Premium
GAMBLING IS HARD WORK: CARD PLAYING IN TIWI SOCIETY
Author(s) -
Goodale Jane C.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
oceania
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1834-4461
pISSN - 0029-8077
DOI - 10.1002/j.1834-4461.1987.tb02233.x
Subject(s) - subsistence agriculture , work (physics) , resource (disambiguation) , foraging , principal (computer security) , sociology , economics , ecology , biology , agriculture , computer science , mechanical engineering , computer network , engineering , operating system
This paper examines the gambling activities of Tiwi women and men of North Australia and situates the activities within the anthropology of work. It is shown that gambling for money redistributes an unequal resource (wages and pensions) while the derivative game using beer rather than money redistributes an equal resource unequally. The principal conclusion is that for women the activity may be equated to foraging — a low risk activity but fundamental for personal status in that it is directed toward providing daily subsistence, while for men the activity closely resembles hunting — a high risk activity where success is less likely but also essential for personal status.