Naming and the Transmission of Status in a Central Brazilian Society

Abstract

Morgan (1871: 133) interpreted reluctance divulge personal names on the part of the North American Indian as a conservative mechanism which he said functioned to prevent the relaxation of the usage of addressing kin, whilst, at the same time, it has contributed powerfully the knowledge and maintenance of the [relationship] In more than fifty different nations Morgan (1871: I32) observed that individuals addressed each other by the term of the relationship, and never the personal name of the individuals addressed. This seeming neglect of names native Americans led Morgan, preoccupied with systems of consanguinity and affinity, ignore the system of naming. Yet he was the first anthropologist signal the importance of names and suspect, even as a negative factor, their systematic connection with relationship terminologies. Few anthropologists since Morgan have made detailed investigations of personal names,2 and even fewer have considered the problem which he initially posed: that there might well be a connection between the usage of personal names and that of relationship terms. It is precisely this connection between names and relationship terms which I wish explore in the following pages. For the Kayapo Indians3 and other of the Ge-speaking peoples of northeastern and central Brazil (c.f. Lave 1967, Da Matta 1973, Melatti 1971) the kinship system serves also as a mechanism for the transmission of personal names. As I will argue, the system of name bestowal among the Kayap6 can be comprehended only as part of the kinship system. Names, representing both kin connections as well as avenues of access positions of social prestige in village ritual, constitute a form of symbolic representation which link generational succession with individual social statuses.

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