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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 12 



The informant is thus related, by either blood or 

 marriage, to most persons in the village and sur- 

 rounding area. In other words, there are few in- 

 dividuals in the community who are not related 

 either by blood or marriage to everyone else. 



There exists no tradition of "family reunions" 

 similar to those occasionally held in the United 

 States, especially in the rural areas. Members of 

 the same family who live in different parts of the 

 community, however, sometimes come together, at 

 irregular intervals, rarely all at the same time. 

 Occasionally parents, for instance, may have their 

 married children and gi-andchildren with them 

 at such times as Holy Week. 



The family is the center of the affectional life 

 of the individual, affording him a set of social 

 relations which usually are of a highly satisfying 

 character. The various members of the immedi- 

 ate family collaborate in the production of food, 

 the arrangement of shelter, and the manufacture 

 of simple articles for daily use. Cooking, wash- 

 ing clothes, sewing, and similar activities carried 

 on by the different members of the family further 

 make this institution an effective economic unit. 



The family is also a source of security for the 

 individual. It affords him sustenance and at least 

 the necessities of physical comfort, during the 

 early years of life. As he grows older, this pro- 

 tection is gradually extended to the entire round of 

 his social relations. The family tends to support 

 him in any difficulty he may experience in ac- 

 commodating himself to other persons in the com- 

 munity or elsewhere, and especially at times of 

 crisis in these relationships. If necessary, the 

 family serves as a hospital and asylum. If the 

 individual becomes ill, other members of the fam- 

 ily look after him. When he is too old longer to 

 provide for his needs, the family succors him. If 

 he becomes "queer" or insane, the family sees that 

 at least his minimum daily wants are supplied so 

 that he does not have to go to a public institution. 



The protection given by the family to the child 

 tends to extend throughout life. Grown children, 

 even after being married and having families of 

 their own, sometimes live in economic dependence 

 upon the father. In a few cases, as has been in- 

 dicated, married sons occupy the same farm as 

 their father, they and their children collaborating 

 in common tasks under the direction of the father 

 (and grandfather). In the village, an elderly 



man, himself unable to do other than the lightest 

 tasks by reason of his age, oversees the work, on 

 his several farm properties, of his grown children, 

 five of whom are over 30 years of age. There are 

 also numerous cases of sons who, even after they 

 are married and have set up homes of their own, 

 depend upon their parents, especially the father, 

 for guidance in their social behavior, as well as the 

 making of decisions regarding their lives and 

 those of their children. One commonly hears a 

 married man say, "I'm going to talk it over with 

 father; if he thinks it should be done, I'll do it." 

 Although, in each of the cases cited, the father is a 

 competent man, vigorous and strong-willed, the 

 expectation is that even in those cases where the 

 father may be less competent than his sons, they 

 will listen to his advice and show him every con- 

 sideration. 



The round of interaction which proceeds daily 

 within the family group is the principal means by 

 which knowledge and skills are transmitted from 

 the older to the newer generation. The father and 

 mother ordinarily are the principal agents in this 

 process. In most cases, however, brothers and 

 sisters and, in many cases, aunts, uncles, cousins, 

 grandfathers and grandmothers, play decided 

 roles. Together with the members of other fam- 

 ilies with whom the individual is in contact, these 

 persons constitute a far more effective means of 

 cultural transmission than the local educational or 

 ecclesiastical functionaries. The family is also an 

 effective means of inculcating discipline in the 

 child. Even grown sons, married and with chil- 

 dren of their own, have been observed to be taken 

 to task, sometimes in the presence of persons out- 

 side the familj^, for lapses in conduct prescribed in 

 the local mores. 



A considerable portion of what limited recre- 

 ational experience the individual enjoys is afforded 

 by the family, especially in the case of the women 

 and girls. The means are ordinarily simple and 

 consist principally in conversation, the telling of 

 anecdotes and tales and, in the case of the children, 

 in play with brothers and sisters. There is rarely 

 instrumental music in the home and no singing. 



Property is owned by the individual; not by 

 the family. No family has a special prerogative 

 to exercise any specific occupational function to 

 the exclusion of other families, the skills for which 

 are handed down from generation to generation. 



