From Sisters to Wives and 'Slaves'

Abstract

■ This article explores the interconnected historical processes of the redefinition of matriliny and the progressive loss, between 1885 and 1955, of the authority exercised by Lakeside Tonga women. Primarily based in a re-reading of the work of J. van Velsen, it details the adoption by the Tonga of practices such as bridewealth and virilocal residence that are more commonly associated with patrilineal groups, and analyzes their impact on the role of women as sisters and mothers. It contrasts the standing of a sister with that of a wife, and identifies the migrant labor system as the primary reason why Tonga women and their hus bands' kin came to conceive of the position of a wife as roughly analogous to that of a slave. It argues that this designation furnishes evidence for the declining status of women as a whole within Tonga society during this time.