marriage customs
Yanadis Practice Reverse Dowry
Raghaviah, in his book The Yanadis (1962), indicated that the relationships between Yanadi men and women are characterized by tenderness, responsiveness, and mildness. But the relationships only last as long as both partners are committed to them. When a young woman, whom the author described as “slim, charming, fragile Chenchi” (p.176), decided one day to […]
A Muslim/Christian Marriage in Nubia
A Muslim man and his Christian bride, both Nubians, were married at night recently to avoid upsetting too many people, but they had a traditional ceremony nonetheless. Nicola Kelly described the events that took place in the Aswan area for the BBC last week. Akram, the groom, told the reporter on the morning of the […]
Young Ladakhis Try to Modernize [journal article review]
Ladakhi adolescents are often left in limbo between desires for modernity and tensions about their traditional moral values. Many desire sexual freedom but they are also torn by loyalty to their society and their culture. A journal article by Jennifer Aengst explores the tensions handled by young Ladakhis as they seek to modernize in a […]
Marriages of Nubian Women
While some Nubian women are leaving their families and villages for education and jobs, many remain and continue to follow the old customs—and to marry Nubian men. A feature in the Middle Eastern news and analysis website Al-Monitor last week explored with some Nubian women the options for marriages today. The journalist pointed out that […]
Inuit Plural Marriages
Nunatsiaq News reported last week that an Iqaluit filmmaker named Alethea Arnaquq-Baril has just produced a dramatic romance film about the abandoned Inuit practice of multiple spouses. The filmmaker told the paper that the practice ended with colonization, but it appears from her comments as if she has been able to gain enough information from […]
Traditional Nubian Weddings
With all the stresses the Nubians have faced recently in a rapidly changing Egypt, their marriage customs seem to persist, at least in villages in the Aswan area where some of them still live. An article in an English language Egyptian daily paper last week described a wedding in Upper Egypt as “a magnificent and […]
Paliyans Cherish Traditions But Adapt to Modernity
The Paliyans are a “relatively non-violent peace loving innocent” tribe that once lived in the interior forests of western Tamil Nadu state, in southern India, according to a new blog about the people. Mr. A. Muthuvezhappan, the author of the blog, writes that they used to be a nomadic hunting and gathering people who subsisted […]
Paliyan Child Marriages [journal article review]
The Paliyan, a peaceful society of southern India, sometimes practice pedogamy—marriage between adults and children. A recent journal article by Peter M. Gardner analyzing the practice, based on his field notes from the early 1960s and late 1970s, is freely available in PDF format on the Internet. Gardner begins by briefly reviewing Paliyan culture, at […]
