Mother and children

in Papua New Guinea

Overview
Kinship
refers to the culturally defined relationships between individuals
who are commonly thought of as having family ties. All societies use kinship
as a basis for forming social groups and for classifying people. However,
there is a great amount of variability in kinship rules and patterns around the
world. In order to understand social interaction, attitudes, and motivations in
most societies, it is essential to know how their kinship systems function.
In many societies, kinship is the most important social organizing principle
along with gender
and age. Kinship also provides a means for
transmitting status and property from generation to generation. It is not a
mere coincidence that inheritance rights usually are based on the closeness
of kinship links.

North American family

Kinship connections are in turn based on two categories of bonds: those

created by marriage and those that result fromdescent , which is socially
recognized links between ancestors and descendants.
Your husband or wife, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and sisterin-law are all kinsmen related to you through marriage. They have

an affinity
bond with you and are your affines
or affinal relatives. In
contrast, people who have socially recognized biological links to you, such as
your mother, father, grandparents, children, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, and

Masai Elder with his children in

Kenya

cousins, are your consanguines

or consanguinal relatives. They have
a consanguinity
relationship with you.
The word "consanguinity" comes from Latin roots meaning "with the blood." It
is a term that came into use during earlier times in Europe when it was
commonly thought that blood is passed between parents and children during
conception and that this is how they receive their genetic characteristics. This
is not true, despite that fact that we still talk about "blood relatives." The
actual genetic material that we inherit consists of microscopic DNA molecules
within sperm and ova. These contain the genes that determine what we are
like genetically.
Occasionally, a third category of bond, referred to as fictive kinship , is
used to create links to people who otherwise would not be kinsmen. This can
be an expedient for dealing with irregular circumstances or even a mere social
courtesy. Godparenthood and the adoption of children are examples of fictive
relationships in European cultures. Godparenting has been particularly
important in Latin America where friends voluntarily create lasting ties of
shared responsibility for their children--they become respected compadres
(co-fathers) or comadres
(co-mothers).
It is important to remember that people often use different kin terms when
addressing someone directly in contrast to when they are referring to them in
a conversation with someone else. In North America today, for instance, it is

common for people to call their mother "mom" when talking to her but to use
the more formal "mother" when talking about her. In this case, "mom" is
a term of address and "mother" is a term of reference.

Descent Principles: Part 1

Kinship is reckoned in a number of different ways around the world, resulting
in a variety of types of descent patterns and kin groups. Anthropologists
frequently use diagrams to illustrate kinship relationships to make them more
understandable. The symbols shown here are usually employed. They may
be combined, as in the example below on the right, to represent a family
consisting of a married couple and their children.

In kinship diagrams, one individual is usually labeled as ego . This is the

person to whom all kinship relationships are referred. In the case below on
the right, ego has a brother (Br), sister (Si), father (Fa), and mother (Mo).
Note also that ego is shown as being gender nonspecific--that is, either male
or female.

Unilineal Descent
Most cultures severely limit the range of people through whom descent is
traced by using a unilineal
descent principle. This traces descent only
through a single line of ancestors, male or female. Both males and females
are members of a unilineal family, but descent links are only recognized
through relatives of one gender. The two basic forms of unilineal descent are
referred to as patrilineal
and matrilineal .

With patrilineal descent, both males and females belong to their father's kin
group but not their mother's. However, only males pass on their family identity
to their children. A woman's children are members of her husband's patrilineal
line. The red people in the diagram below are related to each other
patrilineally.

The form of unilineal descent that follows a female line is known

as matrilineal. When using this pattern, individuals are relatives if they can
trace descent through females to the same female ancestor. While both male
and female children are members of their mother's matrilineal descent group,
only daughters can pass on the family line to their offspring. The green
people below are related to each other matrilineally.

In societies using matrilineal descent, the social relationship between children

and their biological father tends to be different than most people would
expect due to the fact that he is not a member of their matrilineal family. In
the case of ego below, the man who would have the formal responsibilities
that European cultures assign to a father would be his mother's brother
(MoBr), since he is the closest elder male kinsmen. Ego's father would have
the same kind of responsibilities for his sister's children.
Inheritance patterns for men in matrilineal societies also often reflect the
importance of the mother's brother. For example, in the Ashanti Kingdom of

Central Ghana, a king traditionally passes his title and status on to his sister's
son. A king's own biological son does not inherit the kingship because he is
not a member of the ruling matrilineal family group. Women usually inherit
status and property directly from their mothers in matrilineal societies.
Unilineal descent has been found most commonly, but not exclusively, among
materially rich foragers, small-scale farmers, and nomadic pastoralists .
The common factors for these types of societies are small populations that
usually have more than adequate food supplies. Until the early 20th century,
approximately 60% of all societies traced descent unilineally. Since then,
many of these societies have disappeared or have been absorbed by larger
societies that follow other rules of descent.

Cognatic Descent
At least 40% of the societies around the world today trace descent through
both the mother's and the father's ancestors to some degree. They follow one
of several nonunilineal or cognatic
descent principles. The result is
usually more varied and complex family systems than are found in
societies with patrilineal or matrilineal descent patterns. Cognatic descent is
known to occur in four variations: bilineal, ambilineal, parallel, and bilateral
descent. By far the most common pattern is bilateral descent, which is
commonly used in European cultures. It is described in the next section of
this tutorial.
When both patrilineal and matrilineal descent principles are combined, the
result is the bilineal , or double, descent pattern shown below. With this
rare hybrid system, every individual is a member of his or her
mother's matrilineage
and father's patrilineage .

As a result, everyone, except siblings , potentially have a unique

combination of two unilineal family lines, as shown in the diagram below.

Note that parents only share either their children's matrilineal line or patrilineal
line of descent.

The Yko of southeastern Nigeria are an example of a society with bilineal

descent. Their important portable property, including livestock and money, are
inherited matrilineally. Fixed property, such as farm plots, pass down through
the patrilinal line as do rights to trees and other forest products. It is not
surprising that they have patrilineally inherited obligations to cooperate in
cultivating their fields. Obligations to perform funerals and pay bride price for
sons are inherited through the matrilineal line.

The Toda of southern India also follow bilineal descent. Their property is
inherited patrilineally and ritualistic privileges related to funerals are inherited
matrilineally.
A similarly rare combination of unilineal descent patterns is known
as parallel
descent. With this system, men trace their ancestry through
male lines and women trace theirs through female lines. Unlike bilineal
descent, each individual is a member of only one descent group.

Ambilineal
descent is still another unusual descent system that, in a
sense, combines unilineal patterns. Descent from either males or females is
recognized, but individuals may select only one line to trace descent. Since
each generation can choose which parent to trace descent through, a family
line may be patrilineal in one generation and matrilineal in the next.

The reason for choosing one side over the other often has to do with the
relative importance of each family. In other words, ambilineal descent is
flexible in that it allows people to adjust to changing family situations. For
instance, when a man marries a woman from a politically or economically

more important family, he may agree to let his children identify with their
mother's family line to enhance their prospects and standing within the
society.

Descent Principles: Part 2

Bilateral , descent is used by most people in Europe and the
Americas today. This cognatic system traces descent from all biological
ancestors regardless of their gender and side of the family. In addition, all
male and female children are members of both their father's and mother's
families. Everyone shown in red below is a bilateral relative of ego.

In some societies that use bilateral descent, the non-red people in the
diagram may also be considered relatives. However, this is often a matter of
individual choice. In North America, they are referred to as in-laws and are
generally considered to be more distant kinsmen. Take another look at the
diagram above and think about who you consider to be your relatives. Does
your family follow this or one of the other descent patterns described in the
last section of the tutorial?
While there is no inherent gender bias in the bilateral descent principle, there
often is a slight male bias in marriage practices and in the creation of families.
This can be seen in North America today when a man's last name is used by
his wife and children. With this exception, however, there usually is no other
similarity with patrilineal descent.
Bilateral descent is rare among the societies of the world, though, it is
common if you count people instead of societies. It is characteristic of large
agricultural and industrial nations as well as hunters and gatherers in harsh,
relatively nonproductive environments such as deserts and arctic wastelands.
It is also found among some transhumance pastoralists living in poor
environments.

How Many Relatives do you have?

The specific type of descent system employed has a major effect on the
number of people who are recognized as ancestors. With unilineal descent,
there is only one direct ancestor in each generation. However,
with bilateral descent, there is a doubling of ancestors with each generation
further back in time.
NUMBER OF DIRECT ANCESTORS

ANCESTRAL
GENERATION

Unilineal

Bilineal

Bilateral

16

32

64

Given the fact that bilateral descent results in many ancestors in just a few
generations, it is not surprising that few people in North America know the
names of all eight of their great grandparents, let alone the names of their
sixteen great great grandparents.

By comparison, it is not unusual for people who use unilineal descent systems
to remember all of their ancestors for five or more generations. In fact, some

Polynesians from the island of Rarotonga in the early 20th century knew the
names of their ancestors back 90 or more generations. In fairness, however,
it should be noted that the people of Rarotonga traditionally have had more of
an ancestor focus than do most people in North America today. This
difference in focus may have as much to do with their respective economies
and pace of life as with their kinship systems.
One further trait of bilateral descent deserves mention. Families using this
system have a potential for recognizing far more collateral
descendants
than would those using one of the unilineal patterns. This is not due to
producing more offspring but to having descent lines continued by both male
and female children every generation.

Summary
You have learned that the two principle ways people around the world trace
descent are unilineal and cognatic (or nonlineal). Unilineal descent
recognizes only a single line of ancestors through males or females. It occurs
in two forms--patrilineal, which follows the male line, and matrilineal, which
follows the female line. The patrilineal form is more common. With cognatic
descent, both the mother's and the father's ancestors to some degree are
considered to be within the family line. Cognatic descent occurs in four
forms--bilineal, parallel, ambilineal, and bilateral descent.
GENERAL RULE
unilineal descent

SPECIFIC RULE
patrilineal descent
matrilinal descent
bilineal descent

cognatic descent

parallel descent
ambilineal descent
bilateral descent

One final caution is in order. People do not always follow their culture's
descent principles precisely. Kinship is often manipulated. For instance,
people may create or deny links to particular ancestors in order to make their
genealogy come out to their advantage. In addition, kinship systems are
changing rapidly today as societies are increasingly exposed to other cultures
around the world and new kinds of economies.

Descent Groups
Different descent principles and marriage rules result in the formation of
different types of families and larger kin based groups. Regardless of the
descent and marriage pattern used by a society, however, most people at
some time in their lives are members of more than one family group. For
example, in North America and other monogamoussocieties with bilateral
descent patterns, people usually see themselves as being members of two
related nuclear
families--the one in which they are a child (family of
orientation ) and the one in which they are a parent (family of
procreation ).
Do you think that this
picture shows a nuclear
family of orientation or
of procreation?
Click the button to see
if you are correct.

In reality, the 21st century American family is often missing an adult male as a
result of death, divorce, abandonment, or no marriage having occurred. Such
families are often referred to as being matricentric
or matrifocused .
They may also include the mother's daughter's children, as in the case
shown in the diagram below. The matricentric family pattern exists in all
segments of the American society today but is most common in poor urban
African American communities.

In some cases, it is the wife-mother who is absent from the family. As a result,
the husband-father usually takes on both parent roles. Another increasingly
common form of family in contemporary America is the dual-family. This
occurs when children move between the separate households of their
divorced or separated parents. Since half of all marriages in the U.S. now end

in divorce, it is likely that the dual-family will become a more accepted family
alternative.

Unilineal Descent Groups

When a unilineal descent principle is used, people are most often members of
multi-generational groups of close relatives called unilineages . These
may be matrilineages , as in the case of the green people in the
diagram below, or they may be patrilineages , depending on whether the
links are traced through women or men.

Three generations of a small matrilineage

Members of a unilineage in New Guinea

Societies that have unilineages also often define larger, more inclusive kin
groups called clans . These are groups of people who claim unilineal
descent from a common ancestor but who cannot specify all of the actual
links. The ancestor is genealogically
so remote that he or she is thought
of often as a mythical being.

Typical English crest

with heraldic animals

Such distant, non-human ancestors become identifying symbols of the clan.

Anthropologists often refer to these fictional clan originators as totems or
totemic emblems . Often, there are cultural rules requiring that clan
members show respect for the totemic animal or plant and observe a
prohibition against killing or eating it. Medieval European heraldry also used
animal representations to identify family lines. However, such creatures were
not considered to be family ancestors but rather as symbolic representations
of virtues such as strength and loyalty.
Australian Aboriginal bark
painting showing totemic
ancestors in the "dreamtime"
(the mythical time when the
world was created)

Some societies group their clans into even larger-scale unilineal descent
groups called phratries . As with clans, the actual genealogical links are
not clear and the phratry ancestors are usually mythical.

Entire societies may be divided into two large unilineal descent groups that
have reciprocal responsibilities with each other. These groups are known
as moieties
(from the French word for half). The distinction between
phratries and moieties is not simply a matter of the number of groupings.
Moieties are intended to produce a balanced opposition within a society. The
constantly reinforced social and economic exchanges
between moieties encourages economic equality and political stability.

The often complex patterns of reciprocity inherent in moiety systems can be

seen operating in the marriage patterns of the Kariera Aborigines of Western
Australia. They follow patrilineal descent but with a peculiar twist that is
known by anthropologists as a four class system. They have two moieties
and four "marriage classes." An individual's moitey and marriage class
identity determines who he or she may marry.
Each Kariera moiety has two generational marriage class "names." Everyone
in a moiety who is in the same generation has the same marriage class
identity. For simplicity, the moieties are designated below as "A" and "B",
while the marriage class "names" are "a", "b", "c", and "d" respectively.

An "a" man can only marry a "c" woman from moiety "B". Their children will
be "b's" in moiety "A". Conversely, a "c" man can only marry a woman from
moiety "A" and their children will be "d's" in moiety "B".

Ideally, Kariera men from different moieties marry each other's sisters. This
results in strong reciprocal bonds between the men and their moieties. There
is a generational alternation in class "names" among the Kariera. People
have the same class identity as their grandparents and grandchildren but not
their parents and children. It is sobering to note that as confusing as the
Kariera 4-class system seems, it is not the most complex example of
Australian Aboriginal kinship.
Societies with moieties usually consist of a few thousand people or less. In
contrast, societies with phratries are often larger. As in the case of clans and
phratries, moiety members usually cannot demonstrate all of the descent links
back to their supposed common ancestor.

Membership in unilineages, clans, moieties, and phratries is inherited and

usually continues throughout life. As a result, these unilineal descent groups
often function successfully as long-term joint property owners and economic
production teams.

Bilateral Descent Groups

Bilateral descent groups tend to be more fragile and short term than unilineal
ones. Beyond the nuclear family, there usually only exists a kindred . This
is a group of relatives who are linked together by a single individual who can
trace descent and/or marriage relationships to every other member of the
kindred.
In North America today, a kindred group usually informally includes spouses
and in-laws as well as biological relatives. All of the people below may be part
of ego's kindred.

This loosely defined type of kindred allows people to be part of the extended
families of their spouses as well as their own. An unfortunate consequence is
divided familyloyalties when an issue comes up that
places consanguinal relatives and affines on opposite sides. Conflicting
interests and obligations usually prevent such expanded kindreds from
functioning as efficiently as a unilineage in collective ownership and mutual
aid.
North American kindreds are not only fragile but also usually short term social
groupings. When an individual dies or is divorced, the kindred that was
focused on him or her is altered significantly or may even cease existing. The
only kind of bilateral kindred that regularly continues to exist after the death of
its founder is a dead ancestor focused one. For example, members of the
well known, politically active Kennedy family of Massachusetts, which has
included a U.S. President and several Senators, still considers themselves to
be a large closely related kindred despite the fact that Joe Kennedy, the family
founder, died in 1969 and many of the Kennedy kindred do not have the
Kennedy name.

Kin Naming Systems: Part 1

All societies have standard kinship names for specific categories of relatives.
For example, both ego's father's sister (FaSi) and mother's sister (MoSi) in the
diagram belowwould be referred to as ego's aunt by most North Americans.
Ego obviously knows the difference between the aunts, but it is not important
to assign distinct terms of reference for them.

Different cultures often have very dissimilar reference terms for relatives. For
instance, some cultures refer to the person in the diagram above labeled MoSi
(aunt in North America) as ego's mother. She is treated the same way as the
biological mother (who is also referred to as mother) for kinship related
matters. They both have the same responsibilities and expectations in
regards to ego. Such kin terms are valuable clues to the nature of a kinship
system in a society as well as to the social statuses and roles of
kinsmen. Anthropologists have discovered that there are only six basic kin
naming patterns or systems used by almost all of the thousands of
cultures in the world. They are referred to as the Eskimo, Hawaiian,
Sudanese, Omaha, Crow, and Iroquois systems.

Eskimo System
The most common kin naming pattern in North America and Europe today is
known as the Eskimo
system. Members of the nuclear family are given
terms of reference based only on their gender and generation (in the diagram
below 1 = father, 2 = mother, 5 = brother, and 6 = sister). No other relative is
referred to by any of these terms.

Aunts and uncles are distinguished from parents in the Eskimo system and
separated only by gender (3 = aunt and 4 = uncle). The spouses of aunts and

uncles may also be given these kin terms. All cousins are lumped together (7
= cousin). No kinship distinction is made between uncles, aunts, and cousins
with regard to side of the family. For instance, there is no kin term for aunts
on the mother's side of the family in contrast to those on the father's side--they
are all called aunt.

The Eskimo kin naming system is found mainly in societies that use
the bilateral principle of descent and that strongly emphasize the nuclear
family over more distant kinsmen. Both ego's mother's and father's collateral
relatives are considered equally important. That is to say, no distinction is
made between relatives on the mother's and father's side of the family. This is
reflected in the kin names. Despite the fact that some relatives are lumped
together with the same linguistic terms in the Eskimo and other kin naming
systems, people do make distinctions between them as unique individuals.
For instance, you would make a distinction between your uncle John and your
uncle Pete by using their first names along with the kinship term.
The Eskimo system is one of the simplest, despite the fact that it is found
among some of the most technologically complex societies. It is also found
among hunters and gatherers living in harsh environments, such as the Inuit,
or Eskimo. In both of these extremes, the common denominator for the
Eskimo kin naming system is an economy that forces the nuclear family to be
mostly independent. The Eskimo system is used today by about 10% of the
world's societies.

Hawaiian System
The least complex kin naming pattern is found in the Hawaiian
system.
The nuclear family is de-emphasized. Relatives within the extended family
are distinguished only by generation and gender. This results in just four
different terms of reference. Ego's father and all male relatives in his
generation have the same kin name (1). Likewise, ego's mother and all
female relatives in her generation are referred to by the same kin term (2).

Similarly, all brothers and male cousins are linked by giving them the same kin
term (3). Sisters and all female cousins are also referred to by the same term
(4). Not surprisingly, marriage of cousins is generally forbidden since they are
treated like brothers and sisters.

The Hawaiian terminological system is used by about a third of the world's

societies, though they are relatively small ones. It is found widely in the
islands of Polynesia where it is usually associated with ambilineal descent.
Since both sides of the family are treated equally, an individual's choice of
ancestral line to trace is less biased.

Polynesian woman from Tonga

Sudanese System

At the opposite extreme in complexity is the Sudanese

system. Most
kinsmen are not lumped together under the same terms of reference. Each
category of relative is given a distinct term based on genealogical distance
from ego and on the side of the family. There can be eight different cousin
terms, all of whom are distinguished from ego's brother and sister.

The Sudanese system is found in Sudan, Turkey, and some other societies
with patrilineal descent and considerable social complexity. The fine
distinctions made between kinsmen mirrors the society's desire to distinguish
people on the basis of class, occupation, and political power.

Kin Naming Systems: Part 2

The remaining kin terminological systems are named after three North
American Indian cultures that used them: Omaha , Crow , and

Iroquois . The fact that these naming systems are strikingly different from
each other is a reminder that there was considerable cultural diversity among
the original inhabitants of the western hemisphere.
In order to comprehend the Omaha, Crow, and Iroquois naming systems, it is
important to first understand a common distinction made between types of
cousins in societies following unilineal descent. For the majority
of people in contemporary Europe and the Americas whose cultures use
thebilateral descent principle, these cousin differences seem to be irrelevant
and unnecessary. However, they are logical and easy to understand when
viewed in their cultural context.
Parallel cousins are ego's father's brother's children and mother's sister's
children. In contrast, cross cousins are ego's father's sister's children and
mother's brother's children. In other words, there is a crossing of gender in
the parent generation with cross cousins but not with parallel ones. The
gender of the cousin is not relevant in making this distinction.

The importance of this categorization of cousins can be understood in terms

of descent relationships. Note that in the red patrilineage shown below,
parallel cousins are members of ego's unilineage, while cross cousins are not.

The same is true with matrilineages--only parallel cousins are relatives.

These distinctions can be critical in determining who an individual may and
may not marry and with whom there is likely to be mutual assistance
obligations.

Omaha System
The Omaha kin naming system is characteristic of societies that use
patrilineal descent. Relatives are lumped together on the basis of descent
and gender. Siblings and parallel cousins of the same gender are given the
same term of reference (5 = males and 6 = females). Father and father's
brothers also have the same kin term (1).

Other people in ego's mother's patrilineage are lumped across generations (2

= female and 4 = male). This reflects the comparative unimportance of the
mother's side of the family in a society that strongly follows the patrilineal
descent principle.

Crow System
An almost mirror image of the Omaha pattern is the matrilineally based Crow
kin naming system. Relatives are also lumped together on the basis of
descent and gender. Siblings and parallel cousins of the same gender are
given the same term of reference (5 = male and 6 = female). Mother and
mother's sister also have the same kin term (2).

Other people in ego's father's matrilineage are lumped across generations (1

= male and 3 = female). This reflects the comparative unimportance of the
father's side of the family in a society that strongly follows the matrilineal
principle of descent.

Differences between the Omaha and Crow systems can be seen in the terms
of reference for cross cousins and whether or not uncles and aunts are
lumped with them. These differences stem from the fact that the Omaha
system is patrilineal and the Crow is matrilineal. Compare the two kin naming
systems and note the similarities and differences.
Omaha
system

Crow
system

Iroquois System
In the Iroquois kin naming system, the same term of reference is used for
father and father's brother (1) as well as mother and mother's sister (2). This
merging is related to shared membership in unilineages, as it is in the Omaha
and Crow systems. However, the Iroquois system may be either patrilineal or
matrilineal and is usually not as strongly one or the other.

Also like the Omaha and Crow patterns, the Iroquois system lumps together
parallel cousins from both sides of the family with siblings but distinguishes
them by gender (5 = male and 6 = female). What sets the Iroquois system
apart is the fact that cross cousins are also lumped together and distinguished
by gender (7 = male and 8 = female). The reason is that there usually is a
preference for marriage to cross cousins in societies that use the Iroquois
system.

Summary
There are six distinct kin naming systems used around the world. They are
referred to as the Eskimo, Hawaiian, Sudanese, Omaha, Crow,
and Iroquois systems. Keep in mind that they are not limited to the cultures
for which they were named. It is also important to understand that these
systems are seldom followed exactly--they usually have unique cultural
variations.
Kin naming systems are complex and confusing for most students. If you are
still not clear on how they work, it would be a good idea to go over them
again.