| Abstract: | The present paper attempts to understand what the Ankave-Anga are saying about gender, kinship and parenthood through the representations that take the human body as a focal point. I try to show that, while representations of bodily substances and procreation do not explicitly deal with patrilineality, they do underlie practices which pertain to the realm of kinship. It is mainly the existence of ties between an individual and his or her mother, and therefore with her kin, that is expressed. These ties appear to be characterized by the sharing of food, conviviality, joy. Overall a strong identity defines individuals linked through the female line. The Ankave, and probably with them other southern Anga groups, appear to be different from the ones already known with respect to ideas about procreation, growth and male maturation. |
