Kashinawa - Sociopolitical Organization



Social Organization. In addition to the moieties and marriage sections, the most fundamental unit in Kashinawa society is the village ( mae ). The ideal village, mae kuin, consists of two extended families related through the marriage of two male cross cousins who have exchanged sisters in marriage and whose sons have exchanged sisters in marriage, plus other kin who have attached themselves to this "atom of social organization." Ideally, the village is simultaneously the basic social, economic, and political unit in the society.

Political Organization. Kashinawa society is highly egalitarian. No person may give an order and be assured that it will be obeyed. Should the order be disregarded, there is little that one can do to get compliance. Cooperation is based on good will and conviction of the rightness of a person's expressed wishes. Although men express their superiority over women, women acknowledge men's right to formal control of politics and ritual but never give assent to male assertions of superiority. Men operate in the public sphere of ritual and politics; women control their households and economic activities. Each village has at least one man whose leadership is acknowledged because of his knowledge and skills. These headmen have no coercive authority; they lead by example and persuasion. Although linked by kinship, marriage, moieties, and marriage sections, villages are autonomous; there is no political organization that unites them.

Social Control. Social controls are largely informal. Norms of behavior are widely shared, and deviations from them result in rebukes (usually indirect), shaming, gossip, and ostracism. Parents often "look through" the misbehavior and tantrums of a child, acting as if the child is not there.

Conflict. Disputes are usually settled by close kin of the parties. Raised voices or resorts to physical violence are sources of great discomfort, and close kin immediately try to separate and cool down the parties and resolve the matter. Where such mediation does not work, the problem is discussed within the men's circle with advice from the women's circle sitting nearby. Myths are used as statements of "legal" precedents on such occasions. Traditionally, the Kashinawa raided other tribes to avenge deaths resulting from physical or magical attacks or to discourage encroachment into their hunting territories, but only those informants who were in their 50s in 1955 could remember such raids during their youth.


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