Samal - Marriage and Family

Marriage. Marriage between kindred is preferred, provided partners are close to the same age. Marriage may be parentally arranged, often with the help of a go-between, or be initiated by elopement or, less often, abduction. In the case of elopement, either a couple may place themselves under the protection of a village headman or other local leader, or the woman may act on her own, going to the house of a village headman or other local leader and there declaring her intention to marry a particular suitor. In all cases bride-wealth is paid. In the case of abduction, the groom may be required to pay an additional fine. Weddings typically occasion the largest gathering of kindred and neighbors of any life-cycle rite. An imam or a group of paki (religious officials) officiate, witnessing the ceremony and confirming the transfer of bride-wealth, designated by the bride's father. The couple live for at least the first three or four days with the bride's family. After that they are expected to visit the groom's parents; they may either remain there or return to the woman's family. Most couples are expected to set up their own household by the second or third year of marriage. There is some preference that new households be located near the wife's relatives, with the result that clusters are commonly formed around a core of closely related women. Polygyny is allowed but is most infrequent. The frequency of divorce varies; for some Sama groups it is described as common, while for others it is relatively infrequent. There is some evidence that its frequency is highest for polygynous unions, somewhat high for arranged marriages, and lowest for elopement. Little stigma attaches to divorce, and remarriage is relatively easy for both partners.

Domestic Unit. The primary domestic unit consists of those who eat together and share a common hearth, a group normally coterminous with the household. Most domestic groups consist of a stem or nuclear family often augmented by several additional kin, and occasionally comprised of more than one married couple (normally, married siblings with their spouses and children). Houses are individually owned and the house's owner is usually acknowledged as the household head.

Inheritance. Inheritance is bilateral, with each child, regardless of sex, entitled to a share of its parents' property. The Sama distinguish between property acquired in the course of a marriage and that inherited independently, to which the owner's husband or wife has no claim.

Socialization. Children tend to be highly valued and for the first six or seven years are made to assume few responsibilities. Preadolescent children undergo a ritual haircutting ( maggunting ) and weighing ceremony. Boys are circumcised at puberty, whereas girls undergo a form of partial clitoridectomy between the ages of 2 and 6. At adolescence some children are taught to recite from the Quran, either under the guidance of a personal tutor or through attendance at special Quranic schools. Those who complete instruction demonstrate their proficiency in a public reading ( magtammat ), at which both they and their instructor are honored. Following puberty, girls are usually kept close to home, where they are expected to help with housework and child care; boys are allowed greater freedom of movement, accompanying their fathers when they go fishing and marketing. Today most children attend public school, although few complete more than primary education.