Who are the Tiwi?

The Tiwi live on two islands that are off the northern coastal strip of Australia. The main religion is Christianity. The elderly are accorded a lofty level of deference. These people hunt and fish traditional foods. Among the Tiwi, the division of labor was such that the women provided most of the daily diet especially vegetables and nuts that were ground and made into porridge while the men’s duties were mainly occasional hunting e.g. kangaroos. Women have to be continuously married. The Tiwi used to accept manufactured goods from other cultures like the Japanese in return for women. They also took a liking to Western goods like tobacco. The Tiwis lifestyle incorporated the aspect of polygamy in terms of family. Conversely, the Church discourages them from this sort of family life and encourages monogamy. The Tiwi people live in villages of structures erected using corrugated iron sheets. They easily resort to violence in cases of conflicts arising.