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Chapter Three. Phases of Life |
| caption: |
exchanges of gifts creates cohesive society |
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The system of ceremonial gift exchange stabilized the cohesion of a village community by creating numerous economic links between individual families, clans, and morungs, and it also served to strengthen the position of a wife in her husband's family, for the gifts received gave her the feeling that she was valued by her natal family and could, if necessary, rely on the support of her agnatic kinsmen. |
