The Importance of Honor in Mentawe

Mentawe is a society that, indigenously, is quite litigious. But there are certain domains in which the transactional nature is a bit taboo. It's not appropriate for a shaman to be asked or to ask to be paid. A similar thing actually occurs with food sharing in Mentawe. People will kill a pig and distribute the meat to everyone who shared. They might call a lot of people to help them move a house but if they don't share you can't find them. You can't go to someone else.

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