Whilst under ordinary circumstances in the Arunta and other tribes one man is only allowed to have marital relations with women of a particular class, there are customs which allow, at certain times, of a man having such relations with women to whom at other times he would not on any account be allowed to have access. We find, indeed, that this holds true in the case of all the nine different tribes with the marriage customs of which we are acquainted, and in which a woman becomes the private property of one man.

In each tribe, again, we find at this particular time when a woman is being, so to speak, handed over to one particular man, that special individuals representing groups with which at ordinary times she may have no intercourse, have the right of access to her. In the majority of tribes, even tribal brothers are included amongst them. The individuals who are thus privileged vary from tribe to tribe, but in all cases the striking feature is that, for the time being, the existence of what can only be described as partial promiscuity can clearly be seen. By this we do not mean that marital rights are allowed to any man, but that for a time such rights are allowed to individuals to whom at other times the woman is ekirinja, or forbidden. . . .

So far, then, as the marital relations of the tribes are concerned, we find that whilst there is individual marriage, there are, in actual practice, occasions on which the relations are of a much wider nature. We have, indeed, in this respect three very distinct series of relationships. The first is the normal one, when the woman is the private property of one man, and no one without his consent can have access to her, though he may lend her privately to certain individuals who stand in one given relationship to her. The second is the wider relation in regard to particular men at the time of marriage. The third is the still wider relation which obtains on certain occasions, such as the holding of important corroborees.¹

Reports of this character led to an early theory termed by Lubbock "the expiation of marriage." It was conceived that there had been an earlier stage of sexual communism and that the approach of a number of men to a bride before she was relinquished to her husband was an assertion and survival of communal rights and a penalty paid by the husband for appropriating an individual woman. But there is nowhere any indication of an original state of sexual communism, and this particular practice is only one item in a series of relaxations of sex tabus. During the tribal ceremonies of the Arunta, there is exchange and proffering of women, for example, to honor certain persons, as in the case of the Hidatsa above.

¹Spencer, B.n/an/an/an/an/a, and F.J.Gillenn/an/an/an/a, , 92–93, 96–98, passim (The Macmillan Company. By permission).