In this paper, I have described a contrast between two formal systems that are to be found among the Austronesians: the one, a system of lateral expansion and the other, a system of apical demotion with concomitant predatory expulsion. As contrastive forms, these formal systems focus our attention and allow us to delineate a variety of intermediate structural forms. I would like to go a step further and link these formal systems to the more general discussion of “origin structures” with which I began this paper.

I would argue that in systems of lateral expansion, narratives of origin focus on place. In such systems, there occurs what Renato Rosaldo has called, in regard to the Ilongot, a “spatialization of time”: “The cultural conception of shifting directions as one walks along a path is at once a pattern, reflecting past experiences, and a charter, guiding future projects” (R. Rosaldo 1980:59). An appropriate comparison here would be with the Atoni Meto whose history in the past two hundred years has been characterized by rapid lateral expansion that has left a complex network of chantlines outward from central west Timor. Atoni name groups (kanaf) trace their origins as the journey of a single name — a single entity or collective ego — who wanders through a landscape of places. Atoni history is “the path and the road” and those who recite it personalize this collective history as “my path and my road” (Fox 1988a:10-15).

I would extend this argument by noting that systems of apical demotion invariably focus on persons rather than places. Genealogical reckoning becomes crucial to these systems. Origin narratives — many of which may begin with a recitation of places — come to focus on relationships among persons, on succession and the transmission of status. From this perspective, we can begin also to note, in the narration of origins, the occurrence of a “transition to genealogy” or its reverse in some instances.

If we consider these two contrasting formal systems as modes of expansion under particular conditions and in specific environments, we can see that both have been used widely and effectively. It becomes less important to designate one as the proto-system and the other as derivative than it is to recognize both as effective means by which populations of Austronesians have spread during their long history of expansion.