Marriage Practices Research Papers Examples

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Tiwi Culture – Sociopolitical Organization and Subsistence Strategy
The Tiwi Aboriginal people resided in Australia during the eighteenth century and defined themselves as we are the only people. Tiwi was divided into different groups where the groups consisted of an entire family making a band. The Tiwi people had the concept of the patrilineal society – that means the family was headed by the male figure such as father, uncle, brother, husband. Hence, the marriage could be arranged by either the female’s brother or father, she would never be married within the same band, and mostly fathers arranged the wedding of their daughter as they were born or the birth was expected of a child (Kirk, p.2).
The subsistence strategy of Tiwi focused upon foraging in the bush, along the shore and near the sea, fishing and hunting. Once the European began to settle, the Tiwi people were offered and became employed in different jobs that were related to health, education, settlement of life, government, and community services. Even though, each community has a basic shop where food and other items can be purchased, but the Tiwi focused upon foraging and hunting skills. Tiwi made up most of their weekly diet with native foods and preferred fresh food rather than the store bought foods (Kirk, p.2).

Yurok Culture – Sociopolitical Organization and Subsistence Strategy

The Yurok mainly settled on the northwest California coast. In the Yurok society, the wealthy also known as aristocrats can be clearly distinguished from the poor people. The rich people focused on clothing, performance of religious functions and had a different way to speak. Since they were wealthy, they could focus on regal food, dance sessions,, etc.. There was no major political unit at Yurok, unlike the Tiwi that had kins and kinship. At Yurok, there were no leaders and chiefs except that people gained importance due to their wealth. Unlike the Tiwi’s, Yurok could marry anyone and were not bound to marry outside the band and with the permission of the male family members who made the final decision. The social status of the married couple depended how much amount was paid for the bride (Kirk, p.3).
The subsistence strategy of Yoruk tribe focused on fishing mainly and then hunting. The main food source was salmon and with the help of specially built harpoons and nets, the Yoruk gathered a large number of salmon and stored them. The Yoruk are considered to be free people, and the village was open for all (Kirk, p.4).

Roma Culture – Sociopolitical Organization and Subsistence Strategy

The Roma culture, mostly lived in the European culture, and they were a diverse group of people. Like the Tiwi culture, the authority remained with the husband or father within the family and the group was made of about ten families with a nucleus of married brothers. Like the Yoruk culture, the marriage decision was kind of liberal but was not strict like that of Tiwi culture. The Roma’s married through elopement and after which the consent must be given by both the families. In this situation, the violent feuds might speak out as even though there were no formal exchange units, but still it was preferred that marriage be practiced in one nucleus of married brothers to follow the same kinship (Beate, 2010).
The subsistence strategy of Roma culture was that they avoided salaried jobs in order to keep control of what they could do with their time. They tend to invest in more than one activity at a time, for example, the sale of services, sale of goods, sale of labor to the non-Romans. They worked as Smiths repairing or making the tools that were used for the agricultural purposes (Beate, 2010).

Work Cited

Beate Winkler Change Perceptions: Living in an inclusive society with Roma together, (Sept.2010), Vienna, p.2. http://www.beate-winkler.net/dateien/change-perceptions.pdf
Kirk, Sylvia Van Marrying-In to Marrying-Out, Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, Vol. 23: No.2,pp.2-4.