Mini-case 1.3

Holism is the idea that parts of a particular culture is connected; in other words, change of one part causes change of whole culture. In third mini-case Nolan exemplifies this notion.

The Yir Yoront, an Aboriginal group, was living in Northern Queensland, Australia. One of their main tools was stone axe. Those axes were made of wood, bark and gum, which were abundant in their environment. However, stone that formed head of axe was hard to find. It was just found in the south. This fact was responsible for origin of trade between aborigines. They exchanged axes for spears, and so on. Such exchanges had important roles in fiestas, where people from different places gathered. Stone axes were used in hunting, fishing and food gathering. But, axe was not just represented as tool. It always belonged to men and was associated with clan groups. It was “a definer and regulator of a host of social, economic and symbolic relationships”. Women and children asked permission of a man to use the axe; it was “done according to the group’s rules of age and kinship”.

When the steel axe was introduced this system collapsed. First, it affected trade, because axes were provided by missionaries. Axes were given to women and children, thereafter they were nor dependent on men’s axes. In general, male privilege was undermined.