members are divided into seven carpels whose skeleton geneal­ ogies are given in appendices 13-19. The present location of homesteads, stores, churches, roads and other relevant data are given in Map 7. I take as my starting point the year 1927. Prior to that date Navuti was mainly pagan counting amongst its members two of the most famous and high-ranking men in the district, Paul Hungwe (1$.D 4) and Levuhi Lolohehe (1$.D 3). Two Queensland labourers, Abraham Vatu (13.C 1) and John Gamali (18. G 2) had, on a number of occasions, built small churches, but failed to make converts. In 1927 they achieved their first major success when the leading pagans agreed to co-operate in clearing a new sara. building a substantial church and school, opening up a road to the coast, and planting much of their land with coconuts. At the church dedication ceremony the missionary baptized all pagans, with the one exception of Paul Hungwe (Levuhi Lolohehe had 298 died some years earlier)* In addition to the general economic and other factors (described in chapter I) that led to this and other similar mass conversions, the process was accelerated in Navuti when a man called Zachaeas 3 Ngwatu Hari (Ti5«D 2) of the neighbouring parish of Natiuleo joined forces with Abraham and John. Zachaeas, prior to his conversion, had held even higher rank than Navuti*s leaders. Paganism therefore suffered a serious blow when he became a Christian in the same year that Navuti opened its church. Abraham for two reasons. He joined forces with His mother's brother, Kini Kind (15• C 1) was a Navuti resident and in the previous generation had been the leading pagan in coastal Nduindui. This man had no sons and decided to confer the benefits of his powerful sponsorship on Zachaeas. was negative rather than positive. The second reason In recent decades a number of Natiuleo people had died and sorcery was suspected. Zachaeas, fearing for his safety, abandoned his house and built a new residence on Navuti land. In Navuti in 1927 two Christians (Zachaeas and Abraham) were therefore so firmly established as mature and influential leaders that the whole community accepted, at least overtly, the policies they put forward. Abraham had no sons of his own but had earlier adopted Isaac Vira (13.D 2 and 16.D 4, see also plate-34) the son of a minor pagan, Tuku Tuku Boi (16.C 2). about 23 years old. ing with the At the time of the mass conversion Isaac was He had recently returned from three years' school­ European missionary, and with the help of Abraham and Zachaeas he built a small classroom and began teaching reading, writing and hymn singing. 299 A short while later Isaac was joined by another young man of the inland parish of Natakaro who had married a Navuti girl. This man, Alec Kwani (15.E 4)> was another of the semi-literate products of the mission school. Abraham and Isaac persuaded him to oome and live in Navuti to help run the school. still controlled by the pagans. He readily agreed as Natakaro was In addition, his wife, as the last surviving member of a Navuti carpel, had sole rights to about six acres of good land. The school, which was the only one in the district other than that run by the missionary, soon acquired a growing reputation and attracted pupils from a number of neighbouring parishes. The students were mostly adults, ambitious men who wanted to acquire a sufficient mastery of figures to deal with money and also a degree of literacy to enable them to lead church services. Isaac and Alec, as the dispensers of this valuable knowledge and backed by the authority of Abraham, Zachaeas and the missionary, soon established themselves as the most influential men of the younger generation. Together they initiated a number of schemes which further consolidated their position as rising leaders. They got their “pupils” to clear a wide road down to the coast and persuaded most of the parish to co-operate in removing fences, clearing land and planting coconuts. In 1931 Isaac donated about an acre to the church, cleared it and organized a team of men to build a new and bigger structure, He also persuaded the parish to contribute towards the cost of building and stocking a small retail store* He himself acted as storekeeper,but within a year the business went bankrupt. The reasons given for this 300 failure are of some interest. Isaac informed me that it was because he gave too much credit and thus ran short of money. Another man, who was and still is a strong supporter of Isaac, stated that the older men began to grow jealous of Isaac1s rising reputation and influence and ordered others to keep away. An opponent of Isaac expressed the opinion that the store failed because Isaac was incompetent and perhaps even dishonest. This failure was no more than a minor and temporary setback in Isaac*s career. In 1932 his position was greatly improved when the Mission Board appointed him as an Elder. Thi3 position gave him author­ ity and influence not only in Navuti but in all Church-of-Christ parishes in Nduindui. A short while later he suggested that the Navuti men, together with anyone else who wished to join them, should form a company to purchase a launch which they could then use to ship their copra direct to Santo. The plan was favourably received, and two men went to Santo to negotiate the purchase. One of them, Jona3 (16.D 9)> was a Navuti resident and a close cousin of Isaac’s. The other, Jonah, was a member of the small neighbouring parish of Naroke, (today a section of Saranambuga) and a close kinsman of Isaac’s wife. Both had worked for many years on European plantations, and Jonah had also served on a trader’s launch. They selected a vessel of three tons’ capacity and arranged that the purchase price of £2,000 be paid off by company members working in spells on the owner’s plantation. This news caused great enthusiasm, and all the Navuti, Natalu, Naroke and Navitakua people joined in the 301 company. Zachaeas had died a few years e a rlie r and the remaining Natiuleo men^as a resu lt of a land quarrel with Isaac^withdrew both from Navuti and the Church-of-Ohrist mission and joined forces with a neighbouring Melanesian-Mission parish,(Nambangahage). I t is necessary at th is point to take a closer look at the three parishes of Naroke, Natalu and Navitakua. All three were a t th at time small, as they s t i l l are today* Natalu had only three married men, Navitakua five and Naroke four. They were therefore finding i t d if fic u lt to maintain th e ir trad itio n al status as fu lly autonomous and se lf-su ffic ie n t communities. They had neither the resources nor the leaders to build churches or operate stores so th e ir members began to attend service and to buy th e ir household goods in Navuti. In chapter V I described how some of the Natalu and Navitakua men found i t necessary to appeal to Isaac and his followers to cancel th e ir debts, educate th e ir children and supply the labour to plant th e ir land. Now in 1934 these already part-dependent communities decided to join the new Navuti scheme to export copra to Santo in th e ir own launch. A process of incorporation and id en tificatio n had begun, and provided the centre of power should remain in Navuti, i t seemed highly probable that a stage would eventually be reached when the three hamlets would abandon a l l claims to autonomy and be known simply as such and such vanua within Navuti ngwatu i vanua. In 1935 there was a clear demonstration of the extent to which th is process of incorporation had advanced. In th at year the Navuti people, helped by i t s s a te llite communities, b u ilt a large communal club located beside the church. When the building was finished a feast 302 was held to celebrate the event and to reward all outsiders who had helped in the construction, ^he principal contributors, each of whom donated a bullock or a pig were Isaac, Paul and Jonas of Navuti proper (Abraham had died some years earlier), Job Muleti (12.E 11, 13.D 6, 17,D $ a nd plate 33) of Natalu, Jacob of Navitakua and Thomas of Naroke. In other words, the leading men of the three satellite hamlets were, at least in this context, counted as Navuti men who had joint rights in the club. Meanwhile the company leaders had decided that Jonah (Naroke), who had previous experience of launches, should be appointed captain. But when the launch finally arrived early in 1936 Jonah was seriously ill and the following morning died, Thomas, his classificatory brother, and leader of Naroke, accused the Navuti men of causing Jonah*s death by making him work too hard, Isaac retorted that it was Jonah*s own fault as he had spent all his time in Santo associating with plantation prostitutes. These accusations were made in Naroke during the course of the burial ceremony and resulted in Thomas withdrawing from Navuti. He and the other three Naroke families joined the Melanesian Mission and began to co-operate with Saranambuga parish, Isaac now proposed that instead of just making profit from freight charges they should raise a further sum of money with which to purchase copra at the local price (that charged by the local European trader) and sell at the higher Santo figure. The contributors to this new scheme included almost all the Navuti, Natalu and Navitakua people. The individual amounts ranged from a few shillings to as much as £10 and totalled about £400. The company then appointed Job of Natalu as launch captain. At 303 that time he was about 45 and already achieving some prominence as the Deacon whose special function it was to whip young men who broke council laws, in particular adultery and fornication. Alec Kwani, as the most literate man in the parish, was appointed book-keeper and manager. Isaac, as church Elder, preferred to remain as the power behind the scenes. For the next three or four years the business prospered. The launch plied back and forth regularly carrying copra, passengers and cargo. Throughout the district men began to transfer their business from the European trader to the Navuti group. In 1937 the large neighbouring parish of Lovanualigoutu decided en masse to become full partners and brought with them three of the leading men of Lovaturusa parish (sons of I s a a c s father’s sister - see 16.D 6, 7 and 8). These new members expanded the business by building a retail store on Lovanualigoutu land conveniently located beside Nduindui anchorage. Once again capital was needed and Navuti (plus satellites) and Lovanualigoutu (plus the Lovaturusa men) contributed about equal amounts. The two major parishes co-operated in the labour, and when the store opened Sampson of Navuti (13*F 1 and 14*? 1) assisted by two young Lovanualigoutu men, acted as storekeeper. The trade goods were purchased direct from Santo and brought to Nduindui on the company launch. Trouble, however, was brewing. Isaac, who prior to the formation of the company, was undisputed leader of Navuti and its satellite hamlets, now began to find that Alec, as official head of the company, and Job as launch captain, were gaining in wealth, influence and 304 reputation to his own detriment. Other senior Navuti men were also beginning to feel uneasy at this rise to power of outsiders. One evening in 1939 Isaac summoned those whom he knew to be thinking as he was to his house to discuss the problem. In addition to Timothy (13.D 1), Joseph (16.D 1), Sampson, Adam (t5*3 3)> Paul, Enock (17.D 2) and a few other Navuti men, the three from Lovaturusa also attended. Alec heard of the meeting and demanded an explanation. They accused him of failing to keep the books efficiently and appropriating profits. He flew into a rage and told Isaac and his supporters that he would withdraw from the company and from the church and that they could run the business themselves. Though he threatened to return to his birthplace Natakaro, he remained in Navuti. A few years later he died. For a while Isaac, assisted by a couple of other Navuti men, attempted to keep the books and manage the by now complex business. But it soon became apparent that they were not competent, and business began to swing back to the European trader. The Lovanualigoutu members decided to withdraw and demanded a return of their original investment plus any profit. Remarkably enough, Isaac was able to produce £173, over double the capital. They also refused to permit the store to be operated on their land, and the building was dismantled. The business was thus reduced to a producers co-operative only. When the Americans arrived in Santo (a short while later the price of copra fell to about £10 per ton) copra production came to a near standstill. A major exodus of labourers seeking employment with the Americans now took place and for the next couple of years Job was . 305 kept busy operating the launch as a regular passenger ferry. By this had time Job/assumed such control over the launch that to all intents and purposes it had become his private property. His crew members were mostly young Natalu men, and with the profits gained from the passengers* fares he purchased trade goods and sold them in his own store in Natalu. Towards the end of this period, when the Americans began to withdraw, they abandoned large quantities of valuable material. Job did a big trade in transporting much of it across to Nduindui. This brings me to the critical part of the account. Vfhen Job was appointed launch captain in 1936 he began to see himself as a future leader of consequence and to act in an appropriate manner. This irritated the Navuti men in the same way that Alec*s success had done earlier. Job*s foster-son Solomon (17.S 2, 12.F 5) informed me that during the war years a number of unpleasant incidents occurred. These he considers led to his father’s decision to act in the manner I shall shortly describe. One day Isaac commented to Paul Hungwe as Job was walking towards them, HLook at our Hungwe Lakua coming to talk to us Mf The remark was made mockingly and referred to what they considered was Job*s exagerated estimation of his own importance. Job heard Isaac and, though he said nothing, was greatly upset. A short while later Paul confronted Job directly, MYou are too big a man over us at Navuti, we are the true Navuti men, you not a straight man of this place. You make big talk over us, you whip our young men too strong, you make profit with our launch.M away with his head low but inwardly raging. Job walked I might add that by this 306 time Paul was a very old man and one of the few remaining pagans in the district. He no longer killed pigs and as he had not bothered to plant many coconuts he also missed out in the copra boom. His opinion was still respected, but his influence had declined to a fraction of what it had been twenty years earlier. Isaac*s wife Rebecca was renowned for her sharp and malicious tongue. She seldom missed an opportunity to throw invective at Job, or for that matter at any of the numerous outsiders who were at the time collaborating in Navuti*s co-operative ventures. Hsr favourite technique was to approach one of these men, ask him who his father was, where he was born and then proceed to accuse him of making Navuti a dirty and untidy place by walking about all over its land and sleeping in its clubs. Apparently most of her victims paid little attention, but Job, already smarting from Isaac*s and P aul’s jibes, most definitely did. When the war ended Job decided to make a clean break by building his own church and club in Natalu and by changing allegiance from the Church of Christ to a newly formed native church recently founded in Walaha district some miles west. With this move in mind, he had earlier amassed a stock of timber, iron and cement purchased with profits from the launch operations. The other two Natalu men gave him their backing and by all accounts at least half of the Navitakua and Navuti people contributed money and labour and were even considering joining the new denomination. Job won this support for two reasons. His personal reputation as a resourceful leader had been well established through his long and 307 successful captaincy of the launch* Over the same period Isaac had lost influence through the failure of the Navuti company, and in recent years he had been superseded church affairs# by Abel Bani as the dominant figure in A more general reason was that at that time everyone in west Aoba was taking a keen interest in the Walaha decision to run a mission of their own without any European assistance# All the present Apostolic-Church parishes joined the movement, and though the Nduindui people had no love of their western neighbours, many were contemplating leaving the Church-of-Christ fold. Much of the interest was due to an underlying cargo cult ideology, which,though never explicitly formulated or openly expressed by the leaders, circulated widely as a strong rumour# The Navuti-Natalu crisis was brought to a head when the Churchof-Christ missionary visited Job to see how the new church was progressing# Job met him threatingly saying the building would not be available and that he intended joining the Walaha denomination. The missionary summoned a meeting of the district council and the leading Elders asked Job why he had made such a decision. Hie replied by recounting the manner in which the Navuti men had repeatedly insulted him. Isaac in turn stated that he had no idea what Job was talking about and that he always considered him to be his brother in Christ. Leader after leader joined Isaac in condemning Job*s action. They accused him of using the launch for his private gain, of acting as though he were an Elder when in fact he was only a Deacon, and above all of undermining the solidarity of the Nduindui Church of Christ by threatening to join the Vfalaha sinners. 30S When Job saw that his potential support had evaporated he compromised by agreeing to remain in the Church of Christ, but he insisted that he would continue to build his church. He and Isaac then agreed to hold Sunday services on alternate weeks in Navuti and Natalu. The building was opened in 1946, and Job held an enormous feast to which Isaac contributed a bullock and Navuti followers the labour. When I first set up residence in Navuti at the end of 1958 this arrangement still held, and Isaac and Job shared the leadership of the Navuti-Natalu-Navitakua complex. In the intervening years numerous small stores had been built by private individuals, though most of them were soon closed. No attempt was made to set up a new copra exporting or co-operative store as during this period inter-parish rivalry was in part forgotten in the enthusiasm created by Reuben*s district-wide company* I must therefore give a brief outline of this important political and economic development before proceeding to the next stage in the conflict between Isaac and Job. In chapter I I described how the first resident missionary, Purdy, set himself up in business at Nduindui anchorage as a retailer and copra exporter* By 1951, when he decided to retire, the busicess was one of the most valuable and profitable in the New Hebrides* Abel Bani and his associates in the coastal parishes, had for many years cherished the hope that they would one day acquire the property* They asserted that when Purdy first came to Nduindui he promised that one day he would return both the land and the store to the original owners, now said to be the whole of Nanako, Navitora and Lovanualigoutu parishes. 309 They took th is to mean th a t Purdy would give i t to them fo r nothing as he had paid only £1 and a few stic k s of tobacco. Though Purdy had no such in te n tio n he was i n i t i a l l y hopeful th a t a n ativ e co-operative would be formed to pay him a reasonable p ric e . He asked fo r £20,000,a sum which though le s s than th a t which he could get from a European tr a d e r , nevertheless dismayed Abel and Co. But when t h e i r annoyance subsided they summoned a council meeting and decided th a t they would s t a r t ra is in g the money. The leading men of almost every p a rish in west Aoba, reg ard less of denomination, attended th is meeting, and a l l agreed to co-operate. As a beginning each married man was to give £20, sin g le a d u lt men £10 and women and adolescents sm aller sums. Purdy, who had meanwhile departed to A u stra lia to prepare fo r h is retirem en t, changed h is mind when he returned and offered the business to h is a s s is ta n t of many years, an A u stralian c alle d Spooner who had m arried a Nanako woman and was the fa th e r of th re e ad u lt sons. Purdy informed me th a t on retu rn in g to Nduindui he found th a t the co­ operative movement was dominated by two men, Sese and Reuben of N avitora, whom he considered to be the " g re a te st money grabbing p a rtie s on Aoba". With these two in charge he was c e rta in th a t the p r o f its from the business would never find th e i r way in to the c o ffe rs of the church, which he claimed was h is hope in s e llin g to the n a tiv e s. Whatever h is m otives, he c alle d o ff the d e al, sold the business to Spooner and departed to Sydney where he remained u n t il h is death in 1961. The half-form ed co-operative had already raise d over£5,000 and w ith the help and encouragement of the lo c a l m issionary they decided to go ahead and e s ta b lis h a new business. Reuben, who 310. was then a man about 45, a big plantation owner, a previous store­ keeper and renowned for the fearless manner in which he dealt with missionaries, traders and Government officials, was nominated as head. For the first few years the co-operative purchased copra locally and sold it to a French trader in Santo. The trader then offered them a ship of their own for £5,000 which they could pay off by working as labourers on his plantation. Reuben shifted his base to Santo and acted as lie^on with the trader. Soon afterwards he expanded the business by building a hotel, purchasing a taxi and organizing the Aoban wharf labour. By the time that I arrived in Nduindui Reuben had passed the zenith of his powers. The company had been operating for some six years and other than in the form of these Santo assets (which were considered to be of little benefit to anyone other than Reuben) and occasional small sums of money donated to the scribers had begun church council, the original sub­ to feel that they had thrown their money away. Only three parishes (Navitora, Navuti and Saralokambu) still sold most of their produce to Reuben and even in these frequent complaints were made about Reuben*s luxurious style of living, A further setback occurred early in 1959 when the ship was wrecked on a reef, and, though brought back to Santo, it was judged to be not worth the cost of repairing. The company continued to operate as a producers* co-operative selling the copra on consignement to Marseilles through a Santo export­ ing company which supplied the transport. But enthusiasm reached rock bottom, and the scene was clearly set for a resurgence of smaller co­ operatives and inter-parish rivalry. 311 About a year earlier (mid 1958) the four Navuti-Natalu men f Isaac, Solomon, Moses (1.3*D 3) and Sampson], who were at that time operating small private stores, met together in I s a a c s house. They decided to abandon their private businessss and call for subscriptions and labour to build a big community st ore-cum-restaurant beside Navuti church. The instigator of the scheme was Solomon (see plate 3$) a man of about 40 years of age who was rapidly establishing himself as a Deacon of district-wide influence and a likely future Elder, As he played such an important role in subsequent events I must digress again to provide some background information, S o l o m o n ^ father, Aru Kwaga (17.D4 ) was a Natalu man who came to live in Navuti (Londulendule) the birthplace of his wife*s mother, after quarrelling with the Natalu headman Ngwero Rongo (12.D 1), Solomon was bora in Navuti, and a few years later his father died on a Malekula plantation. At about the same time Job also quarrelled with Ngwero Rongo (a notorious sorcerer), and he too came to Londulendule, where he later married Solomon^ mother. About ten years afterwards Ngwero Rongo died and Job returned to Natalu with his wife and foster-son. When Solomon was about 10 the Navuti school was at the height of its popularity, and, together with many other young men, he spent most of his time in that parish attending classes and helping his teachers in their various schemes (road making etc,). He slept and ate in the house of his mother*s motherls brother, Moli Tawala (.17.D 1), the man who had earlier given sanctuary to his father and foster-father. he married in 1946 he set up house in Londulendule. When He constantly visited Job, who lived only about 300 yards away just across the Natalu border, and collected his copra on his true father’s Natalu land. as Solomon wished to establish himself as a leader But he preferred to live in Navuti, one of the largest and most politically active parishes in the district. His kin in Navuti include his mother’s brother’s children (Peter Vira etc. 13.2 7) sind his mother’s mother’s brother ’s children (Francis and Enock, 17.D 1 and 2). This arrangement suited him admirably so long as Job and Isaac were co-operating with one another. But later on, when Job assumed control of the launch and then challenged Isaac as company and parish leader, Solomon found himself placed in an awkward, though potentially advantageous, position. His own ambition to emerge as leader of Navuti and perhaps as a second Abel Bani in district affairs, depended in large part on the extent to which he identified himself with Isaac and the Navuti projects. But he also felt indebted to Job for bringing him up and was hopeful that he would one day inherit his foster father1s valuable Natalu plantations and gardens. For many years he had there­ fore walked a delicate tightrope between his competing benefactors and constantly sought for means of maintaining harmonious relations between them. During the 1950’s he acted as one of Reuben’s leading local agents by buying copra for the company and arranging its storage and transhipment to Santo, He also spent much of his time in conducting church services and winning favour in the eyes of Abel Bani. Later on, when Reuben and Abel fell out, Solomon again found himself in a difficult position as a supporter of both. This in large part accounts for his decision to withdraw temporarily from district politics and Plate V Part of Sara Navuti showing modern style feast house(left) and store-cum-restaurant in background. Plate V1 Navuti store. Parish headman serves house­ wife . 313 concentrate on co n so lid atin g h is p o sitio n as the future le a d e r of N avuti-N atalu. For many months he p riv a te ly encouraged Isaac and Job to pool th e ir resources in some jo in t e n te rp ris e . F in a lly in 1933 he succeeded in g e ttin g support fo r the store-cump-restaairant scheme. The p ro jec t began w ith great enthusiasm . Everyone in Navuti, Natalu and Navitakua contributed money and labour, and throughout 1959 th e p a rish sara was the scene of constant a c tiv ity , Solomon looked a f t e r th e finances and kept c are fu l records of the exact sums contributed and the p rice of a l l equipment purchased. Moses ?6) another e x -lie u te n a n t of Reuben, arranged the buying of supplies, and Isaac and Job donated the la rg e s t sums of money, d ire c te d the labour and held numerous sm all f e a s ts . At the end of my f i r s t f i e l d - t r i p (Dec. 1959) the build in g was about h a lf constructed, and though Job was no longer taking much i n te r e s t in the work, events were outwardly proceeding smoothly and e f f i c ie n tl y . When I returned fo r a b r ie f v i s i t in the l a t t e r h a lf of 1960 the ta s k was almost complete, and in December a big fe a st was held and business s ta r te d . T o tal costs of co n stru ctio n had by then amounted to about £1,000, and the build in g was a most im pressive stru c tu re of concrete, fib re-b o ard and corrugated iro n (see p la te s V and VI ). The sto re was w ell stocked w ith goods displayed in g lass cases and the in sid e room was se t out w ith ta b le s and c h a irs . An annexe served as k itch en . Abraham (13*E 5), a young and unim portant Navuti man was appointed as storekeeper; Francis (17.D 1) a s s is te d by a number of youths and g i r ls , mostly from Isaac! s household, cooked and ran the restau ran t 314 (which served meals of ric e and stew fo r 2 /- ) ; Moses acted as buyer; Solomon kept the books; and Isaac was appointed as ’’foundation11 (beru = cen tre pole in a club-house)* Job had meanwhile withdrawn from the p ro je c t and b u ilt another small sto re of h is own in N atalu. Jo e l (18 *E 1 ), a Navuti man, made the follow ing comment: Navuti i s lik e a box when seen from the ou tsid e, but in sid e i t is f u l l of b its* That i s the custom of Aoba - always men go t h e i r own way w ith t h e i r jealous h e a rts and sp o il the work fo r others* Job has opened h is sto re to sp o il Navuti, he wants to p u ll the young men to h is sa ra and leave Isaac alone in h is house* But our h earts are strong fo r Isaac, our sto re i s the b e st on Aoba and only th ree men follow Job* Seven months l a t e r when I returned fo r my f in a l v i s i t the Navuti company was s t i l l operating successfully* Up to a dozen people were fed each day a t the re s ta u ra n t, and the sto re was making a p r o f it of about £50 a month* c e n tre . The building had become a pleasant and liv e ly so c ia l Every day those who had no urgent business sa t around gossiping and playing cards a t the re s ta u ra n t tables* A larg e paddock had been cleared and each afternoon the young men played fo o tb a ll • About once a week they in v ite d o th er p arishes to send teams to compete w ith them. Job, re a liz in g th a t h is small sto re had no hope ag ain st th is so rt of com petition, closed i t and approached Adam, the Navitakua lea d er, with the proposal th a t the two of them should combine and b u ild a s to re cum -restaurant sim ila r to th a t in Navuti* Adam was in the same p o sitio n v is a v is Lovanualigoutu as Job was w ith N avuti. His p a rish had declined d r a s tic a lly from a p o sitio n of former greatn ess, h a lf the young 315 men followed Isaac in N avuti, and. the remainder followed Lovanualigoutu. For many years Lovanualigoutu had operated a big sto re a t Nduindui anchorage, and Adam was jealo u s of the le a d er Edwin. he was th ere fo re d elig h ted when Job made -hi3 p roposition, and the two of them began work on the b u ild in g . About a dozen young N atalu and Navitakua men supplied the labour. This development accentuated Solomon’s d i f f i c u l t i e s . He f e l t obliged to help Job and in so doing took th e r is k of jeopardizing h is r is in g rep u ta tio n in N avuti. When I asked him how he f e l t he sta te d \ th a t he was not unduly worried as no one expected the new business to p ro sp er. Isaac informed me th a t though Solomon must help h is fa th e r, h is h e a rt was in Navuti. During the la s t th re e months of 1961: l i t t l e or no work was done on the new b u ilding as Job and Adam had in s u f f ic ie n t money to purchase the iro n fo r the ro o f. They appealed to t h e i r fellow p arish io n e rs to donate one round of copra^each, but the response was almost n i l . A Navuti informant d e lig h te d ly compared Jo b ’s p o sitio n to th a t of a t r a d itio n a l lead er who had planned a s a c r if ic e but then fa ile d to ra is e the necessary pigs and mats. The Navuti leaders were, by c o n tra st, making plans to increase the scale of t h e ir o p e ra tio n s. At th a t tim e, th re e p arish es, Navuti, N avitora and Saralokambu, were s e llin g most of t h e ir produce on consignement to M arseilles through a French company in Santo. Reuben Mara acted as middle-man, and the copra was a l l entered under h is name. But, as previously mentioned, few people had confidence in Reuben, and Isaac and Solomon decided to se t up th e i r own producers’ co-operative 316 by d ealin g d ir e c tly w ith the French company. In November, Solomon and S a la th ie l (Is a a c 1s e ld e s t son) went to Santo and arranged th a t in fu tu re a l l Navuti copra should be consigned in S a la th ie 1 1s name. They returned to Navuti with a s e t of scales and a supply of sacks, and Isaac announced th a t the p a rish would from now on pay £28 cash fo r each ton o f copra d eliv ered in the s to r e . The Santo p rice was then £33, and as the French company agreed to tra n s p o rt the copra on th e i r own sh ip a t £3 per ton, t h i s would leave £2 p r o f it fo r Navuti (plus or minus th e share of the d iffe re n c e between the Santo p rice and th a t re a liz e d in M arseilles - on a ris in g market t h is could amount to as much as £5 per to n .) In the f i r s t two weeks the co-operative purchased 14 tons of copra and a few bags of cocoa, most of i t from Navuti re sid e n ts but a lso sm all amounts from neighbouring p a rish e s. Isa ac , S a la th ie l, Solomon and Moses supervised proceedings and tran sp o rted the produce to the p arish storage shed a t Ahau anchorage in N avitora. This stru c tu re was b u ilt many years ago when Navuti formed i t s f i r s t producers* co -o p erativ e. I t i s located on the land of George W ilbur. Solomon fo rsees p o ssib le d i f f i c u l t i e s as George might refuse to l e t them continue to use h is ground. When I f in a lly l e f t in December no one seemed c e rta in how George w ill a c t. ^or many years he was a close a sso c ia te of Reuben and h is e ld e s t son, Wilson, acted as captain of the VI company sh ip . In chapter I described how Reuben d e lib e ra te ly consolidated h is re la tio n s h ip w ith George by arranging th a t h is daughter should marry Wilson. But George, though he owns some Navitora land, i s a Nanako re sid e n t and a 317 strong supporter of Reuben*s bitter opponent, the leading Elder Abel Bani (Nanako). with Navuti. Solomon also pointed out that George has strong ties His wife*s mother came from that parish, and recently he betrothed his daughter to a Navuti youth, Alec Kwani, a member of Isaac *s household. If the Navuti men should succeed in winning the co-operation of George, and if their company should continue to attract sellers, then Reuben*s long domination of the copra market will come to an end. Solomon and Isaac made no secret of their hope that everyone in Nduindui, and ultimately throughout Aoba, will sell them their produce. They informed me that if all goes well in 1963 they will then ask other parishes to join the co-operative by contributing £100 capital each. They might then contemplate replacing the old and near useless launch once operated by Job with a new and larger vessel capable of taking 15 to 20 tons cargo. Whether or not these plans come to fruition is largely irrelevant. The point that I wish to emphasize is the ambition of Solomon and Isaac so to manipulate the cash-crop economy that Navuti emerges as the centre of power in a district- or even island-wide network of commercial and political relations. The creation of such a laosely knit associat­ ion depends primarily on the personal abilities of these two men - on the success with which they can manage the store, restaurant and co-operative, and induce prominent men in other parishes to assist by making purchases, selling copra, providing capital and granting such facilities as a strategic landing place. is clear The parallel with the Hangwe 31Ö Analysis One of the most notable characteristics of Nduindui social structure is the wide range of parish types. In chapter III I demonstrated that though the basic unit of local organization consists of a small group of agnatically related men plus spouses, and in some cases a few immigrants, the political status of such groups varies from full autonomy (parishes = ngwatu i vanua lakua) through part or limited independence in certain contexts combined with a tradition of full autonomy in the past (parish-section = ngwatu i vanua) to a bare minimum of separate identity and no such tradition (tokaki vanua, vanua or na sara)• Structural variations of this kind could he the resultant of a number of factors. One possibility would be a process of regular segmentation such as that described for certain African societies. But in Nduindui there is little or no correlation between the different levels or degrees of political autonomy and the hierarchy of segments within the fftfnrtimim descent groups. I argued that a necessary condition for the formation of segmentary lineages in agricultural societies is a sufficiency of surplus land to maintain the unilineal dogma by constant territorial expansion. With the exception of a few inland parishes (where modified segmentary characteristics were noted) this condition cannot be met in Nduindui. Elsewhere the lineage-like carpels are genealogically shallow, differ greatly in size and in political status, and adapt themselves to varying demographic and ecological conditions by regular adoption, non-agnatic affiliation and transfer of land rights. 319 I was therefore faced with the problem of accounting for the v a ria b ility in the p o litic a l status of named local groups, both monocarpellary and m ulticarpellary, In the present chapter I have, I hope, demonstrated th at the size, so lid arity and status of local groups is in large part dependent on the a b ilitie s and ambitionsof the leading members. Natalu was once a large and fu lly autonomous parish, ( 1 )'A decline then set in , probably from 100 to 50 years ago, u n til the point was eventually reached when only three families remained. I t is significant th at th is decline coincided with an absence of any high ranking members in the two immediately proceeding generations. The numerical weakness of the group made i t s members dependent on th e ir larger and more powerful neighbour Navuti. In the early years of C hristianity they attended service in the parish, co-operated in house­ building, copra working and other day-to-day tasks, and in 1933 they joined the Navuti co-operative. I f Job had not gained such influence within th is wider grouping by virtue of his two roles as council-whipper and launch-captain there can be l i t t l e doubt th at Natalu would have soon lo st i t s status as a ngwatu i vanua and become simply a dependent tokaki vanua within Navuti 1, The evidence for th is assertion, though necessarily open to some doubt,' is strong. The ground is covered in graves, some of them of a kind permissable only for men of the highest rank; there are numerous abandoned s a c rific ia l grounds; genealogies mention fa r more names in the second to fourth ascending generations than is usually correlated with so few living members; and informants frequently referred to the past greatness of the parish. 320 parish. But if Job had subsequently succeeded in either his 1946 or 1961 bids to break with Navuti and draw with him many of the members of that parish, the full autonomy of Natalu would have been assured, Isaac and his few remaining followers would then have found themselves in Natalu1s former position - in all probability they would have found it necessary to join Job or perhaps some other large and powerful neighbour such as Nanako or Lovanualigoutu. Though neither of these extremes did in fact take place, they might well have done so. Undoubtedly such things have happened at other times and in other places. The formation of the multi-section parish of Saralokambu is almost certainly an example. But this recognition of the importance of an open and competitive system of leadership in the political structure of Nduindui society must be balanced against the equally important fact that after 34 years of fluctuating fortune the size and status of Natalu was the same at the end as it was at the beginning. Such an occurrence could in part be explained by the accident of personalities. Natalu might well have lost all independence if Job had been a lesser man; equally his breakaway bids might not have failed had he been stronger. But this does not tell the whole story. The extent to which the members of named local groups are bound to one another by a shared interest in their land, by ties of common descent, by a rule of exogamy, and by a pride in their joint achievements and possessions limits the extent to which the rise and fall of leaders defines parish boundaries. If Job had been the last surviving member of Natalu his chances of success would have been greatly reduced - if Navuti had not produced 321 a number of famous pig-killers in the immediately proceeding generations Isaac would have started with less supporters and may well have failed to extend his influence so rapidly into surrounding and smaller parishes. Nduindui society can thus be represented as an inter-mediary type between two hypothetical extremes:1) A society in which the local groups exhibit such a strong sense of the continuity of their social identity and solidarity that the death or loss of power of a leader who succeeded in temporarily uniting two or more would be immediately followed by a reassertion of the full autonomy of each. The continuity of the larger political unit could only be achieved if the uniting leader left behind him a permanent administrative hierarchy. This type of political system is most likely to be found in unilineal societies with discrete monocarpellary parishes and hereditary leadership. The slender evidence suggests that the political system of the Small Islands and north Malekula may approximate to the model. 2) A society in which the autonomy of the individual is so strongly stressed that group solidarity is primarily dependent on the uniting influence of a dominant leader. In practice, no such political system exists in its pure form; individualism is always limited by the recognition of ties of kinship, loyalty, occupation, rank, etc. These bonds, according to their strength, limit the extent to which group solidarity depends on recognition of common leadership. The Nduindui intermediary position is directly related to a leader­ ship system which, though competitive and based primarily on personal ability, is nevertheless subject to such clearly defined rules and . 322 formal requirements that there is a tendency for a group that has once achieved political dominance to maintain its position for a number of generations. This undoubtedly occurred with greater frequency in the past than it does today. A brief comparison with the Trobriand Islands, where a similar fluctuation in the political status of local groups is correlated with a more highly developed system of hereditary rank and leadership, is illuminating. In the opening lines of a recent article Powell wrote, »Trobriand political organization is in a real sense conterminous with the processes by which individual leaders arise, create and for a time maintain followings so that the areas they have dominated resolve once more into their component local groups, which then remain autonomous until the emergence of a new area leader In so far as the rise and fall of leaders results in a changing pattern of political relations between groups the as that described in Nduindui. process is the same In neither society do these supra^-parish political units crystallize into permanent administrative hierarchies. The difference is as follows. In the Trobriands the potential units of local autonomy within a dominant leader*s area of influence are determined on the one hand by the limitation of the field of leadership competition within the bounds of a hereditarily privileged matrilineal sub-clan, and, on the other, by the strong sense of solidarity and continuity at both the parish and parish-cluster level. Consequently when a cluster leader dies or declines in authority, the component parishes, each with their own hereditary leaders, reassert their autonomy until such time as a new cluster leader emerges from the 1. Powell, H.A. »Competitive Leadership in Trobriand Political Organization”, JRAI, Vol. 90, I960, p. 118. . 323 struggle within the same sub-clan, and hence parish, as that which produced his predecessor. In Nduindui, by contrast, leadership is not tied tb any descent group or locality, and neighbouring parishes do not regularly form clusters in identical patterns. Leaders may appear anywhere, and competition is not limited by formal rules of descent. Once a leader succeeds in establishing a parish-cluster he must constantly guard against potential challengers who may appear in any descent or local group, no matter how weak in numbers and lacking in distinguished ancestors it may be. Nor can he automatically claim parish or parish- cluster leadership once he has achieved dominance over his carpel members. Neither carpels nor parishes automatically owe allegiance to other like groups by virtue of predetermined status. is automatic in Nduindui. In fact, nothing Every step of the struggle for authority and influence must be won by successful competition, and throughout a leader*s career he has constantly to demonstrate his superiority over competitors. The absence of any form of institutionalised restriction of the loci of leadership is correlated with the more open and variable social composition of local groups than is the case in the Trobriands. A similar flexibility is characteristic of Trobriand society only at a level higher than that of the parish-cluster. Leaders seeking for a wider area of influence can only do so by competing successfully against other hereditary cluster-leaders. In Nduindui the struggle constantly occurs at all levels of local grouping so that the political structure of the district alters from 324 decade to decade and seldom if ever repeats the same pattern. A parish that is today the centre of power of a parish-cluster is tomorrow a dependent section in another cluster with a new locus of leadership. This fundamental, difference, which is itself but one of the many manifestations of the more pervasive contrast between group solidarity and individual autonomy, or structural rigidity and flexibility, is, as I have argued in earlier chapters, intimately related to underlying variations in demography, ecology and productive resources. Trobriand hereditary leadership, ranked clans, and lineage solidarity are correlated with marked local variations in soil fertility, availability of good fishing grounds, strategic positions for overseas trade and heritable wealth. In Nduindui the open and competitive system of leadership and rank, the weakly developed dogma of unilineal descent, the variability in parish structure and the low level of group solidar­ ity and continuity are correlated with a more even distribution of resources and a comparatively limited wealth that can be transmitted from one generation to the next. 325 CHAPTER XI DISCUSSION In t h i s f i n a l c h a p te r I s h a ll d is c u s s th r e e to p ic s - th e h i s t o r i c a l background i n s o c ia l a n th ro p o lo g y t h a t has le d to a re c e n t emphasis on th e “ lo o se* o r 11f l e x i b l e ** a s p e c ts o f s o c ia l s tr u c tu r e ? th e e x te n t to which e c o lo g ic a l and demographic f a c t o r s d eterm in e o r in flu e n c e th e prim ary s t r u c t u r a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f k in based s o c i e t i e s w ith an a g r i c u l t u r a l economy; and th e e q u a tio n of u n i l i n e a r i t y w ith r i g i d i t y and b i l a t e r a l i t y w ith lo o s e n e s s . The h i s t o r i c a l background The co n cep t of s o c ia l s t r u c t u r e i s based on th e assum ption t h a t d e s p ite th e c o m p le x itie s o f s o c ia l phenomena i t i s n e v e r th e le s s p o s s ib le to d e s c rib e and a n a ly se some kind o f o rd e rly and s y ste m a tic arrangem ent of p a r t s . In F i r t h ’ s term s ttin th e co n cep t of s o c ia l s t r u c t u r e , th e q u a l i t i e s re c o g n ise d a re p rim a rily th o s e o f p e r s is te n c e , c o n tin u ity , form and p e rv a siv e n e ss th ro u g h th e s o c ia l f i e l d . . . . A s t r u c t u r a l p r in c ip le i s one which p ro v id es a fix e d l i n e o f s o c ia l b e h av io u r and r e p r e s e n ts th e o rd e r which i t m a n if e s ts ”.'1' I n th e f i r s t few decades of th e “ s t r u c t u r a l i s t ” p o in t of view m ajor advances were made in our u n d e rs ta n d in g of th e form and fu n c tio n in g o f 1 . F i r t h , R. “ Some P r in c i p le s o f S o c ia l O rg an izatio n * 5, JRAI, V ol. ö5, 19b5, P. 2. 326 a wide range of tribal societies. Gluckman wrote, our analyses abstracted a set of regular interconnections between various social relationships, modes of belief etc. We have exhibited that there is a systematic structure in one field of tribal life after another*'. (l) The success of this method of analysis was in large part due to the high incidence of structurally defined behaviour in the societies selected for study. This was especially true of those communities in which all or most of the main affiliations that govern an individuals statuses and activities are determined by his membership of perpetuating and corporate unilineal descent groups. In post-war years a reaction set in, partly as a result of an increased awareness of the degree of option, deviance and change that is characteristic of even the most stable and rigidly structured societies, and partly as a result of more fieldwork carried out in communities that are either loosely structured or are undergoing radical social change. Anthropologists, faced by a wide range of phenomena that failed to conform to structural criteria, were thus forced to reassess their basic concepts and methods of analysis. In Britain the reaction took three, though closely inter-related, forms - an introduction of additional and supplementary concepts (social organization, process, social field, network cohesion etc.) a stress on the historical or developmental aspect of social relationships (Barnes, Gluckman, Turner etc.); 1. Gluckman, M. 1'oreward to Turner's Schism and Continuity in an African Society, Manchester, 1^57, p.ix. 327 and a shift in emphasis from the jural and qualitative dimensions of social structure to the economic and quantitative (Leach, Worsely etc.}. Gluckman, when advocating the extended/case method, expressed the common concern to w penetrate more deeply into the actual processes by which persons and groups live together within a social system, under a culture... to cope with what Malinowski dismissed as accidental quarrels and individual differences of temperament.0 ^ By confining our analyses solely to that which is structural, i.e. persistent, repetitive and predictable, we necessarily exclude the greater part of social behaviour, especially in loosely structured and rapidly changing societies. Much of this non-strue tural* data was recognized as highly relevant in arriving at an adequate understanding of how societies function. Between the two extremes of the fully structural and the entirely unique and accidental there is an intermediary field in which there is some degree of order, pattern and predictability. When individuals make choices between alternatives it is sometimes possible to predict the outcome. The prediction may be based on a statistical knowledge of how others acted under similar circumstances, or it may be based on an awareness of the various social, economic and other pressures operative in the particular context. Firth was the first to explicitly develop the concept of an order that is intermediary between 11a fixed line of social behaviour’1 and 1. ’Gluckman, M. :,The Use of Ethnographic Data in Social Anthropological Analyses in Britain" (unpublished paper), p. 7« 328 a b s o lu te in d iv id u a lis m o r c h a o s . He d e f in e d s o c i a l o r g a n iz a ti o n as th e com plem entary and o p e r a t iv e c o u n t e r p a r t to s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e , a s " t h e w orking a rra n g e m e n ts o f s o c i e t y 11 w hereby a p a r t i c u l a r s t r u c t u r e b o th m a in ta in s i t s e l f and u n d e rg o e s c h a n g e . The c o n c e p t " r e c o g n is e s a d a p t a ti o n o f b e h a v io u r i n r e s p e c t t o g iv e n e n d s , c o n t r o l o f means in v a ry in g c irc u m s ta n c e s , w hich a r e s e t by ch an g e s i n th e e x t e r n a l e n v ir o n (2 ment o r by th e n e c e s s i t y t o r e s o lv e c o n f l i c t b etw een s t r u c t u r a l p r in c i p le s '* . The c o n t r a s t i s f a r r e a c h in g a s i t r a i s e s the q u e s tio n a s t o how f a r i n d i v i d u a l s a c t in c o n fo rm ity w ith s t r u c t u r a l p r i n c i p l e s ( i d e a l r u l e s o r m oral axiom s w hich i n th e o ry do n o t r e c o g n is e l e g i t i m a t e a l t e r n a t i v e s ) o r th e v a ry in g re q u ire m e n ts o f th e e n v iro n m e n t. I f th e en vironm ent sh o u ld i t s e l f be r e l a t i v e l y i n v a r i a n t th e n s t r u c t u r e and o r g a n iz a ti o n may in l a r g e p a r t c o in c id e w ith one a n o th e r and th e q u e s tio n th u s becomes i r r e l e v a n t . H i s t o r i c a l ^ e c o l o g i c a l and dem ographic f a c t o r s may be such t n a t 90 p e r c e n t o f men r e s i d e v i r i l o c a l i y , i n h e r i t p r o p e r ty from t h e i r f a t h e r s and m a in ta in an e x p l i c i t dogma o f p a t r i l i n e a l d e s c e n t. The q u a n t i t a t i v e r e p e t i t i o n o f s i m i l a r c h o ic e s made i n s i m i l a r c o n te x ts i s r e i n f o r c e d and s a n c tio n e d by a s e t o f r u l e s and m o ral ax io m s. In such a s o c ie t y a sim p le s t r u c t u r a l a n a l y s i s n e c e s s a r i l y makes e x p l ic a b l e a w ide ra n g e o f b e h a v io u r. 1 . F i r t h , R. " S o c i a l O r g a n iz a tio n and S o c ia l Change'*, JKAI, V o l. Ö4, p. 10. 2. F i r t h , R. "Some P r i n c i p l e s o f S o c ia l O r g a n iz a tio n " , JRAI, V o l. ö b , P. 2 . 329 B ut m ost th e p rin c ip a l s ta b le sp ace and q u e ry as w o rk in g fe w and w ay to c o n d itio n s in tim e . to th e i t fa r a g re a te r re la tiv e is I f g re a te r m odem th e c o n d itio n s d e te rm in in g th a t W hen c o n c e rn fix e d th is w ith is fie ld w o rk v a ria tio n v a r ia b ility p ro b a b le b e tw e e n . o f e n v iro n m e n ta l The p rin c ip le s . d u ra tio n le s s o n o f ru le s so a a d a p tiv e a even g re a tly m o re o f h ig h o f th a t v a ry th e in flu e n c e is is re le v a n t o rd e r s tru c tu ra l m e c h a n is m s and a re in th e ru le s o f o r lo n g th e m s e lv e s a n a ly s is and th e b o th s tru c tu ra l b e h a v io u r in m ust g iv e o rg a n iz a tio n a l p rin c ip le s . L each, s o c ia l o f an id e a l th e an o f o f an do id e a l in ( o f ) L each, S . 2o L each, E .R . S o c ia l C h ic a g o , R . c o n s tra in ts e x a g g e ra te d im p o s e d ru n s d o w n h ill d e s c e n t. be b e st He " ra th e r th a n "T he p . A V illa g e in 124. o f th e S o u th e a s t m ade as S in h a le s e o rg a n iz a tio n a l S in h a le s e S tru c tu re te rm s , ju ra l th a n in in a th e "as a B ritis h im p o rta n c e c o n c lu d e d o rd e r s ta te d re g a rd e d th a t b e h a v io u r v /a te r e n v iro n m e n t, E liy a , th e He a " w ith ' on c h o ic e s F i r t h 's ( 1) p re c e p ts . in d iv id u a l P u l i 960, o fte n arg u ed th a n b ecau se can s o c ie ty , ra th e r p a tr ilin e a l In a c c o rd a n c e 1. in 2 m o ra l e c o lo g ic a l s tru c tu re ru le s " . S in h a le s e c o n s is te n tly and m o re m u ltip le o f have ru le s th e te c h n o lo g ic a l ju ra l a n a ly s is o f th e y s o c ia l o u tc o m e m o re a re w ay m a in ta in and se t s o c ie ty in d iv id u a l th a t h is a n th ro p o lo g is ts S in h a le s e a c t in o f - th a t in th e th a t p e o p le th a n b ecau se as g e n e ra liz a tio n a th e s ta tis tic a l p a rtic u la r d ire c t s o c ie ty th e y e c o n o m ic re fle c tio n is o f re g u la te d w ith s tru c tu ra l p rin c ip le s . C e y lo n . C a m b rid g e , 1961, D ry Zone o f A s ia (e d . M u rd o c k , N o rth e rn G. p p . C e y lo n " , P .) 5 -1 2 * 330 Leach accords such prominence to economic and environmental determinants that he accused his predecessors (and contemporaries) of having reified the social structure (the ideal set of rules). Though there may well be some truth in his stricture I would like to emphasise that in such relatively undifferentiated and stable societies as the Tallensi the dichotomy between economic and jural constraints is not altogether appropriate. I agree with Worsely (1) that they way in which the Tallensi actually behave is in large part determined by the limitations and opportunities of the natural environment. In defence of Portes I would maintain that stable environmental conditions resulted in such a high incidence of similar individual choices that the statistical social structure did not deviate to any marked extent from the formal rules of descent, residence, inheritance etc. When Fortes made his perhaps unfortunate statement that "economic interests do not play the part of dynamic factors in the social structure", (2) he was presumably referring to the high order of correspondence between structural principle and economic self interest. A further difficulty in Leach's argument is that it is based on the assumption that there is frequently a conflict between the rules and the way in which people behave. Like many similar statements its 1. Worsely, P. M. , "The Kinship System of the Tallensi: A Revaluation", JRAI, Vol. 86, pt. 1, pp. 37-74. 2. Fortes, M., The Dynamics of Clanship Atnonp; the Tallensi, London, 1945» P* x. 331 acceptability must depend on the extent to which it is stressed. Leach, in my opinion, over emphasises the gap that is inherent in all societies. I find it difficult to believe that a repetitive and pervasive incidence of patrifiliation, patri-virilocal residence and patrilineal inheritance would not at some stage result in the development of a most explicit dogma of unilineal descent. In reverse, it seems equally improbable that a * statistically’* bilateral society could for long maintain a unilineal ideology. Where there is a marked divergence between dogma and facts I suggest that detailed investigation would establish either that the society had recently undergone radical social change or that there were major internal differences in wealth, rank, behaviour and mores. In relatively undifferentiated societies with a simple technology and a long period of environmental stability, any attempt to assign causal or even logical primacy to jural rules as against economic necessity is bound to be inclusive. So long as anthropological analysis is confined to individual social systems the most that can be expected is a series of demonstrations of the extent to which structural, ideological and economic factors inter-relate with and support one another. In an attempt to advance beyond this circle of functional consistency I have conducted my analysis within a comparative framework. By comparing various aspects of Ilduindui society with neighbouring communities in the northern New Hebrides, and at times other 332 Melanesian communities, I have endeavoured to abstract the logic underlying the circle - to introduce a tentative causal element in the argument. Excluding for the moment the larger question of the relationship between social structure, culture and environment, I have argued that in all or most Melanesian societies certain aspects of social structure follow logically from certain other aspects. The first and most basic is that the greater the emphasis that is placed on unilinearity in descent, residence and inheritance, the greater the probability that the society as a whole will be characterised by group solidarity rather than individual autonomy and network cohesion. This is especially so when parishes are monocarpellary and exogamous• Further, and less obvious structural consequences are that there will be a marked social and ritual separation between the sexes, that marriage will be arranged in accordance with group interests, that kinship roles will be sharply differentiated, and that rank and leadership will be strongly influenced by principles of seniority. I have also indicated that an advance can he made beyond the level of structural consistency by making further deductions regarding the probable presence or absence of various cultural features. For example, given monocarpellary, patrilineal, and patri-virilocal parishes, the associated sex dichotomy will most probably manifest itself in a penisjoperation, female puberty rites, representations of devouring monsters, use of bullroarers and male 333 f e a r o f m e n stru a l b lo o d . I f i t sh o u ld be asked why I a s s ig n prim acy to p a r is h s t r u c t u r e , my answ er i s t h a t in c e r ta in a re a s , f o r exam ple, Llailu and Ngwarawapum o f New G uinea, th e re q u ir e d s t r u c t u r e i s a s s o c ia te d w ith a r i g i d s e p a r a tio n o f th e sex es b u t few o f th e ex p ec te d c u l t u r a l c o n c o m ita n ts. \ The e x c u rsio n in to c u l t u r a l d eterm in acy can be ta k e n a s ta g e f u r t h e r when th e r e i s a h ig h le v e l o f e th n o g ra p h ic u n if o r m ity . The p u b lic g rad ed s o c ie ty i s common th ro u g h o u t th e n o rth e rn New H e b rid e s. At th e p u re ly s o c io lo g ic a l le v e l I dem o n strated t h a t i n th e most th o ro u g h ly u n i l i n e a l and m o n o carp ellary com m unities (B ig Nambas, Small I s la n d s and n o r th Raga) th e i n s t i t u t i o n e x p re ss e s group s o l i d a r i t y by re d u c in g th e number o f ra n k s and by e i t h e r j o i n t l y i n i t i a t i n g many y o u th s on a s in g le o c c a sio n o r by r e s t r i c t i n g th e h ig h e s t ra n k s to members o f h e r e d i t a r i l y p r iv ile g e d lin e a g e s . In e a s t Aoba, where in d iv id u a l autonomy i s most h ig h ly d ev elo p ed , th e r e a re sev e n te e n ran k s and a l l a re open to men who p o s se ss th e n e c e s sa ry am b itio n and a b i l i t y . In N duindui th e r e a re s ix main ra n k s and though a l l a re open to c o m p e titio n , th e son o f a h ig h ra n k e r s t a r t s w ith a g r e a t e r i n i t i a l advantage th a n he does i n e a s t Aoba. In most p a r t s o f M alekula, in p a r t i c u l a r th e Sm all I s la n d s , th e r i t u a l k i l l i n g o f p ig s a s s o c ia te d w ith th e assum ption o f a new ra n k i s a ls o a most e x p l i c i t honouring o f th e deceased a g n a tic a n c e s to r s o f th e p a t r i - c l a n perfo rm in g th e ceremony. I n N duindui, where th e two elem ents o f s t a t u s d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n and group s o l i d a r i t y 334 a r e e v en ly b a la n c e d , th e s a c r i f i c i a l c h a r a c te r o f th e r i t e s , though p r e s e n t , i s b o th l e s s e x p l i c i t and l e s s obvious in th e sym bolic c o n te n t o f th e cerem o n ies. In e a s t Aoba th e a n c e s to r s re c e iv e s c a n t a t t e n t i o n - th e r e i s j u s t a vague n o tio n t h a t th e man who a c h ie v e s h ig h ra n k in th e p r e s e n t l i f e w ill a ls o be o f h ig h ra n k in th e a f t e r l i f e . F i n a l l y , in a l l th r e e com m unities hollow ed out t r e e tru n k s a re u sed a s s l i t gongs d u rin g th e c o u rse o f th e cerem o n ies. In M alekula and th e Small I s la n d s ( u n f o r tu n a te ly I have no in fo rm a tio n f o r n o rth Raga) th e gongs a re p la c e d u p r ig h t , th e head i s carv ed a s a f a c e , and th e sound i s said to be th e v o ic e o f th e a n c e s to r s . In b o th e a s t and w est Aoba th e gongs l i e h o r iz o n ta lly on th e ground and a re n e i t h e r carv ed n o r d e c o ra te d . In N duindui a number o f in fo rm a n ts were o f th e o p in io n t h a t Takaro o r th e a n c e s to rs o r b o th co u ld h e a r th e rythm s and were p le a s e d . In E a st Aoba I co u ld f in d no ev id en ce t h a t th e gongs were re g a rd e d a s a n y th in g o th e r th an s e c u la r in s tru m e n ts o f e n te rta in m e n t. S o c ia l S tr u c tu r e and Environm ent, I s h a l l now b r i e f l y comment on th e i n t e r - r e l a t i o n s h i p between s o c ia l s tr u c tu r e and th e n a tu r a l en v iro n m en t. My argument i s based on th e assum ption t h a t in a g r i c u l t u r a l com m unities th e mode o f tr a n s m ittin g r i g h t s in la n d i s p rim ary to b o th th e norm o f re s id e n c e and th e dogma o f d e s c e n t. By p rim ary I mean t h a t i f la n d in h e r ita n c e sh o u ld be c o n s is te n tly and e x c lu s iv e ly u n i l i n e a l i t n e c e s s a r ily fo llo w s th a t re s id e n c e w i l l , excep t under u n u su al c irc u m sta n c e s , be 335 e q u a lly e x c lu s iv e ly u n i l o c a l . I f , in a d d itio n , groups l a r g e r th a n a s in g le elem en tary fa m ily a re needed f o r e i t h e r th e u t i l i z a t i o n o r p r o te c tio n o f la n d , i t f u r t h e r fo llo w s t h a t lo c a l groups w ill ta k e th e form o f c o rp o ra te lin e a g e s . I t would "be most s u r p r is in g i f such p e r s i s t e n t and r e p e t i t i v e b e h av io u r d id n o t e v e n tu a lly r e s u l t in th e developm ent o f an e x p l i c i t dogma o f u n i l i n e a l d e s c e n t. T h is does n o t, how ever, exclu d e th e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t when subsequent changes ta k e p la c e in th e system o f la n d in h e r ita n c e and u t i l i z a t i o n , th e dogma o f d e sc e n t may s t i l l p e r s i s t a s a s a n c tio n f o r d is p e r s e d exogamous c a te g o r ie s o f k in s f o lk , ( e a s t Aoba,) o r as r i t u a l a s s o c ia ti o n s , ( th e Sm all I s l a n d s ) . Nor i s i t n e c e s s a ry to assume t h a t th e d is p e rs e d m a tr i- c la n s o f e a s t Aoba must have o r i g i n a l l y c o -e x is te d w ith m a t r i l i n e a l in h e r ita n c e o f la n d r i g h t s and a v u n c u lo - v ir ilo c a l r e s id e n c e . I t i s p e r f e c t l y p o s s ib le t h a t th e dogma o r i g i n a l l y developed in some o th e r community, p erh ap s n o rth B aga, o r New Guinea o r even s o u th - e a s t A sia , and l a t e r d if f u s e d to e a s t Aoba as a s a n c tio n f o r d is p e r s e d and exogamous c la n s . I f t h i s argument i s a c c e p te d i t i s th e n p o s s ib le to e s t a b l i s h th e f i n a l l i n k between s o c ia l s t r u c t u r e and environm ent by d e m o n stra tin g , as in c h a p te r f i v e , t h a t th e system o f in h e r ita n c e i s i t s e l f d i r e c t l y dependent on th e u se to which la n d i s p u t, th e method o f c u l t i v a t i o n , and th e amount o f good ground e a s i l y a v a ila b le in p ro p o rtio n to th e n eed s o f th e p o p u la tio n . I t i s in t h i s lo g ic a l sense t h a t I would d e f i n i t e l y s id e w ith Leach and a s s ig n prim acy to 336 economic r a t h e r th a n j u r a l and m oral d e term in an ts« In a c tu a l p r a c tic e th e two may c o in c id e , o r u n d e r s p e c ia l c irc u m sta n c e s th e id e o lo g y may ta k e p reced en ce and r e s u l t in a new a d a p ta tio n to th e en vironm ent. The l a s t a l t e r n a t i v e in c r e a s e s in im p o rtan ce as te ch n o lo g y d e v e lo p s. Loose s t r u c t u r e and b i l a t e r a l i t y I began t h i s t h e s i s by s t a t i n g t h a t my p rim ary o b je c tiv e was to determ in e how f a r th e concept o f "lo o se * o r " f l e x i b l e 12' s t r u c t u r e a p p lie s to N duindui s o c ie ty . I s h a l l conclude by b r i e f l y d is c u s s in g th e concept i t s e l f and i t s c lo s e a s s o c ia tio n w ith b i l a t e r a l i t y . At th e most a b s tr a c t l e v e l , s t r u c t u r e in d ic a te s 11an o rd e re d arrangem ent o f p a r t s , v/hich can be t r e a t e d as tr a n s p o s a b le , b e in g r e l a t i v e l y i n v a r i a n t , w h ile th e p a r t s th em selv es a re v a r ia n t* . ( 1 ) At f i r s t g la n c e t h i s d e f i n i t i o n re n d e rs th e term " lo o s e s t r u c t u r e B s e l f - c o n tr a d ic to r y , i . e . , lo o s e o rd e r o r v a r ia n t in v a r ia n c e . Pouwer has made th e same p o i n t , M I have c o n s id e ra b le o b je c tio n to th e term * lo o s e s tr u c tu r e * , s in c e i t may c o n ta in a te rm in o lo g ic a l c o n tr a d ic tio n : in c o h e re n t c o h e re n c e ". ( 2) The a p p a re n t d i f f i c u l t y i s based on th e d e b a ta b le p r o p o s itio n t h a t th e s t r u c t u r e o f a s o c ie ty i s a s in g le , i n d i v i s i b l e and c o h eren t e n t i t y . As I see i t * th e ‘ s o c ia l s tr u c tu r e i s no more th a n th e t o t a l i t y o f s o c ia l 1. N ad el, S. F. The Theory o f S o c ia l S t r u c t u r e , M elbourne, 1957> P* 8 . 2. Pouwer, J . "New G uinea a s a F ie ld f o r E th n o lo g ic a l S tu d y ” , B T L V, V ol. 117, 1961, p . 3. 337 b e h a v io u r t h a t conforms to such c r i t e r i a as th o se l i s t e d by F i r t h , i . e . , p e r s i s t e n t , p e r v a s iv e , i n v a r ia n t e t c . The a d je c tiv e s ‘’loose'* and 11r i g i d ” a r e sim ply co n v en ien t la b e l s th a t ro u g h ly in d ic a te th e r e l a t i v e p r o p o r tio n s o f s tr u c tu r e d to u n s tr u c tu r e d b e h a v io u r. They a re q u a l i t a t i v e term s used to r e f e r to p o t e n t i a l l y q u a n tif ia b le fa c ts . I t i s begging th e q u e stio n to assume t h a t b ecau se a wide ran g e o f b e h av io u r conforms to s t r u c t u r a l c r i t e r i a i t th e r e f o r e n e c e s s a r ily fo llo w s t h a t th e s o c ie ty form s a c o h e re n t o r w ell in te g r a te d e n t i t y . On th e c o n tr a r y , u n le s s c o n s id e ra b le scope i s l e f t f o r in d iv id u a l v a r i a t i o n , ch o ice betw een a l t e r n a t i v e s , and a d a p ta tio n to v a ry in g c irc u m sta n c e s , i t i s p ro b a b le t h a t s t r u c t u r a l p r i n c i p l e s w ill c o n f l i c t b o th w ith one a n o th e r and w ith env iro n m en tal re q u ire m e n ts and th u s u ltim a te ly r e s u l t in a marked la c k o f co h eren ce. P ouw er's m istaken lo g ic i s a le g a c y o f R a d c liffe -B ro w n ' s much c r i t i c i z e d , and a t tim e s m isu n d e rsto o d , s ta te m e n t th a t 'u n i l i n e a l i n s t i t u t i o n s in some form a re a lm o st, i f n o t e n t i r e l y , a n e c e s s ity in any o rd e re d s o c ia l s y s te m '. N I f t h i s should be tr u e th e n i t fo llo w s t h a t some e x p la n a tio n i s r e q u ir e d f o r th e m aintenance o f o rd e r in b i l a t e r a l o r c o g n a tic s o c i e t i e s . Freeman d e n ied t h a t th e r e was any such problem , and i t i s s i g n i f i c a n t th a t he d id so w ith such em phasis. 1. He w rote o f th e Ib a n , " th e ra m ify in g c o g n a tic R ad c liffe-B ro w n , A. R ., S tr u c tu r e and F u n c tio n in P r im itiv e S o c ie ty « London 1952, p . 48* 338 k in s h ip system o f th e Ih an does r e s u l t , beyond any q u e s tio n , in an ( o rd e re d s o c ia l system 1'. v 1) The d is p u te i s in my o p in io n g ro u n d le ss and based on c o n fu sin g o rd e r w ith e f f i c i e n c y . The s o r t o f o rd e r which goes w ith u n i l i n e a r i t y , t h a t i s , r i g i d l y d e fin e d r u l e s w ith no allow ance f o r in d iv id u a l v a r i a t i o n and a d a p ta tio n , must u n d oubtedly im p a ir e f f i c i e n c y . I f I m ight borrow H eg elian te rm s , th e a b s o lu te s o c ie ty , which in c lu d e s th e p e r f e c t l y u n i l i n e a l , i s i t s own n e g a tio n . We might th e r e f o r e ex p ect to f in d t h a t th e more e f f i c i e n t s o c i e t i e s a re th o s e t h a t occupy an in te rm e d ia ry p o s itio n betw een com plete r i g i d i t y and a n a rc h ic in d iv id u a lis m . I have no doubt th a t R ad cliffe-B ro w n would n o t f o r a moment d is p u te th e e f f ic ie n c y o f th e Ib a n . The N duindui have r e a c te d to th e tu rm o il o f th e p a s t w ith an ‘’e f f i c i e n c y 1' t h a t i s w ith o u t p a r a l l e l in th e n o rth e rn New H ebrides* I a t t r i b u t e t h i s in la r g e p a r t to th e f a c t t h a t th e y a re l e s s r i g i d l y s tr u c tu r e d th a n t h e i r p a t r i l i n e a l and m a tr ili n e a l n e ig h b o u rs and l e s s a n a rc h ic and i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c th a n th e e a s t Aobans. I have argued th a t t h i s s t r u c t u r a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i s i t s e l f in la r g e p a r t a r e s u l t a n t o f an e x c e p tio n a lly fa v o u ra b le n a t u r a l environm ent. 1. Freeman, J . D ., "The Ib a n H in S o c ia l S tr u c tu r e in South E ast A s ia , (e d . Murdock, G. P . , ) , New York,I 9 6 0 ,p . 85. K ( V • A PO I t O l ( C ' C M U I C H A C M U IC H -O F -C H IIIT ■ FAIISM FA«I»H M t L A N f 11 A N - M l S » I O N ■ R O M A N ' C AT H O I 1 C FAI I IN PARISH • -------- S I V ( N T H - D A V - A D V I N T I S T ------- I A S T - W I S T I ) IO R D IR POPULATION PARISH 2 NORTHERN NEW HEBRI DES KEY m o i • t i • ». mo t r i r • t i d i n c t . Mi i • d . iiio iil mo t r i I l i o t , l o c a l i z e d Io-V i r i I r i l i d t n c« . Di i p t i i i d Co g no I i c TORRES^ Di t p a i • d P a i r ! I S I A N D Sj Lo c a I I z a d an d m o l r l — m o i i l i a i v i r i l o c a l r n i d i Pol r i ( l o c k t . mo t r I •f ( i . v I r i I o c o I m o i a t l a i p a I r i f a and c I a n i . t K i l l BANKS I S L A N DS M WA E V O E S PI R I T U SANTO) MALO R A G A SMALL ISLANDS A M BRYM MAL E KUL A lo c o r ' d • n ca I I i i d Church Mi of C h r l i t I on#» ion A p e i l a I i c R em an Mi is i o n Church C o l h o l I c M i l l i o n pari • h pa r ) t h p a r i s h pari I h b u i l d i n g s EAST XOB A Tr ad a r It Qa^etnrnrnf ScAot l CREEKS AND O A R D E N S MUMP W A Nd ui n du Anchoroga i TM N C A M U X K AR O , VUIMM N IM IW M N C W «A tO M W A M O U A O B A mi I a s nangweangwea yards KEY Bush P a r i s h a n d 9 a r d e ns Road Foot Cer ▲ t r a c k emo n ia l- Church House C l u b l o l o ng el a t o bo r d 9 f o u nd S 0 A 220 R L A O K A M 440 hiibi»'*^ A \ R A N A - —■ »>. C e r e m ▲ b o r d e r o n i a l ^ y m b u g a b o r d e r S e c t i o n 70 O l i . • S ■ — i ■ P a r i s h Q ya r d s \ U K E Y L - - - - - - - - 1- - - - - - - - • L B C L 5 g r o u n d C h u r c h ■ H o u s e Mi C l u b r «7.ES N A T A K A R O v o - 7 a r a n a v i a , E l l N H 7 ,E 9 . 3 (F6 • 4»,£2 • 7 ,£ g L 7£i o k a m b u ^ « 3 ,0 2 L ^ < S | O M W A N D U • 3>«l » V a G 7 % 4 - 4 Ö .m — t o N " v L O ^ ■ W A L 4 I « 3 ,C 1 fix ■ L I K E S o I o t i t i m b a A ■ L o t a n 4 ,n ' o L L I. 5 ,£ 3 A • • O M o v u t i k e r •6,E 1 B A N G t A e k e r e - f L O M B A NG A 200 yards Ö, KEY Road T r a c k C e r e m o n i a l g r ou n d C hu r c h House Club j 8 A AJ g a /> A (Generation B _____ — APPENDIX I Clas8ifactory brothers A Hen SKELETON GENEALOGY OP NANGWEANGWEA PARISH O Women A • Dead (60) Age rO AI and A2 parish founders born near Lokainbu rfc PI AUSTUSTIN TUMBU(40) o > -O DI XOTO-- *EI VIRA L0L0KAR0-^ D2 DOVO — A B 2 HAKWA LILIU P2 SAMUEL T0VARA(30) ] P3 MICHAEL T0VARA(45) o _A P4 CASPAR RONOO(42) |^AI-I-AB3 HIMBI — A P5 HIMBI(38) r-A P6 SAMPSON TAHI (37) -AD3LIV0 — _ A B 4 WALTER ARU(60)| _ £ F 7 GEORGE MOLI P AD4.0UULI 1 0B5 K" ,lra (Lovutike-I rekere) _ ^ C4TOLOLO__*D5 kB6 TOGO MANGUIA JOSEPH TAHI (34) ] (30) ■] o _O P Rebecca ( married ADAM of Nataluhangele) L-O ,P8 AMBROSE TAL0NGI(45) (Nangweangwea) I-AD6 MARA P9 WILFRED VIRA(37) 57 VIRA LBNOA O ▲ -OP I O (23) LkA2 -AFII (20) _J^D7 SILB __ AE8 JOEL MWELE -£F I 2 (17) _AF I 3 (14) ] Hi A Generation B APPENDIX 2 A O A # - — SKELE T O N G E N E A L O G Y OP L O V A T U R U S A PARISH Men Women De ad C lassificato r y Sibl i n g s r-A -A -A > A SI D A N I E L T A U ( 4 5 ) O K w e v i r a Boi -o -A r-A -AE2 C H ARLIE N G O L I ( 4 2 ) “ l _ K Kura Lombanga — AE3 ---A D I —i PETER TAKAR0(70) O 3H E M B A N G A — 1 (32) 1 rA Kura Tambu -I" D2 K i l A u i 0mbanga) '6 E 4 JOH N N V A I ( 2 5 ) 05 ftPUBBinga) - O D 4 Kura Taka "I ___1 r— O E 5 -AE6 ° Lydian(divorced) -C PET E R K W A N I ( 3 5 ) — K u r a Tuki 1 _ J L A E 7 (26) [-4 Cl JAC K TAU- - A D 5 SILAS SILE (60) O K u r a Tambe —A -A -A f-AD7 WILSON B0I(58) D6 Kur a Hangele E O F R A N K 7IRA(30) □ - O D 6 Kwetasi □ r LaD9 BEN N G A R A CSS) (b.Tavalavuti) O D I O K u r a Vele zHl -O -A La d i i T ITAS B O I ( 5 5 ) O DI2 Kw e v i r a M a ieto *-AC2 H A NGELE □ - A D I 3 THOMAS T A U A L A (48)-j -O La [ - AE9 S T E P H E N RURU ( 2 4 ) A E I O 3HEM N G A R A I ( 29) (b.eaat Aoba) h o E I I K u r a Bilaki A E I 2 SET H VIRA(30) (b.Navuti,I3,B6) —O K w e v i r a Kwa s i 4 0 3 S A M HA LE L B t ---A D I 4 (b.Santo) -#C4 K u r a Rih i J O SAM TARI( 6 0 ) Ngwaia -A -A ~o rO •O |-A B I 4 EDWIN N O A R A I (45 )"] O A D I 6 M OSES T A K A R O (Saranavia) - # DI6 Kur a L o n g a AC5 ^ * ? T O v ia ) -I (EDWIN'S bro t h e r s i n S a r a n a v i a 7*E6 - I l ) — JO H N HAMBU-l (Longwaru) L#C6 Kur a Sese L J f-A EI5 JOB A R U V I L E ( 2 8 n [ £ ° - A D I 7 JOB ARUNO E O (b.Longwaru) K u r a Koso - A E I 6 JO H N H A M B U (25) O Kwelanmwai O DI8 K w e v i r a Du r a - A E I 7 ALBERT V I RA(22) A APPENDIX 3 SKELETON GENEALOGY H G G e n e r a t io n B AM en OWomen A *D ead H&HI AUKIS (28 OP LOKAMBU CARPEL O Kwemoll 1- -A -A B I TUNOU NALEVUHI— A P I DANIEL VUI— & G I THOMAS TUMGU(60 O K w elevu Toka -A ■ O -A Lo ro -A P 2 M0SE3 TIRO —A 02 JOSHUA S IL B (5 0 ) O U D 3- K v o ti A la LOKAMBU -A P 3 ARU TOKA -------A 03 SETH TALAI(45) K v e v lr a K v al O A AI TURUKI— -A P4 MARANDA a 04 PETER DINDI O K v en atu (Leedue) 3 LO N D U A rO r A P 5 MATHIAS TOA(65) O K v e u ll } LAD5VUTI—AE5 t a r i ------HOI (Lomwajtd*) 1-AP6 SIMEON TAKAR0(62) O K w e v lra Reve L0MWANDÜ A Generation B C a D APPENDIX 4 p G A Men 3KELKT0N GENEALOGY OP O Women A«Dead Adoption f&QI WILLIE NGUK50) o LOTANO CARPEL ]£ IP5 ADAM KETE& 0 2 LORIN TAKARO(27) O rO -AP6 BO I HULA. AAI KWAOI LAKUA —ABI r4D3 ^03 ALEC VUTI(30) o ] ■ A ■A A kF7 CHARLIE T,AKAjiO] O LAC2 -LlD4 iE4 iP8 NOEL VIRA(50)T AQ4 ZACHAEAS(24) ] LOLOLASI APPENDIX 5 SKELETON OENEALOOY OP LOLOTITIMBA CARPEL —AAI TARI KWI3I — A B I kDI — pA EI BEN VIRA NUNUKI(47)j o — rA Gl ABRAHAM VOTI^A)^, [a 02 JOHN TARI(22) SAR A N A V I A _;AB2 JOHN NOARAI(43)j — (eee_6,B3) L a AI LIU DIUALA • E3 MATtffiW TUT I MAIETO(65 O ■ A -o -o J " -- G e n e ra tio n A P P E N D IX SKELETON A M en O W om en A • D ead 6 GENEALOGY L O V U T IK E H E K K R E OF ____ A d o p t i o n CARPEL pA D I 0 I A AI T A N O IH I kC I A DUMU V a v in e V IR A (40 L a lik J LA 1)2 JO H N DUI-1U D3 TOKO KOHO D4 RORO NAMAHAVA -j -A E l I 1 j A P P E N D IX SK ELETO N nO E2 ----- R 0 R0 ( 4 0 W I L L IA M j LOVUTIKEREKERE A BRA H A M V U T I ( 2 4 ) " | O b y 5,E2)J s % 5 A R A N A V 1A ( a d o Pte d La E3 JOHN TARI( 2 2 ) -1 \ Q (adopfed by 5,B2)J^ ( 7 GENEALOGY S A R A N A V IA SA RA N A V IA ( 7 .E I 0 ) I AA2 REUBEN OF CARPEL E l £ -A D I o E2 JO H N NGARAI ( s * £ .e V ) BEN V IR A rO E 3 K w e v ira LA E 4 JA M E S SARANAVIA NUNUKI H a n g e le ] H A V A M W A LA N G i B A N O A (5 0 ) O A AI DEHI L A K U A —A B I ---- ~A D 2 -A D 3 KW ARI L A K U A ................ ^ E 5 ADAM D U R A ( 4 5 ) ( b . N a v u t i ) _ pA E6 E D W IN N G A R A I(se e ^A B 7 JO N A S T A U (4 0 ) M O SES TAKARO iE 0 -A E8 lO V A TU R U SA A p p e n d ix 2 ,B I4 ) “ r& JO S IA S B A N I(3 7 ) O AB9 RRU^W ra(40) -O E IO V a v in e A E li f-O E I 2 -A -o -A T l* L a lik i C H A R L IE T A L IN A (b . M a le k u la ) J a n e tte K w ia i ] SA(?ANAV/A A G e n e r a ti o n B C APPENDIX 0 SKELETON GENEALOGY OP ? E D A Men O Women A •D e a d LOMBANGA CARPEL rA D I HARRY VAI VAI I (A t afaindartu') kCI-------I a D2 NOARAI HALU — ^ffitTIMOTHY MALAKAI (4 8 )~| ( b . M a le k u la ) O ^ R e b e c c a Kweundu -I ^ .&AI T A P I ALBERT VATU(4 8 ) 1 O kD4 RURU LAKUA -A S S DAVID TAKARO(75) • K w elevu B&nl __, O K o ra k e 1 " - Kwehungwe -AF2 STEPHEN RURU O K w ev ira L l n g l -1 ] MATAINDANU A Generation C B APPENDIX 9 SKELETON GENEALOGY OF D B A Men O Women A •Dead LOMWANDU CARPEL rkCl RURU NGUNDU pA B I MUE LOMBANGA t-AC2 LIU MWELB — -ADI VIRA LINGI -AB! TITAS^LgJj^ -O rAB2 zac : A AI ARUNGEO — o “ » % ~AB2 MUE NGWARAVU } -A La -AE3 JOEL (4«) rlC3 LONGA KOKCNA ,D2 BOB TANGWALI O -AB4 CAPTA UAC4 TARI HEHB -A b ? BANGA HURI ALA rA L&B5 JOSBPg^ j -A o -Ö h<> -o A Oameration B A Man OWoman A • Dead APPENDIX 10 SKELETON QBNKALOOY OF NA1BKRUMVELB OAKPEL 3AMJ2SS3***>"'«* "A EI VUTINDARI rADI HAKWA MOLI — B2 NAKUARUA """BO*•■«*'< [“ACI VUTINDARI— A D2 MAVUTB A bi A B 3 VUTINDARI L?3 MAVUTB -AB4 BURU ANOA ^ 4 -A ° I toundu ANDREW RJRAI ] „ „ „ „ „ „ „ -- L-AC2 TANOA HUHI -AD) HILE ' LABS ARU TANOAI — U f6 pAC3 ARU 3ULI -- ADA KWAOA AD5 -Äse VIRA MATA ANDREW L^VT^Ij 6th,Hr,» ^ -fan Joa^Ho j -s £ llTn- - TOKENI -404 TAHI — AB2 TAUMBAI La D6 4AI VUTANOWA- m ARU KALA3B— ABB VIRA NUELETU-AFIO ALBERT . CAfiruAuntA*) 0 ^ CW>)J LAFII I-AD7 LIU NAUBANI— A B9 KARAHI wil : iFI2 31 «nV , NorukuruAu (tOMSANG-A ) one son > ‘^ £ o 2 JOKJ^Nj fA FI3 ABR^HAMn / HBft LAC5 LILIU -A FI4 LUKE ^04OH&HALftKtSA LA 03 J01 "5 . ^ AD0 TAMBUI IEIO MATANDURU- «1-4-j«) O^Ap/owgivo/io j LAFI6 M g , ~ i06 lAB3 tak aro BANI -AD9 BUE MOLI ---4BII TOKO BUTO---A FIT JAMES ~\ 00 iVMr,» -h : 07 VUTI HONOI —ADIQ —LKVUHI T0KA-4EI2 MATHIAS CMIA3-I J °(N a M o A a n S,l ,') N A T A L U H A N C -C L S Sfel Gemer-ation 0 APPENDIX II H I J A Men O Women :s k e :l e t o n g e n e a l o g y il a n d A«Dead 1DI3.PUTE 3ARANAXBUGA ---- Adoption l-AOI ARU KWAGEt--ÄHI MICHAEL ALA' O (40^ Uch'iUrtn rA Cl (Pounder of Longwaru) -AG2 TAMWATA & H2 WILSON VATU ATUT (45 V /OfhiUran o p A y ABEL VORA 1*3 Nellie (50) (T&vala) ^Nduindui) -•1,4 Kwevira Kw«vlrft -A c 2 d o m - A _A03 VORA KWANI — 4H3 3ILB (Saranambuga ) ,L5 MOLI NGUTU (Saranarabuga) i-OI/5 Leah(65) REUBEN MOB*! <47)3 A J 2 MOL I TAMBE-j (Navutl) -OJ3 Elizabeth — I (45) AJ4 BOB TAMWATA, (43)1 (Navitora) Hi L-OJ5 Rachel Generation B C D APPENDIX 12 A Men 0 Women SKELETON GENEALOGY: LAND DISPUTE NATALU A • Dead — Adoption rADI NQWERO KONGO (d.aboutI929) A E l JOHN TAKA(45)1 (Navltora) -AD2 DALI _ (d.about 1930) -0E2 Elizabeth(40)-l (d.1961) _AE3 TAU ALA (Lovaturuaa) >D3 Kwevira AD4 TOKA LOLO (Navitakua) -•D5 Kwehungwe >FI SIMEON TAKARO (32)j (Navitakua) O -AB4 JOSEPH ALA ~1 (d.aboutI943) 1 - &E5 JOB MULETI-j OE6 Kwellllu May U A ? 2 WILFRED TAKA (24) (Navitakua) O Rebecca ] -I - • E7 Kwenunu AD6 HANGARA (Natakaro) -#D7 Kiklhl O E 8 Kvendlu > A B 9 CAIN 3ESE ~l (Navltora,d.I957D a — OBIO Kura Hangele J -AD8 BANI MAHAVA ■ (d.about1935) J^D9 LUMU ALA (d.about1932) "ft Eli JOB MULETI O Kwellllu • Kwenunu Kwemoll ■ aC\ -AF5 SOLOMON GAMALl(4o)l -A T ft EI2 SIMON TAKARO(42)I O F4 ANDERSON TARI Navltora) ° (N avuH onJA J^Iu) O Rachel -A I A Oaaaratioa B A n 8AMP8CB VIRA(33)1 AFPBBZX 13 (laruti,14,FI) sceutob ohbealoot or bavuti A El ALFRED C0UL0B(50) ~| b. Batiulao.llraa Barutl (TAMBUBATABl) CASPEL 1 - A F3 TDtOTHT MOLI(23)"|r^ (Barutl) [OB2 Äau A Ban O *o-an AO D*»d -A A ro -o -o La rA -o rA ---- Adoptie (60) A«* AD1 TIHOTHT MOLlfa)^ (b.B.Aoba) iC1 ABBAHAM VATU A E S HAHHT VATO(43) \ (laruti) Bagla -A E4 PETES MEMEl(35) 0 ''A D2 ISAAC VIKA(^5) (laruti,16,04-) O (Barutl) A AUCH(Kanako) .A®3 MOSES TABQA^j) Lo E5 Bagla (f*P>rri* _A C2 PETES VISA (Barutl) AC3 OAMALI (laritor«) • 04 Vavlna Laka (-AD4 JOSEPH TOA _J_ (laruti 17,04) Q Alloa 31 AJ>5 ABU KVAQA - (Batalu,I2 ) A D6 |-A *1 PETES VISA (28) O (Batalu,I2 ) (Barutl. I4»C1) Kwaala (Barutl) « JOSIAS TABOA(23) job muleti • VJ Kwemmu >1 ° -o 3 rbA -6 3-3 3 p A *6 SETH VISA(30) “1 Q (L ovaturuM l 2(E12)J A AB2 BUB BA MOU -| (Barutl) A E4 ABBAHAM VATU(30) K PUrl#tt# -O 19 Bagla Bgulu(X8) K JA G e n eratio n C B A P P E N D IX 14 F E 2 A M en O W om en A SK ELETO N GENEALOGY (T A M B U N A T A H I ) OF CARPEL NAVUTI A D@ &d (6 0 )A g e 2 |* D I TOM TOKA- -4 S I (N a v u ti) REUBEN V IR A - -A F I (N a v u ti) 3A M P30N (N a v u ti« OF2 V IR A -1 33) P le rle tte ( N a v u t i « 1 3 , F 2 )~ -A S 2 ALBERT V IR A ' (N a v u tii5 0 ) BI (N a v u ti) • A2 ---------------- 4 C I B U B (L o v a n u a lIg o u tu ) (N a v u ti) •C 2 L1 J NA M O L I= , rA D 2 (L o v a n u a lig o u tu ) (N a v u ti TOM HAKWA ._ _ _ _ p £ k B 3 ( L o v a n u a lIg o u tu ) K w e a la JA M E S TAHI ( L o v a n u a l i g o u t u 15 2 ) I o I3 .B 3 J L^B 4 •C 3 AARON T O A -1 ( L o v a n u a l i g o u t u 14 7 ) ] (N a tlu le o ) O J l £ D 3 D A N IE L UN D E - | ( L o v a n u a l I g o u t u 16 3 )| O -1 lo m any c h ild re n A 0«na*ration APFBDIX 15 «firiJWM OMBALOOT OP IAVUTI (TIAMBUIATABI) CABPIL 3 A <« o Wonon ▲ • »Hd ......... A doption --------- P raa ia a d oonoootion (17) *«• rAct Kumn- ...A D 1 PAUL HUKWB (laruti) (laruti) H im ZACHASA8 KWA1U 102 VISA LAIOI (latiulao,noraA (latiulao) BAU laruti) ^ *1 SDOOI TAXA(50)A AI CTIM LAXUA- (laruti) _A03 SUBA I0XU (Irntt) —i---- A 03 KUBA LOLOHÄB-j“!— ; (tmwuU) -£jn DAVID T0KA(32h M M » T0XA(47) 1 (laruti) ^■ 3 ADAM DUBA ^ (laruti) J- O J ”j----- A n JOB! ABU(22) (laruti) l_0 A 14 ALK CTADI (>. latakarO'lirad laruti) -104 TAU CTI8I(laruti) -104 Paul mnora _ 0 » Baohal(47) (17) pA 13 ALK CTA H (20) (laruti) Generation APPENDIX 16 SKELETON GENEALOGY OP A Men o Women ▲ •Dead (<o) Age r-ADI JOSEPH VUTURI “1 (Navuti) J NAVUTI CAKPEL I \ BANI KAKEA (Navuti) A D2 TOKA HURI (Saranambuga) kCI SINGO TOA NAVANUA ---& B I REUBEN( MOLI-| J (Saranambuga) _# 03 Kweundu (Navuti) __ \ O (Navuti) (-AB2 3ALATHIEL VUTI LAVA — 1 O Rachel -* Lo y (Navuti) -AB3 ES IAS (^3? n r-^D4 ISAAC VIRA (Navuti) (ss) Ai AI BAKEO LAKUA1 (Navuti) Rebecca TAMWATA O Madeline (Navuti) D5 DAVID KOLOTI BALANGO o (Navuti) “I -AB5 Ok) ( N a v u t i ) ^ " 1 U E 6 (/33 (Lovaturusa) \ 1AE7 ('<>) </0> U C3 Kwela BANI VITI J ^Igvaturuaa^ (Lovaturusa) (Navuti) _4B8 VUTI GOA (Navuti) 1 pAD6 SILAS 3ILB (j,o) ~V DOVO (Navuti) 3 " ^ 1-AB4 SIMON (.2S) kC2 TUKU BO I ■ (Navuti) X O Lena -▲ C4 BAKEO (Navuti) -A D9 JONAS MOLI (lo) -j (Navuti) -J Co of*r.hW) Generation A B D C B APPENDIX 17 _ A DI FRANCIS NOWERA, (Navuti) (So) !SKELETON GENEALOGY OP 0 NAVUTI CARPEL 2 A Man O Woman At • Dead p A C I MOL I TAWALA (Mo) *«• (Navuti) - A D2 KNOCK HAVA(05) (Navuti) O rA BI AHUNDAKI (Navuti) A C 2 PETER VIRA *v— (see 13) (Navuti 13.C2) AC3 OAMALI (Navltora) ■ AC4 Vavlna L&ka A AI HERE NANARAI— (Navuti) pA^*e 13> [ABI JACOB MOL I (//vo Mato / * W ) (Navuti) A D 4 ARU KWAGA (Natalu 12. ) A D 5 JOB MULETI(fco) (Natalu 1 j§ D6 Kwenunu A B 2 SOLOMON OAMALI >4 ,-AB3 WILLIE VUTlClS)“] A D7 MALATAI (b.east Aoba,lived Navuti) L A B 2 BAN I NOAU — AC5 TIAKI (Navuti) (Navuti) [? (Navuti) — — * 08 Kweraoli _OE4 ( married and lives with husband in Mataindanu) Generrat ion A B C D B APPENDIX 18 SKELETON GENEALOGY OP NAVUTI CARPEL ? A Men O Women A * Dead rA <(6o) A«e A A! p A C I TAR I VUHA---^ D I ARU TOKA (Navutl) (Navuti El JOEL TARI — i -O (Navuti) (36) h- -A L-O ARU TOKA. kBI TATAKI— (Navuti) (Navuti) La C2 JOHN GAMALL-AD2 ADAM LINGI (Navuti) (adopted by MB in Saralokambu) APPENDIX 19 SKELETON GENEALOGY OP NAVUTI CARPEL A AI 4 BOI NA SIROI-ABI BANI NAVUTI(Navuti) (Navuti) LCI KILUKI NA MOL) A D I (Navuti) BI ROBERT TARI (28) — 1 | (b.Saranambuga, moved I 1^ Navuti) Jt A Generrat ion B C D E APPENDIX 18 SEELSTON GENEALOGY OF NAVUTI CARPEL ? 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V o l. 350 B ritish D istric t Agent, Santo - Report of tour in Aoba, 1956. Milne, P. Report of Station for Year 1900-1 > Archives of Overseas Missions Committee of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, Auckland. Also Milne’s diary. Land Claims in Joint Court, Vila, New Hebrides. B ritish Administration New Hebrides File No. 104/1911 "Nomination of Chiefs on Aoba" in Central Archives, Suva, F iji. Convention Between the United Kingdom and France Concerning the New Hebrides, signed October, 1906. T.S. No. 3* of 1907. H.M.S.O. Protocol Respecting the New Hebrides signed at London on the 6th August. 1914. by Representatives of the B ritish and French Governments. T.S. No. 7. of 1912. H.M.S.0. SYNOPSIS 1 In a number of recent publications (Barnes 1962, Brown 1962, Pouwer i960 and I96I and Van Der Leeden i960) Melanesian societies, especially those of New Guinea, have been described as "loosely structured", "flexible", "amorphous" and even "anarchic". 2 Some of the more frequently noted characteristics include a readiness to adapt to changing circumstances; imprecise territorial, linguistic and cultural boundaries; a high level of individual autonomy; residential mobility; quasi-unilineal, ambilineal or bilineal descent and inheritance; multiple criteria of local group membership; and little or no emphasis on seniority, formalized leadership or hierarchy of any sort. In this thesis njy primary concern is to determine the extent to which these and other associated aspects of "loose structure" apply to a New Hebridean community. (Nduindui district, West Aoba). I provide a fuller outline in the preface. Barnes, though he did not use any of the above mentioned adjectives, emphasized a range of structural criteria similar to those listed by the other authors. 2 - The c a p a c ity o f a s o c ie ty to a d ap t i t s e x i s t i n g i n s t i t u t i o n s to r a d i c a l changes i n th e e x te r n a l environm ent must be c o n sid e re d s tro n g prim a f a c ie ev id en ce f o r th e e x is te n c e o f a t l e a s t some d egree o f s tru c tu ra l f le x ib ili ty . I n th e f i r s t c h a p te r I th e r e f o r e p ro v id e a h i s t o r i c a l r e c o n s tr u c tio n o f th e way i n which H duindui s o c ie ty h as evolved d u rin g th e p a s t c e n tu ry o f c o n ta c t w ith E u ropeans. In subsequent c h a p te rs th e same them i s a n a ly se d in g r e a t e r d e t a i l i n r e l a t i o n s h i p to lo c a l o r g a n iz a tio n , la n d te n u r e , econom ics and p o litic s . I n c h a p te rs two to s ix th e i n v e s t ig a ti o n fo c u s e s upon lo c a l o rg a n iz a tio n and k in s h ip . The main q u e s tio n s d e a lt w ith a re as fo llo w s - th e e x te n t to which th e maximum c u l t u r a l and l i n g u i s t i c u n i t s form d i s c r e t e and re c o g n is a b le s o c ia l c a te g o r ie s (c h a p te r tw o ); th e ran g e o f v a r i a t i o n in p a r is h ( l a r g e s t p o l i t i c a l u n it) s tr u c t u r e and t h e e x te n t to which membership i s d e f i n i t i v e o r o p ta tiv e ( c h a p te r t h r e e ) ; th e d eg ree o f u n i l i n e a r i t y a s e x p re sse d i n th e id e o lo g y o f d e sc e n t ( c h a p te r f o u r ) ; th e r e l a t i v e em phasis p la c e d on in d iv id u a l a s a g a in s t group r i g h t s in r e s p e c t to p ro p e r ty , e s p e c ia ll y la n d (c h a p te r f i v e ) ; and th e e x te n t to which m a rria g e s a re a rra n g e d in accordan ce w ith group i n t e r e s t s (c h a p te r s i x ) . In c h a p te r seven I a n a ly s e two i n t e r - r e l a t e d a s p e c ts o f r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n ; male v e rs u s fe m a le, and sa c re d v e rs u s o rd in a ry re la tiv e s . The argum ent i s b ased on th e r e s u l t s o f an a s y e t u n p u b lish e d com parative a n a ly s is o f th e r e l a t i o n s h i p betw een th e 3 sexes throughout Melanesia. In this study I argue that there is a close correlation between the degree of social and ritual differentiation between men and women and the degree of unilinearity in descent, residence and inheritance. The most highly developed sex separation is found in those societies in which all or most of the male members of the parish form a single exogamous unilineal descent group. The Nduindui parish deviates from this ideal type in four respects - a certain amount of non-agnatic affiliation, the presence of more than one descent group, the possibility of marriage between semi-autonomous sections, and the degree of bilaterality recognised both in the dogma of descent and in the kinship terminology. I would therefore expect a modified version of the highly developed pattern of avoidance and separation found in the more orthodox unilineal societies. The evidence presented in chapter seven confirms this interpretation. In the second part of the chapter I argue that the ideology of male-female polarity underlies the distinction between sacred and ordinary relatives. The next two chapters deal with leadership and rank. In common with most Melanesian societies leadership is competitive and open to all men with the necessary ambition and ability. There are no hereditary offices, no positions of authority allocated solely on the basis of such fixed criteria as age or kin group seniority, and no age grades. The formal component in the authority structure is provided in a series of ranked titles. In chapter eight I 4 describe the traditional system associated with the sacrifice of pigs; in chapter nine the contemporary hierarchy of church titles. My primary aim is to assess the degree of rigidity imposed on an otherwise informal and loosely structured system of leadership by the formal requirements of achieving high rank. In chapter ten I attempt to penetrate more deeply into the dynamics of social relationships by employing a modified version of what Gluckman and his associates have termed the "extended case/ method". By analysing a series of connected events that occured in a cluster of neighbouring communities over a period of twenty-five years, I demonstrate how the size, internal structure and external relations of parishes constantly alter with the rise and fall of Outstanding leaders. In the final chapter I discuss three inter-related topics the historical background in social anthropology that has led to a recent emphasis on the loose or flexible aspects of social structure; the extent to which ecological and demographic factors determine or influence the primary structural characteristics of kin based societies with an agricultural economy; and the equation of unilinearity with rigidity and bilaterality with looseness. In a number of chapters, especially those dealing with land tenure, the relationship between the sexes and leadership, I of interpret the Uduindui data on the basis generalizations derived from a comparative analysis of other Melanesian societies, 5 -** * % - • - especially those in the northern Hew Hebrides. Though fully aware that such a procedure can be criticized on numerous grounds, especially the tentative nature of the correlations put forward, and the general undesirability of combining in a single work a descriptive and a comparative analysis, I chose to adopt it for two reasons - the necessity of making either explicit or implicit comparisons in a study concerned primarily with establishing the extent to which a specific structural attribute is characteristic of a given social system, and the almost complete absence of comparative studies based specifically on Melanesian societies. 1 In theory, I could have used either ideal models or representative examples drawn from other ethnographic areas. In practise, structural correlations can be best established when cultural, ecological and historical variables are reduced to a minimum. 1 ‘The one notable exception is Hogbin and Wedgwood's comparative study of local organization. See Hogbin, H. I. and Wedgwood, C. H. "Local Grouping in Melanesia", Oceania, Vol. XX111, Ho. 4 *