ABSTRACT
The chapter introduces the central problem of the book, how the Nuaulu (a traditional people of the island of Seram, eastern Indonesia) have displayed cultural resilience and population growth over a period of 50 years despite environmental degradation, mass in-migration and the effects of Indonesian government development programmes. To understand this counterintuitive history, it is argued that it is necessary to explore the relationship between descent, clan alliance and the performance of ritual. Such an exploration connects the study with an enduring preoccupation amongst anthropologists working in eastern Indonesia with cross-cousin marriage, as theorized first by Dutch scholars and subsequently validated through the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss. In particular, Nuaulu society displays evidence of a bilateral exchange dynamic consistent with direct exchange of spouses between clans. However, whereas clans are able to reproduce biologically through marriage with other clans, the paired sacred houses that comprise them exchange ritual services but are unable to reproduce themselves independently. The chapter outlines this basic model, describes how the work is organized and gives a brief account of the research methods employed.
