How Some Murngin Men Marry Ten Wives: The Marital Implications of Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Structures

Keen, Ian

doi:10.2307/2802037

Cited by 130 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…It compares reconstructions of disputation in precolonial Australia with materials on patterns of disputation over the postcolonial period. Precolonially, reconstructions agree that kinship terminologies across Australia were used to frame marriage claims, and involved a high level of disputation (Keen 1982;Merlan 1988). Given the prominence of kinship terminologies in marriage disputes, inconsistencies between and indeterminacies within terminologies were highlighted over time and more likely to be addressed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disputation, Kinship and Land Tenure in Western Arnhem Land

Harvey¹

2018

Skin, Kin and Clan: The Dynamics of Social Categories in Indigenous Australia

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disputation, Kinship and Land Tenure in Western Arnhem Land

Harvey¹

2018

Skin, Kin and Clan: The Dynamics of Social Categories in Indigenous Australia

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“…The marriage system of the Yolngu is exceptional in that it functions to allow polygyny on a grand scale; historically, some men accrued ten or more wives (Keen, 1982). Line ages of the grand polygynists had deep genealogies becau se a first wife would be decades older than her husband's youngest bride .…”

Section: Sansommentioning

confidence: 99%

The Brief Reach of History and the Limitation of Recall in Traditional Aboriginal Societies and Cultures

Sansom

2006

Oceania

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In nativ e title cases a judge mu st dete rmine the ex tent to which the curre nt practic es o f applicants for nati ve title relate to the pra ctices of their forebears at so vereignty. It is proposed that e vidence of the continuity and preservation of trad ition from the time of so vereignty must be derived from records and/or exper t opinion. Thi s is so because brief historica l recall is institu ted in Abo rigi nal soci eties and cultures and, therefore, Abor iginal witnesses cannot testify to cont inuities that belon g to wh at, for them , is time immemorial. Relevant observa tions are cited from the literature to establish the qu iddit ies of brief recall and the editing of historie s of deviati on. Ab original hunter-gathers are then compared with the peopl es of feuding co rporatio ns, blood -debt and the heritable grudge in order to answer the question: Why in Ab original Australia is there an instituted and rapid onset of temps perdu? 'Kn ow est thou it because thou wast then born ?Or becau se the number of thy days is great?' (Job, 38:21 -Auth orised version of the Bible )In this essay I address the backward reach of time in traditional Aboriginal societies and cultures .' My reason for embarking on this course is that the depth of Aboriginal recall is relevant to the nat ive title demand that a judge, as fact finde r, will determin e the extent to which the current practice s of the applicants in a native title case relate to the practic es of their forebears at sovere ignty. More particularly, on the authority of Yorta Yorta (HC ) as set out in Yulara (FC) at 192, the native title requirements are that:The claimed native title right s and interests had their orig in in the body of norm s or the normat ive system that existed before sovereignty;The laws and customs of the indigenous people that existed at sovereignty constituted a body of normative rules that could give rise (and did give rise) to interests in land; and The pre-sovereignty normative system has had a continuous existence and vitalit y since sovereignty.

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“…: 257-74). His conclusions brought together into an integrated framework his interpretation of kinship, marriage, group structure, and religious knowledge and practice, demonstrating that the organisation of Yolngu religion enables age-related polygyny, a complex bundle of themes further explored in his oftcited article 'How Some Murngin Men Marry Ten Wives' (Keen 1982).…”

Section: Foreword Nicolas Petersonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strings of Connectedness: Essays in honour of Ian Keen

Toner¹

2015

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How Some Murngin Men Marry Ten Wives: The Marital Implications of Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Structures

Cited by 130 publications

References 0 publications

Disputation, Kinship and Land Tenure in Western Arnhem Land

Disputation, Kinship and Land Tenure in Western Arnhem Land

The Brief Reach of History and the Limitation of Recall in Traditional Aboriginal Societies and Cultures

Strings of Connectedness: Essays in honour of Ian Keen

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