Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables
- List of figures
- Preface
- Map of tribal locations in Australia
- 1 Preliminary considerations
- 2 Types and varieties
- 3 Pitjantjara
- 4 Kariera–like systems
- 5 Nyulnyul and Mardudhunera
- 6 Karadjeri
- 7 Arabana
- 8 Yir Yoront and Murngin
- 9 Walbiri and Dieri
- 10 Ngarinyin
- 11 An overview
- 12 Kin classification and section systems
- 13 Variation in subsection systems
- 14 Kinship and the social order
- Notes
- References
- Indexes
13 - Variation in subsection systems
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables
- List of figures
- Preface
- Map of tribal locations in Australia
- 1 Preliminary considerations
- 2 Types and varieties
- 3 Pitjantjara
- 4 Kariera–like systems
- 5 Nyulnyul and Mardudhunera
- 6 Karadjeri
- 7 Arabana
- 8 Yir Yoront and Murngin
- 9 Walbiri and Dieri
- 10 Ngarinyin
- 11 An overview
- 12 Kin classification and section systems
- 13 Variation in subsection systems
- 14 Kinship and the social order
- Notes
- References
- Indexes
Summary
It seems probable that section and subsection systems originated in, at most, one or two places and diffused widely across the continent (Elkin 1970). They were adopted by many peoples whose systems of kin classification already contained the superclasses that provided the basis for the development of such systems. Presumably these peoples had little difficulty in understanding the systems and their articulation with systems of kin classification. But these systems were adopted also by many peoples whose systems of kin classification did not contain the appropriate superclasses and who were therefore not cognitively prepared to understand and use these systems with ease. These peoples sometimes modified the section or subsection systems or their systems of kin classification, or both, in efforts to make the two systems more congruent with one another. As a consequence, in a number of Australian societies the relationships between the structures of the systems of kin classification and the structures of the section or sub-section systems are not the same as indicated in Chapter 12. Of course, these cases do not constitute evidence against the argument of Chapter 12. Indeed, the interpretation presented there permits us to see more clearly the nature of the problems that different peoples encountered (depending on the structures of their systems of kin classification) in making these adjustments, and to account for the alterations they made. To demonstrate this, we may consider the Murinbata, Gunwinggu, and Murngin, all of whom only recently adopted the subsection system.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Australian Kin Classification , pp. 481 - 503Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1978