In this paper Siriono myth and ritual are interpreted with a model o f Siriono social structure. Whereas other students o f the Siriono have noted their lack o f sociability and have even suggested that their culture is incoherent, the present approach suggests that social exchange among the Siriono is a total social fact, but one that focuses on a peculiar relationship between men and women within a kinship idiom o f parallel descent and matrilateral cross-cousin marriage.