...Btsisi MY NAME Instructor: MINE ANT101: Cultural Anthropology Sunday July 30, 2012 THE BTSISI’ Whenever the word “kinshp” is used, many of us think of family or a relative. Kinship is defined as a relationship by blood in the dictionary. In a nuclear family there is a mother a father and their children. The nuclear family is also said to be the most common family type. “The nuclear family is most common because, in a foraging setting, it is adaptive to various situations Nowak, B. (2010).” Another type of family grouping is the multifamily which are individuals who reside in the same area. These multifamily groupings are typically ranging between 25 to 50 people to be the optimal size. These multifamily groupings are also referred to as “bands”. The band size is varying based upon the carrying capacity of the environment. “Bands are typically composed of a group of related nuclear families. Sometimes the bands are composed of a few extended families each consisting of a nuclear family with married children, their spouses, and offspring. Such a band composition works best in terms of cooperation and sharing. (Nowak, B.,2010)”. Sororal polygany is when a man marries a group of sisters. Polygyny is stated to create a scarcity of eligible women for marriage because of one man marrying the grouping of the sisters. In some cases the girls are already promised to men before they are even born into existence. Polygyny makes it possible for a 12-year old to potentially...
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...Btsisi' In the Btsisi' village, they tradition is to practice exogamy, meaning the bride and groom comes from different villages. Once the Btsisi' gets married, the newlywed couple first lives matrilocally and then patrilocally. Both side parents want to make sure that the child-in-law is behaving properly in his or her new role. Once they are ready to build a house, they usually reside uxorilocally on a land that belongs to the bride's family. Cooperation between the Btsisi' husband and wife is a cultural value, at the wedding , male elders let the newlyweds know that they are no longer individuals but, is now a team that have to work together. (Nowak, 2008). There is a Sexual Division of labor, however in most cases, it is acceptable for a man to help his wife cook or a woman wants to go fishing or hunting. There is no limits to what they can do together because, Btsisi' nuclear goes off for extended periods of time on their own, husbands and wives must assist each other to get everything done. (Horticultural Societies, Cast stud 4.5, P 51). When the family go on their fishing trips the couple work together to pull nets, also pulling crab traps. Husband and wives work jointly to clear, plant, and harvest their swiddens. The cooperation in their relationship is very strong that they won't let each other go alone to work, they prefer to go with their spouse, who is also their best friend The Btsisi' believe that if their spouse is not their "best friend", they should divorce...
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...Btsisi Culture William Carson ANT 101 Jennifer Hotzman December 19, 2012 Btsisi Culture Kinship involves how people classify each other, the rules that affect people's behavior, and people's actual behavior. Among horticultural communities, the extended family, a family composed of at least three generations including grandparents, parents, and children, and possibly married siblings and their spouses and children is most common and adaptive. The extended family has to be large because they need to produce more adult labor for building and farming. If the extended family is not large enough to successfully accomplish the labor tasks larger kin groups, called descent groups, are required. Descent groups are very common in horticultural societies. Lineage is an extended family who can trace their kin relationship through blood and marriage ties to an actual, known ancestor. Descent groups can be organized into clans. Clans are people who come from an actual or putative genealogical connection to an unknown ancestor and might share a name. Clans are called patriclans or matriclans depending on if it is based on the father's or the mother's line. Descent groups determine rights to property, including land, animals, hunting and fishing territories, and even knowledge. A family can gain access to land for cultivation based on membership in a descent group. When Btsisi marry, the bride and groom are from different villages. After the marriage the couple...
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...Btsisi Culture The Btsisi’ tribes are cousin to the Semai; a South Aslian speaking people, who reside along the mangrove coasts of the Kelang and Kuala Langat Districts of Selangor, West Malaysia. Numbering approximately two thousand (RASHID 1995, 9), Btsisi' are unique among Aslian peoples for their coastal location and for their geographic separation from other Austro-Asiatic Mon-Khmer speakers. Btsisi', like other Aslian peoples have encountered historically aggressive and sometimes deadly hostility from Austronesia. Among Btsisi’, there are no economic specialists, but there are some people with more skill than others. Some women (and a few men) enjoy weaving mats and designing intricate patterns; others do not. Some men learn from their fathers how to carve wood and enjoy these artisan experiences; others do not. Among Btsisi’ there are two traditional leadership positions: Penghulu’ and Batin; but they have little authority over their community. Batin are leaders involved with intravillage affairs such as marital and neighbor disputes, whereas Penghulu’ are involved with intervillage relations. In all villages, men hold the positions of Batin and Penghulu’. Btsisi’ elders are clear that a woman can become a Batin; in the olden days, there were female Batin. However, in order to hold such a position, they need to learn customary law and to speak halus meaning in a soft, courteous way and be able to sway people’s opinions. Btsisi’ women say they are no longer interested...
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...Btsisi Kinship Elizabeth Safady Ashford University Anthropology Instructor Reeves March 11, 2013 The Btsisi kinship in horticultural, in otherwords, they culitvate to produce their own food. Marriage in the Btsisi culture is arranged by the elders in the community. Marriage is extremely important, as it helps form alliances and create firm relationships not only outside the community, but inside as well. The Btsis society is made up of bands. Each band consists of a nuclear family and an extended family. The nuclear family is made up of the mother, father, and children. The extended family is made up of the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and others. This type of living is the reason for such coalition and sharing among families. The ability of the band and individuals to work together greatly is what the survival of this culture depends on. In the Btsisi culture, their kinship has the roles divided between men and women, but not nearly as strict as other societies such as foraging societies. Women traditonally care for the home, finances, and children, while the men handle things such as heavy lifting and business that is not in the village. The couple is instructed about the proper duties as husband and wife during their wedding ceremony. This is so important because married couples are the solid structure of the Btsisi society. Husband and wife consider their spouse to be best friends, and they form a self-sufficient and cooperative team. The main practice of the...
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...diversity of cultures of people from different places around the world, there exist conflicts due to differences if one culture is imposing its will to the other The Btsisi are considered a horticultural society. Horticultural societies were those that produced food. Unlike the Foraging society who collected wild grains and animals as their first stage of food production, “horticulturalists differ from foragers in their dependence on domesticated plants for most of their food energy. Horticulturalists may still collect wild foods and hunt even as they cultivate, but by and large their sustenance depends on domesticated plants.” (Nowak & Laird, 2010). “Btsisi' traditionally practice village exogamy; in other words, the bride and groom come from different villages” (Nowak & Laird, 2010).They do not practice polygamy or the marrying of kin. “Btsisi' say that upon marriage a newly married couple should first live matrilocally and then patrilocally” (Nowak & Laird, 2010).This is to provide the parents of the bride and groom some self assurance that the marriage to their newly son or daughter in-law was acceptable. “Once established as a couple, when they are ready to build a house, they usually reside uxorilocally on land belonging to the bride's family” (Nowak & Laird, 2010). The Btsisi practiced balanced reciprocity more so than general reciprocity. Balanced Reciprocity is the exchanging of food or any other item with the notion of that same...
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