1 / 24

Cultural Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology. CHAPTER NINE: KINSHIP AND DESCENT. Chapter Preview. What Are Descent Groups? What Functions Do Descent Groups Serve? How Do Descent Groups Form?. Kinship. The people we are related to through blood (consanguineal) and marriage (affinal)

dacey
Download Presentation

Cultural Anthropology

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Cultural Anthropology CHAPTER NINE: KINSHIP AND DESCENT

  2. Chapter Preview What Are Descent Groups? What Functions Do Descent Groups Serve? How Do Descent Groups Form?

  3. Kinship • The people we are related to through blood (consanguineal) and marriage (affinal) • Kin divided into three groups: nominal, effective, intimate or core kin • Kinship involves how we classify our relatives, organize family and residential patterns • Kinship is culturally diverse

  4. Descent Groups Membership in a group by lineal descent from a real or mythical ancestor Restricted by Locality Choice Making sex jurally relevant

  5. Patrilineal Descent and Organization Matrilineal Descent and Organization Unilineal Descent

  6. Original Study Coping as a Woman in a Man’s World Women in rural Taiwan develop social relationships that provide power The village forum acts as an important force for a woman Older women exert considerable influence over sons and husbands Women manipulate the rules and concerns about “face”

  7. Double Descent • System tracing descent matrilineally for some purposes and patrilineally for others

  8. Ambilineal Descent • System in which individual may affiliate with the mother’s or father’s descent group • Provides flexibility

  9. Forms and Functions of Descent Groups • Provide warmth and a sense of belonging • Provide security and services in work • Provide mutual aid to members • Support the elderly and infirm • Help with marriages and deaths • Repository of religious traditions

  10. Lineage • Corporate descent group whose members trace their genealogical links to a common ancestor

  11. Clan Noncorporate descent group Members claim descent from a common ancestor Members do not know the genealogical links to that ancestor Totemism

  12. Anthropology Applied Federal Recognition for Native Americans Aroostook Band of Micmacs (ABM) ask anthropologist to help settle tribal conflict Definition of a Micmac disputed Rights to Federal programs, funding and control of tribal government at issue ABM were granted federal recognition in 1991 Anthropologist had provided government with Historical and genealogical records Evidence of political influence Proof that the ABM are descendants of historic tribe Expert testimony ABM accept anthropologist’s 1999 report to settle conflict

  13. Phratries and Moieties Phratry Unilineal descent group composed of two or more clans with common ancestry Moiety Descent group that makes up half of a society Tribe Moities Phratries Clans Lineages Families Individuals

  14. Bilateral Descent and the Kindred = = = EGO

  15. The Descent Group Descent groups not common among foragers Descent groups structurally important for horticultural, pastoral, and agricultural societies Bilateral descent and kindreds result when small domestic units are of primary importance

  16. Contemporary Chinese Canadian Kinship Chinese immigrants use clan-based associations to adjust to Canadian life Many can trace their lineage to a village of origin in China Basic social organization in the villages was patrilineage In Canada, however they organized their lives around clan and district associations Today, clanship and district associations have declined in importance

  17. Kinship Terminology and Kinship Groups Eskimo Hawaiian Iroquois Crow Omaha Sudanese What do I call my FaSiSoDa?

  18. Eskimo System Au Un Fa Mo Au Un = Co Co Co Co Br Z Co Co Co Co Ego System emphasizing nuclear family Found in societies with bilateral kindreds

  19. Hawaiian System Mo Fa Fa Mo Mo Fa = Br Z Br Z Br Z Br Z Br Z Ego Emphasizes relatives of the same sex and generation Associated with ambilineal descent

  20. Iroquois System FaZ Fa Fa Mo Mo MoBr = Co Co Br Z Br Z Co Co Br Z Ego Parallel-cousins classified with siblings Widespread and associated with unilineal descent groups

  21. Crow System FaZ Fa Fa Mo Mo MoBr = Fa FaZ Br Z Br Z So Da Br Z Ego Father’s sister and her daughter are given same term Associated with matrilineal descent

  22. Omaha System FaZ Fa Fa Mo Mo MoBr = Ne Ni Br Z BrSi Br Z MoBr Mo Ego Mother’s brother and his son are given same term Associated with patrilineal descent

  23. Sudanese or Descriptive System FaZ Fa Mo MoZ MoBr FaBr = Br Z Ego FaZSo MoZSo FaZDa MoZDa FaBrSo MoBrSo FaBrDa MoBrDa All kintypes are distinguished Rare, found mostly in the Sudan

  24. NEXT TIME: Grouping by Sex, Age,Common Interest, and Class

More Related