Andrew Lang to Howitt 1 December
Transcription - Page 3
and, admitting [the -crossed out] my guess
for the sake of argument,
if "fills the bill", it
explains phratries
without involving a
primeval conscious
bisection for exogamous
purposes. I don't see why,
at that remote period,
people not exogamous
would have wished to
be so, and made the
bisection to that end. On
my scheme they drifted
into totemic and phratrist
exogamy blindly.
Document Details
Date
1903 - 1902
Letter From
Lang, Andrew
Letter To
Howitt, Mr Alfred William
Author
—
Country
Scotland
Colony/State
—
Holding Institution
Museums Victoria
Collection Name
Alfred W. Howitt Collection
Registration Number
XM 225
Medium
Letter
Region
—
Locality
—
Summary
Content relates to a discussion of the theory of totemic development and social organisation of Aboriginal groups of Australia. Note that the year the letter was written is probably 1902: on A.W. Howitt's transcription of the letter (XM 432), he makes a note that he acknowledged the letter on '2/3/03'.
Physical Description
Letter, handwritten in ink. Two sheets, eight pages. Dated 1 Dec only. On letterhead: Alleyne House, St Andrews, Scotland. Condition: good.