Lecture Week 6

Prof. Dwight ReadAnthropology 131

In Group , Out GroupFor their to be an in-group, there must be an out-group,That is, a conceptual structure of opposition.

persons

Group Other

Phenomenological

Property A Not Property A

Ideational

persons

Group

Property A

Opposition

• Can express opposition with “not”: X has property A, Y does not have property A

• Some semantically labeled oppositions arise from the nature of things: day/night, man/woman (not day = night, not man = woman)

• Some oppositions are constructed when “not A” is diffuse and not specific: good/evil (many ways to be “not good”), boss/worker

Constructed Opposition

Concept: “Us”

Property A

Property B

Concept “Other” Property not A

Property not B

Concept “Not Us”(diffuse)

Us Them

Property AProperty B

Property not AProperty not B

Link Oppositions by Analogy

B/~BA/~A

B

~B

::A

~A

A

~A

B

~B

Exampleman/woman nature/culture

or

woman : man :: nature : culture

man : woman :: nature : culture

man woman

nature culture

Waorani (Ecuador)

Waorani“the people”

Cowodeoutsiderscannibals

kill on sight

Binary opposition

Waranirelation not known

Guirinanirelation known

sharegeneralized reciprocity

quimarriageablecross cousins

“consanguines”not marriageableparallel cousins

arrange marriages

Egalitarian (no political positions)

• Situational leadership (no recognized leadership position)

• Individual responsibility • Individual autonomy (including children)

-- individual can’t be forced to do what he or she does not want to do

Male/Female Opposition

Waorani“the people”

MaleHunt

Fell treesClear garden plots“revenge” killing

Yaede waepo‘pregnant father’

Taboos:Cannot touch poison

Keep ‘pregnant-causing’ penis and urine out of fishing streams

FemaleGather

Carry waterGardenweeding

Food preparation

Pregnancy taboos:Cannot make poisons for fishing

Patrilineal Descent GroupReference male

Patrilineal Descent Group: All persons who can trace back to reference male through father links

Matrilineal Descent GroupReference female

Matrilineal Descent Group: All persons who can trace back to reference female through mother links

Descent Groups

• Social unit composed of several families• Corporate Group -- own resources in

common• Corporate authority is vested in males• Care and upbringing of children

assigned to women• Usually exogamous marriage

Family Formation (Patrilineal Groups)

Patrilineal Descent Groups

authority

Family Formation (Matrilineal Groups)

Matrilineal Descent Groups

authority

Patrilineal Lineages• Residence: Typically, patrilineal lineages are

patrilocal• Inheritance: Sons inherit from fathers (daughters do

not inherit)• Consistent system in terms of lineage structure and

authority (within generation), residence (spatial location) and inheritance (across generation)

• Husband + wife is the smallest reproductive unit and the smallest possible lineage unit; it is easy to form new lineages

Patrilineal Lineages (cont’d)

• In-marrying wife is “alienated” from her natal group; she may not have any close relatives in her new group

• She is initially in a subordinate position, but gains authority through her sons and their in marrying wives (she has authority over her daughter-in-laws)

• In terms of gender sexual identity, a woman tends to be seen as providing the “fertile ground” on which the male seed may grow

Matrilineal Lineages• Residence: No typical pattern• Inheritance: Sons inherit from mother’s brother

(daughters do not inherit)• Not a consistent system in terms of lineage structure

and authority (within generation), residence (spatial location) and inheritance (across generation)

• Husband + wife + wife’s brother is the smallest possible lineage unit; it is more difficult to form new lineages

Matrilineal Lineages (cont’d)

• Female --> wife: she is not “alienated” from her natal group;

• Husband is in subordinate position, in terms of family structure and lineage authority

• In terms of gender sexual identity, a woman tends to be seen as the source of fertility and of life, male role is downplayed

Matrilineal Lineages: Issue of Authority

=

Wife’s lineage

Husband’s lineage

Reference ancestress

=

Authority

?

Male Authority

• Male has authority over children by virtue of being the father (genitor)

• Male has authority over children by virtue of lineage membership (lineage based authority)

• Patrilineages: a singe male may exercise both kinds of authority

• Matrilineage: authority is potentially split between two males: genitor and mother’s brother

Conflict Resolution and Feuds

• Resolve conflict through close kinship relations (ostracization)

• Factions (distant kin) can lead to feuds• Feud are with the qui group (potential affines)• Feud began around 1900, continued until

1958 (41% of deaths due to feud killings)• Feud involves four hostile groups

Beginning of Hierarchy: 1958 - 1978

waorani

missionaries

Dove (female)

Gatekeepers

Kin ties

marriage

Resources: western goods, markets, jobs, medicine

Quichua

Alternative cultureSocial institutions

Religious ideology

cowode