An analysis of the marriage structure of the murngin tribe of australia

This article concerns interrelated variables in the subsystems that produce the next generation in particular societal systems of various Australian tribes. Special attention is directed to the Murngin tribe. Previous analytic approaches have been static, employing group theory. This literature is critically reviewed and then a dynamic analysis is suggested as an improved procedure. In this approach tribal marriage structures are analyzed, and not merely delineated, graphically. The dynamics result from the evolution of societies from one homomorphic structure to another. Foundations are laid using such analytic methods to study marriage structures that are less rigid than those of the Australian tribes.