Two Organizing Schemes for Human Kinship

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Two Organizing Schemes for Human Kinship

• Bilateral (Examples U.S.A., Eskimos)
• Often found in hunter-gatherer societies
• Also a trend in industrial societies
• Unilineal
• Patrilineal (Examples Hebrew, Chinese)
• Matrilineal (Examples Hopi, Iroquois)
• Often found in farming societies

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Bilateral Kindred



















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Bilateral Kindred



















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Bilateral Kindred



















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Bilateral Kindred



















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Bilateral Kindred



















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Advantages and disadvantages of bilateral kinship

• Flexibility
• Lack of clarity
• Not suitable for farmers

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Farmers need well-defined groups

• Joint land holdings
• Cooperative labor
• Collective ownership of crops
• How to have a clearly defined kin group?

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Unilineal KinshipA Matrilineal Example

• Clan membership retained for life
• Clan membership inherited from mother
• Totemic names
• Exogamy (marrying out)
• Matrilocal Residence
• Clan owns rights to property, leadership
  positions, rituals, etc.

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Egos Matrilineal Clan CardinalWho is
included?



















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Egos Clan



















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Egos Father



















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Fathers Clan



















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Wife



















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Wifes Clan



















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Mothers Brothers Children



















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My Wife and Children?
My Wife



















Mothers Brothers Grandchildren
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