The Organization of the Yerukala Society: Family and Suprafamilial Forms

Abstract

The article deals with the social structure of the Yerukala, an ethnic community of Southern India. The Yerukala has been recognized as a Scheduled Tribe since 1956, and enjoyed the benefi ts provided for this category of socially and economically disadvantaged groups. The author argues that there are features bringing this community closer to an Indian caste, and attempts to demonstrate to the reader that not only did the Yerukala borrow deities from the Hinduist pantheon, but also their social structure has undergone substantial changes. He believes that sanskritization as a historical process infl uenced not just cultural values, which are left beyond the scope of the article, but also the order of the exchange of women and, subsequently, of services in this society.