Affinal kin

Relatives by marriage

Age grade

organized category of people based on age; every individual pass through a series of such categories in the course of a lifetime

Age sets

groups of persons initiated into age grades at the same time and who move through a series of categories together. (see discussion tribes)

Ambilineal descent

1. descent in which the individual may affiliate with either the mother's or father's descent group. (see our discussion on Bands and Carrying Capacity for example)

Ambilocal residence

: a pattern in which the married couple may choose EITHER matri or patrilocal residence. (Again, see our discussion on Carrying Capacity of land)

Avunculocal

1. a married couple resides with the husband's mother's brother. [see the Trobriands] this is the final residence pattern that we did not discuss in the first kinship lecture, but one that I identified in the second lecture.

Bride price

1. Compensation paid by the groom or his family to the bride's family upon marriage.

Bride Service:

1. A designated period of time after marriage during which the groom works for the bride's family

Clan

a non-corporate descent group with each member claiming descent from a common ancestor without actually knowing the exact links to that ancestor

Common-interest associations

: Associations not based on age, kinship, marriage or territory that result from the act of joining. (SEE Tribes, Stares)

Conjugal bond

The bond between a man and a woman who are married

Conjugal Family

1. a family consisting of one [or more] man married to one [or more] women, and their offspring.

Consanguine family

1. : A family consisting of related women, their brothers and the offspring of the women.

Consanguineal Kin

1. : Relatives by birth; blood relatives

Descent Group

1. Any publicly recognized social entity such that being a lineal descendent of a particular real or mythical ancestor is a criterion of membership

Descriptive [Sudanese] system

one's father, father's brother, mother's brother is distinguished by terms, mother, mother's sister and father's sister are distinguished by terms; cross cousins are distinguished from each other AND from siblings

Dowry

1. Payment of a woman's inheritance at the time of her marriage either to her or to her husband.

Egalitarian societies

social systems in which as many valued positions exist as there are capable persons of filling them. (See discussion bands

Endogamy

Marriage within a group or a particular category of individuals

Eskimo System [also called the LINEAL SYSTEM]

emphasizes the nuclear family by specifically identifying mother, father, brother and sister, while lumping together all other relatives into broad categories such as "uncle", "aunt" or "cousin".

Exogamy

marriage outside of a group

Extended family

A collection of nuclear families, related by ties of blood that live together in one household.

Family

a residential kin group composed of a woman, her dependent children, and at least one adult male joined through a blood relationship

Fission

The splitting of a descent group into two or more new descent groups

Hawaiian System

kinship reckoning in which all relatives of the same sex and generation are referred to by the same term.

Household

basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing and shelter are organized and carried out; may or may not be synonymous with family.

Incest taboo

The prohibition of sexual relations between specified individuals, usually parent/child and siblings at a minimum

Iroquois System

One's father and father's brother are referred to by a single term, one's mother and mother's sister are referred to by a single term; one's father's sister and one's mother's brother are given separate terms; parallel cousins are classified with brothers and sisters; cross cousins are classified separately, but [unlike Crow and Omaha] not equated with relatives of another generation.

Levirate

A marriage custom according to which a widow marries a brother of her dead husband

Lineage

A corporate descent group whose members trace their genealogical links to a common ancestor.

Marriage

a transaction and resulting contract in which a man and a woman are recognized by a society as having a claim to the right of sexual access to one another and in which the woman is eligible to bear children.

Matrilineal descent

Descent is traced exclusively through the female line for purposes of group membership

Matrilocal residence

a married couple lives in the locality associated with the wife's relatives

Moiety

Each group that results from a division of a society into two halves on the basis of descent.

Monogamy

marriage in which an individual has a single spouse

Natolocal

as per the Nayar: everyone stays "home"

Neolocal residence

A pattern in which a married couple may establish their household in a location apart of either their patri or matri relatives

Nuclear Family

a family unit consisting of husband, wide, and dependent children

Patrilineal descent

Descent is traced exclusively through the male line for purposes of group membership

Patrilocal residence

A residence pattern in which a married couple lies in the locality associated with the husband's father's relatives.

Phratry

unilineal descent group composed of two more clans that claim to be of common ancestry. IF THERE ARE ONLY TWO SUCH GROUPS, EACH IS A MOIETY

Totemism

people are related to particular animals, plants or natural objects by virtue of descent from common ancestral spirits.

Unilineal descent

descent that establishes group membership either through the male or female line.

Density of Social relations

The number and intensity of interactions among members of a camp or other social unit.

Swidden farming [Slash and Burn Horticulture]

An extensive form of horticulture in which the natural vegetation is cut, the slash is subsequently burned, and crops are then planted among the ashes

Pastoralist

Member of a society that regards animal husbandry as the ideal way of making a living and considers movement of all or part of the society a normal and natural way of life.

Transhumance

Pattern of strict seasonal movement between different environmental zones

Pre-industrial Cities

The kinds of urban settlements characteristic of non-industrial civilizations.

Technology

Tools and other material equipment, together with the knowledge of how to make and use them

Levelling mechanism

A societal obligation compelling a family to distribute goods so that no-one accumulates more than anyone else.

Reciprocity

The exchange of goods and/or services of approximately equal value between two groups.

Generalized Reciprocity

A mode of exchange in which the value of the gift is not calculated, nor is the time of repayment specified.

Balanced Reciprocity

A mode of exchange whereby the giving and receiving are specific as to the value of the goods and the time of their delivery.

Negative Reciprocity

A form of exchange whereby the giver tries to get the better of the exchange. Barter is a form of negative reciprocity

Redistribution

A form of exchange [economic system] in which goods flow into a central place where they are sorted, counted and re-allocated.

Band

A small group of related households occupying a particular region that gather together periodically on an ad hoc basis but that do not yield their sovereignty to the larger collective

Tribe

`A group of nominally independent communities occupying a specific region and sharing a common language and culture integrated by some unifying factor.

Sanctions

Externalized social controls designed to encourage conformity to social norms. POSITIVE SANCTIONS AND NEGATIVE SANCTIONS ARE INCLUDED HERE.

Epistemology

Ecologically specific rhythms, patterns and events

The five base tenants of native science

1. Space/land
2. Constant motion/flux
3. All things are animate and imbued with spirit
4. Relationship
5. Renewal