Acehnese - Kinship

Acehnese kinship terminology is Hawaiian, but it makes sharp distinctions between older and younger kin of the same generation. The nuclear family forms the basic social unit, but society is organized also on a principle of bilateral descent. Patrilineal descent groups are sibs or kawom, of which there are four; they were once a means of security and revenge in times of conflict, but now appear to have lost most or all of their function. Matrilineal descent groups, or karong, function as residential groups among the uxorilocal Acehnese.