Chapter 21

Kinship and Descent

Chapter Outline

What are descent groups? What functions do descent groups

serve? How do descent groups evolve?

Descent Groups

Members share descent from a common ancestor through a series of parent-child links.

Unilineal descent establishes kin group membership exclusively through the male or female line.

Patrilineal Descent Groups

Male members trace their descent from a common male ancestor.

A female belongs to the same descent group as her father and his brother.

Authority over the children lies with the father or his elder brother.

Tracing Patrilineal Descent

Sources of Tension in Patrilineal Descent Groups

The requirement for younger men to defer to older men.

Requirement for women to defer to men, as well as to the women of a household they marry into.

Matrilineal Descent Groups

Descent is traced through the female line.

Does not confer public authority on women, but women have more say in decision making than in patrilineal societies.

Common in societies where women perform much of the productive work.

Tracing Matrilineal Descent

Sources of Tension in Matrilineal Descent Groups

Husband’s authority lies not in his own household but in that of his sister.

Unsatisfactory marriages may be ended easily, resulting in higher divorce rates than patrilineal societies.

Functions of Descent Groups

Provide aid and security to their members.

Repositories of religious tradition, with group solidarity enhanced by worship of a common ancestor.

Organizational Hierarchy of Lineages, Clans, Phratries, and Moieties

Lineages

Made up of consanguineal kin who can trace their genealogical links to a common ancestor.

Marriage of a group member represents an alliance of two lineages.

Lineage exogamy maintains open communication and fosters exchange of information among lineages.

Clans

Created when a large lineage group splits into new, smaller ones.

Members claim descent from a common ancestor without knowing the genealogical links to that ancestor.

Clan identification is often reinforced by totems.

Kindred

A small circle of paternal and maternal relatives.

A kindred is never the same for any two persons except siblings.

Kinship Pattern of the Kindred

Kinship Terminologies

The Hawaiian system The Eskimo system The Iroquois system Omaha system Crow system Sudanese or descriptive system

Eskimo Kinship Terminology

Hawaiian Kinship Terminology

Iroquois Kinship Terminology

Crow Kinship Terminology

Terms for the Concepts of “Mother” and “Father” in Western Societies

1. Genetic mother2. Carrying mother3. Nurturing mother4. Complete mother5. Genetic/carrying mother6. Genetic/nurturing mother7. Carrying/nurturing mother8. Genetic father9. Nurturing father10. Complete father