from which he is ousted by the rightful heir at his father's death. This type of marriage differs from the ordinary one also in that the husband comes to live in his wife's community. Cross-cousin marriage is thus matrilocal in contradistinction to the ordinary patrilocal usage.[1]
The obvious and natural solution, therefore, of the chief's difficulty is to marry his son to his niece or grand-niece. Usually all parties benefit by the transaction. The chief and his son get what they want; the chief's niece marries the most influential man in the village, and in so doing confirms this influence; and an alliance is established between the son of the chief and his lawful heirs which frustrates the potential rivalry between them. The girl's brother cannot oppose the marriage, because of the taboo (see ch. xiii, sec. 6); nor, as it is contracted in the chief's son's infancy, would he normally be in a position to do so.
5
matrimonial alliances in a chief's family
Whenever there is a possibility of it, a cross-cousin marriage will always be arranged, a fact which is well illustrated in the family of To'uluwa (see the adjacent pedigree).
When Namwana Guya'u, the eldest son of To'uluwa's favourite and most aristocratic wife, was born, there was no marriageable girl available for him in his father's
- ↑ I think that any man could settle in his wife's community if he wished. But by doing so, he would both degrade himself and suffer disabilities. A chief's son, however, is an exception owing to his position in the village and his vested interests.
