Social origins Author:Andrew Lang Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 85 CHAPTER II THE CLASS SYSTEM Under this name appear to be blended, (1) the prohibition to marry within a division, which, in its simplest form, is sai... more »d to cut the tribe into two' classes' or' phratries,' or ' groups ;'l (2) the prohibition to marry within the totem name ; (3) the prohibition to marry within the generation, and within certain recognised degrees (' classes,' ' sections') of real or inferred kinship—' too near flesh,' too close consanguinity, which, in their present condition, many Australian tribes undoubtedly regard as a bar to matrimony. But it does not follow that they originally held this opinion. We shall first examine what authorities who differ from me, call the great' bisection' of the tribe, into, say, Matthurie and Kirarawa, members of which must intermarry, the totem prohibition also remaining in force. It will here be suggested, in accordance with what has already been said, but contrary to general opinion, that the totemic prohibition is earlier than the prohibition of marriage between persons of the same segment of the ' bisection.' The opinions of most students appear, at present, to be divided thus. We hear that: 1. The exogamous division into two moieties, or ' phratries,' is earlier than the division of each into numerous totem kins. The totem kins are regarded as later ' subdivisions ' of, or additions to, the two ' original' moieties. 2. Totem groups are earlier than the ' bisection ' (thoughsomehow, according to the same authors, the two moieties of the bisection bore totem names), but, before the ' bisection,' these totem groups were not exogamot1s. They only became exogamous when six of them, say, were arranged in one of the two moieties (phratries), now forbidden to marry, and another six in the other. 1 Apparently, amo...« less