Trobrianders: Matrilineality And Kinship Patterns
Case Study Report #3 (Trobrianders: Matrilineality and kinship) When studying kinship, it is needless to say that just one type of society can justify for kinship patterns; rather, to be able to identify and understand the differences of kinship systems, one needs to study a society long enough to understand its culture and patterns. The Trobriander society has been used to represent different levels of social, cultural, and technological complexities. Trobrianders were horticulturists living in villages of up to 400 people. The Trobrianders live in some 80 villages whose populations range from 40 – 400 people. These villages are further divided into hamlets, and each hamlet consists of a matrilineage, or a dala (a group of men related
…show more content…
Since sexual activity before marriage is common, the couple has already been living together, and a marriage simply formalizes this existing relationship. The parents are in charge of choosing a spouse and sometimes arrange the matches. The Trobrianders belong under the term “exogamy” since they marry out of their own clan. In addition, the incest taboo applies to all close relatives, particularly brothers and sisters, who include all members of a matrilineage of the same generation. According to the Trobrianders, fathers are not related by kinship to their daughters (Weiner, pg.55). The best marriage for a man is to a woman from his father’s clan, because then his children, who will trace their descent from their mother, will be member of his father’s clan. There is no formal marriage ceremony; the girl simply overnights at her boyfriend’s house. In the morning, if the bride’s parents approve of the marriage, the mother will bring in yams for breakfast. Later, the groom’s father and maternal uncle begin collecting bridewealth (generally things of high value) to give to the wife’s kin and her father. The requirement of bridewealth makes young men dependent on members of their matrilineage. One reason men marry is to obtain yams. To them, yams are not just food but are valuable symbols or objects of wealth and are used as gifts to create and keep relationships among people. The amount and quality of yams stored
Since sexual activity before marriage is common, the couple has already been living together, and a marriage simply formalizes this existing relationship. The parents are in charge of choosing a spouse and sometimes arrange the matches. The Trobrianders belong under the term “exogamy” since they marry out of their own clan. In addition, the incest taboo applies to all close relatives, particularly brothers and sisters, who include all members of a matrilineage of the same generation. According to the Trobrianders, fathers are not related by kinship to their daughters (Weiner, pg.55). The best marriage for a man is to a woman from his father’s clan, because then his children, who will trace their descent from their mother, will be member of his father’s clan. There is no formal marriage ceremony; the girl simply overnights at her boyfriend’s house. In the morning, if the bride’s parents approve of the marriage, the mother will bring in yams for breakfast. Later, the groom’s father and maternal uncle begin collecting bridewealth (generally things of high value) to give to the wife’s kin and her father. The requirement of bridewealth makes young men dependent on members of their matrilineage. One reason men marry is to obtain yams. To them, yams are not just food but are valuable symbols or objects of wealth and are used as gifts to create and keep relationships among people. The amount and quality of yams stored