Abstract
INHERITANCE FEES.—In Man for May, Mr. J. P. Driberg directs attention to an element in primitive marriage which appears to have escaped general observation, namely, the inheritance fees or dues paid by an inheritor of a widow to the responsible members of her family. Such a fee has been found to be compulsory among three unrelated peoples,—the Lango of Uganda, and the Dedinga and Bari of the Sudan. Among the Lango a widow is normally inherited by a brother of the deceased or by his sister's son, in either case a bull being payable to the woman's family. She is differentiated from the wives by being called an inherited wife. Among the Dedinga the deceased's brother pays the fee and calls the children his own, but if a sister's son or mother's sister's son inherits the widow the son pays the fee and claims any children of the new marriage. Among the Bari, when a sister's son inherits, the fee is paid from the estate and the children belong to the estate. This seems an anomalous custom, as the bride's family had already received the full price from the original husband. It arises from an intention of making clear the economic and social status of the children of the new marriage. Marriage is not regarded as completed until the birth of the first child. The bride may not be called a wife till then. Sometimes she only lives in the bachelor's hut until the child is born. In the case of a divorce the bride price is returned and the children go with the mother; but the father, even after years, may recover the children on payment of the “heifer of upkeep” to the family of the girl or her new husband. Among the Bari, if a marriage takes place without payment of the bride price, the wife's family take all the bride price paid at the marriage of the first daughter of the union. If there is no daughter the family keeps a son until he is ransomed.
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Research Items. Nature 123, 924–926 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/123924a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/123924a0