Kinship Units and Groups

Cultural Anthropology

Demonstrated and Stipulated Descent: Lineages and Clans

Demonstrated Descent: Descent is traced through all linking males/females to the ancestor.

Stipulated descent: Descent from ancestor is assumed and cannot be traced through linking kin.

Generally, groups with demonstrated descent are

smaller than those with stipulated descent. Lineages are unilineal descent units whose members

demonstrate, or trace their ancestry Clans are unilineal descent groups that assume, or

stipulate, their ancestry

Lineages Lineages are unilineal descent

units whose members can demonstrate their descent to a common ancestor

Lineages divide or segment into smaller ones

This model of a segmentary lineage shows how it works

The minimal lineage is the smallest lineage (3-4 generations)

It can be a part of ever larger lineages: minor segment, major segment up to the maximal lineage

Principles of Lineage Formation and Segmentation The preceding diagram illustrates this process: Suppose an extended family gets too large; the family

divides into two. These families may still retain their ties as lineages When lineages get large, they divide into two, as the

preceding diagram shows. They may retain affiliation as even larger lineages, such

as the maximal lineage in the diagram. This process can continue indefinitely or even evolve

into clans; see next diagram.

Clans Clans are unilineal descent

unitsw hose members can only stipulate their descent to a common ancestor

Clans tend to include smaller lineages and extended families, as shown here.

So over time, the process can go from extended families to lineages to clans.

Descent Units and Descent Groups Descent organizes larger kin as well Descent units that encompass members,

but do not necessarily organize their members; Navajo clans are not

Descent groups are organized around particular functions, especially assets.

Descent Units A group of kin descended unilineally or bilaterally

who reckon their descent for some purpose but who are not necessarily organized

Example: Navajo are members of matrilineal clans that are dispersed throughout the countryside.

Their main function is hospitality, which is obligatory—you must put up a fellow clan member who happens by for the night.

Descent Groups (Corporate Groups) Are organized descent units with the following

characteristics First, it own an estate: land, cattle, or

fishing/hunting ground The estate may be owned by group or it may be

owned by their constituent families Masai of East Africa are corporate lineages and

clans even though it’s the extended families who own their cattle herds.

Descent Groups: Rights and Obligations Estate entails rights and obligations Examples: a man may have rights to cattle of other

families in the clan for bridewealth But he also has the obligation to provide cattle for the

bridewealth of other kinsmen. He also has the obligation to defend herds (or add to

them), as was true of the Masai, Among the Fulani, if one descent group loses its cattle

herd due to disease, other descent groups contribute to the replenishment of the first group;s herd

Descent Groups: Perpetuity The lineage or clan is sociocentric; it outlasts the life

span of individuals, not unlike corporations, whose loss of staff through downsizing does not kill the company.

Lineages and clans contrasts with kindreds, which are egocentric, or centered in particular persons.

A bilateral kindred comprises full brothers and sisters, which overlaps with other kindreds with different sets of full brothers and sisters.

When full siblings die, the kindred itself dies

Legal Persons Corporations are defined as legal persons similar to descent

groups. Among the Kwakiutl of the Northwest Coast, murder of a noble of

one clan by a commoner of another requires death of noble of commoner’s clan, or bloodwealth as compensation.

Responsibility for the murder is thereby collective In New Guinea: murder requires revenge--regardless of the

circumstance. Collective responsibility is a hallmark of groups defined as a legal

person.

Patrilineal Descent Units/Groups Patrilocal extended families undergo

division, as you have seen. They can keep ties through lineages as

they segment and form larger lineages The process continues indefinitely, and at

the end, they may form clans.

Matrilineal Descent Units/Groups Matrilineal segmentation is somewhat similar to patrilineal

segmentation. Matrilocal extended families undergo similar division and keep ties

again through lineages Process continues indefinitely and may also form clans over the long

term. Main difference is the conflict in the role of the brother and that of the

husband The two male authority figures compete for power within the

matrilineage, and often the brother wins out Usually, therefore segmentation involves two persons; the brother who

wields authority and the sister who provides the matrilineal affiliation.

Nonunilineal or Ambilineal Descent Groups

Ambilineal descent groups develop from ambilocal extended families--whose descent is bilateral

Each couple chooses residence based on economic advantage, as we saw among couples in the Gilberts

Both husband and wife belong to separate kaingas The kainga is a landholding unit When the couple chooses residence, the spouse leaving

her/his residence retains rights to her/his kainga, but these rights do not pass to his/her child

Ambilocal Descent Group: Conditions

Ambilineal groups are usually found are usually where land is circumscribed by geography, such as islands or restricted mountainous regions, and where populations shift rapidly from one region to another

In fact, Scottish clans are actually ambilineal groups. There, arable land is restricted in the highlands of Scotland

Marriage as Alliance Another function of marriage is alliance formation between

lineages, clans, tribes, or even nations. In European history, peace between nations was sealed by

monarchial marriage. Yanomamo: highest alliance is sealed by marriage outside the

village. Women marry their cross-cousins, affording her some kind of

protection against an abusive husband. She has no such protection if she marries outside; marriage outside

the village must reflect high degree of trust. The main ways to secure alliance are bridewealth and exchange

marriage

Bridewealth More than a marriage transaction Loss of daughter: loss of reproductivity Loss must be compensated. Bridewealth Entails payment by groom’s kin to wife’s kin Ensures that wife’s kin attracts wives for its sons Strengthens bond of kin through network of

obligations

Bride Labor and Dowry Theme and variation: son proves his worth

Ensures that wife will be looked after

Dowry (p. 252) Transfer of wealth from wife’s family to husband Condition: he looks after wife’s welfare even after

his own death An assurance that woman’s status is on par with

husband’s

Exchange Theory: Mauss’s Analysis of the Gift Exchange Creates and maintains ties between two groups Three obligations To give: to form ties To receive To cement ties Failure: creates hostilities To repay Failure makes the recipient a beggar Results in his/her inferior status

Parallel and Cross-Cousin Marriage Parallel cousin marriage Father’s brother’s child or Mother’s sister’s child Cross-cousin marriage Sister’s brother’s child Mother’s brother’s child

Patrilateral Parallel Cousin Marriage Father’s brother’s children belong to same

patrilineal descent unit Practiced among Arab nomadic peoples Example: Rwala Bedouin Serves to preserve wealth within extended

family or lineage Disadvantage: limitation on alliance/network

Cross-Cousin Marriage Partner is always outside one’s own lineage or

clan Illustration Mother’s brother’s daughter: belongs to lineage

or clan of the brother Father’s sister’s daughter: belongs to lineage or

clan of sister’s husband Conclusion: cross-cousins always belong to

different lineages or clans

Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage Definition: marriage of man to his mother’s brother’s

daughter Man is woman’s father’s sister’s son Reference point is always male What happens when everyone practices matrilateral

cross-cousin marriage There are at least 3 groups They marry in a circle Diagram illustrates why

Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage: Alliance Patterns Effects on social status Group B takes wife from Group A Group B can never return favor with wife from own

group Why: man from Group A would marry father’s

sister’s daughter “Violates” matrilateral cross-cousin rule Result: B is “beggar” to A: likewise C to B Has effect in stratified states, as will be seen

Patrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage Woman is man’s father’s sister’s daughter But man is woman’s mother’s brother’s son Again, male is reference point Pattern is somewhat more complicated and rarer in occurrence Structural implications will be bypassed

Bilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage Two definitions Man marries either Mother’s brother’s daughter or Father’s sister’s daughter OR He marries both Mother’s brother’s daughter or Father’s sister’s daughter This diagram shows how

Alliance Patterns: Bilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage Results If you have only two lineages And everyone does it You have only one choice: cross cousin An ideal type Only one male and only one female Applied to Yanomamo, every marriage Involves a cross-cousin tie (p 146. 148) Strong because it involves future spouses

Bilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage: Results Fissioning village, Villages always divide in pairs Two kinds of people: your kin and your future spouse’s kin Kin terms Iroquois cousin terminology: Parallel cousins: same as brother and sister Cross-cousin: Suaboya: female cross cousin and wife Hearoya: male cross-cousin and husband

Importance of Kin Terms: Bilateral Reflect how cousins are to behave toward

each other Hawaiian: all cousins merge siblings with

cousins Bilateral: marriage outside kin Eskimo: our own: immediate siblings

separated from cousins Often found with nuclear families

Importance of Kin Terms: Unilineal Iroquois: Parallel cousins merged with siblings Separated from cross cousins Yanomamo: give indication of marriageable

partners Guinea: Cross-cousins separated from immediate

siblings and parallel cousins, Matrilateral and patrilateral cousins also separated Suggests matrilateral or patrilateral cross-cousin

marriage is preferred

Kinship Terminology Much more could be said Omaha and Crow reflect Patrilineal and matrilineal relations,

respectively Main point: terms are “markers” of basic

relationships

Conclusion: Value of Marriage and Kinship Involves how gender relations are managed Sexual relations Division of labor Marriage and childbirth Involves relations outside immediate realm of

kin Economic rights and obligations (next) Social control through other institutions