KINSHIP AND DESCENT
Descent Groups
Membership in a group by lineal
descent from a real or mythical ancestor
Restricted by
Locality
Choice
Making sex jurally relevant
Unilineal Descent
Patrilineal
Descent and Organization
Matrilineal Descent and
Organization
Double Descent
System tracing descent matrilineally for some purposes and patrilineally
for others
Ambilineal
Descent
Individual may
affiliate with the mother’s or father’s descent group
Provides
flexibility
Functions of Descent Groups
Sense of belonging
Lineage
Corporate descent group whose
members trace their genealogical links to a common ancestor
Clan
Noncorporate
descent group
Members claim descent from a common
ancestor
Members do not know the
genealogical links to that ancestor
Totemism
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
Bilateral Descent and the Kindred
Evolution of the Descent Group
Not common among foragers
Important for horticultural,
pastoral, and agricultural societies
Bilateral descent and kindreds result when small domestic units are of primary
importance
Kinship Terminology and Kinship Groups
Eskimo
Hawaiian
Iroquois
Crow
Sudanese
END