[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]
1
l.
t.
1

KINSHIP ORGANIZATION IN SOUTH-WEST 81
Ti-re RIGHTS AND Dumas or RELATIVES
In general it may be said that the individual family in South-
West Malekula is essentially patripotwtal, though the mother’s
brother plays an important part in the earlier years of a child’s
life. The situation was summed up by one of the informants
thus : “ Father he strong too much,â€ù indicating this by showing
the full length of a ï¬Ånger, " mother and father's sister strong
little bit,â€ù illustrating this by showing a part of the ï¬Ånger only,
“ metmm (mother's brother) he no strong too much, he close up
mother.â€ù
The Father and M other (teta and amo)
. We have unfortunately no records at all concerning the
socially approved modes of behaviour of the father and mother
to their offspring. It is true that all the evidence goes to show
that the father has authority over his children, but we know
nothing further of his social and emotional relations with them.
During his life-time he apparently takes all economic responsi~
bility for them, providing his sons with gardens and pigs as they
grow to man's estate; at his death all his property goes to his
sons. _ - It seems too that children continue to regard their parents’
dwelling-house as their home until they marry —though from an
early age the boys sleep in the men's club-house~but it does
som/etimes happen, for what reasons we are not told, that a
young man will construct a house for himself and go to live there
while he is still single.
What part the mother plays in the daily lives oi her children,
other than bearing and suckling them, is again not recorded.
This ignorance of the behaviour of parents and children towards
each other is unfortunate, for these are the earliest social contacts
which an individual makes, and as such they affect him in
his relations with other members of his community throughout
his life,
The Mothefs Brother (metm/zn]
The relations between a man and his sister's son are those of
reciprocal helpfulness, but the nephew also shows a certain
G