[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]
160 MALEKULA - theoretically, prevents marriage with any Woman in the district and this impossible situation is met by the practice, similar to that of Seniang, of making payment of a pig (it is not recorded to whom) and so “ wiping out " the kinship term. It is probably safe to assume that in Lambumbu also the range of terms is very wide, and that a similar ritual payment is made to prevent unions from being, technically, incestuous. Geographical proximity, also, restricts a man’s selection. If a member of one clan comes t0 live in the village of another, then these two clans are regarded as being deï¬Ånitely united and their members are considered to stand in a relation practically equivalent to that of clan kinship towards each other. Their children will also be thus allied and marriage between them is therefore held to be incestuous. For example, a man of Bonggor came to live in the village of Metenesel in Lagalag district, where he settled down; his daughter was regarded for purposes of marriage as a woman of both Bonggor and Metenesel, and her husband is recognized as having aï¬Åinal relatives in both these villages.‘ A widow is usually taken by her husband's younger brother or by her husband’s sister's son. Whether such a remarriage is compulsory, or how far the man can evade his responsibilities towards the widow, or the woman can refuse to enter into the new union, is not recorded. Sometimes a woman will kill herself on her husband's death, as did Vwitar Melmel of Vanarop, who thrust arrows into herself and died of the wounds, after the death of her husband Tolili of Lowag; but this does not seem to be a recognized practice. The Ritual of Marriage In this district two types of marriage must be distinguished ; that in which the girl is a bride for the ï¬Årst time ; and that of a man with a widow or woman who has left her husband. When a girl has reached maturity, a man who has seen her in the daily run of events, working in the gardens or sitting about, may feel a strong desire for her “in his intestines â€ù. i It is not clear from this illustration whether all the people of Bonggor and Metenesel became united in clanship through the one man of Bonggor settling in the latter village, or only the descendants of this man. From the general statement given above it would seem that the former was the case.- C. H. W. FF
