1. The historical background and social setting -- 2. Paternal relations -- 3. Maternal relations -- 4. Affinal relations -- 5. Wrong marriages and changes in relationships -- 6. Classes and totems -- 7. Subsection membership and identity -- 8. Through the mother and through the father -- 9. The marriage dispute of Ian James and Evelyn Peters part I -- 10. The marriage dispute of Ian James and Evelyn Peters part II -- 11. Bestowal : fathers and mothers -- 12. Marriage arrangements and disputes -- 13. Conclusions
Summary
"This intellectual tour de force combines dense ethnography about Australian kinship and marriage - the heart of their world - with major anthropological debate about theories of kinship. It thereby provides a unique and important contribution to kinship studies." "McKnight shows how young Aborigines became increasingly determined to marry according to their own inclinations, defying the authority of the elders, who accused them of 'going the Whiteman's Way'."--BOOK JACKET
Analysis
Aboriginal Australians - Ethnic identity
Aboriginal Australians - Kinship
Aboriginal Australians - Marriage customs and rites
