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the purchase system the children (according to Mambila rules) belong to the mother's group.

The social system of the Mambila is of great interest and must be thoroughly understood if the tribe is to be properly administered. As already stated there is no tribal organization, nor is there any clan organization.

[14] A number of villages might form a confederacy for fighting purposes,1 based on the possession of a common territory and dialect, or on a common origin from some parent village, but each village group considered itself politically independent of any other village group, and inter-village fights were of frequent occurrence. There was and is no banding-together of villages for marriage purposes, for the exogamous unit is merely the kindred. At the present time, as the people are more scattered than formerly, two separate villages may be composed of two branches of a single kindred, and this will produce the impression that local exogamy is the rule; but in the larger villages where there may be two or more kindreds occupying a single village intermarriage between the kindreds is permitted, though in practice it is unusual[15] . It may be noted that the taboo against marriage with close relatives (e.g second cousins) applies to both sides of the family, and that greater care would be taken by a man contemplating marriage to ascertain that the woman he proposed to marry was not a close relative if she and her parents were members of his own village, than would be taken if she were a member of another village[16] . In fact it was stated that a man might marry his second cousin if her parents belonged to another village, whereas he could not do so if they belonged to his own village, the underlying idea being that the introduction of new blood into the stock was desirable.

[17] There is no totemism connected with the exogamy, nor should we expect it. But there are a number of family taboos against eating the flesh of certain animals at all times or on special occasions. To this reference will be made later.

[18] The social unit is thus the family group which we may call the kindred. This group is bilateral, that is to say, that it is composed of both patrilineal and matrilineal relatives. This

1 E.g. the villagers of Wa, Genbu, Mverrip, Bou, Bar, Teb, and San would assist each other in repelling the Fulani or in beating off an attack by the villagers of Kuma, Baso, Ngubin, and Tem. Mbamgam, Tamnyang, Barrip, and Yakude (Vokude) also united for purposes of defence.[19]

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