ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the social organization of the LoWiili. The patrilineage of the LoWiili, like the nuclear lineage of the Tallensi, has "common interest in, and joint rights of inheritance to particular patrimonial farmlands". The genealogical depth is not as great. Fortes states that the founding ancestor of the nuclear lineage, which forms the basis of the expanded family, may be placed from four to six generations back. One of the most remarkable features of the political structure, in establishing a community which recognizes certain rights and duties between members and provides an alternative to armed conflict in the settlement of disputes, is the extensive development of the joking partnership and the cathartic alliance. Apart from the ritual offices connected with the Earth shrine and with the Boore society, and apart from the positions of authority within the lineage, there was in the past little differentiation in status among the adult members of the community.
