Structure and Process in a Melanesian Society by A.H. Carrier J.G. Carrier

Author:A.H. Carrier, J.G. Carrier [A.H. Carrier, J.G. Carrier]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Anthropology, General
ISBN: 9781136643439
Google: cKsa3t7rUmkC
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2012-10-12T05:44:12+00:00

CEREMONIAL EXCHANGE IN THE 1920S

The general outline of exchange in the early part of this century, like the outline of the 1980s that we described in chapter 3, included exchanges between the kin of husband and wife that were concerned specifically with the institution of marriage, and it included exchanges between an individual’s maternal kin and tamatus that were concerned with individual life crises. It should be remembered, however, that during the 1920s these individual-oriented exchanges were not the only important form of exchange, as they were in the 1980s. Prestations organised by kamals — the men’s-house-raisings and lapan prestations — were equally important, if not more.

AFFINAL EXCHANGE IN THE 1920S

Figure 19 lists the affinal prestations that were commonly made in the 1920s.5 Of these, only the first two, the engagement and marriage prestation, were made by almost everyone. In order to make an engagement a boy had to have a father or patron wealthy enough to attract the prospective bride’s father and father’s sisters; in order for the boy to marry, the groom’s family had to have built and equipped a house for his bride and clearly be capable of sponsoring the wedding feasts. For the groom’s family to be willing to go through with the marriage, the bride’s family had to be similarly capable of bearing their share of the wedding feasts. Weddings varied considerably, from the expensive ceremonies of the wealthy to the more minimal ceremonies of the poor. But it was virtually unknown for couples to marry without any ceremony at all (as did happen with some regularity in the 1980s). After the marriage had taken place, however, prestations were more or less optional. People could not legitimately fight or sue (in the colonial courts) for later gifts. People made prestations when they could afford to do so and skipped them when they could not. Families that did not make prestations were of low repute, and might find it hard to marry off future children without becoming dependents of others, but they did not lose their wives or children through this failure.

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