ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors explore two dimensions of marriage: first, relationships between spouses in terms of differences in marriage forms (monogamy, polygyny, and polyandry) and second the creation of in-laws, or the nature of marriage as a mechanism for alliance. They show that Nyinba polyandry controls village and household size, allowing the Nyinba to adapt to their rugged, precarious environment and scarce resources. The key to Nyinba polyandry and inseparable from it is the corporate household, or trongba, and its management. The Nyinba are organized into patrilineal clans, which are descent categories, not corporate groups. The Nyinba point out that polyandry supports fraternal solidarity and keeps brothers together: If they all had separate wives, their interests would be divided and the brothers would split. Among the Nyinba, monogamy may come about naturally—for example, with the marriage of a man who has no brothers.
