「ヒキ」の分析--奄美双系社会の血縁組織

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The concept of hiki employed by the Amami Islanders, reveals an interesting example of kinship system in a bilateral society.The data of this essay has been collected by myself in Amami Oshima in September-October 1963.Hiki is a set of kin traced bilaterally through both parents.Theoretically ego is a member of four kinds of hiki (cognatic stocks): e. g. those of father's father, of father's mother, of mother's father, and mother's mother.Then after his/her marriage, another set of hiki through the spouse is added, thus making altogether eight hiki.The hiki of the spouse is normally differentiated in terms of en-biki (affinal hiki) from ego's real hiki.The ancestor of each hiki group is normally found at the level of grand-grandparent (either male or female depending on individual cases).For example, father's father's hiki may mean all descendants (through both male and female) of father's father's mother (or father), including the latter's siblings and their descendants.Thus the termination is set ambilaterally.The best example of a hiki composition is shown by the genealogy of Mr. Ijiro Ohara (Genealogy A, B, C, D, E, F and G, attached at the end of the essay: and the key tothe Genealogy is shown in the Diagram II, page 123.).In theory ego has eight kinds of hiki groups, but in reality the number may become less than eight (as seven in Ijiro's case).The following two reasons may be found: one is that a grand parent or grand-grandparent would be an immigrant from the Main Island of Japan, through whom the genealogy is not traceable; and another it that marriages often occur among the members of the same hiki.A hiki is not an exogamous group: marriage is possible between both cross- and parallel-cousins.Owing to the high frequency of marriages among the local people, the majority of one's village people are the members of either ego's hiki or/and en-biki; and those whom one cannot establish any such relations are called chuu or tanin (strangers).The plurarity of hiki to which ego belongs, theoretically sets difficulty for each hiki group to act as an exclusive descent group.In actuality, the function of a hiki as a group differes according to individual cases.One particular hiki may act as a group, taking care of a local shrine, or having a common graveyard, for example, but in such a case, the group may not include the hiki members who reside in other villages.On the part of ego, who may belong to four hiki groups through his parents, one of them would have some functional activites as a group, but other three may remain simply on the level of recognition of the genealogical relations.In general, A particular hiki does not form a functional descent group such as of landholding like in the case of hapu of the Maori described by Raymond Firth.The function of hiki is rather found as a kind of sociological registration of the people, and its network sets a certain basis of social activites.When a man travels, it is his hiki members who offer him meals and accomodation.Also a marriage contract between members of different villages occurs through the channels of hiki relations.The succession of the noro (holy woman), normally one to a village, is confined in the women of a particular hiki.Overlapped with the hiki, there are kindred called kyodee, the range of which is normally set by second cousins, and includes also spouses of ego's siblings, and their siblings.It is the kyodee who assemble on important occasions such as weddings and funerals, and also who render the first help when required.In cotrast to the kyodee, all hiki members rarely assemble together.Closer hiki members to the ego are at the same time ego's kyodee.Hence distant hiki members tend to be ignored in daily life.In actual socio-economic activities, it is the village community, not the hiki which plays the most mportant role as a constant functional group.
東京大学東洋文化研究所,The Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyoの論文

「ヒキ」の分析--奄美双系社会の血縁組織

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東京大学東洋文化研究所,The Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo | 論文

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