essay

Kinship and contiguity: variation in social alignments among the Semporna Bajau Laut

Societies of Borneo : explorations in the theory of cognatic social structure (6)Published In 1976 • Pages: 40-65

By: Sather, Clifford.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a discussion of how Sama-Bajau household heads establish enduring economic and political relations with other households and groups by drawing on both residence and cognatic ties as complementary principles of social organization. This strategy arises primarily from the recurrent movement of households and boat-dwelling groups between dispersal into fishing crews at sea to aggregation in a boathouse village at the shoreline. The presentation highlights a range of economic settings and cultural obligations where both neighborhood and kinship serve as important principles behind mutual aid and resource sharing. In emphasizing the complementarity of kinship and locality, the author criticizes earlier anthropologists for regarding them as separate principles of social organization.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Settlement patterns
Kin relationships
Kindreds and ramages
Bilineal kin groups
Community structure
Inter-community relations
Family relationships
Household
Extended families
Labor supply and employment
Mutual aid
Gift giving
Organized ceremonial
Visiting and hospitality
Functional and adaptational interpretations
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Sama-Bajau
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Asia
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southeast Asia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Anthropologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Teferi Abate Adem ; 2020
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1964-1965; 1974
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1964-1965
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Semporna district, Sabah, Malaysia
NotesAdditional notes
Clifford A. Sather
Includes bibliographical references
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
76378136
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Bajau (Southeast Asian people)