COUSIN MARRIAGE. Though among some primitive peo ples the marriage of first cousins is strongly deprecated, many consider it the most suitable union and even demand that a man's first wife shall be so related to him. This preference for cousin marriage is found in many parts of Australia, Oceania, Africa and Asia. In North America it is not enjoined, but is freely permitted. There is no conclusive evidence that such peoples suffer in any way from this inbreeding or are inferior physically to those who regard the marriage of first or even more distant cousins as in jurious, though the latter aver that such unions result in sterility or the production of weakly children. This disapprobation may even extend to classificatory cousins, as in parts of East Africa, where a man may not take as wife any woman of his mother's clan.
(See diagram I. and art. DUAL ORGANIZATION.) There are three clans A.B.C. of which the men are represented by AI ; A2 . . . the women by ai; aa. . . . Descent is patri lineal. If we take the brother and sister A3, a3, their cross-cousins are B3, b3 and C3, c3 ; while their ortho-cousins are A4, a4 and C4, c4. But were there only two clans instead of three their mother's sister, b I must have married a man of clan A, and her children also would then have belonged to the same clan as A3, a3.
A further distinction is often made between the two types of cross-cousin, the daughters of the father's sister and those of the maternal uncle. Not uncommonly, though marriage with one of these is compulsory, marriage with the other is forbidden. Of the two, it is more usual for the paternal aunt's daughter to be prohib ited, though in parts of India, she is the orthodox wife. Owing to the wide expansion of relationship prevalent among those who have the clan organization (see RELATIONSHIP TERMS) it is often not clear whether, where cousin-marriage is encouraged, the real or classificatory cousin is usually selected. In the majority of cases a first cousin by genealogical reckoning is preferred, though, failing such an one, a second or a classificatory cousin would be allowed. Thus in a society composed only of three clans, all are directly related; if there are more than three they will still be all linked together though the connection will be indirect. (See diagram II.) Cross-cousin marriage is often associated with the Dual Organization of Society (q.v.), but it can never bring it about. Cross-cousin marriage which is also associated with marriage by exchange, however, does tend to unite pairs of clans within the community. (See EXCHANGE MARRIAGE.) There are four clans, A.B.C.D., of which the men are A.B. • • • the women a. b. A can marry either his father's sister's daugh ter d., or his maternal uncle's daughter, b. Similarly B can marry a. or c., etc. But A can never take a wife from Clan C nor B one from clan D etc. Where only one cross-cousin is permitted the women of clan A will marry into one clan, e.g. D. ; the men into the other e.g. B.
These inter-clan alliances function clearly in economic and cere monial life. For instance, in a tribe in Assam which enjoins mar riage with the maternal uncle's daughter and prohibits it with the father's sister's daughter, during the death ceremonies the clan of the deceased, that of his wife and that of his sister's husband, each has its appointed part to perform. In Australia marriage is almost entirely conditioned by relationship, not on clan member ship, a man's wife being either his mother's brother's daughter or the daughter's daughter of his mother's maternal uncle (real or fictive), which enjoined marriages appear in some tribes to have divided society into four and eight sections respectively.
Though cross-cousin marriage, wherever enjoined, links to gether both groups and individuals, it cannot be regarded as a single sociological phenomenon. Among some peoples it is an institution for the benefit of the man ; in others it safeguards the position of the woman ; while in others again it is a duty which both owe for the sake of their respective groups. Where marriageable women are scarce, due to polygyny or female infanticide, or where heavy gifts have to be made for a bride, the difficulty of obtaining a wife is relieved if it is a recognized custom for a man to have preferen tial right to one of his cousins ; and in many parts of the world, especially among patrilineal peoples a father may claim one of his sister's daughters for his son. This does not always imply that the young man can get a wife without giving any bride-price for her, though this happens sometimes, but usually less will be demanded of him, and he may have the power to veto his cousin's marriage to any other man. Elsewhere the institution may chiefly benefit the woman by ensuring her a husband to father her children, and pro vide her with protection and economic support. In many places, however, cross-cousin marriage is enforced for the benefit of the group rather than the individual, for it strengthens the ties between related families or clans, and also prevents the weakening of a group through the loss of its members.
Its most important effect is on the transmission of property. Amongst a matrilineal people a man's heirs are his sister's sons. His own children can receive nothing, however much he may wish them to do so. A partial solution of this conflict between paternal inclination and social duty is obtained by the marriage of his heir with his daughter, which, since he is legal guardian to the former, is generally possible. In this way his daughter will benefit from his wealth. If his son marries his sister's daughter, then his own grandchildren will eventually inherit it. (See diagram III.) The property passes from B' to his sister's son ; and if his own son marries sister, it will revert on death to B''s grandson In parts of the west Pacific where cross-cousin marriage is fa voured this desire on the part of a man to provide for his children is given by the natives themselves as the reason for the practice. Similarly, where property is held by the clan constant intermar riage between two or three clans prevents their wealth from being dispersed. The advantages resulting from the customary marriage of cross-cousins, both to the individuals and to society as a whole might have given rise to it in different parts of the world. The least satisfactory theory derives it from a society in which there are two exogamous groups. Where this is found all the women available to a man as a wife belong to the group which contains his cross-cousins and, if matrilineal, his father's sister, or if patri lineal, his mother, and all those who, according to the classificatory system of nomenclature, are included with them. It has been ar gued that, since a man will tend to choose some one of his own generation, cross-cousin marriage will result. This is purely hypo thetical, since a woman of his generation may be many years his senior or his junior, while a woman of the generation above or below may be his contemporary. In a patrilineal community the former might be denied him because classed with his mother, but this would not hold in a matrilineal one. But the strongest argu ment against this theory is that while it might explain marriage with a classificatory cross-cousin, it does not explain why almost always it is the first cousin who is the prescribed mate. To account for the custom in the west Pacific Dr. Rivers believed that in f or mer times the old men were in the habit of appropriating the young girls as wives for themselves. To provide a mate for his sister's son a man gave him one of his own wives, and later substituted his daughter. This again is hypothetical, though there is some evidence for the practice of marriage with the maternal uncle's wife or widow in this area.
Sir James Frazer argues that a common method of acquiring a wife is for two men to exchange sisters. The children of these two unions would then be cross-cousins. When the boys of the second generation sought for mates, a second exchange of sisters would be effected, thus bringing about a marriage between people who were doubly cross-cousins. (See EXCHANGE MARRIAGE.) This cannot be proved, but it affords an explanation of the conditions in many parts of Australia. Nevertheless there are many tribes, such as those of Torres straits and part of New Guinea who practise mar riage by exchange, but prohibit the marriage of first cousins. Ortho-cousin Marriage.—The marriage of ortho-cousins is in compatible with the clan organization, but is enjoined among cer . tain patrilineal peoples who are not so organized, particularly in the form of marriage with the father's brother's daughter. (There is no record of any people who enjoin marriage with the daughter of the maternal aunt.) It is most prominent among the Arabs and is approved by Mohammedans generally, and has been recorded from the Basuto of South Africa. Among the Arabian Bedouins a man has a right to his paternal uncle's daughter. The bride-price he pays for her is less than would be demanded of another man and her father cannot bestow her hand elsewhere without his nephew's consent. It also seems that according to Mohammedan law this type of marriage is something of a duty, to perform which confers religious merit. Two main reasons are put forward for encourag ing ortho-cousins to marry. One is a desire to "keep the blood pure" and this is considered especially important among the better class families. The other reason is to prevent property from leav ing the family; bride-price and dowry may change hands but the wealth remains within the group of bride and bride-groom. This is probably the reason for the prescribed marriage with the father's brother's daughter in Madagascar, where, though descent is matri lineal and marriage with the mother's sister's daughter therefore incestuous, inheritance is patrilineal. The Arabs maintain that this form of marriage makes for domestic happiness, since the charac ter of the girl is known beforehand, and further, if she should prove refractory her husband will have the support of her father and brothers in quelling her. These reasons are, however, probably rationalizations rather than originators of the custom. For the lat ter we must look to considerations of family pride and economics.