ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates various possibilities of looking at dance both as a social construction and as a biological phenomenon with some evolutionary significance. Mortuary rituals have always been at the core of Tiwi cultural life and dance and the body are at the core of these rituals. The kinship dances can be divided into three categories: patrilineal, affinal, and matrilineal dances. There were five patrilineal dances, three matrilineal dances, and two dances associated with relatives acquired through marriage. From the perspective of the kinship dances this observation needs to be qualified: it is true that the patrilineal dances were mainly concerned with Spirit Children, but the movement of the respective dances also showed the physical making of the child, as well as physically caring relationships. The kinship dances were truly kinship in action. It established and re-established kinship ties between individuals past and present through bodily practices and bodily intelligence.
