Patricians are common to all forager groups, but their function tends to be less pronounced by comparison to clan organization among farmers. Forest foragers are often members of the same patricians as those of their traditional farming trading partners. Patrilineage ideology is not strong: mother's relatives are recognized, often with specific terms. Patricians are "shallow," in that most foragers recall two or three generations in the clan, whereas farmers frequently can cite five or six generations.
Most forest foragers are known for their relatively egalitarian social systems. They maintain this egalitarianism through prestige avoidance, rough joking, and pervasive sharing.
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