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The uneasy welding of a money economy into the culture adds
a new, different dimension to the notion of possessions, and presents
potential dangers to the group.
*
Virtue in the Aboriginal world encompasses rights, embedded
in relationships, which enable individuals to exact contributions
within a clearly defined framework. The rights of a father to make
certain demands on the husbands of his daughters, for example, is
enshrined in the Law. The possibility,of making the demands, and
the reciprocal obligations entailed,, are clearly regulated. Under
a money economy, such demands can be exacted in cash, and the money
used for the purchase of material objects. One such object is a
car.
It is possible that motor vehicles purchased with this money
may come to be prized as a ’possession*, an *idential,. Prestige
could thus come through ownership of vehicles. This is a matter
for speculation at this time.
Γ
' What is observable is that social relationships are disordered
when pressures are placed upon individuals who administer vehicles
belonging to the total group for station work, to make these vehicles
available for private use.
Young people who are unable to purchase cars resort to the illegal
use of cars, succumbing to the same attractions that cars exert
in white society.
In a sense, all such items Ofwestern culture present a problem
in that the Law, which encompasses all the typifications of daily
life, is silent about such things.
Some items are easily accommodated - schooling, for example,
may be seen as one element of the total, traditional educational
process.
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