The Nomadic Alternative – Page 252

maize and saying, "The corn is high. In nine months there will be many babies."

Marriage brings promiscuous youth abruptly to an end and marks the fourth initiation. One man and one woman join themselves into an economic and sexual partnership, which should last the rest of their lives. Neither can afford to remain single. If they did, the man would go without his share of vegetables, and the woman be deprived of her share of the meat. But the alliance only survives if the couple gets on. They, not God, put themselves together, and they can equally well put themselves asunder. Divorce is quite rare in a hunting community. So is polygamy. But nobody gets hysterical about either. And if the couple do agree to separate, both remarry, hoping for better luck next time. But by the time a man and a woman reach marriageable age, they are far more settled in their ideas about life than we are - both resolutely conservative and resentful of change. This may also explain the comparative rarity of divorce.

The fifth initiation to leadership is the most arbitrary of these divisions, since the position of leader is to some extent nullified in a society of equals. At this stage a man reaches the "height of his powers"; he is a reservoir of experience and practical wisdom, and the young hunters attach themselves to him in the hope that this wisdom will rub off on them. He may also be a sort of master of cere-monies, entrusted by the rest of the band to handle diplomatic exchanges with the outside world. He is also the most influential member of any gift exchange cycle. He can afford to give away all he has, knowing his reputation will always attract more.

The onset of old age announces the sixth initiation. It may come quite suddenly and cause a shock to his vanity. The leader finds that his eldest son has supplanted him in influence, and he must reconcile himself to his reduced status. During the period of decline the ageing man prepares himself for death. As he slows down - lit-erally, for he finds it increasingly difficult to keep up - the Early Warning System in the brain again transmits the same messages it sent him as a young man. They urge him to keep his body going.