Nguna - Marriage and Family

Marriage. In the past most marriages were arranged, uniting couples in a reciprocal system of sister exchange, the preferential spouse being a cross cousin. While there still may be some pressure to marry in particular ways, especially where the groom is expected to succeed to a high chiefly position, people assert that today they "marry for love." The past custom of polygamy, of course, was terminated with the adoption of Christianity. Nonetheless, weddings, following which the couple resides patrilocally, are one of the major social activities with which people concern themselves today, with substantial resources being amassed by the groom's relatives to provide a bride-price. For the Ngunese this does not constitute a payment for the woman; rather, the money and other valuables are gifts expressing gratitude and commitment to the relatives of the new bride on the part of the groom and his relatives. It is also true, however, that the size of the monetary portion of the bride-price, set at a very low figure by Reverend Milne, has escalated dramatically in recent years. Moreover, this sum varies substantially depending on the natal origin of the bride-to-be and the existing relationship that pertains Between the families concerned.

Domestic Unit. The nuclear or extended family is the basic residential unit. Villages tend to be subdivided by the use of hedges, low fences, or stone borders to demarcate separate compounds, each of which is comprised of a couple's home and those of their married sons. This agnatic cluster supplies most labor required by any of the householders within it, beyond that which wife and husband can do together.

Inheritance. Land rights and personal possessions are Inherited by both females and males; the latter, however, Typically inherit substantially more land rights than do the former. In addition, a son (especially the firstborn) will more often inherit his parents' home since daughters usually leave their natal village upon marrying. Use rights regarding trees belong to the person who plants the tree without regard to who owns the land beneath it, and so these rights are inherited in the same way as are personal possessions. Coconut trees, however, being slow to mature but generating cash for decades thereafter, stimulate people to make longer-term claims to ownership of the land beneath them.

Socialization. Child-rearing practices shift as children age, becoming more demanding and likely to involve both verbal ridicule and mild physical punishment after a child reaches school age. Until then few behaviors elicit a strong response from adults, with the exception of a child's stinginess or refusal to share food or toys with other children. Intellectual and moral maturation are taken to be natural processes that develop with age and cannot be taught or instilled.