Chapter 10Kinship and Descent

What We Will LearnWhy have cultural anthropologists spent so much time studying kinship?What are the various functions of descent groups?What are the different ways in which cultures categorize kin?Why is it important to know something about the kinship systems in other cultures?

Kinship DefinedKinship refers to the relationshipsfound in all societiesthat are based on blood or marriage.Relationships based on blood and marriage are culturally recognized by all societies.

Kinship DefinedThose to whom we are related through birth or blood, are our consanguineal relatives.Those to whom we are related through marriage are our affinal relatives.Fictive kinship refers to relationships among individuals who recognize kinship obligations although the relationships are not based on either consanguineal or affinal ties.

KinshipCultural anthropologists generally have studied societies in which kinship activities play an important role.This Tibetan family includes three generations.

ParenthoodParenthood as defined by this Western family is very different from the Zumbaguan definition of parenthood.

Question________ refers to relationships found in all societies.RelatednessMatrilinealityPatrilinealityKinship

Answer: dKinship refers to relationships found in all societies.

QuestionThose who are related to us by blood are referred to as:affinal kin.descendants.ancestors.consanguineal kin.

Answer: d Those who are related to us by blood are referred to as consanguineal kin.

Partible PaternityThe Bari of Venezuela believe in partible paternity, the idea that a child can have more than one biological father.

Functions of Kinship SystemsVertical function - provides social continuity by binding together a number of successive generations.Horizontal function - solidify or tie together a society across a single generation through marriage.

Kinship DiagramsAll kinship diagrams are viewed from the reference of EGO, the person from whose point of view we are tracing the relationship.

Kinship Diagrams - ReferencesFathers sister (FZ)Fathers sisters husband (FZH)Fathers brothers wife (FBW)Fathers brother (FB)Father (F)Mother (M)Mothers sisters husband (MZH) Mothers sister (MZ)Mothers brother (MB)Mothers brothers wife (MBW)Fathers sisters son (FZS)Fathers sisters daughter (FZD)Fathers brothers son (FBS)

Kinship Diagram Symbols

Generic Kinship Diagram

Principles of Kinship ClassificationGenerationGenderLineality Versus CollateralityConsanguineal Versus Affinal KinRelative AgeSex of the Connecting RelativeSocial ConditionSide of the Family

Lineality Versus CollateralityLinealityKin related in a single line such as son, father, and grandfather.CollateralityKin relations traced through a linking relative.

Descent GroupsRelatives who live their lives in close proximity to one another.Characteristics:Have a strong sense of identity.Often share communally held property.Provide economic assistance to one another.Engage in mutual civic and religious ceremonies.

Functions of Descent GroupsMechanism for inheriting property and political office.Control behavior.Regulate marriages.Structure primary political units.

Rules of Descent: Two TypesUnilateralTrace their ancestry through mothers line or fathers line, but not both (60%).Cognatic descentIncludes double descent, ambilineal descent, and bilateral descent.

Patrilineal DescentIn a patrilineal descent system, a person is connected to relatives of both sexes related through males only.

Patrilineal DescentMost common unilineal descent group.A man, his children, his brothers children, and his sons children are all members of the same descent group.Females must marry outside their patrilineages.A womans children belong to the husbands lineage rather than her own.

Patrilineal DescentThis Kikuyu family of Kenya has a patrilineal descent system.

Matrilineal Descent GroupsA woman, her siblings, her children, her sisters children, and her daughters children.15% of the unilineal descent groups found among contemporary societies including:Native Americans (such as Navajo, Cherokee, and Iroquois)Truk and Trobrianders of the PacificBemba, Ashanti, and Yao of Africa

Matrilineal DescentIn a matrilineal descent system, a person is connected to kin of both sexes related through females only.

Matrilineal DescentThese Zuni of New Mexico practice matrilineal descent.

MatriarchyThe rule of domination of women over men.

Differences Between Patrilineal and Matrilineal Descent Groups

Differences Between Patrilineal and Matrilineal Descent Groups

Differences Between Patrilineal and Matrilineal Descent Groups

Question While matrilineal descent systems occur, it is important not to confuse them with _________________ , a situation whereby women have greater authority and decision-making prerogatives than men.

Answer: matriarchyWhile matrilineal descent systems occur, it is important not to confuse them with matriarchy, a situation whereby women have greater authority and decision-making prerogatives than men.

Types of Unilineal Descent GroupsLineagesClansPhratriesMoieties

LineageUnilineal descent group whose members can trace their line of descent to a common ancestor.SegmentationThe process that takes place within a lineage whereby small subdivisions of a lineage will oppose one another in some social situations but will coalesce and become allies in other social situations.

Lineage Segmentation

ClansUnilineal descent groups, usually comprising more than ten generations, consisting of members who claim a common ancestry even though they cannot trace step-by-step their exact connection to a common ancestor.PhratriesUnilineal descent groups composed of a number of related clans.

MoietiesComplementary descent groups that result from the division of a society into two halves.

Corporate Nature ofUnilineal Descent GroupsLineage members see themselves as members of the group rather than individuals.Large numbers of family must approve of marriages.

Corporate Nature ofUnilineal Descent GroupsProperty is regulated by the group, rather than by the individual. If a member of a lineage assaults a member of another lineage, the assaulter and the group are held accountable.The kinship group provides security and protection for individual members.

Cognatic Descent GroupsA form of descent traced through both females and males.Approximately 40% of the worlds societies.

Types of Cognatic Descent Double descentIndividuals receive some rights and obligations from the fathers side of the family and others from the mothers side. Ambilineal descentAffiliates a person to a kin group through either the male or the female line.Bilateral descentIndividuals equally emphasize their mothers kin and their fathers kin.

World Distribution of Kinship Systems

Kinship Classification SystemsEskimoHawaiianIroquoisOmahaCrowSudanese

Eskimo System1/10th of the worlds societiesAssociated with bilateral descent. Emphasizes the nuclear family by using separate terms (mother, father, sister, brother) that are not used outside the nuclear family.

Eskimo Kinship System

Hawaiian SystemFound in 1/3 of the societies in the world.Uses a single term for all relatives of the same sex and generation: A persons father, fathers brother, and mothers brother are all referred to as father.In EGOs generation, the only distinction is based on sex - male cousins are as brothers, female cousins as sisters. Nuclear family members are roughly equivalent to more distant kin.

Hawaiian System

Iroquois SystemEGOs father and fathers brother are called by the same term, mothers brother is called by a different term. EGOs mother and mothers sister are called by one term, a different term is used for EGOs fathers sister. EGOs siblings are given the same term as parallel cousins.

Iroquois System

Omaha SystemEmphasizes patrilineal descent.EGOs father and fathers brother are called by the same term, and EGOs mother and mothers sister are called by the same term.On the mothers side of the family, there is a merging of generations. That merging of generations does not occur on EGOs fathers side of the family.

Omaha System

Crow SystemConcentrates on matrilineal rather than patrilineal descent.Mirror image of the Omaha system. The fathers side of the family merges generations.On EGOs mothers side of the family, which is the important descent group, generational distinctions are recognized.

Crow System

Family History and ImmigrationImmigrants are processed at Ellis Island in New York, the initial point of entry into the United States in the first half of the 20th century.Information technology allows us to search immigration records to learn more about our family histories.

Reproductive TechnologiesNew reproductive technologies are changing the way we think about kinship.