The Korowai , also called the Kolufo , live in southeastern Papua in the Indonesian provinces of South Papua and Highland Papua . Their tribal area is split by the borders of Boven Digoel Regency , Mappi Regency , Asmat Regency , and Yahukimo Regency . They number about 4000 to 4400 people.
85-411: Korowai may refer to: Korowai people Korowai language Korowai gecko Korowai (cloak) , a type of traditional Māori cloak Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Korowai . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
170-582: A "forbidden area") was a special part of the house for the wives. Polygynous marriage was preferred among the Logoli and other Abalulya sub ethnic groups. Taking additional wives was regarded as one of the fundamental indicators of a successfully established man. Large families enhanced the prestige of Logoli men. Logoli men with large families were also capable of obtaining justice, as they would be feared by people, who would not dare to use force to take their livestock or other goods from them. Interviews with some of
255-511: A 2011 doctoral thesis, anthropologist Kyle R. Gibson reviewed three studies documenting 1,208 suicide attacks from 1981 to 2007 and found that countries with higher polygyny rates correlated with greater production of suicide terrorists . Political scientist Robert Pape has found that among Islamic suicide terrorists , 97 percent were unmarried and 84 percent were male (or if excluding the Kurdistan Workers' Party , 91 percent male), while
340-442: A chapter comparing Sub-Saharan African polygyny, Boserup (1970) comments that in regions where polygyny is practiced, but for demographic and economic reasons must to be delayed for males until older ages, higher incidences of adultery and prostitution are expected to be present. Researchers have suggested that Vikings may have originally started sailing and raiding due to a need to seek out women from foreign lands. The concept
425-581: A disadvantage if they make the decision to remove themselves from the polygynist lifestyle. To leave the marriage, women must repay their bride price. Though this is simple in thought, this is not simple in execution. To prevent their wives from leaving, husbands will often keep the bride price at high levels, which is often at an unpayable level for women. In most cases, women do not have access to their children if they decide to leave polygyny, nor are they allowed to take them, due to cultural ideas of ownership in relation to progeny. Marci Hamilton sees polygyny as
510-420: A factor of traditional life. For example, many sub-Saharan African societies view polygyny as essential to expand their progeny and kinship, a practice of high cultural importance. In this case, it would be hard to determine whether the origin was that of high libido, as polygyny would be practiced regardless. Other explanations postulate that polygyny is a tool used to ward off inclinations towards infidelity. In
595-437: A form of oppression of women; she wrote: "In polygamy, also not a victimless crime, the practice is built on the subjugation of women to the men's needs and demands. Moreover, for many of the religious polygamists, the women are nothing but the means to a particular doctrinal end – creating more children to increase the man's odds of getting into heaven. Again, the men control the finances and the women are commodities, carrying out
680-399: A key factor in the high prevalence of polygynous practices in this region of Africa. Of the 1,231 societies listed in the 1980 Ethnographic Atlas, 186 were found to be monogamous; 453 had occasional polygyny; 588 had more frequent polygyny; and 4 had polyandry. Some research has shown that males living in polygynous marriages may live 12 percent longer. Polygyny may be practiced where there
765-413: A key role in the development of family life during these times. Wealth meant the more powerful men had a principal wife and several secondary wives, known as resource polygyny . Local rulers of villages usually had the most wives as a sign of power and status. Conquerors of villages would often marry the daughters of the former leaders as a symbol of conquest. The practice of resource polygyny continued with
850-549: A man who has more than one wife, and a study of 240,000 children in 29 African countries has also shown that, after controlling for other factors, children in polygynous families were more likely to die young. A 2019 study of 800 rural African ethnic groups published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution found that "young men who belong to polygynous groups feel that they are treated more unequally and are readier to use violence in comparison to those belonging to monogamous groups." In
935-449: A man's several wives, a husband could afford to pay the bride price of a new wife and further his access to more land, meanwhile increasing his progeny. According to Boserup, writing in 1970, tribal rules of land tenure were still in force over much of the continent of Africa. In this system, members of a tribe which commands a certain territory had a native right to take land under cultivation for food production, and in many cases, also for
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#17328553992771020-411: A much larger workforce within his household. By the combined efforts of his young sons and young wives, he may gradually expand his cultivation and become more prosperous. A man with a single wife has less help in cultivation and is likely to have little or no help for felling trees. According to Boserup's historical data, women living in such a structure also welcome one or more co-wives to share with them
1105-464: A newly born infant of their own clan. The first documented contact by Western scientists with members of a band of western Korowai (or eastern Citak) took place on 17–18 March 1974. The expedition was co-led by anthropologist Peter Van Arsdale (now at the University of Denver ), geographer Robert Mitton, and community developer Mark (Dennis) Grundhoefer. Thirty men were encountered on the south bank of
1190-405: A polygynous marriage. Research shows that competition and conflict can intensify to unbearable level for co-wives causing women to commit suicide due to psychological distress. Findings show that the wife order can affect life satisfaction. According to Bove and Valeggia, women who are senior wives often misuse their position to obtain healthcare benefits in countries where only one wife can become
1275-518: A polygynous union are more likely to be HIV positive than those who marry a monogamous husband. In addition to these two mechanisms, variation in HIV prevalence rates by union type is possibly due to individuals in polygynous unions are typically part of a sexual network with concurrent partnerships. The ecological association between polygyny and HIV prevalence is shown to be negative at the sub-national level. HIV prevalence tends to be lower in countries where
1360-432: A recipient. The conflict between co-wives can attribute to the higher rates of mental health disorders and issues such as anxiety, depression, somatization , psychoticism , and paranoia. As well as this reduced marital/life satisfaction and low self-esteem has been shown to be more prevalent among women in polygynous relationships when compared to women in monogamous relationships. Various methods have been used to reduce
1445-534: A stronger association with rates of polygamy in Sub-Saharan Africa rather than female agricultural contributions (which are typically relatively small in the West African savanna and Sahel, where polygyny rates are higher), finding that polygyny rates decrease significantly in line with child mortality rates. Most research into the determinants of polygyny has focused on macro-level factors. Widespread polygyny
1530-510: A study conducted by the U.S. military in Iraq in 2008 found that suicide bombers were almost always single men without children aged 18 to 30 (with a mean age of 22), and were typically students or employed in blue-collar occupations . In addition to noting that countries where polygyny is widely practiced tend to have higher homicide rates and rates of rape , political scientists Valerie M. Hudson and Bradley Thayer have argued that because Islam
1615-442: A surge in economic productivity because monogamous men are able to save and invest their resources due to having fewer children. Polygynous societies have a higher concentration of men investing into methods of mating with women, whereas monogamous men invest more into their families and other related institutions. Despite the expenses of polygynous marriages, a 1995 study suggests that men benefit from marrying multiple wives through
1700-465: Is a lower male:female ratio; this may result from male infants having increased mortality from infectious diseases. However, the natural sex ratio at birth is actually slightly biased in favour of males (the natural sex ratio is around 105 boys/100 girls at birth; generally in the range of 103–107); presently in some countries this is even more biased in favor of males due to sex-selective abortion and female infanticide . Research shows that polygyny
1785-602: Is common in societies that practice polygyny ), concerns about inequality and the fate of the young men left without wives (such as the lost boys in the FLDS Church ), as well as the relation between polygyny practiced on a large scale in a society and war. A notable critic of polygyny was Thomas Aquinas nearly 8 centuries ago. He contended that polygyny is unjust to wives and children. He also argues that it creates rival stepchildren and forces them to compete for attention, food, and shelter. According to Aquinas, polygyny violates
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#17328553992771870-487: Is considered an economic advantage in many rural areas. In some cases, the economic role of the additional wife enables the husband to enjoy more leisure. Anthropologist Jack Goody 's comparative study of marriage around the world, using the Ethnographic Atlas , demonstrated a historical correlation between the practice of extensive shifting cultivation and polygyny in many Sub-Saharan African societies. Drawing on
1955-405: Is given to a conjugal relationship with the ( classificatory ) mother's mother's brother's daughter. Leadership structures are based on personal qualities of big men , rather than on institution. Interclan warfare occurs mainly because of witchcraft and sorcery -related conflicts. The Korowai universe is filled with a variety of spirits, some more personal of character than others. Reverence
2040-610: Is linked to the kinship groups that share descent from a common ancestor. Polygyny also served as "a dynamic principle of family survival, growth, security, continuity, and prestige", especially as a socially approved mechanism that increases the number of adult workers immediately and the eventual workforce of resident children. According to scientific studies, the human mating system is considered to be moderately polygynous, based both on surveys of world populations, and on characteristics of human reproductive physiology. Scholars have argued that in farming systems where men do most of
2125-527: Is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent . Some scholars theorize that the slave trade 's impact on the male-to-female sex ratio was a key factor in the emergence and fortification of polygynous practices in regions of Africa. Polygyny is most common in a region known as the "polygamy belt" in West Africa and Central Africa , with the countries estimated to have the highest polygamy prevalence in
2210-466: Is paid especially to the red headed creator god Gimigi. The Korowai ascribe an important role in their daily lives of honoring their "One God" with one being used as the concept of a prime deity from whom all others either descend or to whom all others pay homage. Once in a lifetime, a Korowai clan must organize a sago grub festival in order to stimulate prosperity and fertility in a ritual fashion. In times of trouble they sacrifice domesticated pigs to
2295-572: Is scant. The Korowai have a few gender-specific activities, such as the preparation of sago and the performance of religious ceremonies in which only the male adults are involved. Some Korowai have since the early 1990s generated moderate cash income by working with tour companies selling tours into the Korowai region. Within the tourist industry, opportunities are limited to hosting tour groups in villages for tourist-sponsored sago feasts, carrying luggage, and performing traditional displays. The patriclan
2380-489: Is the central unit with respect to social, economic, and political organization. Kinship terminology follows the Omaha I pattern (Lounsbury), knowing a central opposition between cross and parallel relationships. In Korowai society, the forms of institutional levirate and predominance of avuncular relationships are found, as well as a kind of affinal avoidance relationships. Marriage is exogamous and polygynous . Preference
2465-587: Is the only form of polygamy that is allowed; and, as such, this violates modern principles of equality between men and women, especially as in many such places females having multiple partners is violently punished through honor killings and stoning , or discouraged through female genital mutilation . In the United States , there has been controversy surrounding the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that practices polygyny, after
2550-533: Is the only major religious tradition where polygyny is still largely condoned , the higher degrees of marital inequality in Islamic countries than most of the world causes them to have larger populations susceptible to suicide terrorism, and that promises of harems of virgins for martyrdom serves as a mechanism to mitigate in-group conflict within Islamic countries between alpha and non-alpha males by bringing esteem to
2635-479: Is widely practiced in countries that are destabilized, more violent, more likely to invade neighbors and more likely to fail . This has been attributed to the inequality factor of polygyny, where if the richest and most powerful 10 percent of males have four wives each, the bottom thirty percent of males cannot marry. In the top twenty countries in the 2017 Fragile States Index , polygyny is widely practiced. In West Africa , more than one-third of women are married to
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2720-401: The savanna region, where more agricultural work is done by men, and polygamy is desired more for the production of male offspring whose labor in farming is valued. Goody's observation regarding African male farming systems is discussed and supported by anthropologists Douglas R. White and Michael L. Burton in their article, "Causes of Polygyny: Ecology, Economy, Kinship, and Warfare", where
2805-460: The self-sacrifice pay off in terms of kin selection and biological fitness (with Pinker also citing a famous quotation attributed to evolutionary biologist J. B. S. Haldane when Haldane quipped that he would not sacrifice his life for his brother but would for "two brothers or eight cousins"). Inequality between husbands and wives is common in countries where polygyny is more frequently practiced because of limited education. In Africa polygyny
2890-453: The " Best Ever Food Review Show " channel on YouTube made contact with the Korowai people in which they ate various foods of the culture. In the documentary My Year with the Tribe , a film team visits the Korowai area several times over a period of one year. The documentary reveals that an industry has developed around the supposedly traditional lives of many Korowai. Many locals take advantage of
2975-568: The Korowai for Japanese television in the 1980s. In 1993, a film crew documented an anthropological study in the Dayo village area by the Smithsonian Institution of Korowai treehouse construction and the practice of cannibalism as a form of criminal justice. This resulted in the film Lords of the Garden . In 1996 a local Christian community was established, the members of it mainly originating from
3060-521: The Korowai's reputation for living a particularly original life in order to earn money. It is also reported that houses located at a particular high altitude have been financed by Western film crews. The Korowai have been reported to practice ritual cannibalism up to the present day. Anthropologists suspect that cannibalism is no longer practiced by the Korowai clans that have had frequent contact with outsiders. Recent reports suggest that certain clans have been coaxed into encouraging tourism by perpetuating
3145-519: The Logoli of Kenya , the fear of AIDS or becoming infected with the HIV virus has informed women's decisions about entering polygynous marriages. Some view polygyny as a means to prevent men from taking random sexual partners and potentially introducing STIs into relationships. Interviews conducted with some of the Logoli tribe in Kenya suggested they feared polygynous marriages because of what they have witnessed in
3230-653: The Ngwa group in Eastern Nigeria, studies show that 70% of polygynous marriages consist of illiterate men and women, compared to 53% in monogamous marriages. While polygynous marriages are not legally recognized under the civil marriage laws of Malawi, customary law affords a generous amount of benefits to polygynous unions, ranging from inheritance rights to child custody. It has been estimated that nearly one in five women in Malawi live in polygynous relationships. Efforts to abolish
3315-417: The Ngwa group in eastern Nigeria shows that on average, women in polygynous unions are 22–26 percent less fertile than women in monogamous unions. Data shows that the greater the intensity of polygyny, the lower the fertility of successive wives: 15 percent deficit for first wives; a 37 percent deficit for second wives; and a 46 percent deficit for third or more wives. Studies show that seems to exist because of
3400-601: The Upper Eilanden River, approximately 12 miles east of its junction with the Kolff River and 10 miles north of the Becking River. A basic word list was generated and observations were recorded regarding such things as fire making techniques. In the late 1970s, a few Christian ( Dutch Protestant ) missionaries began to live among the Korowai. Dea Sudarman, an Indonesian anthropologist, made several documentary films on
3485-531: The Vikings plundered an Irish village and "carried off a great number of women into captivity". Polygyny in West Africa, the region of the world where the practice is most common, exists in a societal context where historical factors, such as the slave trade, and the local religion, Islam, interact creating a culture where polygyny is widespread. The slave trade's impact on the male-to-female sex ratio has been cited as
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3570-427: The age of 15 accounts for approximately 30,000 (0.1%) people in 2001. Both Islamic law and cultural family laws create a system in which Muslim men are encouraged to take up to four wives. Several factors for this include infertility or long-term illness of the first wife, excessive wealth on the part of the husband enabling him to support widowed or divorced mothers, and the economic benefits of large families. Despite
3655-493: The agriculture work, a second wife can be an economic burden rather than an asset. In order to feed an additional wife, the husband must either work harder himself or he must hire laborers to do part of the work. In such regions, polygyny is either non-existent or is a luxury which only a small minority of rich farmers can indulge. A report by the secretariat of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) quotes: "one of
3740-640: The amount of jealousy and conflict among wives. These include sororal polygyny, in which the co-wives are sisters; and hut polygyny, in which each wife has her own residence and the husband visits them in rotation. A clear status hierarchy among wives is also sometimes used to avoid fighting by establishing unequivocally each wife's rights and obligations. Although there are several harmful aspects of this practice related to women, there are some reported personal and economic advantages for women such as sharing household and child rearing responsibilities. Also, wives share companionship and support with co-wives. Studies of
3825-777: The authors note: "Goody (1973) argues against the female contributions hypothesis. He notes Dorjahn's (1959) comparison of East and West Africa, showing higher female agricultural contributions in East Africa and higher polygyny rates in West Africa, especially in the West African savanna, where one finds especially high male agricultural contributions. Goody says, "The reasons behind polygyny are sexual and reproductive rather than economic and productive" (1973:189), arguing that men marry polygynously to maximize their fertility and to obtain large households containing many young dependent males." An analysis by James Fenske (2012) found that child mortality and ecologically-related economic shocks had
3910-522: The average Palestinian family size), cognitive scientist Steven Pinker argues in The Better Angels of Our Nature (2011) that because the families of men in the West Bank and Gaza often cannot afford bride prices and that many potential brides end up in polygynous marriages, the financial compensation of an act of suicide terrorism can buy enough brides for a man's brothers to have children to make
3995-459: The burden of daily labor. However, the second wife will usually do the most tiresome work, almost as if she were a servant to the first wife, and will be inferior to the first wife in status. A 1930s study of the Mende in the West African state of Sierra Leone concluded that a plurality of wives is an agricultural asset, since a large number of women makes it unnecessary to employ wage laborers. Polygyny
4080-531: The children and family provided by a husband taking additional wives. Some of the men indicated that they were pressured by their parents to marry another wife, who could contribute additional income to the family. Some of the young polygynous men indicated that they were trapped in polygyny because of the large number of single women who needed and were willing to take them as husbands although they were already married. Most of those second and third wives were older women who had not yet married. Customary law, one of
4165-518: The community has been marred by accusations of child sexual abuse, welfare fraud, and child labor trafficking, that culminated in the life imprisonment of polygynous leader Warren Jeffs . In Africa, the Americas, and Southeast Asia in the Premodern Era, circa 600 BCE – 1600 CE, both monogamy and polygyny occurred. Polygyny occurred even in areas of where monogamy was prevalent. Wealth played
4250-399: The community; (4) ensure a sufficient availability of labor to perform the necessary farm work and the processing of commercial oil-palm produce; and (5) satisfy his sexual urges." Out of all of the reasons stated none are beneficial to the wives, but instead only beneficial to the husbands. In Egypt, feminists have fought for polygamy to be abolished, but it is viewed as a basic human right so
4335-462: The contemporary Logoli men and women who recently made polygynous marriages yielded data which suggest that marrying another wife is usually approached with considerable thought and deliberation by the man. It may or may not involve or require the consent of the other wives and prospective wife's parents. A type of " surrogate pregnancy " arrangement was reported to have been observed, in which some wives who are unable to bear children, find fulfillment in
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#17328553992774420-590: The cultivation of cash crops. Under this tenure system, an additional wife is an economic asset that helps the family to expand its production. The economist Michèle Tertilt concludes that countries that practice polygyny are less economically stable than those that practice monogamy . Polygynous countries usually have a higher fertility rate, fewer savings reserves, and a lower GDP. A 2014 study estimates that fertility would decrease by 40 percent, savings would increase by 70 percent and GDP would increase by 170 percent if polygyny were banned. Monogamous societies present
4505-535: The economic and social insurance that kinship ties produce. With a large network of in-laws, these men have the ties they need to compensate for other economic shortages. Some analysts have posited that a high libido may be a factor in polygyny, although others have downplayed its significance. The sex drive as a factor in some Asian cultures was sometimes associated with wealthy men and those that were adjunct to an aristocracy, although such libidinal perceptions were at times discarded in favor of seeing polygyny as
4590-449: The family by the husband and to get along with them. Polygyny is criticized because of its asymmetrical, unequal marital arrangement, where the husband has sexual/romantic relations with several women, but the wives can only have such a relation with one man, their husband, which often leads to rigid gender roles in the marriage. A criticism against polygyny is that in almost all cultures and religious communities that practice it, polygyny
4675-602: The fight has been unsuccessful. In countries where polygyny is practiced less frequently, women have more equality in the marriage and are better able to communicate their opinions about family planning. Women participating in polygynous marriages share common marital problems with women in a monogamous marriage; however, there are issues uniquely related to polygyny which affects their overall life satisfaction and have severe implications for women's health. Women practicing polygyny are susceptible to sexually transmitted infections, infertility, and mental health complications. Among
4760-435: The genetic record of the human species, meaning that the proportion of females that have reproduced in each generation has generally been greater than the proportion of men that reproduced. The authors of one 2014 study attributed these findings to widespread polygyny. Ester Boserup was the first to propose that the high incidence of polygyny in sub-Saharan Africa is rooted in the sexual division of labor in hoe-farming and
4845-506: The highest polygyny prevalence in the world as of 2019 being Burkina Faso (36%), Mali (34%) and Gambia (30%). Outside of Africa, the highest prevalence is in Afghanistan , Yemen and Iraq . Historically, polygyny was partly accepted in ancient Hebrew society, in classical China , and in sporadic traditional Native American, African and Polynesian cultures. In the Indian subcontinent , it
4930-634: The historical and cultural history of polygyny among Muslim South Africans, polygynous unions are officially illegal on the national level in South Africa. After 1994, various laws such as the freedom of religion in the South African Constitution, the ratification of the UN's Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and a proposed Draft Bill on Muslim Marriages have tackled
5015-429: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Korowai&oldid=1204002216 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Language and nationality disambiguation pages Korowai people According to The Daily Telegraph , "Until
5100-408: The large economic contribution of women. In some regions of shifting cultivation where polygyny is most frequently recorded, labor is often starkly divided between genders. In many of these cases, the task of felling trees in preparation of new plots, the fencing of fields against wild animals, and sometimes the planting of crops, is usually done by men and older boys (along with hunting, fishing and
5185-604: The late 1970s, when anthropologists embarked on a study of the tribe, the Korowai were unaware of the existence of any peoples other than themselves". The Korowai language belongs to the Awyu–Dumut family (southeastern Papua) and is part of the Trans–New Guinea phylum. A dictionary and grammar book have been produced by a Dutch missionary linguist. The majority of the Korowai clans live in tree houses on their isolated forested territory. Since 1980, some have moved into
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#17328553992775270-583: The latter's families and redirecting their violence towards out-groups. Along with his research on the Tamil Tigers , anthropologist Scott Atran found that Palestinian terrorist groups (such as Hamas ) provide monthly stipends , lump-sum payments , and massive prestige to the families of suicide terrorists. Citing Atran and other anthropological research showing that 99 percent of Palestinian suicide terrorists are male, that 86 percent are unmarried, and that 81 percent have at least six siblings (larger than
5355-477: The lives of other women who are currently in such relationships. The observed experiences of some of the women in polygynous unions tend to be characterized by frequent jealousy, conflicts, competition, tensions, and psychological stresses. Some of the husbands fail to share love and other resources equally; and envy and hatred, and sometimes violent physical confrontations become the order of the day among co-wives and their children. This discourages women from entering
5440-410: The myth that cannibalism is still an active practice. Polygynous Polygyny ( / p ə ˈ l ɪ dʒ ɪ n i / ) is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία ( polugunía ); from Ancient Greek πολύ ( polú ) 'many' and γυνή ( gunḗ ) 'woman, wife'. Polygyny
5525-402: The neighbouring Kombai people . For a long time the Korowai have been considered exceptionally resistant to religious conversion; however, by the end of the 1990s the first converts to Christianity were baptized. In the autumn of 2003, a small team of Bible translators from Wycliffe/ SIL moved to Yaniruma. In May 2006, tour-guide Paul Raffaele led an Australian 60 Minutes crew to report on
5610-475: The people. The 2007 BBC documentary First Contact , presented by Mark Anstice , features footage from his 1999 encounter with members of the Korowai people, and describes how they were disturbed upon seeing a "white ghost", whose presence indicated the end of the world was nigh. In January–February 2011, the BBC documentary Human Planet commissioned the Korowai building of a treehouse 35m high. In August 2019,
5695-498: The practice and de facto recognition of polygyny have been widely apparent throughout the recent years in Malawi; led mainly by anti-AIDS organizations and feminist groups. An effort led in 2008 to outlaw polygyny in the country was fiercely opposed by Islamic religious leaders, citing the practice as a cultural, religious and pragmatic reality of the nation. Polygynous marriages are legal under certain circumstances in South Africa. All polygynous marriages entered into in accordance with
5780-508: The practice of polygyny is common, and within countries it is lower in areas with higher levels of polygyny. Proposed explanations for the protective effect of polygyny include the distinctive structure of sexual networks produced by polygyny, the disproportionate recruitment of HIV positive women into marriages with a polygynous husband, and the lower coital frequency in conjugal dyads of polygynous marriages. For example, studies in Malawi have shown that for men and women in polygynous marriages,
5865-611: The provisions of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act are legal. Polygyny in South Africa is practiced among the indigenous Bantu ethnic groups of South Africa, and also within the Muslim community. Although it was widespread in ancient times, it is now only common amongst richer men and men of status, such as chiefs and kings, including the former President of the Republic of South Africa, Jacob Zuma . Polygynous marriages of individuals over
5950-553: The raising of livestock). Wives, on the other hand, are responsible for other aspects of cultivating, food processing and providing meals and for performing domestic duties for the family. Boserup notes that though the work completed by women calculates for a larger percentage of the tasks that form the basis of sub-Saharan life, women often do not receive the majority portion of the benefits that accompany economic and agricultural success. An elderly cultivator, with several wives and likely several young male children, benefits from having
6035-427: The rate of HIV is between 10–15 percent. About 14 percent of Malawi's population is infected with HIV, which causes AIDS, according to official figures. There are approximately 78,000 AIDS-related deaths and 100,000 new infections every year in the country. Criticism of polygyny focuses on the wellbeing of the wives in such marriages, including coercion, buying and selling of wives (such as through bride price , which
6120-837: The recently opened villages of Yaniruma at the Becking River banks ( Kombai –Korowai area), Mu, and Mbasman (Korowai–Citak area). In 1987, a village was opened in Manggél, in Yafufla (1988), Mabül at the banks of the Eilanden River (1989), and Khaiflambolüp (1998). The village absenteeism rate is still high, because of the relatively long distance between the settlements and the food ( sago ) resources. The Korowai appear to now smoke tobacco but not to drink alcohol. The Korowai are hunter-gatherers and horticulturalists who practice shifting cultivation . They have excellent hunting and fishing skills. Information about Korowai trade patterns
6205-441: The requirements of fidelity between husband and wife. Polygyny has been criticized by feminists such as Professor John O. Ifediora, who believes that women should be equal to men and not subject to them in marriage. Professor Ifediora also believes that polygyny is a "hindrance to social and economic development" in the continent of Africa due to women's lack of financial control. Standard polygynist practices often leave women at
6290-412: The sexual goals of the men. There can be no gender equality in this scenario, which is incapable of being squared with any viable theory of women's rights." First wives in polygynous marriages are often in a difficult situation, when the law or religious code does not require their consent or input for new wives to be admitted in the marriage, so the first wife is forced to accept any new women brought into
6375-425: The spirits of the ancestors. The Korowai have an extraordinary and rich oral tradition: myths , folktales , ( magical ) sayings and charms , and totem traditions. With respect to death and afterlife the Korowai believe in the existence of a reciprocal type of reincarnation : those who died can be sent back at any time to the land of the living, by their kinsmen in the land of the dead, in order to reincarnate in
6460-513: The spread and expansion of Islam in Africa and Southeast Asia. Children born into these households were considered free. Children born to free or slave concubines were free, but had lesser status than those born to wives. Living arrangements varied between areas. In Africa, each wife usually had their own house, as well as property and animals. In many other parts of the world, wives lived together in seclusion, under one household. A harem (also known as
6545-435: The strongest appeals of polygyny to men in Africa is precisely its economic aspect, for a man with several wives commands more land, can produce more food for his household and can achieve a high status due to the wealth which he can command". In Boserup's 1970 discussion of earlier analyses of polygynous systems, for example that of Little's work of the 1930s, that through the hard work, economic, and agricultural assistance of
6630-454: The three legal systems in operation in Nigeria (the other two being Nigerian common law and Sharia law) allows for one man to legally marry more than one woman. Unlike those marriages recognized by Sharia, there is no limit to the number of legal wives allowed under customary law. Currently polygyny is most common within royal and noble families within the country, and is largely practiced by
6715-688: The tribes native to its north and west. Although far less popular there, it is nonetheless also legal in Nigeria's east and south. Polygyny varies according to a woman's age, religion and educational experience. Research conducted in the city of Ibadan, the second largest city in Nigeria, shows that non-educated women are significantly more likely (58%) to be in a polygynous union compared to college educated women (4%). Followers of traditional African religions are expected to have as many wives as they can afford. Muslim men are allowed up to 4 wives and only if they can be provided for and treated equally. Christians are typically (and expected to be) monogamous. Among
6800-425: The widening age gap between the successive order of wives and because of the decreasing exposure to coitus, if all coitus occurs in marriage. Studies show there are two mechanisms that could lead to higher prevalence rates of HIV in men and women who are in polygynous unions: partners in polygynous unions have more extra-marital relationships and thus increase each other's exposure to HIV; women who are recruited into
6885-538: The work of Ester Boserup , Goody notes that in some of the sparsely-populated regions where shifting cultivation takes place in Africa, much of the work is done by women. This favored polygynous marriages, in which men sought to monopolize the production of women "who are valued both as workers and as child bearers." Goody, however, observes that the correlation is imperfect, and also describes more traditionally male-dominated though relatively extensive farming systems, such as those common in much of West Africa, particularly
6970-479: The world being Burkina Faso , Mali , Gambia , Niger and Nigeria . In the region of sub-Saharan Africa , polygyny is common and deeply rooted in the culture, with 11 percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa living in such marriages (25 percent of the Muslim population and 3 percent of the Christian population, as of 2019). Polygyny is especially widespread in West Africa, with the countries estimated to have
7055-561: Was believed to be part of the way to build an empire. It was not until the post-colonialism era in Africa that polygyny began to be viewed as unjust or taboo. According to Natali Exposito, "in a study of the Ngwa Igbo Clan in Nigeria identified five principal reasons for men to maintain more than one wife: because having more than one wife allows the Ngwa husband to (1) have the many children that he desires; (2) heighten his prestige and boost his ego among his peers; (3) enhance his status within
7140-584: Was expressed in the 11th century by historian Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his semi-imaginary History of The Normans . Rich and powerful Viking men tended to have many wives and concubines, and these polygynous relationships might have led to a shortage of eligible women for the average Viking male. Due to this, the average Viking man could have been forced to perform riskier actions to gain wealth and power to be able to find suitable women. Viking men would often buy or capture women and make them into their wives or concubines. The Annals of Ulster states that in 821
7225-647: Was known to have been practiced during ancient times. It was accepted in Ancient Greece , until the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church . In North America , polygyny is practiced by some Mormon sects, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church). Polygyny is more common in societies that have the custom of bride price . Some studies of mitochondrial DNA have shown that there have been more mothers than fathers in
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