Kith-Centered Action Groups in an Ilokano Barrio

In exploring the composition of kinship-based action groups in a bilaterally organized society, that of the Faroese, Blehr (1963) has advanced the concept of the in order to describe the genealogical structure of groups of task-oriented consanguines and affines. The action groups he analyzed were of two kinds: estate working groups and boat crews. The former were com? posed of men who are lineally, collaterally, and/or affinally related to each other', (Blehr 1963: 271). Such groups were Ego-centered and drawn from the kith category, but the boat crews, instead of being drawn from a single kith category, were on a network of dyadic ties, i.e., on ramifying chains of obligations structured by kith relationships (Blehr 1963: 274). Murdock (1964: 131), while not denying the validity of the kith con? cept, suggests that More ethnographic data are required on such groups and the mechanics of their recruitment before systematic classification will be possible. In this paper I shall present data on a kith-centered type of action group found among the Ilokano of Barrio Suba, Uocos Norte, the Philip? pines. Suba, a barrio of 552 persons, is located on the north shore of Paoay Lake some twelve kilometers south of Laoag, the provincial capital. Like most of their compatriots, the Subans are lowland rice farmers, but for as long as they can remember they have supplemented their diet and incomes by fishing in the lake. A minor fishing technique, named after the type of net used, is dafyis fishing, or beach seining. The nets used are hand-hauled, and da\lis fishing is necessarily a group activity. There were three such groups active in the sitio where we conducted our research in 1963.1 Each was a task-ori? ented group in which membership was based on the kith principle. Dahlis fishing is a sporadic and illegal activity. Nevertheless, it is the form of fishing favored for women and their children since little skill is required. The requirements include a bag seine, a large raft on which to carry the net, and a beach lot cleared of underwater wTeeds. These important properties are not owned by the group members but are supplied by a net owner, or a group of owners, who share in the catch but do not always participate in the actual fishing. Those who do the fishing are called helpers, while the owner of the net, or its largest shareholder, is the or pangulo. The role of the headman is a complex one. He does not fish but shares in the catch. He does not determine the time of fishing, but he does help organize the group. On occasion, however, he will delegate his authority in member

Action (physics) · Geography · History · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Philippine History and Culture

• Decision Models of Social Structure

  Open Access•Naomi Quinn•American Ethnologist•1975

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• Action Groups in a Society with Bilateral Kinship

  Open Access•Otto Blehr•Ethnology•1963

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