THE DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES OF CULTURES BETWEEN THE NAYAR AND HIMBA TRIBES.
‘Culture determines how members of society think and feel, it directs their actions and defines their outlook on life, culture defines accepted ways of behaving for members of a particular society’ (Haralambos,Holborn,2013 p.5) . The Nayar and Himba tribes have distinctive norms and values often criticised for their persistent primitive cultures by western cultures .Most known differences and similarities are social organisations, primary socialisation and marital rights.
The Nayar are traditional warrior castes from the Northern or Southern section of Kerala, India. Nayars are matrilineal society, they descent through female lineage. This confirms that fathers do not have obligation rights for the children. (indianetzone.com). The economy is considerably stable as they primarily sustain through agriculture (Grecinger,n.d). According to Haralambos and Holborn 2013 ‘Agrarian societies are not likely to be nomadic, food such as grain is often stored and it is possible for individuals to accumulate substantial personal wealth, agrarian societies can therefore have considerable inequality’(Haralambos, Holborn,2013,p.5). This statement is very distinctive within the Nayar society as they display little or no significant differences between the wealth and the poor families unlike most tribes. Most Nayars’ spiritual beliefs are strongly based on superstitions and black magic (Grecinger, n.d).
Nayar villages are comprised of family farms. Taravad institutions are the family structures of the Nayars which is matrilineal. The internal affairs of the Taravad are directed by the senior female member that can be a mother, aunt or grandmother all sharing the wealth of the Taravad.(jadski.com). No external member is allowed in the Taravad except blood relatives. Married women and men live in separate Taravad. Husbands only visit their wives at night and leave...