﻿520 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  basis 
  of 
  wealth. 
  Despotism 
  in 
  government 
  and 
  marked 
  inequality 
  in 
  

   property 
  ownership 
  are 
  in 
  nearly 
  all 
  cases 
  traceable 
  to 
  "higher 
  

   civilization." 
  

  

  In 
  most 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  islands, 
  the 
  only 
  important 
  social 
  unit 
  besides 
  

   the 
  community 
  is 
  the 
  family, 
  or 
  rather 
  the 
  extended 
  family, 
  for 
  the 
  

   Indonesians 
  lay 
  more 
  emphasis 
  on 
  the 
  remoter 
  degrees 
  of 
  kinship 
  than 
  

   do 
  Europeans 
  and 
  Americans. 
  The 
  majority 
  of 
  the 
  tribes 
  reckon 
  re- 
  

   lationship 
  on 
  both 
  the 
  maternal 
  and 
  the 
  paternal 
  sides, 
  as 
  we 
  do 
  ; 
  but 
  

   in 
  certain 
  groups 
  either 
  the 
  female 
  or 
  the 
  male 
  lineage 
  determines 
  a 
  

   person's 
  family 
  membership. 
  Throughout 
  Java, 
  Borneo, 
  and 
  Celebes, 
  

   the 
  bilateral 
  type 
  of 
  family 
  prevails; 
  but 
  in 
  most 
  of 
  Sumatra, 
  the 
  

   Lesser 
  Sundas, 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  Moluccas, 
  either 
  matrilineal 
  or 
  patri- 
  

   lineal 
  kinship 
  schemes 
  predominate. 
  The 
  kind 
  of 
  relationship 
  sys- 
  

   tem 
  that 
  a 
  tribe 
  employs 
  determines 
  the 
  marriage 
  rules. 
  Thus, 
  while 
  

   all 
  groups 
  taboo 
  primary 
  incest 
  (marriage 
  with 
  parents 
  or 
  brothers 
  

   or 
  sisters), 
  those 
  with 
  the 
  "mother 
  family" 
  extend 
  the 
  prohibition 
  of 
  

   marriage 
  to 
  quite 
  distant 
  degrees 
  of 
  relationship 
  on 
  the 
  mother's 
  side, 
  

   but 
  may 
  allow 
  even 
  first-cousin 
  marriage 
  if 
  the 
  parties 
  are 
  connected 
  

   by 
  way 
  of 
  their 
  fathers. 
  Exactly 
  opposite 
  rules 
  apply 
  in 
  groups 
  

   with 
  the 
  "father 
  family." 
  In 
  parts 
  of 
  Sumatra 
  and 
  in 
  some 
  islands 
  

   of 
  eastern 
  Indonesia, 
  matrilineal 
  and 
  patrilineal 
  systems 
  of 
  kinship 
  

   become 
  vastly 
  elaborated 
  by 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  clans. 
  Where 
  this 
  

   occurs 
  in 
  a 
  patrilineal 
  tribe, 
  the 
  taboo 
  on 
  marriage 
  applies 
  to 
  all 
  mem- 
  

   bers 
  of 
  the 
  father's 
  clan, 
  no 
  matter 
  how 
  distantly 
  related; 
  while 
  in 
  

   matrilineal 
  tribes 
  all 
  persons 
  in 
  the 
  mother's 
  clan 
  are 
  forbidden 
  as 
  

   mates. 
  Generally, 
  also, 
  the 
  mode 
  of 
  reckoning 
  descent 
  governs 
  place 
  

   of 
  residence 
  after 
  marriage 
  — 
  i. 
  e., 
  with 
  the 
  wife's 
  or 
  the 
  husband's 
  

   people 
  — 
  although 
  in 
  many 
  bilateral 
  kinship 
  areas, 
  notably 
  Borneo 
  

   and 
  Celebes, 
  even 
  though 
  male 
  relationship 
  is 
  considered 
  as 
  important 
  

   as 
  female, 
  a 
  married 
  couple 
  nearly 
  always 
  reside 
  among 
  the 
  wife's 
  

   people. 
  

  

  In 
  eastern 
  Sumbawa, 
  Flores, 
  and 
  the 
  Alor-Solor 
  Islands, 
  totemism, 
  

   or 
  belief 
  in 
  the 
  descent 
  of 
  clans 
  from 
  animals 
  or 
  plants, 
  occurs; 
  and 
  

   in 
  some 
  districts 
  here 
  the 
  clans 
  are 
  grouped 
  in 
  marriage 
  classes, 
  with 
  

   complicated 
  rules 
  of 
  intergroup 
  mating, 
  a 
  pattern 
  strikingly 
  remi- 
  

   niscent 
  of 
  certain 
  New 
  Guinea, 
  Melanesian, 
  and 
  Australian 
  social 
  

   systems. 
  

  

  NATIVE 
  RELIGION 
  

  

  Indonesian 
  native 
  religion 
  rests 
  basically 
  upon 
  three 
  partly 
  over- 
  

   lapping 
  and 
  partly 
  independent 
  sets 
  of 
  concepts, 
  i. 
  e., 
  beliefs 
  con- 
  

   cerning 
  magical 
  power, 
  spirits 
  of 
  various 
  kinds, 
  and 
  the 
  ghosts 
  of 
  the 
  

   dead. 
  Even 
  where 
  Hinduism, 
  and 
  later 
  Mohammedanism 
  and 
  Christi- 
  

   anity, 
  have 
  affected 
  the 
  beliefs 
  and 
  practices 
  of 
  the 
  people, 
  the 
  ancient 
  

  

  