The Sections System



Each member of the Mantharta language speaking group was assigned at birth to a number of socially defined categories. These categories include the four term section system and the patrilineally inherited totemic class system.

Mantharta language speakers had a four term section system which they shared with other coastal groups in the Gascoyne-Ashburton region (related systems are found in the Pilbara and neighbouring desert regions. Each person is assigned a section at birth. The sections are exogamous, which means a person must always marry outside their own section, and one’s section is always different from that of one’s parents.

Section assignment may be calculated from the following diagram. These section names are also referred to as skin names.

 

Jiwarli Sections System


So for example, a karimarra man marries a panaka woman and their children are palyarri. The male children will then be required to marry purungu women and will have karimarra children.

The female children will marry purungu men and have panaka children. Also panaka men marry karimarra women and have purungu children.

Inherent in the section system is three sets of dual organisation contrasts:

  1. Matrimoieties — comprising mother-child sets, namely "karimarra" and "purungu" as one matrimoiety and "panaka" and "palyarri" as the other.

  2. Patrimoieties — comprising father-child sets, namely "karimarra" and "palyarri" as one patrimoiety and "panaka" and "purungu" as the other.

  3. Merged alternate generation levels — comprising members of one generation level plus those an even number above or below it, namely "karimarra" and "panaka" as one generation level, and "purungu" and "palyarri" as the other.


The section system and the underlying dualities (apart from matrimoieties) play an important role in many aspects of social life, including marriage and descent rules.

Marriage is restricted to certain categories by the kinship system. The section system is socio-centric, while the kinship system is an egocentrically defined network of relationships. Patrimoieties and merged generation levels are important organising principles in aspects of social and ritual organisation.




 

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