Anthropology 330

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Anthropology 330

• Kinship

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What Is Kinship?

• DEFINITION
• The rules and standards for organizing into
  families

• We use kinship diagrams to visually understand
  kinship groups

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Aspects of Kinship

• All societies in the world divide up kin by three
• criteria
• Gender
• Generation
• Collaterality
• Kinship is diagrammed using symbols to
• indicate these three aspects of each relative.

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What Is Kinship Diagramming?

• Kinship Diagrams are the visual presentation of
  kinship relationships through symbols
• The main symbols used are shown at the right
• The reference point for a kinship diagram is
  always one individual called EGO

• male
• female
• siblings
• marriage
• parents
• offspring

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What Does Your Kinship Diagram Look Like?

• Begin with ego
• Put in a spouse if you are married
• Put in any children that you have
• Draw in your parents
• And their parents (your grandparents)
• Then your parents siblings
• Then your parents siblings children
• Put mothers and fathers next to each other
  without an if they had children but were not
  married
• Put a / through an for a divorce
• Put a / through a person if they have died
• Note that your kinship diagram does NOT
  look like the Standard Kinship Diagram.

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What is a Patrilineage?

• DEFINITION
• Relationships and/or a descent group based on
  male links only

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Diagraming a Patrilineage

• The diagram below show all relatives in EGOs
  patrilineage in blue. Notice that if a person is
  in EGOs patrilineage, all siblings of that
  person are also in EGOs patrilineage. EGOs
  mother is not part of his patrilineage, nor are
  any of her family members. His mother is part of
  another patrilineage that includes 3, 10, 12, 13,
  23 and 24.

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Patrilineal Inheritance of Property

• The diagram below shows how property is
  typically inherited in a patrilineal system. The
  blue lines show how inheritance moves from one
  male individual in a generation to male
  individuals in succeeding generations.

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What is a Matrilineage?

• DEFINITION
• Relationships and/or a descent group based on
  female links only

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Diagramming a Matrilineage

• The diagram below show all relatives in EGOs
  matrilineage in pink. Notice that if a person is
  in EGOs matrilineage, all siblings of that
  person are also in EGOs patrilineage. EGOs
  father is not part of his matrilineage, nor are
  any of his family members. His father is part of
  another matrilineage that includes 2, 6, 7, 9, 15
  and 16.

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Matrilineal Inheritance of Property

• The diagram below shows how property is
  typically inherited in a matrilineal system.
  Notice that females are the links that connect
  men who will inherit. The pink lines show how
  inheritance moves from one male individual in a
  generation to male individuals in succeeding
  generations. Women do not typically manage
  property, even in a matrilineal system.

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Mothers Brother in Matrilineages

• In matrilineal societies, EGOs mothers
  brother is a very important relative, because he
  is the one who controls the property that EGO
  will inherit. EGO is the mothers brother of his
  sisters son(s).
• EGO will therefore manage his matrilineages
  property for his sisters sons to inherit. EGOs
  own children will not inherit from him. They
  will inherit from their mothers (EGOs future
  wifes) brother(s).

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What Are Nuclear Family Members?

• Nuclear family members are considered the
  most important relatives in our culture, but not
  necessarily in other cultures. They consist of a
  husband and wife and their offspring. In our
  standard kinship diagram you can identify seven
  nuclear families. The nuclear family made up of
  1, 2, 6, 8 and 9 used to be a nuclear family,
  but the children have grown and started their own
  nuclear families, as have the children in the
  nuclear family formed by 3, 4, 10, 12 and 13.
  There are five nuclear families shown in EGOs
  parents generation. They are
• 5, 6, 15 and 16 7, 8 17 and 18
• 9, 10, 19, 20 and EGO 11, 12, 21
  and 22
• 13, 14, 23 and 24

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Diagramming Nuclear Families

• In the diagram below, all the different
  nuclear families are shown indifferent colors.
  Notice that the adults in EGOs parents
  generation are members of two different nuclear
  families.

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What Are Cross and Parallel Relatives?

• Many societies recognize classes of relatives
  that we do not recognize. These classes of
  relatives seem arbitrary and illogical to us,
  however, they are central to understanding how
  these societies organize their kinship systems.
  Two classes of relatives that are important in
  other societies are Cross Relatives and Parallel
  Relatives.
• Parallel relatives are the same sex
  siblings of EGOs
• parents and the children of the same
  sex siblings.
• Cross Relatives are the opposite sex
  siblings of EGOs
• parents and the children of these
  opposite sex
• siblings.

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Diagramming Cross and Parallel Relatives

• In the diagram below,
• Parallel relatives are colored in magenta
  
• Cross relatives are colored in lavendar

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What is Kinship Terminology About?

• There are six ways of organizing and classifying
  members of EGOs kin group. Each of these uses a
  different set of terms to refer to relatives. We
  study these different kinship terminologies
  because they reflect the kinds of relationships
  EGO is expected to have with various members of
  his family. The six types of kinship
  terminologies are named after the first exotic
  culture that was found to use that particular
  pattern of family relationships.

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The Six Kinds of Kinship Terminology

• Eskimo Omaha
• Iroquois Hawaiian
• Crow Sudanese

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What Is Eskimo Kinship Terminology?

• Eskimo Terminology is like what mainstream
  Americans use to refer to their relatives.
  Nuclear family members call each other by a set
  of terms that differentiate gender and
  generation. Collateral relatives are labeled by
  generation and gender in the parent generation,
  but only by generation in Egos generation.

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What Is Iroquois Kinship Terminology?

• Iroquois terminology gives different status
  to parallel relatives than to cross relatives.
  Parallel relatives are treated like nuclear
  family members, and called mother and father in
  EGOs parent generation, and brother and sister
  in EGOs generation. Cross relatives are
  considered to be more distant and have aunt,
  uncle and cousin-like terms.

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What Is Crow Kinship Terminology?

• Crow terminology also gives different status
  to parallel relatives than to cross relatives.
  Parallel relatives on EGOs mothers and fathers
  side are treated like nuclear family members, and
  called mother and father in EGOs parent
  generation, and brother and sister in EGOs
  generation. Cross Relatives on EGOs mothers
  side are called uncle and cousin. However,
  cross-relatives on the fathers side (including
  Dad) are so unimportant that they are labeled
  with only two terms male member of fathers
  lineage and female member of fathers lineage.
  Usually associated with matrilineal societies.

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What Is Omaha Kinship Terminology?

• Omaha terminology is the mirror image of Crow
  terminology. Parallel relatives on EGOs
  mothers and fathers side are treated like
  nuclear family members, and called mother and
  father in EGOs parent generation, and brother
  and sister in EGOs generation. Cross Relatives
  on EGOs fathers side are called uncle and
  cousin. However, cross-relatives on the mothers
  side (including Mom) are so unimportant that they
  are labeled with only two terms male member of
  mothers lineage and female member of mothers
  lineage. Usually associated with patrilineal
  societies.

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What Is Hawaiian Kinship Terminology?

• Hawaiian kin terms are quite simple. Every
  consanguineal relative in EGOs parents
  generation is a mother or a father, and every
  consanguineal relative in EGOs generation is a
  brother or a sister.

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What Is Sudanese Kinship Terminology?

• Sudanese kin terms assign a separate term to
  every relationship that EGO has, specifying the
  exact links to EGO.

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Parallel Cousin MarriageA Common Form of
Endogamy Based on Kinship Relationships
Marriage to Egos Mothers Sisters Daughter OR
Fathers Brothers Daughter
Note that ego will usually have multiple MSs and
MSDs and multiple FBs and FBDs
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Cross Cousin MarriageA Common Form of Endogamy
Based on Kinship Relationships
Marriage to Egos Mothers Brothers Daughter OR
Fathers Sisters Daughter
Note that ego will usually have multiple MBs and
MBDs and multiple FSs and FSDs
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Yanomamo Kinship and MarriageA Practical
Application
Patrilineal Inheritance, Iroquois Kin Terms,
Polygyny Preferred, Cross Cousin Marriage
Preferred, Brother Marriage Exchange
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Study Guide

• Kinship Nuclear families
• Gender Parallel relatives
• Generation Cross relatives
• Collaterality Kinship terminology
• Kinship diagramming Eskimo terminology
• Standard kinship diagram Hawaiian terminology
• Patrilineage Iroquois terminology
• Patrilineal inheritance Omaha terminology
• Matrilineal Crow terminology
• Matrilineal inheritance Sudanese terminology
• Mothers brother Cross cousin marriage
• Nuclear families Parallel cousin marriage