Until the 1950's, Dutch anthropologists studying Indonesia generally
supported the hypothesis that double descent and asymmetric connubium
were 'inextricably related to each other in a single structure' [DE
JOSSELIN DE .TONG 1984: 243]. Subsequent studies on eastern Indonesia
have, however, made this hypothesis questionable. Van Wouden's
research report on Kodi, west Sumba [vAN WOUDEN 1977], one of the
earliest empirical assessments of the hypothesis, has been of lasting
significance to studies on eastern Indonesia. He 'chose Kodi as the site
for his research precisely because it offered a prime example of a system
of double descent' [Fox 1980: 5]. Nevertheless, the fieldwork revealed
to him that Kodi, unlike eastern Sumba and Tanimbar, does not have a
system of asymmetric connubium. Hence, he could only reach a conclusion
which was almost the reverse of the aforementioned hypothesis. In
east Sumba and Tanimbar 'a system of unilateral circulating connubium
underwent a remarkable development, but at the cost of double descent.
In Kodi, exactly the opposite happened. There are no fixed marriage arrangements,
but the bilineal principle has been developed to an unusual
extent, at least in Indonesia' [vAN WOUDEN 1977: 218-219].
It is not impossible, however, that double descent and asymmetric
alliance coexist in one society. The case of the Lionese of central Flores
clearly shows that double descent and asymmetric alliance can coexist in
and animal-like `attribute' which derived from their totems and has been
transmitted through the matrilineal line of descent.
The wild plant metaphors are not often used in everyday life; their
use is limited to some clearly demarcated social contexts: funeral
ceremonies, obligatory payments of liwu eko (gold ornaments and
animals such as water buffaloes, horses and pigs) to a 'trunk root', and
the pronouncement of a curse by a `trunk root'. There can be many
reasons for a `trunk root' to curse his `branch twig', but the most common
one is that his `branch twig' or the wife-taking group to which the
`branch twig' belongs has not paid the liwu eko, even after repeated requests
by the `trunk root'.
As previously stated, the relationship between a mother's brother
and his sister's children is conceptualized as that between the giver and
taker of `life' which is compared to cultivated plants. To sustain this
relationship, the `branch twig' must yield to the demands of the `trunk
root' for payment of liwu eko. By doing so, the `branch twig' is provided
with `prosperity' (rezeki, Indonesian) by the `trunk root'. This `prosperity',
however, is described in the same series of couplets that are also
used to pray for a good harvest. Thus the matrilineal relation with the
`trunk root' is, by the payment of liwu eko, temporarily transformed into
a relation of affinal alliance which enables the patrilineal line of descent
to perpetuate itself. And the members of the wife-taking group
cooperate mutually to transform its members' matrilineal relation into a
relation of affinal alliance by participating in the payments of liwu eko.
As Fox has pointed out, in many eastern Indonesian societies,
`alliance [...] is concerned with the transmission of life. [...] This "flow
of life" is synonymous with the transmission of a woman's blood, the
vital fluid that, united with semen, produces the human person' [Fox
1980: 12]. However, this vital fluid provided by the wife- (or husband-)
giver is not necessarily different from what is transmitted through the
patrilineal (or matrilineal) line of descent. For instance, in Tana 'Ai
where, unlike among the surrounding peoples, matriclanship has
developed to a great extent, `both parents are viewed as contributing
blood to the child, but the distinctions made in most conversation with
regard to the discrimination of paternal and maternal bloods are a matter
of social classification and not physiology [LEwis 1988: 258]. Furthermore,
Barnes clarifies patrilineal descent among the Kedang as
follows: `What lies behind the Kedang conception of patirilineal descent
is the common tie to some woman. Agnatic ties are based on shared
blood originally acquired from another group' [BARNES 1980: 79; cf.
BARNES 1974: 248]. Similarly, in Tana Lise, `cultivated plants' provid-
ed by the wife-giver are identified vaguely with the 'blood' transmitted
through the patrilineal line of descent. Considering that, as among the
Kedang, a system of asymmetric prescriptive alliance exists in Tana Lise,
this system does not require the qualitative difference between what is
provided by the wife- (or husband-) giver and what is transmitted
through the patrilineal (or matrilineal) line of descent. In Tana Lise,
however, what is passed through the matrilineal line of descent sharply
contrasts with what is transmitted through the patrilineal line of descent,
and this complementary contrast between the two types of descent bears
a striking resemblance to the complementarity of matrilineal and
patrilineal descent in Kodi.
The systems of double descent in Kodi and Tana Lise are almost
identical in that they are based on the complementary opposition between
'wild (or natural) ' as 'origin' and 'tame (or cultural) ' as its
transformed `derivation'. Furthermore, both in Kodi and Tana Lise,
the 'life' provided by the 'wild' realm is conceptualized by the metaphor
of 'bitterness', and matrilineal descent is conceived as the main source of
the 'life' enabling the patrilineal lines of descent to perpetuate
themselves. However, in spite of these similarities in their systems of
double descent, Tana Lise has a system of asymmetric prescriptive
alliance and Kodi does not. This suggests that double descent and asymmetric
prescriptive alliance are mutually independent social facts. It
seems that among the various types of systems, in which social organization
is related to the complementary opposition between the 'wild' and
the 'tame' widespread in eastern Indonesian societies, the systems of double
descent in Tana Ilse and Kodi are of the same type.
二種類の植物隠喩 : リオ族における二重出自と非対称縁組
KH_018_2_001.pdf
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