Soon after I settled in Sakaltutan, I was discussing land shortage in the village, and was told of villages not so very far away where there was land to be had for the ploughing. In more distant parts there were said to be empty lands. Why then, I asked, did the villagers not go to these well landed parts? Who, they replied, `would come to our side in quarrels?' At the time the implications of this reply surprised me. Later I realised that fear of aggression and violence within the village was genuine and well-founded.
Property rights, especially land rights, could not be taken for granted. Neighbours might at any time encroach on one's boundaries, or seek to establish some kind of claim. Security lay not in legality, but in strength. As I have argued, although a functioning system for State protection of individual rights existed even in 1950, the situation did not encourage villagers to call in outsiders or refer disputes to officials or lawyers. Membership of a group strong enough to retaliate is a much more effective insurance against trouble. But trouble is not something to be expected by everyone every day, and the dependence of people on their lineages is related largely to the current quarrels and fears. At the same time, insurance involves premiums in the shape in this case of commitment to