Social Mobility

Class and Family

Social classes in prewar Buguias interdigitated along kinship lines. All baknangs had near relatives of the commoner class, and all commoners were tied not too distantly to elite families. Virtually the entire community traced its ancestry to the Kalanguya hunter Lumiaen, who arrived in Buguias in the early nineteenth century. Most elite families stemmed from Basilio, Lumiaen's wealthy son, while most commoners traced their lineage to Siklungan, his poorer offspring. But since kinship was reckoned cognatically, lines crossed and complex relationships linked most families. The generally poor immigrants were excluded from the Buguias family tree, but they could be grafted to it through marriage. Many individuals married across class lines; since customary law proscribed unions even between second cousins, the pool of potential mates was limited. Powerful families, in attempting to concentrate their wealth, sometimes allowed cousins to marry, or, alternatively, selected for their children elite spouses from other villages. But these were never standard practices, and many elite youngsters married commoners. This did not challenge the village's class structure, however, since local ideology explicitly allowed for individual mobility. Through luck and effort, poor individuals could rise, whereas children of the rich regularly fell.

Inheritance and Downward Mobility

Elite couples periodically diminished their wealth through ritual extravagance, and their fortunes could be entirely consumed at their own funerals. A month-long wake of a true baknang could

consume an entire herd. Rice terraces generally devolved as inheritance, but inauspicious funeral auguries might call for their sale to cover additional animal sacrifices. Family heirlooms, especially Chinese vases, also passed to the succeeding generation, but these only displayed potential status. Furthermore, since all children of the (usually) large elite families would inherit a share, no one child ever received adequate wealth to maintain class position. Even the sons of the topmost couples had to earn elite status—although they would receive substantial succor all along the way.

Often a single son from a rich family would reoccupy his father's position. Although the successor's personal business fortunes were ultimately paramount, succession could hinge on the parents' funerals. All children had their own funeral-related ceremonies, in addition to being obligated to help finance the main wakes; together these rites might force decapitalization. The wealthier brother (or, occasionally, brother-in-law) could sometimes exploit his siblings' distress and acquire their properties. The eldest sibling, having had a longer period in which to accumulate wealth, was thus advantaged, even though the youngest usually secured the largest share of the family bequest. Not surprisingly, inheritance accords could be contentious; while ailing parents might seek to establish concord before they died, the community's elders often had to negotiate, and enforce, settlements. The elders would weigh many considerations, including the financial assistance the parents had previously given to each child, as well as the help each heir had provided the parents. Education counted as a parental gift, depriving some of the earliest graduates of any property legacies.

Occasionally a baknang line would sink entirely to commoner status. The local sages would interpret this as a sign of ancestral disapproval—in one noted instance, said to have been brought on by incorrectly performed rituals.

Upward Movement

The typical commoner was so burdened with debt (much of it ritually incurred) that upward mobility was all but impossible. But a few managed to rise, usually by working for a wealthy relative. Marrying the daughter of a baknang provided a good business en-

trée, but the wedding costs, borne by the male party, were restrictive. Still, a young man recognized by his prospective father-in-law as outstandingly clever and industrious might find wedding loans readily forthcoming. Nor was it absolutely impossible for one to prosper through personal efforts in animal husbandry. One man named Calayon, for example, climbed from poverty to mid-level baknang status, although it took him an entire lifetime. Calayon first trafficked in chickens, moved on to hogs, and finally graduated to cattle leasing. He advised others that they too could prosper if they followed his example and if they maintained the proper relations with their ancestors.

Members of the serving class had few hopes for prosperity, although a few skilled immigrants could rise. The accused wizard Kabading, for example, eventually reached a fairly high position. Slaves, however, remained impoverished. Although their children were not necessarily bound, most did remain servile; a good marriage provided their best route to independence. Today, their descendants still constitute the poorest segment of the community.

Class conflict did not rend prewar Buguias society; familial ties and expectations of reciprocity tempered dissonance. Still, certain baknangs were privately censored for self-serving actions, and one was secretly reviled (by some) for abusing his power. Yet no members of the elite could automatically maintain position simply by possessing wealth. Legitimation was a continual and costly burden, albeit one borne (we may presume) reverently. But for this story we must wait for chapter 4; more immediate for the present concern is the land-tenure system that allowed the elite to control key sectors of production within Buguias.