ABSTRACT
The corporate activities associated with residential grouping are governmental, policy-making, ‘putting community matters in order’. Throughout Banyang country the most extended order of community grouping is associated with a named descent group, which in most cases is widest group of people tracing descent from a common ancestor. The residential grouping of the Ndifaw village group has already been described and some account given of the stories which describe how its community constitution came to be as it now is. The genealogy shown for Ejwengang supports the picture Ndifaw members draw of Tanyi Tiku with his small group of ‘followers’ moving off to found the separate community which is now a village. Elderhood and leadership are two key principles of corporate representation in Banyang society. The qualities and role of each are distinct, and each derives initially from separate type of corporate grouping. Both, however, are relevant to community organization, where the two roles complement each other and, in part, overlap.
