Ata Tana 'Ai - Marriage and Family

Marriage. Marriage is monogamous with the exception of the tana pu'an, the "source of the domain," who is permitted more than one wife. Marriage is not marked ritually and, unlike the practices of neighboring peoples, the Ata Tana 'Ai do not exchange bride-wealth and counterprestations on the occasion of a marriage. The lepo are the exogamous alliance contracting groups of Tana 'Ai society. Residence is initially with the woman's mother; after the births of children, a couple normally opens its own garden and thereafter resides independently. There is no formal means of divorce. The dissolution of a liaison is most frequently initiated by the husband, who signals his desire by leaving his wife's house.

Domestic Unit. The domestic unit is the mobo, which is a lifetime garden house in which most families reside. A mobo consists of a woman, her unmarried and recently married children, her husband, and, occasionally, infirm parents or husband's parents who are not attached to a clan-branch house.

Inheritance. Land and ceremonial wealth are transmitted from mother and mother's sisters to daughters and sister's daughters within the lepo. Because these resources are held corporately by the lepo, there is no inheritance, in the strict sense of the term, of these resources. Domestic animals, textiles, and personal possessions are inherited by a woman's sisters and daughters. Coconut palms, areca, and fruit trees planted by a man in his lifetime are divided among his children and sisters' children. A man's personal possessions (horses, spears, bows and arrows, and knives) are distributed among his mé pu (children and sisters' children) on the occasion of his second-stage mortuary rite.

Socialization. Responsibility for child rearing is exercised by women and men within the lepo, with parents sharing primary responsibility. Young children frequently spend time in the households of their mother's sisters and brothers and in the lepo of their clan or clan-branch, where they are cared for by the senior woman of the group. Children are generally treated indulgently and are reprimanded verbally. The practice of strict discipline in both state and Catholic primary schools is, in Tana 'Ai, increasingly at odds with the traditional indulgence with which the community treats its children.