ABSTRACT
Among the Orokaiva, the terms used in speaking of exchanges do not always describe them with the same degree of generality. Thus, the prestations which open the initiation, marriage and funeral rituals have no generic name, although analysis demonstrates that they form a well-defined class. The hidden forces originating in the first feast-giver’s/o are thus subordinated to the exchange system, since in the end a superior, social meaning has been attributed to an event, which can then be filed away and forgotten. Variations in the length of these intervals are one measure of the part left in exchanges to human initiative. A detailed study of marriage ceremonies will thus be the fundamental element of our analysis of the place of exchanges in the social structure, which can only be understood by taking into account the society’s encompassing ideology expressed in its values.
