Sister's Daughter Marriage among the Pemon

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine place of with both actual and classificatory sisterts daughter in overall patterning of Pemon marriages, and to explain its implications for principles underlying Pemon behavior. An analysis of Pemon marriages reveals a continuum of affinal obligation on part of groom, from a maximum in cases of a WF to whom groom is not genealogically related to a minimum in those cases (the actual or classiScatory ZD unions) where groom and his WF are related as brothers-in-law. The actual and classihcatory ZD unions will be seen to be interior end of a continuum of affinal obligation marrying close means a minimum of afEnal obligation while marrying distant means a maximum of affinal obligation. The occurrence of with daughter is rather widely reported in lowland South America. Lowie (I949: 3I7) states: the institution flourishes among Barama Carib, Macushi, Galibi, Tamanac, Island Carib} Wapishana, Jivaro, Mundurucu, Nambicuara, and Tupi-Cawahib. In addition to those societies mentioned by Lowie, Watson (I952) infers possibility of such a union among aboriginal Cayua from existing terminological equations. An examination of Tukuna terminology reported by Nimuendaju (I952) reveals equation of ZD with FZS(D), MBD(S), Grandson, and Granddaughter, and at least implies with daughter. Most recently we have Riviere's (I969) study of institutionalization of daughter among Carib-speaking Trio of Surinam. Riviere (I969: 28I) describes conditions under which daughter may be, but is not necessarily, found: Features which one would expect to find present are an ideology of direct exchange, patrilineal descent or absence of any firm rule of unilineal descent, and informal ordering of society along lines of kinship (consanguinity and affinity). He goes on to suggest that daughter may be a matter of how any particular society conceptualizes and perhaps symbolizes its own boundaries. Riviere has gone to considerable lengths to present argument that Trio conceptions of inside and outside are related to daughter form. However, Riviere's use of term sister's daughter marriage refers to a union in which, from male point of view, female is a member of a category that includes actual ZD. He is concerned with all oblique marriages between persons in a specific category relationship. Out of a total of 92