ABSTRACT
MUCH Dani activity takes place in the framework of two different sorts of groups, one organized along the lines of patrilineal descent and the other organized in terms of residence. These groups are nonterritorial (or nonlocalized) patrilineal descent groups and residential, territorial (or localized) political units. There are also other kinds of groups, such as those formed by a compromise between the principles of descent and residence and which include those members of a descent group who live in a certain area. These groups are only the basic, idealized framework of Dani social structure, however. There is practically no behavior that involves any group in its entirety, and most activities, even when done in the name of some one group, include participants from other groups. In part this is because of the balanced cross-cutting nature of the groups, so people who are in different groups on one dimension w i l l find themselves in the same group on another dimension.
