ANTH205 Lecture 12 10 8 13 KINSHIP What is Kinship o Is the relationship between genetically or culturally related individuals o Consanguineal Is one type of kin means with blood These are your biological relatives brothers sisters etc o Affinal Another type of kin these people are related to you by marriage in laws o Foundation of social organization in most traditional populations o Kinship defines to which group or lineage one belongs o This often determines with whom one will ally in conflicts o Determines who is an eligible marital partner and who is taboo Why is Kinship Important o I and my brothers against my cousins I and my brothers and my cousins against the world Bedouin o Genetic variants that promote survival reproduction are naturally selected increase in frequency o What if a variant could help other copies of itself in other individuals How Do We Assess Kinship o Some animals use olfaction sense of smell o Westermarck Effect Aversion to romance with those one grows up with This provides a method of Incest Avoidance Reduces probability of kids with 2 copies of deleterious genes o BUT humans also have culture and language and thus use Kinship Kinship Terminology o Identifies Kin from Non Kin o Categorizes Kin based on Gender Age Generation Lineage some Patrilineal Matrilineal Birth Order some o Kinship Diagrams Circle Female Triangle Male is married is Sibling Eskimo System o Also US European System o Differentiates gender generation and nuclear and nonnuclear family Hawaiian System o Most General o Separates by gender and generation alone Sudanese System o Complete Descriptive EX Fathers Sisters Son Fictive Kin Terms o Assigning a non relative a kin term as a sign of closeness o In Our Culture Brother Son Cousin Uncle Auntie Fraternities Sororities o Kinship sometimes malleable to suit individual needs Descent o Determines lineage membership ancestors inheritance o Biological relatives not along line of descent often treated differently can be married o Strong association with where and whom families live with o Matrilineal Descent Descent traced through the Mother s line o Patrilineal Descent Descent traced through the Father s line most non foragers o Bilineal Descent Descent traced through both parents lines most foragers Tsimane o Iroquois System This a system that differentiates lineage If your dads brother has children everyone has the same last name as you o Tsimane Kinship and Residence Houses are clustered together Nuer o Lie in South Sudan and there are 1 000 000 Plus People of the Nuer descent o Cattle pastoralists with some horticulture mostly millet o Also rely on fishing goats and sheep o Move between settled villages in wet season o Reliance on Cattle Bovine Idiom there entire life is based around their cattle Staple food is milk Dung is used for fire building material fertilizing Oxen define prestige The name of each individual is based on the coloration pattern of each Ox o Segmentary Lineage Multiple Memberships to ever expanding patrilineal lineages Starts at nuclear family Same great grandfather etc Ultimately can contain all of the million Nuer Allows for mobilization despite lack of clear leader o Toughness Boys taught to enforce rights through force Raiding of neighboring Dinka historically common Leopard Skin Chief Civil War o Conflict between Northern and Southern Sudan from 1950s2000s o Since late 1800s ruled by Britain as two territories o Northern Sudan is largely Muslim and culturally Arabic o Southern Sudan is Christian and Native Beliefs and Culturally Sub Saharan o In 1946 the British combined the two territories and Northerners were given positions in GOV of South o Around Independence in 1956 South Secessionist movement developed into war o Finally in 1972 o 11 years later in 1983 President instituted Shari a Law and made Sudan into Islamic State o Additionally North made attempts control of South s water and oil o In 1984 President redacted much of Islamization program but war continued 10 08 2013 10 08 2013