2-1. Food Foragers, Hunting and Gathering, and ‘Insulting the Meat’ and Egalitarianism
Food Foragers
Food foragers are essentially ‘in tune’ with their environment such that they have developed the senses and the skills to forage for food. Foragers survive by fishing, hunting, and gathering edible plants in their surroundings. Since foraging not only requires skill but also shared efforts among people in the community. For this reason, foragers were the ones that put together the fabric of ‘community’. “It was as foragers that we became truly human, acquiring the basic habits of dealing with one another and with the world around us that still guide the behaviour of individuals, communities, and nations today” (Haviland et al. 2013: 102). Foraging became a means to build or establish a sense of community among the people. Furthermore, the behaviour of foragers, particularly their system in hunting and gathering food contributed to the establishment of more formal food production systems. Hence, based on the contributions of foragers to contemporary food production, we may characterise this group as having a shared, systematic or disciplined manner of producing food for the community.
Foragers also exercised responsibility then when it comes to harvesting. People then were highly aware of patterns that affect produce from the environment such as famine. As a result, they harvested and gathered enough food supply to provide for their needs even during famine. Some groups were also knowledgeable about land and agriculture as most of them chose to settle in environments with lush vegetation. In terms of health, foragers were healthy because of what they eat. In addition, the lesser hours spent foraging for food contribute to their overall wellness. Unlike people in the modern world, foragers such as the Ju/’hoansi only worked around 23 hours per week. People then had more time to spend with their family. Hence, foragers lived in communities where they can balance their family life and work life. Foragers lives are “rich in human warmth and aesthetic experience, displaying a balance of work, love, ritual, and play that many of us might envy” (Haviland et al. 2013: 102).
Mobility and Technology. Foragers are similar to nomads in that they move from one place to another within a fixed territory to look for available and adequate sources of food. Other foragers move from one place to another following available sources of water. Weather is also a factor that affects mobility such that foragers move from one place to another based on the seasons. Usually, people communed during seasons when food was abundant. In terms of technology, foragers created tools that would help them gather food such as nets and bows and arrows for catching and maiming animals.
Group size. The group size among foragers largely depended on
Often, foragers would limit their group size to small families – for instance, 7 to 30 families, and fewer than 100 people – so they would have enough food for people in the community. Another reason why they kept their groups small was to avoid conflict, which often arose due to limited food sources. In times of overpopulation, groups encouraged some members to join other group of foragers to limit their population.
Division of labour. Men did heavy labour including hunting, butchering animals and preparing them for consumption, and other difficult or challenging tasks. Women, on the other hand, gathered food including fruits and vegetables, and did domestic work such as taking care of children. Nonetheless, men and women share responsibilities such as preparing the meat for cooking and consumption.
Food sharing. Men and women share their food with one another. Women can choose whomever to share the food they gathered with. Men, on the other hand, may share the meat they hunted but they need to follow rules when it comes to sharing such as the amount of meat that they share with others. Sharing was also a form of social currency then such that the man who shares meat with others may claim part of other men’s hunt in the future.
Hunting and Gathering among the Dobe Ju/’hoansi
Among the Dobe Ju/’hoansi, hunters and gatherers use different tools to collect food. Women, for instance, used karosses to gather food. Karosses are bags made of cloth that women tie on their bodies while they picked food. The Ju/’hoansi women are highly knowledgeable about plants and they know which flowers or leaves are edible and inedible. Aside from the karosses, the women use digging sticks to gather food especially bulbs and roots, and other types of receptacles to contain food (Lee 2012: 46). Women with children also bring the latter while they gather. Hence, they also carry baby slings with them while gathering. For men who hunt, they use carrying nets to trap animals and carrying yoke to gather killed game and meat (Lee 2012: 47). Men also use different kinds of tools to hunt and kill animals such as bow and arrow, knife, spear, hooks, and ropes (Lee 2012: 53). At present, the Dobe have trucks they use to transport food to their communities.
The Dobe Ju/’hoansi employ four different techniques to hunt. First, men use bow and poisoned arrows to incapacitate animals. Second, men bring dogs to assist them in hunting. Third, men hunt animals that burrow underground. They use long poles that they can hook from end to end within the burrow. Fourth, hunters lure animals and trap them using snares (Lee 2012: 53).
‘Insulting the Meat’ and Egalitarianism
‘Insulting the meat’ refers to a practice among the Dobe Ju/hoansi to maintain egalitarianism. Naturally, men who come home bearing game or meat would brag about it. Nonetheless, they believe that modesty is important to maintain egalitarianism. Hence, the other men ‘insult the meat’ so to speak to remind the hunter to remain modest. The hunter must then respond by demeaning himself in order to make up for boasting earlier. Reminding one another to remain modest is important to maintain egalitarianism because it builds the value of camaraderie among the men. Men remind hunters that instead of focusing on their individual successes, they must contribute their skills and efforts for social growth (Lee 2012: 57).
2-2 Reciprocity, Redistribution, and Market Exchange, and the Ju/’hoansi’s hxaro System
Reciprocity, Redistribution, and Market Exchange
Reciprocity. Reciprocity refers to the exchange of goods or services that are of equal value (Haviland 2013: 131). Inviting people to a party with the expectation that the one who invited first will be invited by his or her guests in future parties is an example of reciprocity. Three examples of reciprocity are as follows: generalised reciprocity, balanced reciprocity, and negative reciprocity. Hunter-gatherer communities prevalently practise generalised reciprocity. When a man brings home game, he shares meat with others with the expectation that when they hunt game, they will also share the meat with others (Haviland 2013: 132). Balanced reciprocity is unlike generalized reciprocity such that it does not involve a long-term exchange. On the contrary, balanced reciprocity is a specific exchange of goods and services. The nature of this exchange will then affect the relationship and would determine whether the social relationship between two parties would continue. An example of balanced reciprocity is paying for an individual’s food when the latter paid for the former’s food at an earlier date. Hence, the exchange is specific to favours, goods or services received at one point (Haviland 2013: 132). Negative reciprocity, on the other hand, refers to an exchange whereby one of two parties attempts to receive better goods or services than the other party. Both parties’ interests are in conflict with one another, which is why it interferes with the exchange. An example of negative reciprocity is when one of the parties takes goods or services by force or by thieving (Haviland 2013: 132).
Redistribution. Redistribution is the process of distributing surplus to the common people. The best example of redistribution is the process of collecting and utilizing taxes. A central government collects taxes from all people. A percentage of taxes will then be redistributed to the entire population through goods or services that the masses would benefit from. For redistribution to occur, communities must have central governments to control the collection of taxes and other goods or services for redistribution and the distribution of these commodities or taxes (Haviland 2013: 135).
Market exchange. Market exchange refers to the process of buying and selling goods or services. Hence, market exchange follows a system where there are suppliers of these goods and services. Suppliers are then in charge of setting the prices or costs of these goods and services. Various factors influence costing or pricing such as loyalties and the value of goods or services not only in terms of the material but also the labour and the nature or quality of commodities. If there are suppliers in market exchange, there are also buyers. In this exchange, buyers use money to purchase goods and services (Haviland 2013: 138).
The Ju/’hoansi’s Hxaro System
The hxaro system is a practice among the Ju/’hoansi that helps the community manage violence and maintain harmony among the people. While the Ju/’hoansi maintain harmony within the community through various ways such as joking around, they also employ the hxaro system, which is a practice of gift exchange. “The Ju/’hoan system of gift exchange, called hxaro, is a far-reaching and ingenious mechanism for circulating goods, lubricating social relations, and maintaining ecological balance” (Lee 2012: 131). Aside from averting conflict, the hxaro system is also another way of reducing risk (Lee 2012: 131). The gift exchange is unlike other forms of exchange where the giver expects the same amount or quality of goods and services from the receiver. Moreover, the hxaro system does not require an immediate exchange or return of received goods and services. If an individual gives another person something, the receiver will then return any amount of goods or services in due time. “The key to understanding hxaro is that, unlike our system of economic value, which is primarily about the exchange of goods and services for money, the Ju/’hoan system is primarily about social relations and the goods themselves are of secondary importance” (Lee 2012: 131). For this reason, the exchange need not involve goods and services of the same amount.
Among the Ju/’hoan, the hxaro system is most prevalent among husbands and wives, as well as among members of the family. Various practices within the family follow the hxaro system. Before the wedding ceremony, for instance, families exchange gifts. By exchanging or giving gifts within the family, they can maintain their resources and minimise risk of losing wealth. Hence, among Ju/’hoan families, gifts include valuable items such as jewellery, necklaces, and other expensive or valuable objects. Aside from exchanges within the family, hxaro is also practiced when people visit other places. When guests arrive, they practice the hxaro system by giving gifts to their hosts as a form of gratitude. The hxaro system is also a means of continuing or fuelling social interactions. Through hxaro, the Ju/’hoan not only return gifts given to them beforehand but also offer new gifts that would enact the succeeding exchange. In this way, social interaction or transaction continues between two parties (Lee 2012: 133).
2-3 Forms of Marriage, Marriage Exchanges, and Role of Marriage in Managing Conflict and Alliances
Forms of Marriage
Monogamy. Monogamy is a form of marriage where an individual has a single spouse (Haviland 2013: 161). Although most monogamous marriages may be attributed to moral or ethical principles, it is essentially for economic reasons (Haviland 2013: 161). It is more practical to maintain socio-economic status if an individual is married to one person. On the contrary, it would be more expensive to support a household if men or women married many wives or husbands.
Polygyny. Polygyny is a form of marriage where a man has multiple wives. In some instances, polygyny is intrinsic to culture. Among the Kapauku in New Guinea, for instance, men are encouraged to have as many wives as they can. As long as a man has money to pay as bride price, his wife expects him to marry other women. Polygyny is most common in hunter-gatherer communities where households or families survive by raising crops (Haviland 2013: 161). Polygyny worked well in these communities because women were expected to contribute to the household. Hence, having more wives in the household means economic prosperity in the sense that there are many people in the family that contribute to domestic duties. Despite the practice of polygyny in some cultures, it is illegal in most states or countries that oblige monogamy among married couples. In pastoral communities, polygyny also contributes to economic growth in the household. A man would marry a younger woman from ‘women unions’ would gain wealth through marriage in the form of cattle owned by the woman (Haviland 2013: 161).
Polyandry. Polyandry is a form of marriage where a woman simultaneously marries two or more men (Haviland 2013: 163). While monogamy is common and accepted as norm in society and polygyny is still practiced in various cultures, polyandry is less common. In some instances, polyandry is a means to preserve wealth within the family. An example of this is polyandry practiced in Tibet where brothers that inherited land married the same woman to avoid the distribution of land to other people. In this way, they can maintain their properties within the family (Haviland 2013: 163).
Marriage Exchanges
Bridewealth. Bridewealth, which is also known as bride-price, is an example of a marriage exchange. Before the wedding ceremony, the man must pay bridewealth or bride-price to the woman’s family. This marriage exchange is common in patrilocal families where women are expected to stay with the man’s family after the wedding ceremony. The man must pay bridewealth because his soon-to-be-wife will be contributing to the man’s household. As payment for the woman’s contribution to the household, the man must pay bridewealth. In some cultures, if the couple separates,
Bride service. Bride service is another form of marriage exchange where the groom works for the bride’s family before the wedding ceremony.
Dowry. Dowry is a marriage exchange most common in agricultural communities in within Eurasia. If bridewealth is the groom’s payment for the bride, the dowry is the bride’s family’s payment to the groom’s family. In some cultures, the dowry presented to the groom’s family becomes the husband’s property. The husband then may control the dowry instead of the bride. The bride’s family gives dowry to the groom primarily as a means to ensure that the woman would be supported even after divorce. In some cultures, the husband controls the properties and finances in the family. After divorce, the husband would then gain control of all properties. Nonetheless, the woman would have a source of income through the dowry (Haviland 2013: 169).
Role of Marriage in Managing Conflict and Alliances
The Ju/’hoansi arrange marriages after a child is born. The parents agree to marry their children. While the children grow up, both families participate or engage in gift exchanges for years until the marriage ceremony (Lee 2012: 86). The boy’s family initiates the arrangement and they approach the girl’s family to ask for permission. The arranged marriage largely depends on the approval of the girl’s family. The Ju/’hoansi value marriage ceremonies. When families agree to marry their children, it is important that both parties honor their agreement. Non-agreement would lead to conflicts and even violent outcomes such as homicide. Due to these possible unfortunate outcomes, it is important that families honor their vows and agreements. While issues concerning arranged marriages could be a source of conflict, it could also perpetuate alliance. When two individuals marry, their families bond together. In this situation, the marriage contributes to alliances within the community because both families achieve social security by bonding and supporting one another. Both families can share their resources such as food and work together to improve their socio-economic status.
