Family, Kinship & Descent

Family:
★ Family:
Definition: A family is a group of two or more persons related by birth,
marriage, or adoption who live together; all such related persons are considered
as members of one family.
There are mainly three types of family:
● Nuclear Family
● Composite Family
● Extended Family
★ Nuclear Family:
Definition: Nuclear family is the type of family that consists of a married
couple and their children, who normally live together in the same household.
Nuclear family is very widespread but not universal, and its significance in
society differs greatly from one place to another. In a few societies, such as in
the classic Nayar people of India, nuclear families are rare or nonexistent. In
others, the nuclear family plays no special role in social life.
Nuclear families are of two types:
● Family of Orientation
● Family of Procreation
Family of Orientation: Family of orientation is the type of nuclear family in
which one is born and grows up.
Family of Procreation: Family of procreation is the type of nuclear family
which is established when one marries and has children.
★ Composite Family: Composite family is an aggregate of nuclear families
linked by a common spouse, most often the husband.
★ Extended Family:
Definition: Extended family is the type of family that is based on blood
relations extending over three or more generations.
Example: 1. Among the Muslims of western Bosnia, nuclear families did not
exist as independent units. People customarily resided in a household called a
zadruga. Living in this household was an extended family headed by a senior
man and his wife, the senior woman. Also living in the zadruga were their
married sons and their wives and children, as well as unmarried sons and
daughters. Each married couple had a sleeping room, decorated and partly
furnished from the bride’s trousseau. However, possessions, even clothing items
were freely shared by zadruga members. Even trousseau items could be used by
other zadruga members.
Within the zadruga, social interaction was more usual among its women, its
men, or its children than between spouses, or between parents and children.
When the zadruga was particularly large, its members ate at three successive
settings: for men, women, and children, respectively. Traditionally, all children
over 12 slept together in boys’ or girls’ rooms. When a woman wanted to visit
another village, she asked permission not from her husband, but from the male
zadruga head. Although men may have felt closer to their own children than to
those of their brothers, they were obliged to treat all of the zadruga’s children
equally. Any adult in the household could discipline a child. When a marriage
broke up, children under 7 went with the mother. Older children could choose
between their parents. Children were considered part of the household where
they were born even if their mother left. One widow who remarried had to leave
her five children, all over 7, in their father’s zadruga, headed by his brother.
2. Another example of an alternative to the nuclear family is provided by the
Nayars, a large and powerful caste on the Malabar Coast of southern India.
Their traditional kinship system was matrilineal. Nayar lived in matrilineal
extended family compounds called tarawads. The tarawad was a residential
complex with several buildings, its own temple, granary, water well, orchards,
gardens, and landholdings. Headed by a senior woman, assisted by her brother,
the tarawad housed children, siblings, her sisters’ children, and other matrikin.
Traditional Nayar marriage was barely more than a formality, a kind of
coming-of-age ritual. A young woman would go through a marriage ceremony
with a man, after which they might spend a few days together at her tarawad.
Then the man would return to his own tarawad, where he lived with his mother,
aunts, uncles, siblings, and other matrikin. Nayar men belonged to a warrior
class, who left home regularly for military expeditions, returning permanently to
their tarawad on retirement. Nayar women could have multiple sexual partners.
Children became members of the mother’s tarawad; they were not considered to
be relatives of their biological father. Indeed, many Nayar children didn’t even
know who their father was. Child care was the responsibility of the tarawad.
Nayar society therefore reproduced itself biologically without the nuclear
family.
Extended families can be of two types:
● Patrilineal Extended Family
● Matrilineal Extended Family
Patrilineal Extended Family: A patrilineal extended family consists of an
older man and his wife, his sons and unmarried daughters, his sons’ wives and
children.
Matrilineal Extended Family: A matrilineal extended family consists of an
older women and her husband, her daughters and unmarried sons, her
daughters’ husband and children.
★ Importance of Family:
● Family serves as a child’s first learning environment. From our families,
we gain invaluable lessons on effective communication, graceful
navigation of social interactions, and developing essential life skills
 These formative teachings can shape our present and provide a sturdy
foundation for future interactions and accomplishments.
● Families, based on unconditional love and support, provide a safe space
where kids can be themselves. Providing emotional security is a nurturing
ground for self confidence and resilience, empowering kids to step out of
their comfort zones, take risks, and navigate life's challenges. Within the
comforting embrace of families, kids can find the strength to persevere,
the courage to grow, and the foundational belief that they’re never really
alone in the world.
● Families play a crucial and irreplaceable role in shaping our identities.
They expose us to traditions, values, and beliefs that can provide a
nurturing environment for personal growth and development. Family can
instill a sense of belonging and identity through love, support, and
guidance. Family support is a sturdy pillar of strength that can help kids
stay strong during adversity. That support helps kids face challenges,
pursue their dreams, and become the best versions of themselves.
● The bonds formed within a family are often deep and enduring, forged
through shared experiences, countless conversations, and memories.
These connections, built over time, create a strong foundation of love,
acceptance, and belonging, which is crucial for emotional well being and
contentment. Family bonds can foster a sense of security, a place to go
when we feel joy and sorrow.
★ Domestic Group (Household): A domestic group or household is a group of
people who may not be related to each other but share common living spaces,
meals, and bills.
★ Expanded Family Household: Expanded family household is the one that
includes a group of relatives other than, or in addition to, a married couple and
their children.
Expanded family households can take various forms. Such as:
● Extended Family Household
● Collateral Household
● Matrifocal Household
Extended Family Household: A household with three or more generations.
Collateral Household: A household that includes siblings and their spouses
and children.
Matrifocal Household: A household which is headed by a woman and includes
other adult relatives and children.
★ Conjugal Tie: Conjugal tie is the relationship between a husband and wife
formed by marriage.
★ Consanguineal Tie: Consanguineal tie is a biological connection between
individuals which is considered to be a permanent tie that cannot be broken.
★ Blended Family: Blended family is the type of family that includes
previously divorced spouses and their new marriage partners, children from
previous marriages, as well as multiple sets of grandparents and other relations.
★ Stem Family: Stem family is a type of nuclear family with a dependent adult
add on.
★ There are mainly five types of residence patterns:
● Patrilocal Residence: Patrilocal residence is a social system under which
a bride lives with her husband's family after marriage.
● Matrilocal Residence: Matrilocal residence is a social system under
which a husband lives with his wife's family after marriage.
● Avuncolocal Residence: It is a social system under which a married
couple lives with the husband’s mother’s brother.
● Neolocal Residence: Neolocal residence is a social system under which a
couple establishes an independent household after marriage.
 ● Bilocal Residence: Bilocal residence is a social system under which a
married couple has the choice of living with the husband’s or the wife's
family.

Kinship:
★ Kinship: Kinship is a culturally defined relationship established on the basis
of blood ties or through marriage.
★ Importance of Kinship:
● Identity Formation: Kinship provides a framework for understanding
one's place in society, shaping individual identity through familial roles,
traditions, and heritage.
● Social Cohesion: Kinship ties bind individuals into larger social units,
promoting cooperation, solidarity, and mutual assistance within families
and communities.
● Resource Sharing: Kinship networks facilitate the exchange of resources
such as food, shelter, and financial assistance, ensuring the welfare of
family members in times of need.
● Cultural Transmission: Kinship is a vehicle for transmitting cultural
values, beliefs, and practices across generations, preserving heritage and
promoting cultural continuity.
● Socialization: Kinship is a vehicle for transmitting cultural values,
beliefs, and practices across generations, preserving heritage and
promoting cultural continuity.
● Inheritance and Succession: Kinship determines patterns of inheritance
and succession, influencing property rights, leadership roles, and the
distribution of wealth within families and kin groups.
★ Kinship system: Kinship system is the totality of kin relations, kin groups,
and terms for classifying kin in a society.
★ Kinship Terminology: Kinship terminology are the words used to identify
different categories of kin in a particular culture.
★ Kinship calculation/ Kinship classification: Kinship calculation, also
known as kinship classification, is the system that people in a particular society
use to recognize and categorize kinship relationships.
★ Kin Terms:
Definition: Kin terms are the words used for different relatives in a particular
language and system of kinship calculation.
Kin terms are cultural, rather than biological. They reflect the social
construction of kinship in a given culture. They also provide useful information
about social patterns.
★ Kinship Symbols and Genealogical Kin Type Notation:

★ Genitor: Genitor means the biological father.

★ Pater: Pater is the socially designated father of a child, who may or may not
be the biological father.
★ Consanguinity: Consanguinity is the characteristic of having a kinship with
a relative who is descended from a common ancestor.
★ Affinal Tie: Affinal tie is the relationship established through marriage.
★ Inheritance: Inheritance is the transfer of property between generations.
★ Succession: Succession is the transfer of office or social position between
generations.
★ Kindred:
Definition: A unique kin network made up of all the people related to a specific
individual in a bilateral kinship system.
A kindred a network of relations with a single group of siblings at the center.
With the exception of brothers and sisters, every individual’s kindred is different
from every other individual’s. Kindreds are actually overlapping categories of
kin, rather than social groups, and are more difficult to organize as cooperative,
kin based collectivities. For example, because it is not a group but rather an Ego
centered network, it cannot own land or have continuity over time.
★ Rammage: A kinship group produced by an ambilineal descent system.
★ Ego: Ego refers to the central individual from whose perspective
relationships within a family or kin group are analyzed.
★ Lineal Kin: Lineal kin are blood relations linked through descent, such as
Ego, Ego's mother, Ego's grandmother and Ego's daughter.
★ Collateral Kin: Collateral kin are kin descended from a common ancestor
but not in a direct ascendent or descendent line, such as siblings and cousins.
★ Bifurcation: Bifurcation is a principle of classifying kin under which
different kinship terms are used for the mother’s side of the family and the
father’s side of the family.
★ Principles for Classifying Kin:
Kinship can be described using a series of abstract, logical principles. These
principles are described below:
● Generation: The generation principle distinguishes ascending and
descending generations from Ego. For example, in English we call
relatives in the parental generation by such terms as aunt or uncle, and kin
in the descending generation nephew or niece.
● Relative Age: A kinship system that uses the relative age principle has
different kinship terms for one’s older brother and one’s younger brother,
for example. English kinship terminology does not recognize this
principle.
● Lineality versus Collaterality: Kin related in a single line, such as
grandfather–father–son, are called lineal kin. Collateral kin are descended
from a common ancestor with Ego but are not Ego’s direct ascendants or
descendants. For example, brothers and sisters (siblings) and cousins are
collateral kin. They are descended from the same ancestors but are not in
a direct ascendant or descendant line. In many societies, collaterality is
not distinguished in the kinship terminology. Ego may refer to both his
father and father’s brother as father. Both the mother and her sisters may
similarly be called mother. In these systems, parallel cousins may also be
called by the same terms as those for brothers and sisters.
● Gender: In English, some kinship terms differentiate by gender, such as
aunt, uncle, and brother; the word cousin, however, does not differentiate
by gender. In some other cultures, all kinship terms distinguish gender.
● Consanguineal versus Affinal Kin: People related to Ego by blood
(consanguinity) are distinguished from similar relationships by marriage.
For example, English kinship terminology distinguishes sister from
sister-in-law, father from father-in-law, and so on. The English word
uncle, however, does not distinguish between consanguineal and affinal
 relationships; it is applied equally to the brother of our father or mother,
and to the husband of our father’s or mother’s sister.
● Sex of Linking Relative: In societies where distinguishing collateral
relatives is an important principle of kinship classification, the sex of the
linking relative may be important in the kinship terminology. For
example, parallel cousins may be distinguished from cross cousins, and
may further be distinguished by the gender of the linking relative (for
example, matrilateral as opposed to patrilateral cross or parallel cousins).
This is particularly important where Ego is prohibited from marrying a
parallel cousin but may, or even must, marry a cross cousin.
● Side of the Family: Some societies use a kinship system in which kin
terms distinguish between relatives from the mother’s side of the family
and those from the father’s side. This principle is called bifurcation. An
example would be societies where the mother’s brother is referred to
differently from the father’s brother. This principle is not used in English
kinship terminology.
★ Types of Kinship Terminologies:
People perceive and define kin relations differently in different societies. In any
culture, kinship terminology is a classification system, a taxonomy or typology.
It is a native taxonomy, developed over generations by the people who live in a
particular society. A native classification system is based on how people
perceive similarities and differences in the things being classified.
There are four main ways of classifying kin on the parental generation:
● Lineal Kinship Terminology
● Bifurcate Merging Kinship Terminology
● Generational Kinship Terminology
● Bifurcate Collateral Kinship Terminology
Lineal Kinship Terminology: Lineal kinship terminology is found in societies
such as the United States and Canada in which the nuclear family is the most
important group based on kinship. Lineal kinship terminology has absolutely
nothing to do with lineages. It distinguishes lineal relatives from collateral
relatives. A lineal relative is an ancestor or a descendant, anyone on the direct
line of descent that leads to and from ego. Thus, lineal relatives are one’s
parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and other direct forebears. Lineal
relatives also include children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Collateral relatives are all other kin. They include siblings, nieces and nephews,
aunts and uncles, and cousins. Affinals are relatives by marriage, whether of
lineals (e.g., son’s wife) or of collaterals (sister’s husband).

Lineal Kinship Terminology

Bifurcate Merging Kinship Terminology: Bifurcate merging kinship

terminology bifurcates, or splits the mother’s side from the father’s side. But it
also merges same sex siblings, sisters with sisters and brothers with brothers.
Thus, one’s mother and mother’s sister are merged under the same term, while
one’s father and father’s brother also are merged into a common term. There
are different terms for mother’s brother and father’s sister.
Bifurcate merging kinship terminology is found in societies with unilineal
descent groups. One’s mother and father always belong to different descent
groups. It makes sense to use the same term for father and father’s brother in a
patrilineal society, because they share a common descent group, gender, and
generation. As patrilineal societies usually have patrilocal residence, the father
and his brother live in the same local group. Because they share so many
attributes that are socially relevant, ego regards them as social equivalents and
calls them by the same kinship term. However, the mother’s brother belongs to a
different descent group, lives elsewhere, and has a different kin term.
Mother and mother’s sister belong to the same descent group, the same gender,
and the same generation. Often they marry men from the same village and go to
live there. These social similarities help explain the use of the same term for
both.
Similar observations apply to matrilineal societies. Consider a society with two
matrilineal clans, the Ravens and the Wolves. Ego belongs to his or her
mother’s clan, the Raven clan. Ego’s father belongs to the Wolf clan. Ego’s
mother and her sister are female Ravens of the same generation. If there is
matrilocal residence, they will live in the same village. Because they are so
similar socially, ego calls them by the same kin term.
The father’s sister, however, belongs to a different group, the Wolves, lives
elsewhere, and has a different kin term. Ego’s father and father’s brother are
male Wolves of the same generation. If they marry women of the same clan and
live in the same village, this creates additional social similarities that reinforce
this usage.

Bifurcate Merging Kinship Terminology

Generational Kinship Terminology: Generational kinship terminology uses
the same term for parents and their siblings. In generational terminology, there
are only two terms for relatives on the parental generation. We may translate
them as “father” and “mother,” but more accurate translations would be “male
member of the parental generation” and “female member of the parental
generation.” The Betsileo of Madagascar use generational terminology. All the
men (F, FB, and MB) are called ray (pronounced like the English word “rye”),
and all the women (M, MZ, and FZ) are called reny (sounds like “raynie” in
English).
Generational kinship terminology does not distinguish between the mother’s
side and the father’s side. It uses just one term for father, father’s brother, and
mother’s brother. Generational kinship terminology also uses a single term for
mother, mother’s sister, and father’s siste. Generational kin terminology is found
in societies with ambilineal descent. People may choose the group they join,
change their descent group membership, or belong to two or more descent
groups simultaneously. The use of intimate kin terms signals that people have
close personal relations with all their relatives on the parental generation.
People exhibit similar behavior toward their parents, aunts, and uncles, and may
live for variable lengths of time with one or more of those relatives.
Generational terminology also characterizes certain foraging bands, including
Kalahari San groups and several native societies of North America. Use of this
terminology reflects certain similarities between foraging bands and ambilineal
descent groups. In both societies, people have a choice about their kin group
affiliation. Foragers always live with kin, but they often shift band affiliation
and so may be members of several different bands during their lifetimes. Just as
in food producing societies with ambilineal descent, generational terminology
among foragers helps maintain close personal relationships with several parental
generation relatives, whom ego may eventually use as a point of entry into
different groups.
 Generational Kinship Terminology

Bifurcate Collateral Kinship Terminology: Of the four kin classification

systems, bifurcate collateral kinship terminology is the most specific. It has
separate kin terms for each of the six kin types (mother, father, mother’s sister,
mother’s brother, father’s brother, and father’s sister) on the parental generation.
Bifurcate collateral terminology isn’t as common as the other types. Many of
the societies that use it are in North Africa and the Middle East, and many of
them are offshoots of the same ancestral group. Bifurcate collateral terminology
also may develop when a child has parents of different ethnic backgrounds and
uses terms for aunts and uncles derived from different languages.

Bifurcate Collateral Kinship Terminology

There are six other types of kinship terminologies. These systems were first
described by Lewis Henry Morgan in the 19th century. With one exception, he
gave them the names of Native American groups: Hawaiian, Eskimo, Iroquois,
Omaha, Crow, and Sudanese. These systems of kinship terminology reflect the
kinds of kin groups that are most important in a society. Each of these systems
is described briefly below:
● Hawaiian: The Hawaiian system is found in Polynesia. It uses the
fewest kinship terms. The Hawaiian system emphasizes the distinctions
between generations and reflects the equality between the mother’s and
the father’s sides of the family in relation to Ego. All relatives of the same
generation and sex, for example, father, father’s brother, and mother’s
brother are referred to by the same kinship term. Male and female kin in
Ego’s generation are distinguished in the terminology, but the terms for
sister and brother are the same as those for the children of one’s parents’
siblings. This system correlates with ambilineality and ambilocality,
which means that a person may choose which descent group he or she
wishes to belong to and will live with after marriage. Using the same
terms for parents and their siblings establishes closeness with a large
number of relatives in the ascending generation, giving Ego a wide choice
in deciding which group to affiliate and live with.

Hawaiian Kinship

● Eskimo: The Eskimo terminology, found among hunting and gathering

peoples in North America, is correlated with bilateral descent. The
Eskimo system emphasizes the nuclear family by using terms for its
members (mother, father, sister, brother, daughter, son) that are not used
for any other kin. Outside the nuclear family, many kinds of relatives that
are distinguished in other systems are lumped together. All children of the
kin in the parental generation are called cousins, no matter what their sex
or who the linking relative is. The Eskimo system singles out the
biologically closest group of relations (the nuclear family) and treats
more distant kin more or less equally.

Eskimo Kinship

● Iroquois: The Iroquois system is associated with matrilineal or

double descent and emphasizes the importance of unilineal descent
groups. In this system, the same term is used for mother and
mother’s sister, and a common term also applies to father and
father’s brother. Parallel cousins are referred to by the same terms
as those for brother and sister. Father’s sister and mother’s brother
are distinguished from other kin, as are the children of father’s
sister and mother’s brother (Ego's cross cousins).
 Iroquois Kinship

● Omaha: The Omaha system is found among patrilineal peoples,

including the Native American group of that name. In this system,
the same term is used for father and father’s brother and for mother
and mother’s sister. Parallel cousins are equated with siblings, but
cross cousins are referred to by separate terms. A man refers to his
brother’s children by the same terms he applies to his own children,
but he refers to his sister’s children by different terms. These terms
are extended to all relations who are classified as Ego’s brothers
and sisters. In this system, there is a merging of generations on the
mother’s side. All men who are members of Ego’s mother’s
patrilineage will be called “mother’s brother” regardless of their
age or generational relationship to Ego. Thus, the term applied to
mother’s brother is also applied to the son of mother’s brother. This
generational merging is not applied to relations on the father’s side.
Although father and his brothers are referred to by the same term,
this does not extend to the descending generation. The different
terminology applied to the father’s and the mother’s patrilineal
groups reflects the different position of Ego in relation to these kin.
Generational differences are important on the father’s side because
 members of the ascending generation are likely to have some
authority over Ego and be treated differently from patrilineage
members of Ego’s own generation. The mother’s patrilineage is
unimportant to Ego in this system, and this is reflected by lumping
them all together in the terminology.

Omaha Kinship

● Crow: The Crow system, named for the Crow Indians of North America,
is the matrilineal equivalent of the Omaha system. This means that the
relations on the male side (Ego’s father’s matrilineage) are lumped
together, whereas generational differences are recognized in the mother’s
matrilineal group. In both the Omaha and Crow systems, the overriding
importance of unilineality leads to the subordination of other principles of
classifying kin, such as relative age or generation.

Crow Kinship
 ● Sudanese: No North American groups used Morgan’s final kinship
system, so he named it Sudanese, after the African groups, primarily in
Ethiopia, who do use it. It’s also used in some places in Turkey and was
used in Ancient Rome. Sudanese is the most descriptive terminology
system. The types included here use different terms for practically every
relative: siblings, paternal parallel cousins, maternal parallel cousins,
paternal cross cousins, and maternal cross cousins. Ego refers to his or
her parents by terms distinct from those for father’s brother, father’s
sister, mother’s sister, and mother’s brother. The groups using Sudanese
kinship tend to be strongly patrilineal and very concerned with issues of
wealth, class, and political power.

Sudanese Kinship

The great variety of kinship terminologies underscores the fact that kinship
systems reflect social relationships and are not based simply on biological
relations between people. Thus, the Eskimo system emphasizes the importance
of the nuclear family, setting it apart from more distant relations on the maternal
and paternal sides. The Iroquois, Omaha, and Crow systems, found in unilineal
societies, emphasize the importance of lineage and clan. In the Hawaiian
system, the simplicity of terms leaves the way open for flexibility in choosing
one’s descent group.
Descent:
★ Descent: Descent is the culturally established affiliation between a child and
one or both parents.
★ Descent Group:
Definition: Descent group is a group of kin who are descendants of a common
ancestor, extending beyond two generations.
Descent groups are permanent. They last for generations. The group endures
even if its membership changes. Individual members born and die, move in and
move out. Descent groups typically are spread out among several villages. All
their members do not reside together; only some of them do, those who live in a
given village. Descent groups may take their names from an ancestor, or from a
familiar animal, plant, or natural feature. Descent groups tend to be found in
societies with economies based on horticulture, pastoralism, or agriculture.
Descent groups frequently are exogamous. Exogamy means to marry outside
one’s own group. Members of a descent group must marry someone from
another descent group. Often, descent group membership is determined at birth
and is lifelong. Members of any descent group believe that they descend from
the same apical ancestor. That person stands at the apex, or top, of their
common genealogy.
Example: Adam and Eve, according to the Bible, are the apical ancestors of all
humanity. Since Eve is said to have come from Adam’s rib, Adam stands as the
original apical ancestor for the patrilineal genealogies laid out in the Bible.
Descent group can be of two types:
● Lineage
● Clan
★ Lineage:
Definition: Lineage is a group of kin whose members trace descent from a
known common ancestor.
A lineage is a descent group based on demonstrated descent. It is often a local
residential or domestic group whose members cooperate on a daily basis.
Lineages may vary in size, from three generations upward. Where lineages own
land collectively and where the members are held responsible for one another’s
behavior, the lineage is considered a corporate group.
Lineage can be of two types:
● Patrilineage
● Matrilineage
Patrilineage: Patrilineage is a lineage formed by descent in the male line.
Matrilineage: Matrilineage is a lineage formed by descent in the female line.
★ Clan:
Definition: Clan is a unilineal kinship group whose members believe
themselves to be descended from a common ancestor but who cannot trace this
link through known relatives.
Clans are generally not residential units but tend to spread out over many
villages. Members of a clan do not demonstrate how they descend from their
common ancestor; they merely claim, assert, or stipulate their common ancestry
and descent. They don’t try to specify actual genealogical links generation by
generation. A clan, thus, is a descent group based on stiplulated descent.
Sometimes a clan’s apical ancestor is not a human at all but an animal or a plant
(called a totem). Whether human or not, the ancestor symbolizes the social unity
and identity of the members, distinguishing them from other groups.
Clans often have political and religious functions rather than primarily domestic
and economic ones. One of the most important functions of a clan is to regulate
marriage. In most societies, clans are exogamous. The prohibition against
marriage within the clan strengthens its unilineal character. If a person marries
within the clan, his or her children would find it difficult to make sharp
distinctions between maternal and paternal relatives. Robert H. Lowie wrote of
the Crow Indians of North America, among whom clans are very important, that
in case of marriage within the clan, “a Crow loses his bearings and perplexes
his tribesmen. For he owes specific obligations to his father’s relatives and
others to his mother’s, who are now hopelessly confounded. The sons of his
father’s clan ought to be censors; but now the very same persons are his
joking relatives and his clan.” Not only would this person not know how to act
toward others, but others would not know how to act toward him. Clan exogamy
also extends the network of peaceful social relations within a society as different
clans are allied through culture.
★ Phratry: Phartry is a unilineal descent group composed of a number of clans
whose members feel themselves to be closely related.
★ Totem: Totem is an animal, plant, or other aspect of the natural world held to
be ancestral or to have other intimate relationships with members of a
generation.
★ Importance of Descent:
● Biological Diversity: Descent plays a vital role in understanding the
diversity of life forms on Earth. It helps scientists trace the evolutionary
history of species and how they are related through common ancestors.
● Cultural Identity: Descent contributes to individuals' sense of identity
and belonging by connecting them to their cultural heritage and ancestry.
It shapes traditions, customs, and values passed down through
generations.
● Legal and Social Systems: Descent influences legal and social systems,
particularly in matters such as inheritance, property rights, and kinship
structures. Legal frameworks often rely on descent to determine familial
relationships and responsibilities.
 ● Historical Understanding: Studying descent provides valuable insights
into human history, migration patterns, and population movements. It
helps reconstruct past civilizations and trace the origins of different
cultures and societies.
● Evolutionary Biology: Descent forms the foundation of evolutionary
biology, explaining how species evolve over time through natural
selection, genetic drift, and other mechanisms. It allows scientists to
unravel the complexities of life's history on Earth.
★ Two basic types of descent rules are:
● Unilineal Descent
● Nonunilineal Descent
★ Unilineal Descent:
Definition: Unilineal descent is a rule specifying that membership in a descent
group is based on links through either the maternal or the paternal line, but not
both.
Unilineal descent in the world’s culture reflects two major advantages. First,
unilineal rules result in the formation of nonoverlapping descent groups that can
perpetuate themselves over time even though their membership changes (as
modern corporations can). Corporate descent groups are permanent units that
have an existence beyond the individuals who are members at any given time.
Old members die and new ones are admitted through birth, but the integrity of
the corporate group persists. Such groups may own property and manage
resources (just as a modern corporation does). Second, unilineal rules provide
unambiguous group membership for everyone in the society. Where descent is
traced through only one line, group membership is easily and clearly defined.
By knowing the descent group to which they belong and the descent group of
others, people can be sure of their rights of ownership, social duties, and social
roles. They can also easily relate to a large number of known and unknown
people in the society.
Unilineal descent are of two types:
● Patrilineal Descent
● Matrilineal Descent
★ Patrilineal Descent:
Definition: Patrilineal descent is a rule that affiliates a person to kin of both
sexes related through males only.

Membership in a Patrilineal Descent Group

In societies with patrilineal descent groups, a person (whether male or female)

belongs to the descent group of the father, the father’s father, and so on. Thus, a
man, his sisters and brothers, his brother’s children (but not his sister’s
children), his own children, and his son’s children (but not his daughter’s
children) all belong to the same group. Inheritance moves from father to son.
Membership in a patrilineal descent group is the most significant fact of life,
and the father, his brothers, and their children are considered the closest kin.
Membership in the patrilineage confers rights to land, requires participation in
certain religious ceremonies, and determines political and judicial obligations,
such as making alliances in feuds and warfare.
The degree to which a woman is incorporated into the patrilineage of her
husband and the degree of autonomy she has vary in different societies. In some
cases a woman may retain rights of inheritance in her father’s lineage. In a
patrilineal system great care is taken to guarantee the husband’s rights and
control over his wife (or wives) and children because the continuity of the
descent group depends on this. Patrilineal systems most often have patrilocal
rules of residence, so a wife may find herself living among strangers, which
tends to undermine female solidarity and support.
Example: 1. The Nuer, a pastoral people who live in the Sudan in East Africa,
are a patrilineal society. Among the Nuer, all rights, privileges, obligations, and
interpersonal relationships are regulated by kinship; one is either a kinsman or
an enemy. The patrilineage has important political functions among the Nuer.
Lineage membership may spread over several villages and thus help create
alliances between independent villages that contain members of several
different lineages. Each Nuer clan, which is viewed as composed of related
lineages, is also spread over several villages. Because a person cannot marry
someone from within his or her own lineage or clan, or from the lineage of the
mother, kinship relations extend widely throughout the tribe. In the absence of a
centralized system of political control, these kinship based alliances are an
important mechanism of governance. Because the Nuer believe that kin should
not fight with one another, disputes within the lineage or clan tend to be kept
small and settled rapidly. However, because all who are not in some way kin are
enemies, an attack on one lineage segment may cause all members of a clan to
coalesce against a common enemy.
2. Anthropologists have recently begun to focus on the complexity and conflict
present within patrilineal families, and in particular on understanding women’s
roles in kin groups dominated by men. Lila Abu-Lughod’s analysis of families
in the Arab world is a good example. Such women have often been portrayed in
terms of the kinship patterns of patrilineality, polygyny, and patrilateral
parallel-cousin marriage. They portray life as timeless, ignoring changing
motivations and historical circumstances. Abu-Lughod challenges these static
pictures by analyzing the stories Bedouin women tell about themselves: women
who refuse their family’s choice of a spouse, women who get along (or don’t)
with their cowives, women who are sometimes disappointed in their sons,
women who assert themselves against their husband’s wishes; in short, women
who rebel against the norms of their society in small and sometimes effective
ways.
★ Patrilocality:
Definition: Patrilocality is the typical postmarital residence rule associated with
patrilineal descent. Here married couple resides in the husband’s father's
community, so that the children will grow up in their father's village.
It makes sense for patrilineal societies to require patrilocal postmarital
residence. If the group’s male members are expected to exercise their rights in
the ancestral estate, it’s a good idea to raise them on that estate and to keep them
there after they marry.
★ Matrilineal Descent:
Definition: Matrilineal descent is a rule that affiliates a person to kin of both
sexes related through females only.

Membership in a Matrilineal Descent Group

In societies with matrilineal descent rules, a person belongs to the descent group
of the mother. Here, the most important male position is of the mother’s brother.
In a matrilineal system, a man gains sexual and economic rights over a woman
when he marries her, but he does not gain rights over her children. Children
belong to the mother’s descent group, not the father’s, and many rights and
responsibilities belong not to him but to the woman’s brother. The membership
of a matrilineal descent group consists of a woman, her brothers and sisters, her
sisters’ (but not her brothers’) children, her own children, and the children of
her daughters (but not of her sons). Matrilineal systems tend to be correlated
with a matrilocal rule of residence: a man goes to live with or near his wife’s kin
after marriage. This means that in the domestic group, the man is among
strangers, whereas his wife is surrounded by her kin. The inclusion of a husband
in the household is less important in a matrilineal system than in a patrilineal
one, and marriages in matrilineal societies tend to be less stable than those in
other systems.
It is important to remember that although women usually have higher status in
societies where there is a matrilineal reckoning of descent; matrilineality is not
the same as matriarchy, in which the formal positions of power are held by
women. With a few possible exceptions, the most important resources and
highest political positions in matrilineal societies are in the control of males,
although the male with the most power and control in these societies is not the
husband (father) but the brother (uncle). The mother’s brother is a figure of
authority and respect, and the children of a man’s sister, rather than his own, are
his heirs and successors.
In a matrilineal society, the relationship between a man and his son is likely to
be affectionate and loving because it is free of the problems of authority and
control that exist between fathers and sons in a patrilineal society. A man may
feel emotionally close to his sons, but he is committed to pass on his
knowledge, property, and offices to the sons of his sister. With his nephews he
may have less friendly relations or even conflicts because they are subject to his
control. Thus, in a matrilineal system a man’s loyalties are split between his
own sons and the sons of his sister; in a patrilineal system, this tension does not
occur as part of the kinship structure.
Example: The Hopi, a Pueblo group in the American South-west, are a
matrilineal society. Both male and female members of the lineage consider their
mother’s house their home, but men move out to live with their wives after
marriage. They return to this home for many ritual and ceremonial occasions,
and also in the case of separation or divorce. The relationship of a man with his
father’s lineage and household is affectionate, involving some economic and
ritual obligations but little direct cooperation or authority.
The Hopi household revolves around a central and continuing core of women.
The mother-daughter relationship is an exceedingly close one, based on blood
ties, common activities, and lifelong residence together. A mother is responsible
for the economic and ritual training of her daughters. The daughter behaves with
respect, obedience, and affection to her mother and normally lives with her
mother and mother’s sisters after marriage. A mother also has a close
relationship with her sons, although a son moves to his wife’s home after
marriage. A son belongs to his mother’s lineage and keeps much of his personal
and ritual property in her home. A son shows respect for his mother as head of
the household and consults her on all important decisions.
The strongest and most permanent tie in Hopi society is between sisters. The
foundation of the household group is the relation of sisters to one another and to
their mother. The children of sisters are raised together; if one sister dies,
another looks after her children. Sisters cooperate in all domestic tasks. There
are usually few quarrels, and when they occur, they are settled by the mother’s
brother or their own brothers.
As in all matrilineal societies, a man’s relationship to his sister’s sons is very
important. As head of his sister’s lineage and household, a Hopi man is in a
position of authority and control. He is the chief disciplinarian and has the
primary responsibility for the important task of transmitting the ritual heritage
of the lineage and clan. He is consulted in the choice of a spouse, instructs his
nephews in the proper behavior toward his new relatives, and formally
welcomes his niece’s husband into the household. A man usually selects his
most capable nephew as his successor and trains him in the duties of whatever
ceremonial position he may hold. Boys may fear their maternal uncles as
sources of power and authority.
Hopi husbands have important economic functions but they do not participate in
the matrilineage ritual. A Hopi father’s obligations to his sons are primarily
economic. He prepares them to make a living by teaching them to farm and herd
sheep. At a son’s marriage, a father often presents him with a portion of the
flock and a small piece of land. The economic support a son receives from his
father is returned in the father’s old age, when he is supported by his sons.
Whereas a boy’s relationship with his maternal uncle is characterized by
reserve, respect, and even fear, his relationship with his father is more
affectionate and involves little discipline. A Hopi man’s relationship with his
daughter is also generally affectionate but not close, and he has few specific
duties in regard to her upbringing.
In addition to matrilineages, the Hopi also have matrilineal clans that extend
over many different villages. A Hopi man must not marry within his own clan
or the clan of his father or his mother’s father. Through marriage a Hopi man
acquires a wide range of relatives in addition to those resulting from his
membership in his mother’s clan. Kinship terms are extended to all these
people, leading to a vast number of potential sibling relationships and the lateral
integration of a great number of separate lineages and clans. This extension of
kinship relates a Hopi in some way to almost everyone in the village, in other
villages, and even to people in other Pueblo groups who have similar clans.
★ Matrilocality: Matrilocality is the less common postmarital residence rule
associated with matrilineal descent. Here married couple resides in the wife's
mother's community, so that the children will grow up in their mother's village.
★ Nonunilineal Descent: Nonunilineal descent is any system of descent in
which both father’s and mother’s lineages have equal claim to the individual.
★ Cognatic Descent: Any nonunilineal system of descent is called cognatic
descent.
★ Nonunilineal descent is of two types:
● Bilateral Descent
● Ambilineal Descent
★ Bilateral Descent:
Definition: System of descent under which individuals are equally affiliated
with their mothers’ and their fathers’ descent group.
In the system of bilateral descent, both maternal and paternal lines are used in
reckoning descent, in establishing the rights and obligations of kinship, and in
forming social groups. Bilateral kinship systems appear to be particularly
adaptive in societies where mobility and independence are important. They are
basic to Western culture, including the United States, and predominate among
foraging societies as well.
★ Ambilineal Descent:
Definition: Ambilineal descent is a form of bilateral descent in which an
individual may choose to affiliate with either the father’s or mother’s descent
group.
With ambilineal descent, group membership is neither automatic at birth nor
fixed for life. Individuals have a choice about their descent group affiliation, and
they can belong to more than one descent group. Ambilineal descent groups do
not automatically exclude either the children of sons or those of daughters.
People can choose the descent group they join. People also can change their
descent group membership, or belong to two or more groups at the same time.
Ambilineal descent is found in many Pacific Island societies. In these, at
marriage, the new couple chooses to live with and identify with either spouse’s
descent group. Generally, which descent group a couple chooses depends on a
variety of factors. The most important of these is probably access to land, a
resource in particularly short supply on many Pacific Islands, but friendships
and politics also play important roles in such identification. One interesting
aspect of ambilineal kinship is that the ancestors of a child might be quite
different from the ancestors of his or her parents.
★ Double Descent:
Definition: Double descent is the tracing of descent through both matrilineal
and patrilineal links, each of which is used for different purposes.
Double descent systems occur in only 5 percent of the world’s cultures. In these
societies, a person belongs both to the patrilineal group of the father and to the
matrilineal group of the mother, but these descent groups operate in different
areas of life.
Example: The Yako of Nigeria have a system of double descent. Cooperation in
daily domestic life is strongest among patrilineally related kinsmen, who live
with or near one another and jointly control and farm plots of land. Membership
in the patriclan is the source of rights over farmland and forest products. One
obligation of the patriclan is to provide food at funerals. Membership in the
men’s associations and the right to fruit trees are inherited through the male line.
The arbitration of disputes is in the hands of senior patriclan members.
Cooperation in ritual and succession to some religious offices are also derived
from patriclan membership.
Matrilineal bonds and clan membership are also important in Yako society, even
though matriclan members do not live near one another and do not cooperate as
a group in everyday activities. Practical assistance to matrilineal kin, the rights
and obligations of the mother’s brother and sons, and the authority of the priest
of a matrilineal clan are based on mystical ideas regarding the perpetuation and
tranquility of the Yako world. The Yako believe that the fertility of crops,
beasts, and humans, and peace between individuals and within the community
are associated with and passed on through women. Life comes from the mother.
The children of one mother are bound to mutual support and peaceful relations.
The matrilineage is thus held together by mystical bonds of common fertility,
and anger and violence between its members are considered sinful. These
sentiments are reinforced in the cult of the matriclan spirits, whose priests are
ritually given the qualities of women.
Despite their isolation from one another by the rule of patrilocal residence,
matriclan relatives have specific mutual obligations. Rights in the transfer of
accumulated wealth, but not land, belong to the matrilineal kinship group. The
members of a matriclan supervise a funeral and arrange for the disposal of the
dead person’s personal property. All currency and livestock customarily pass to
matrilineal relatives, who also receive the greater share of tools, weapons, and
household goods. The movable property of women passes to their daughters.
Matriclans are responsible for the debts of their kin, for making loans to one
another at reasonable rates, and for providing part of the bridewealth transferred
at the marriage of a sister’s son.
Thus, for the Yako, paternity and maternity are both important in descent. Each
contains different qualities from which flow the rights, obligations, and benefits,
both practical and spiritual, that bind people to one another and ensure the
continuity of the society.
★ Family vs Descent:
Many societies have both families and descent groups. Obligations to one may
conflict with obligations to the other—more so in matrilineal than in patrilineal
societies. In the latter, a woman typically leaves home when she marries and
raises her children in her husband’s community. After leaving home, she has no
primary or substantial obligations to her own descent group. She can invest fully
in her children, who will become members of her husband’s group. In a
matrilineal society things are different. A man has strong obligations both to his
family of procreation (his wife and children) and to his closest matrikin (his
sisters and their children). The continuity of his own descent group depends on
his sisters and their children, since descent is carried by females, and he has
descent based obligations to look out for their welfare. He also has obligations
to his wife and children. If a man is sure his wife’s children are his own, he has
more incentive to invest in them than when he has doubts. Compared with
patrilineal systems, matrilineal societies tend to have higher divorce rates and
greater female promiscuity.
Example: According to Nicholas Kottak, among the matrilineal Makua of
northern Mozambique, a husband is concerned about his wife’s potential
promiscuity. A man’s sister also takes an interest in her brother’s wife’s fidelity.
She doesn’t want her brother wasting time on children who may not be his, thus
diminishing his investment as an uncle (mother’s brother) in her children. A
confessional ritual that is part of the Makua birthing process demonstrates the
sister’s allegiance to her brother. When a wife is deep in labor, the husband’s
sister, who attends her, must ask, “Who is the real father of this child?” If the
wife lies, the Makua believe the birth will be difficult, often ending in the death
of the woman and/or the baby. This ritual serves as an important social paternity
test. It is in both the husband’s and his sister’s interest to ensure that his wife’s
children are indeed his own.
Reference Book:
1. Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity by Conrad
Phillip Kottak, Seventeenth edition, Chapter-10 (Families, Kinship, and
Descent)
2. Cultural Anthropology by Serena Nanda and Richard L. Warms, Ninth
edition, Chapter-9 (Kinship)
3. Cultural Anthropology by Serena Nanda and Richard L. Warms, Ninth
edition, Chapter-8 (Marriage, Family and Domestic Groups)