permit a random ‘compounding of forces which, everywhere ele, Seem only destined to mutual exclusion because oftheir contradictory bends (viStrauss 19830104), It is, rater, the explcit and Aerial aration of mutually implicating contrasive socal forms, Nor isthe house set 2 Lind of monsirous cid, bor inthe world of kinship, transigured by dhe world ofthe wasket, and trovermed by the forces of an evoluonary logic extemal to it. Kei Father, an integral form governed by process that have ther own, Fmteral logic. I'T have called these proceses the generalization and, parislasiation of relations, and the concentration and dispersal of falue, that are. productive of a Werarchical order of society, “Tanignbarese would cal them the forces that anchor th source fie sand those that fone is growth ad extension HOUSES, PLACES AND PEOPLE: COMMUNITY AND ‘CONTINUITY IN GUIANA’ Peter Riviére Thos enaretn consoens the concep of th “house ong the Casbpeaking peoples who Ive in the intro of the reat comer of South Arena «rein often rere (0 a8 Gian but politically vied tween Bra, French Cina, Goya, Surinam and Venera, Thin lange area populated oy numero small native froupe whch, Dowever, have oth in Cenon foo be pomble to generale about them with soe degree of confidence.” Tn ie smece a any cary defined social srvcrre among tee opin cnographery have ten urd elevet an vale Tek on wich to hang their dencrpons Ths to lnge eet, the owe, ich fen pial tena! wth teste a been ‘coc element inthe hort and compara erate of the Fron, The acs wich hs ries bo the wer South Arian tones and in tonto Letra ess on howe cite are then op inthe second ba ofthe chapter “het are within the eon thee main yes of eee pater. Teer ae the tinge communal hose ‘eee, ae need silage: and the ceremonial cee setlemene ‘This chapter wil fences rinly om the fet two forms, Dut te nee tay teething about th st snc inet pate ofthe region eve ome como charac. The erro cee ens, which the ber reponed example i that of the. Akiwso hucterzed by dol resence wth fly group owing dvelingsa Peter Rivitre Community and continuity ia Guiana Fare wood framed and thatched wih a range of elifrent palm However, a great variety of howe type & to be found td ‘most groups build more than one typeof house. The Teo distinguish and name eight main types of dweling house and there are, in adtition, variants and subypes of these” On the other hand, the e‘ouana have only 70 types of house, one round, the other ‘etangulr. In fat, severs oer geaugs (the Panare and the WaiWai, {br example) that have single-howe setlements have only wo types a welling, one round and the other rectangule, oval ot oblong? In general, it would not appear to be the supply of constriction material that dictates the eype of house built although there is stong some Deople the expectation that specie types of material be use, For ‘example, the norwesser Banare vse one typeof pal to thatch the roundhouse, and another for the rectangular (MaistrMaller ane Henley 1990; caption to Pate 9. Among the southern Panare, where Toundhouses are more common, for diferent types of palm thatch may be used, each having it correct place on the conical rot (Genley: pers. commun). A siilar thing is found among the ‘Yeteuana who sbatch the upper part ofthe roundhowse roo with one ‘ype of the palm leaf and the lower part wih another. ‘This fonsructonal feature i, a¢ will be sen below, a sellection of the symbolic and cosmologea sigufcance of te house. However, what seems generally toe is that whether there are several ypes of house ot only two, only one of them will be regarded Js proper’ house in the sense of ffling certain spatial, socal ‘ual and symbolic specifications. Such hours are in almost every se roundhouses although there is considerable variation in the anal shape. Thus the main Trio house i beehive shaped wit thatch [aching to the floor Plate 6) whereas that ofthe Ye'euana is conical ith the thatch stopping at 2 vertical wall of watde or watle snd [Yuh a metre or more from the ground, On condition that the [construction and layout full local empertation, the sizeof any [paricalar example i symbolically unimportant. Thus, Henley (382 9) epors that the largest Panare conical house he saw was 25m in ameter and 2m high, and the mallee was 7m in diameter and im In another sense, a we will se the size fa house or seement important fortis indicate of the satus and sanding of leader The discusion so far fas been confined to dwelling houses, but sertlemens contain various other consructons, Sich baktings, Doth at » nudeated village with a ceremonial centre and at oudying tarden ses and moving seasonally from one 10 the other (Butt Goluon 1970: 36-42)" Included in this category are the savanna ddweling Indias such at the Macusi and Pemon. Some of thse Indian lve in catered auelear and extetedGraly dwellings but ‘he ceremonial centre patter ao survives, 26 Thomas (1982: 94), for example, indicates with erence tothe Pemon, Furthermore there i tvidence tat the Pemon at the begining ofthe century had singe ‘ommnal house setements as well as villages of the ceremonial ene type (Kach-Grinberg 1925. 16, So that while eis possible wo diingush between didrent types of wesement itis Hkely that here is no fundamental diference between shem and that they area ‘variations of one another ‘When we umm to consider what consis “house in Guana, in some eases itis very obvious for the house, the setdement and the ‘cmswanity are one ad the same thing. In these ease the setlerent js formed by a single large ruanhow in which all members of the ‘community Hive, The main alternative t thi isthe nude lage ‘composed of a numberof smaller eoesructions. Although there are valle difeences Detscen these two (ypes of stlement, there are food reasons, which will become apparent in the course of thi ‘hagter, fr eating them a sialar organizations. Iwi wie te ems “house’'and ‘lage interchangeably, reserve “etement” for the rographieal cation, and vefer to the residents of woh a unit asa ‘community’. This i im keeping with native ueage because moat groups, whether they have single or mulshouseseements, make terminological dstincons between ‘house’ ax a dwelling place and the ‘etlement a8 geographical locaton. For example,” among the ‘Trio of Surinam, who have multrhouse setlemen, the term for setlement span the generic term fr a howe fle, whereas among the Yecuana of Venemiela, who have single-howse ste ‘ments, the tens are juata and at, respectively. Mest of the group alse havea term fora ncal group, defined bythe eter of nti and co-resideace, which could roughly be wansated as ‘comms (Riviere 1986: 31-9) In one case at least the identieaion be seulement and community i ken forthe fac Dumont claims “the Panare cal their buildings and themselves asa group bythe name (1976: 88-9)° Houses are built fom sinlar materiale throughout the regiPeter Riviere Pate 6 ‘Toe bechiveshaped Tro howe know at main the vile ‘Alalapar i196, often of diferent ‘yes, are used for a whole range of purpose Including workhoutes in which women process food, temporary shelters for vistors, Kennels, and menstruation or bird huts, Thee wl ot be taken inta further account here although their existence sd postion are no esignfcant for understanding social relations Sand the symbolic ordering of space. 'A diference between single and mult-house setemens edt dhe social and symbolic significance of the former's layout appear Yo Me fay moce explicit and elaborated. This may reflect the quality of the cenography but I think not becase, although the layout of mi house seements exhibits similar basic features to that of single-howe setlements, no single house provides the same degre of community focus The basic layout of a Tr village is quite simple. There ¢ ‘eared area which is more or less surrounded by houses depending cs the size ofthe village, although inthe smallest vlages costing pethaps of only ene or two dwelling twill appear tobe justin foat of the houses, This space is wed for coletve activites such a¢ communal meals, uals and, on moonlit nights, a the place where rmen congregate to chat. The Tio word for this area sama x0 iis 19? Community and continsiy in Guiana 8 male space, for although women are not excluded from it tend to occupy the middle of i whereas women keep more tot and closer to their houses. Between the vlage and the gardens foe forest an area of alf-cleared land onco which the houses back land where rubbith i deposited® The gardens may or may not form 3 Garther encircling band of cleared land and beyond them lies the fore. The mast important spatial distinction thatthe Trio make is that between vilage (pat) ad fores()” In sal villages itis a tuly wing contrast withthe wall ofthe fst hemsning inthe lage daring 20 that i ke living in wel In all cares Se dusty glare tnd heat ofthe vile is opposed tothe damp dasknes ofthe fore and the pasage fom one to the other i seen at important and ‘masked by ritual attention, This basically concentric patern is very much more dleatly played in the layout ofthe lage communal houses tht form the singlchouse seemens. Thus atthe centre of the Ye'euana round fuse (aa isthe amas (Tro aa), bascallya male arena where Iucidom seep, rituals and dances are performed, communal meals are taken, vistors are welcomed and community deesons are made Round the periphery le the family compartments and hearth, the domestic space or at. The main door, facing ea, xe straight 0 the amalz, whereas the other doors lad into famly comparanenis. [Not all communal rundhouses have more than one door, but where they do the main door atthe front is usally associated with men and imal guests, and the ther door or doors with women, ‘The contrast ‘between bac and font elo found ina layout where the communal and ceremonial part ofthe hone is oft towards the foot and the ‘ear ofthe howe is associated with peivacy and domesticity ‘That the layout of te single-house and muli-house settlements ‘are not fundamentally diferent is evinced by that of a Ye'cuana silage in which the tational form has been abandoned. The vilage 4 composed of a number of separate dwelings, grouped round 2 central plaza wih a ilding called the tala located to one side oft ‘This house ‘serves the same function a the inner circle in the round houses (Arveosfimenez 1971: 197) Te should be noted at thi point that ceremonial centre settlements exhibit a sialar pater, although spread over a moch wider area. At the centre lies the nucleated vilage asociated with eallectve and ‘eremonial if, and round ita varying distances are the nudear oreter Rivitce ‘extended family dwellings where the main economic pursuits farming and hunting are carried out I the cave of the Akawaio seems clear dt thie setement patter isan adaptive response to the {row of large population centres and a sine development i fecognzable among the Tso under extemal influence and the appearance of setlements With medical, religious, commercial and selec functions (Riviere 1981), This pattern, although dictated by racial needs at dhe same tiv: remains consistent with the symbole ordering of space note In dearer o les clear form the spatial organization ofthe Guiana setlement or house reflects what seems to be an almost Pan-amazonic pattem of concentric dualism whereby the centre is opposed tothe Periphery, font to the back and the ine wo the outside. However the evaluative connotations these basically spatal terms cary in Engl are very mileading in the Guiana context especially since these oppottons are uen associated with @ range of nonspail tems renwomen, publicprivate, sacedsecular and ‘esenoeproces. However ii important regard the relation between these aspects of concentric dualian as both complementary and encompassing. Whereas the centre cannot exit without ie periphery and vee ves, both centze and periphery togeder sand a feentre © some further periphery. Ina Tro village the ams is opposed ‘ the enctling houses, bu both houtes and amas together form 2 senlement (sat) in Uppostion tothe forest it. This station is even ‘more obvious in the ease ofthe Ye'cuana see will se when we AoW tum tothe symbole meaning of the house. ‘The house aot just a shelter forthe spatial organization selec certain fundamenl social and cowie distinctions. More of let explicdy the house is 2 microcosm, Nowhere is this more fay evident than in the case of the Ye'euana house. The fit Ye'euana house was but by the culture-heroWanadi, in the form of ‘Anawanadi (House Wanadi, during his third and final visitation to this world, On that ocasion he created the Ve'uana (ae well 8 other ‘eople) and their particular cultural ident. The house he tks stil visible today in the form of 9 conical mountain located at Kushamalan in the centre ofthe Ye'cuana homeland, At ov se time he created an insible counterpart to it and the present-day ate sill has an unscen double. Wanadl abo inated the ritual wing sal used to inaugurate anew roundhouse. i Community and continuity in Guia row i an exact replica of the universe. At ground level the is equated with hea (a) ate cen of te word wie the asthe ined cart (ow), The comical root te sky, 0 ‘vided into an upper aod lower pan, physi represented by 0 ‘ifzent per of thatch of which the more valuable ard durable ‘aver the upper setion and the pare occupied by the oma at {pound level The outer cle of he howe, thea i coveced Dy a ‘ore perishable thatch, The main transverse rot beams rn north! south and represent the Milly Way, an the other main oot hears tre referred to a8 sky ree All thse beams ae feed dhe lwer fdr ring eC wee outer posts calle tar suppor Te central Dowepos connect carth oy and he vile oe inv word “An unusual feature ofthe Ye'eana house ithe sgh nthe oot tic most authors have explained in prc tem a a means of Inducing light to the dark interior and of leting out smoke Wider (19815, however, bas gone furer than this and ses the yeh togeher withthe layout and ietation of the house as fuagesing tat the Yersana wed ther howes a astonomic Calendars rither on the lines of the explanations proposed for Stonchenge and other Earopean relic monument, Whether ot ot we agree wih Wilber? interpretation thee ino debt about the powerful meaning sociated with the Vesna ata, Gus (1989: 32) 1a addon to preeming ofa winston of the arate of the lustene, the Yekuana a lo provides template upon which al other alc apse may be measured. The deity 20 central © Yuna hough i eprduced inthe epaovemporalreladons at dsemine their esi al ter fore the tr he re of wo interlocking reais an ihsionary and material oer One encaing 4 ore power acl Invisle ner oe, isin this ater or Soner on the ama til ‘ents take place, at communicaon wit the wuneen spstvord i ‘ated by the dre ink provided hough Ue cenreport. But the ana ‘i rounding au lo eft he inerdependece of thee two False td at sch area india and interpenetrating ae any daly econonsc ctv i pra counterpart. “However, even if Ye'cuana hovse symbolism exceptionally elaborate (ce well reported) by the standards ofthe region, ii not diferent in ind from that found among other people, It is lear that che WaiWai / |Peter Riviere house carrey heavy load of meaning (ie Fock 1963; Yale 1968) does that of the Panae as desribed by Dumont (1976: Chap). "The situation inthe case of groups with multcbowse seement satherllfeent for none of the ethnographis relating to soch vag spells out the cosmic and symbolic significance of the house with the Caplicites that is repored forthe Yetcuana, Even wo there are clues 1 soggest thn the heme amongs these groupe does have, iin tnelaborated form, similar meanings, The To are a eae in point They are certainly not explicit about the microcosmic nature of the house, and the origin of the house at recorded in the meh of the cukur-hero Perzérewa simply involves his being taught how to bul fe (pe unspecified bythe daughter of Ariweime, the giant alligator (Keelewin and Riviere 1987: 16-17). Whereas they do not have an idea of the hone, like that of the Veewana, modeled om a bau constructed by a eulture-bero which i ill visible in the form of @ mountain, they do sec rock outcrops, hil and mountains a8 the Ihoases of spirits and dhe masters of game animals. Thus the Tio allo subscribe to an association between harness, durability and ini bilty. One also finds isin other areas of vei culture, For example in the manufaerare of stols the hard wood used is aubsiation made Wy men for the Tok out of which a clkarechere eared the protonype (Riviere 1968: 236," here isa single pe of Trio house that has meaning i ste ound beehive shaped Gweling, which is regarded by some Indan a the most tadional form. The word for smi and he term appa ‘so to the small construction in which a aman conducts a eae ‘andro the hide wed for shooting birds, What all three structres hake Jn coment they conceal shoe nde thes, tha i they oom invisble. In cosmic terms this is most significant in the case ofthe shaman’ hide for wht int and ina tance he travels othe illerent layers ofthe coumos, He i not simply invisible but becomes pat of the invisible word la the cae ofthe dwveling house, there is a det parallel with the Ye'ouana ata as expressed by Gus inthe pasage dlready cited where he contats the ovter vibe realty withthe ‘inner invbie realty of the house. ‘Thus wile T have 1 evdente thatthe Tro conceive ofan invxbe counterpart othe vibe house, the interior ofthe mits invisible compared withthe vile exert, and, lke the inside of the shaman’s hide, dover to the power invisible realy 196 emesnty mo estoy the weah of meaning atached wo howe, everywhere in the stlement is sored. Rarely doe sedernent lst ‘more than ten years andthe average duration & dose tos yea There ste good many restons en to scot fortis some of hem ofa practical mare, others les obiouly 0. Among the former fone may hote the exhaustion of econmis seaurees inthe vii, Sethe these be the aeabiy of sabe calvable land the keting in hunting retuma or the absence of other raw matral ‘Another reason that sequently given that aera certain nme wet eaon, house no longer provides adequate shelter fom the ‘ain and he thatch sikely oe infeed. Now it woul be pone to pall de thatch of, burn i and retatch the wood fame which oul erty sound. In fc quite common for the mala Yaéwoed pons ube salvage fa use in another bul ‘The reference, however, isto Tlocate the selement by bung nee ue elewhere Another common reaua forthe abandonment of a eementis he asociaton of misorone wih the pace. Th may be sei ies or the death of a numer of ian bet the aicherpal situation ithe death of the village leader Although whether the corp i buried in the floor of the house or dspened of erste vases om gu pop this as no raring on whether the howe i abandoned, which inevitably occurs. This opens up {ueon of fundamental imporance: Ue elioship beween Srierent ad te lade. ‘Asetement in a cera sere, belongs to it leader. Throughout the region there age various way in which sctdement ae referred They are common known by a parclar geographical or other Gece i hk vie eae a api an ly shapes cock, forthe occurrence ofa certin botanical pees for example: But ey tre equaly known by the name ofthe person who founded the sexlement, and who, ia ir, is automa it ead‘, i> “i, setement might be now 3s Boyar a Boyar ithe nae ofthe village founder ender, is his vilge ope’. Tn heping ih this the village leader is lio know asthe adem The ter x ‘an be gone come bt ite sermanie range ive han dats aio bas the sense of forgo ‘oo, something from which a thing Bie pring ‘With some variation, the Tio cate is widely true throughout the region. Thus, among the Ye'cuana, a small, incipient village isPeter Riviére Copamunity and continuity in Guiana refered to as a headman’s place OF people, and asi grows older and larger it cones to be known by some local geographical fear: AnveoJimesv2 (1971: 39) sates that thee diferent name-orme| clatnguish between a developing community and a fully autonomoae setlement. Henley (1982: 14) also notes tha although the Panare ‘often fi to name ther seterents, when they do so its by reference to those that live at» particular ste or by association with someoge (usually «senior man) living there. In dhe cate of the Akawaio he relationship beeween the house and the leader is made completely explicit, Se one of the erm forthe later is derived from tha for hhowsepest. The housepost is bu and the vilage leader cule (Batt Colon 1971: 82-3). “The association between house or setlement andi leader i mos dramatically portrayed oa the death of the latter. Ae already ‘mentioned, when this occurs, almost invariably throughout the region, the village ie abandoned, and the house & often desvoyed Barandiarin (1966: 63), who refer ts the Ye‘ leader as th ‘wal! of the house, sates that when the leader des the hoose ‘hes. Ina senee thie tue for whereas asetement ea gear Tocaton just a the house oF houses ontained within i are physi ‘onszuetons i ral a community of people. As coramunisy Settlement i composed of a network of social relationships that the leader at ir Cease, & leader's death results not simply in abandonment and often the dexriction ofthe hoaae hot often ali the demise or the dispersion ofthe community. At this point Jmportant totum a consideration ofthe selement a a vocolog phenomenon, ‘The setlement, as a community, is the base socal unit in region, Wie polially autonomous, and, ideal, i socially economically selfsufcient. Gus dais that @ ceremony With the inal building sage ofthe Ye'cuana roundhouse sain physically and symbolically, reinforcing the autonomy and reliance that it the ideal of every Yekuana conmisiy” (1989 ‘This native view faithfully Teles the insde-oubide concept ‘vganization ofthe world, but in practice itis quite alse, The a sizeof stlemens throught the region is sround 30 people rarely exceeds 50 people fr long. A population of sacha ie is selfsulicient, simply on demographic grounds. Thee is, for exar 4 preference Tor setdement endogamy, but dhe chance of id person within the community is very Ww, Ancordingy search fra spouse forces people to look elsewhere. There i alo sive itertetlement trading and a considerable degree of rial Unerdependence exist, Indeed, whereas there is the ideal of the setlement a closed commit, in practice ther high population mobility with people constantly moving from one setlement 10 another for an asortment of reasons Thi, gether with the fact shat tetdements are relatively ephemeral, means that the diaribubor of tenlements and their constituent populations are forever changing Although the basic underlying pattern remains the same. ‘On turing to consider the sal composition of Guiana comms ties ici imporeant to note that coresidence is offen as important as inhp in the ordering of slaionships and it is often aiicult to Hisinguish between them. Most language in the regiem ha? term ich applies ta group of which the citeria of membership are ushably Kinship and coresidenee (we Rive 1904: 31-9), fed these terms are often the only words in the various languages refer to any form of social grouping, aterm for the family often dng abun. Fasermore there is no socal grouping Outside that by Kinship and co-esdence in asngle setlement, The Guiana [gon is characterized by the absence of such socal formations ities, ol descent groups and age-et reported for elsewhere in South America, fact which puts pareslar emphasis on the asa sable community, i only fora given moment, in what is ‘a world of id social arrangements ‘A community normally as a core a sallow bilateral Kindred, matraterally skewed ag a result of the seitial tendency vxorcal postnatal Fesidence, Because the relationship logis are ofthe rwoline prescriptive type a blateral Kindred contain both kin and afines and this fs withthe native view of| sealement 35 endogamous. However, a fearare of the region i thi daincion tens to be played down, and co-residens are ented as consanguines. This apparently garadoxical postion to be explained by the disruptive nature of ality in dhe region. eral authors have drawn attention, with reference both to Guiana to elsewhere in Lowland South America, to what they refer 38 suppression fant, Ihave argued (1984 67-71) tha ti more Yerping with native ideas to express thi a8 the emphast om cng,Peter Riviire Community and coatianity ia Guiana this is thatthe village will inevitably fasion. The reason for 1 phenomenon which I have earlier referred to as single-cell plea unis (ce Rivére 1970) is that, in Guians, there is no iia mechanism for coping with internal factional, an villages develop in this way ineviably divide ‘Let me uy to summarize some ofthis ‘The howe isthe cri institution throughout the Guiana region. 1 the focus of and cultural fe, At the same time in is aims to seFufiiency to consanguinity ite a Bein, Its ephemerality equally denies i role in the wansmision of qualities fom one generation t the ext Iisa moral entity but only for as lon a it survives: otherwise it ‘none of the qualities of a corporate group. The only evidence ‘hia ie a comment by AnveloJimenez (1971: 366-7) with nce tothe Ye'cuana when she writes that i is important in the at of dispues snd confrontations for a person to ow the ory of his ancestral village. "There i prestige attached t belonging jp a kin group which has a hisory, and shame in being publicly ‘A clove marviage, and lose in dhs content may mean kiship residence since they are interchangeable and conflated, doce involve the dliicuies that marrage between strangers creates, I Jimportant to distinguish betwee related lines, that those oko. kin, and unrelated affine, aldkough shouldbe understood that is & gradation rather than a contra between these statuses behaviour and atiudes between these two types of alfins, fon degree of relatedness, are quite diinct. Kin who become al remain kin whereas it takes a long time for unrelated affine t become acepted a kin, Thi dtintion between kin and unread affine reflects the concentric ordering of the world that has already ‘been nove. ‘This most cleatyexpresed in the opposition of inde ‘0 outide and gives tke spurious impression thatthe commnity i selfauficient and enduring entiy. However unrealitiethis cones tualzation of the community ~ as we have seen, in practice ta settlement itself hasan ephemeral fe and its population season = it does have an important influence on soial behaviour astdes. eavered a belonging f0 a kin group with none.” Such knowledge Ichas been pointed out dha among the Ye'eusna ‘ile history ‘that 8 person i descended from an independent residential political history (Arveloimenes 1975: 4), and this s widely true i MMM RFOUp that formed the core of a vilage and provided it leader for {ina The dace were tone ote made on poe red in the ene tate oe avannge to be ged am fg the talage of compet leader Accordingly the mune a scsmen's nabs god nator af te uty fe ated In he cue of daglehoue tlementy he Sac o the compl toe ges asin inaton since ts depends om the serDoe in ier wordt the tamber of fellowes adr ca ate Goldman (188185, ing of the Cabo af the Nose Amazon, has eared a, the bingo macs sme ay election, and this remark equally atpeable wo Caton, Pee lect a eae by chosing wove wi i, an ae ca oS house etement they wee by ping to constrain sore soci leer the mare populous hr ile wl he, Prado in his suze she se fare. Aes comma tows in ize, th more lly re thre to be pes ad he mae ‘ical are they to sel. The lager the vag prom he ae tnsuble i become: The stato becomes sete wc the pop | thon sage enh fortwo bat Kine to develop, Whee i appent fs amat cain that wo acon wl cng and Be eral generations, This would presuppose rather more stable Kin esidental groups than exis today, but {certainly would not mis that posbilty given the social, cultural and demographic als hat have occurred sine the conquest. There is one further and speculative point tobe taken up. Te was with reference to the Ye uana that dhe frst hose, but bythe hero Wanadi, exits in the form of mountain located inthe ofthe Ye'cuaa's homeland. As already mentoned, thee i oughout dhe region a commonly made asociaton between rocks mountains olen regarded as the howses of spits or game te), pemanence and durability, andthe invisible word ower, hee is more tit than this because when Wanad made int house be also consvcted an invisible counterpart toi and us 19682) claims that every at sil ha it nile double. IP a0 it sugges ha the visible house wit is ansent existence is imporant in terms of societal coninty than the ive Touncrpar. To express this in ater terme but in heeping with the eforational ideas common tothe fegion, just 28 ee inner Gre ofthe omaia is opposed to the outer cre of the ata in tens of202 Peter Rivizre Community and continuity in Guiana permanence to impermanence and esence to proces so the’ fai elated to dhe visible, The mountain/howse at Kushamalar the visble and durable representation of invisible continuity and perpemty. IF ths is right, and it cerainly in keeping with widespread ideas about the nature of the invisible reality, then the Visible "house" as category, group oF building is no moore than a Feeting pheonnon. i's noumenal world. Indeed the observable nature of the setlement, with its ephemeral existence and Bi ‘population, lends supporto this interpretation. Farther support may flo be derived frm Duron’ claim that for dhe Panare the shar ‘who deals with the invisible wor, i conceptually related. © permanence and the headman, who dels with the vile world, to [permanence (1977 79), and ftom Morton's (1979) reworking ofthe “Walvai material where be adapts the terms ‘continuo? and “dacontinuour' to refer respeetvly to the sptit and the human worlds. Thave alto argued tae: lcys brief duration, remains constant’ (1967: 154), Im other the Guiana cave belongs to che very weaken ext of the ‘pecrum that house societies constitu, and T wonder what value there might be in a assifeaton so flexible that i scems possible to Incorporate within ish aide range a diparate cite, Teannat say that T have learnt anything new about the peoples of Guiana by teordering the material inthe way in which I have presented it here, ton then the very nature of thew societies has always pushed ethnographers to book at them in tems of residential writs tie posible, of couse, that unbeknownst we have been using the concepe oP howe society all the tm, although concealing it under the notion of ‘conesidence’ Indeed 1am unciménced that i well atinguish between the two concep when the notion of house society ia ing applied int formalist or weakest sense ‘Wheres Ucn se link advantage in applying the concept of house sociery in Guiana, this may not be more generally true of Loiand South America. Although Ido not wish to dines too far in making amparsons, it seems to me that the noson may have more aplicably’ in the Norwest Amazon where the wassasson of or-materal wealth is important, and even more so among the JE Jan! Bororo. For example, not only do we find among the Bororo the fransnission of nenmaterial wealth, what Crocker (1905: 38-6) ters 025 "totems, bu there Bas been some diet in defining jst Inhat the social groupe are which tarsi these valuables It would be reasonable to regard them a6 ‘houser for they are ceraily cited with such physial struts. The oct of thee hoses the Ixyout of the village is carefully defined and pan-Boroa ints cation, to the point that a Boroto visting a strange village il ‘where an the periphery be cas expect to find his "house ‘The chapters in this volume by Hugh-Jones and Lea support the tention that the notion of house society may be helph in (eazures of some Lowland South American societies, Lea's jection of dhe Kayaps is particularly usta in is regard se she st lear that cheir house is bo a visible and an itvisbe (what ‘lls ‘now-maceria’) entity. ‘The striking diference rom the ‘ase that he Kayapo hose has a mermbersip, individuals inherit certain names and prerogatives and the posession of ch, in tar, defines them as members of dhe house. Ia Guiana ‘sce no potessons. material or non-material, that define {Continnos tine isnot any seme nes an a ae itis jus and always Ure, indisingitale fom the comme of whic it fam Par ‘Contnuour sine Ue sacs, bu ie space not undferentiaed t b ‘ben up by dominates. Setment are both georsphical lesion sn hiteral episodes: Dsconnais are ote a torino ie i the ‘ne way ansetlement af dipened tought te Fre. (1904 99-108 Senlements ar spatial andl temporal iscontinis in a visble word ati ina sense, contingent onan invisible reality! Seciement the visible bt ephemeral evidence ofan invisible consinuty Tr this score, and it speculative nature must be sessed, ca ‘be said thatthe hous! in the senwe of corporate group ora person exists at one level of reality and not at another? Logically 5 possible, but in this case I think it does not ocest, because ‘eae eas peide the conceptual bari for societal continuity, do not give rise wo aseete social unit. Ebewhere ia Lowland ‘America the division of esences and thee physical representa ‘between groups of people give vse to enduring social units. Tiss 10 in Guiana, where setdements ure merty raneinry evidence of ‘antinvous and real although ine word ‘A the empirical level, however, the Guiana groups belong ‘uv Srauats cts af “house societies” solely in his formals where ‘only the typeof grouping, but not their variable cmtent |Peter Rivitre [Community and conta in Gann membership in a house or other social formations, becaute no. ‘oupings ex. Asa buling, group ur eategory the visbie Guiana owe i contingent ens dependent on ts invible counterpart. ‘To end 1 would lik to look farther afield, to Southeast Ata, given the predominance of that region in this vole. Casten's 1987 paper ‘Analogues or opposites: household and community in Pusu Sanghaws (1967s) fers some rematkable similarities between the station as the describe i for Malaya and that in Guiana, but wih some inteenting illerencs, These are mainly due tothe ft that in ‘Guiana the house and the community ae a single uit, whereas in Palau Langhasti the community is composed of many houses. For ‘ample, Caren pens our Ys descent i of ite importance and that sblingship is wed to extend the howe outwards into the community rather thas downwards, Likewise in Guiana, descent unimportant apd the method of incorporating people into the community is by extending sblingship to them through dhe fiction ‘has co-rent ate cbneanguines. This act of incorporation at de same time redefines the disincion between inside and out. The Guiana house, like hatin Palas Langiawi, stands fie ‘undivided ‘consanguinity snd is opposed to afial relations in the sense referred to above which are excluded from it Carsten (1987 167) writes that “hile trae that consanguinity and afiity are on one level ‘opposed, and atthe same time, on another merged, this fasion cannot ‘occur within the house. It oecurs in what Carsten cll the ‘shadow house’ of the community which is notionally endogaznous 1p Guan itis just within the house, which is alo the community that, chrough ‘esdogamous marrage, the posit for meting consanguinity and int nthe farmer's favo, es. However, this potential for merging does nothing to resohe toe base opposition berween consanguinity and ality because they are part and par of a general and more fundamental sree of temeenie oppositions. The outide, the other, is crucial to whe reproduction of the inside, far while they are opposes they are equally complementary, one cannot exist wthout the ofhes (ae (Overing 1981. Floweve, i is notin everyy'life thatthe opposition between them ean be evercome or mediated. In both localities tt ‘thy under certain stu conditions tht is posible wo transcend the silference, although in contrasting ways. Thus in Guiana, through "ual the ouside is brought inside, and for dhe pero ofthe snl 8 a world is created (ee Riviére 1969 chap. XD, In Maley, i Dvould appear tht this is achieved by taking the honsehald in the ppaste dtection ~ out into the community. In both cass, t might ‘be argued te thvough be house that similar ctegeritl oppositions ae tansernded, although in each eae, responding to dillerent values ‘prems, this is achieved in opposite ways Inerestng tough this t |S doubil whether iis insight enough give the hose the status of 4 cos-cuaral analyse category.‘Notes to pages 173-50 Ly 197615 ao Geer Gor 1973 ote Bane dag Ln Sia 1985 an 1907 on he Kad mp nt Parente 5880 oe ‘ans ta 5 Far sera topo wo ht we the coer of bijection nt pemaaion nar we see Gig) 198), Thee (1885) ant ‘Senter 1988 6 The imprancs n Indones of he ilo of the geeraon of ie cnet ate ron bw sre tele Waa yh be ‘ec Snamesed efor ee, ox 171, 1980, Frabe 1980, 855. 1 Wile thre are for det anne groups ia te Tatar ands (Yamin, ort, Saran and Seat fe eer of ew langage ‘hes comon cal fnvesk: Nowe, by Ort werk van ed fue primary smeng peste of the Fontan agunge om the ef Fora, art and Sep ond ould nt be enrased othe we oh ‘Scipag Ge Pane 1980), The indigenes hoon he 1 ow alle tees med ed a connec cj mo echt Sours ha one rm ray edo seth, hy fom ger pes a kup totem) Des The ene pec ah that he Ser pay fed wal ron a i dt rn Son ich feed to doable cy of nant aie, eh “Gent Row at a ca he vy tp a eee eter ot chang pay Ste Mau (067394), wo dey unto the mane of hi eon Tween the rs femme tel opraon ad eon oe ami ferry od ey eRe 1911688, eHow Thee exer nate of eae and Ga abe ‘evden pres MK 1985; 181} Tha, oo ae he reat or he weal rele or af ences (Bo pe” ad ‘Srl butte mae vahables pen y tbe ioaie peak tne, cain see ting ray hee he are anaes by ‘Se egien pa fmf, escptmen, gun at mer, ‘obi '% Homes plows and peoples comnetity ad contin la Giana 1 wah toad eames of he parce he wot "Howes Bung Gea and Capri el t Canine om 7 Apa, 1991 am alo ery galt Aatey Calon Pal Hey ad Joa Onring to provided alae commen on ne dr 2 The Yano by fr the apt group ie the ee, att cided Gm Cidraton hee ce tiny are sic ilentio eat spre ‘euoent Although reece made at pei the Par heya er ‘in ways othe Caeser a seo he ois a 41 Bie Coton estat ie lage a ge comm bt owe or (ioing ar esi (970 37) needed | fry 191 he ee co [Notes to pages 190-4 sted “The vie mark alae a oppor jot a ge sere ‘ater tha) he reser of cama baling Ts pr ‘ost excy the sito tng the Tolan Cer aoc ote yrowsce as deters cal reper haw a ol ‘reo auoomy (ln 1985 35-40 ‘The main esopaphse examples word fpr ac he Th td de ‘Yeeuana Toy poie a well aera hing rapt sg and oa Ise sete Parhemor, the ehoogaphy oe Yeas hae partly rch be Koch Gribey 192, e Barndarn 9 Arsh inves 1971; Wibert 159 an Gus 58, Exegenhve wt mater “Src cat Ihave da india om ho aoe ty ‘nny ted da and Fries (1973 rot on he Te “ems enough Dare cnc Alhugh st Wee akon we thnk une a cen fe ad bas ou eigen OU try, tre are cotta wrble tk came ce aa oe oe Fare Do we not peak of Chaos V a bing af the te Se Fel (57) depos and dang ote wrote hoses ‘The abe of dient pen wel be fer ec bec iat tie weer ‘Tene an amare grup nh cnn fas, ea ‘art debe ok reg nt aes 1 27-) Oo te quion ‘Cac the Tl fer ha oul ous we Be (1979 The sme 0 ‘hs woul em seen tow crn ated ened wo eee tegen tei seen ete of be ¥en nce eet ‘ne lag longo in nic he we ennai On te de Did hero ub icing ish exe ‘There has een coment dete om whore Fecanglar Boe ree, psteongis, inno.‘ tot an npr essen the Poet press nw tbe comer ‘The Too em fr sae tain, about he easing of which ree eevee. De werd ati ap ode ‘hw tet ‘The protien ina cmnton mare hat word pe The arr te agued a a he anurans hve soap ‘tiniest aie he noon of nip { es esr eae ‘pa san abuses Denisa tne age ed bes ‘The word us cca 2 umber of Carly reve, a th te ea rang of ac is ot only pipe who hive & ats One eer ral’ hol at ot a, and ude st wp aly ioe (pice er ag” ‘An excpion to iar the Para nang win the ascison of te ce vith men add pce oath woman mt ews, Homey the Soaciton che cen ihc aca he prplery wa fy ‘cers thet ne Ovring Kapa 97551} Honevc de Paso acs ant al ight nhs oparoen at on he perry, sd wi oe eae Oven: es omman) Onrog a alae nee oaNotes to pages 196-206, “The Wayans, the et mig of he Tsai he elig o he Soe wich communal eet ke pce 3 wooden Sa dco wi ‘ye etre Arey Coton le me ale ee men tage {seine pining sand ages hat iat am een of ‘scat woe pene du te dic made hd wed 2nd that tampon o new lage 6a wen the eld vile Sandon, hs mng cont wel alee ‘an ame af where be epionf repl te iting Howe rater than wo tid a won pref are bythe roo the Upper Xing Temigh be sed Gat he ae of te hue Bs no apparent being Stet hepreene io rar ge sere. The Kinguaoe howe ‘Dorin abe to te ofthe Tens dof he Yer to who ‘oes te Rapon and Pon a vile laer sao known a he ilge ‘woe th tet ft Ha sma ge whch en fo rst ena ws it at Wheres beh wore ean une he fermen ako mae and a he geal ese of Seopa” (Bat Coton 869 3-3, “The tom d/o in rb of Car guage and eee at te comottoe of sa, se han, port and pla Than tT, he term rotons’ ® mow ery “gen aloe a fle ‘hover in Lvlnd South Aes erica reanaip eres Scrap ofthe howe and he lag leader For sample, Ronse (090713) repar ha he Magenta term fr he ea wep (ee ot ak render ool and by eto what Tae a tie ag 2m nom ‘Meters ocala spec fhe quo in pra ola tenon betwen nero ‘Aor aedeeeoun, butte bet Ta tink of Bp anders hs ‘oe eye 0 a encoun aay sym in whch be bak front the tons ogra and ing Acre srl inact the ston ear eemens) bat othe a he isle ‘wr Heat the ation ae shag te ober wl ate he rea iho lr tne whereas te npn ay wal rman ‘The Hoses ofthe Mabengohre (Kayapé) of Central Brasil = new ‘oor ete ncil wrpeateation ‘Aton ae my owe The Mébeapee ae beter owe atte oer) Kay who amber ‘ie 3D nda Fr Seal of one rege ote 6 ow Tiss to hk the Cordero de Apetonrten de Peal de Ne ‘uperor CAPES fr enabling eo artpat he mrs ha ote {tentnf hs on 1980 Tak ole apr ele en he ‘Comet Nasional de Denmohacntn Cis Teg (CNP a "Ye ances de aude rj FINED Notes to pages 208-11 + Tec wile ace Wi, Pika, Kubice a Kaito wo the wet of he Xings ier ol Gere, Kalter ean tn Albeo See Rap, wih ted th mie the oer Metre lage of ‘er pd Jar, wa el ter sad Men, rng he ae opto forse nd ag chine he a fre “ince bas a vere 97 an 7 pt seen on wt be Meeps, monly lade lage Rete vm ‘Tae tem pimony wo be bee reer he er int sty 8 rigs, te Neb ine) san For compare purpose Boro a oe nee oh ae er sca abe Japan sete of Ce! Bs Thi paper as on te [order ad Ceara ese nom hy ef ai epate a een conezaed The rex Inoren te aru own me shown in he owing es odo F i i 5 rae 194m wich habe was ge) Sees 8, foarte de aba ed 9 coer noms, ‘ata denn ite oats Pare ea of ch my gine Len 198 ‘The Métengle ty atin he ld tee a rein abe in| ‘heen howe in endian t ed the vila the tac of exer ‘series. Young bos wed be seo ne mis he in thee ‘fhe wilge Nomads they tend enantio home