Bibi King, Ina Cici, Jup Grewal

CHAPTER 5: MARRIAGE AND THE POLITICS OF YAMS

Social Organization

AUTHORITY AND THE EXERCISE OF POWER

Power

  • Every generation, one man who is the head of the matrilineage controls the land in which they live, until his death, as his younger brother takes his place, followed by his youngest sister’s oldest son.
  • The wife has the right to make certain decisions regarding marriage, if she wants to divorce her husband; she is allowed to do so.
  • Chiefdom is important to the Trobrianders, and it is usually only the chiefs who practice polygyny, while other clan members practice monogamy
  • A man can become politically significant in Trobriand society if he:

              - has support from wife’s relatives; thus                                   demonstrating the important role of the                                wife’s family

            - has a large yam production

status

  • The largest yams were painted with white and black paint, reserved for the chief’s wife
  • Relationship of gardener and the owner’s husband  is evident through yam production, exchange and how the gardener is repaid
  • Social status is dependant on the exchange of yams because the yam house is reflective of one’s position in society

Formal and Informal Political Systems

What marks the beginning of a marriage?

  • When the marriage between two individuals is announced, the wife’s parents bring cooked yams, followed by a large presentation of raw yams delivered by the wife’s father and mother’s brother.
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What happens in the “trial year” of a marriage?

  • The trial year is the first year of the marriage when the couple stay with the husband’s family
  • The husband’s mother cooks yams for the couple the entire year. Husband and wife eat yams together.

What happens after the trial year?

  • Husband and wife cannot show their affection in public and do not eat together again

ADAPTATION AND ECONOMIC DISTRIBUTION

Systems of production

  • Yam gardens owned by women
  • Use the slash and burn technique of cultivation
  • Cultivated yams are not owned by the man who ...

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