Cape Verdeans - Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. Cape Verdean kinship is bilateral with a patrilineal preference. The more favored ancestry derives from the white colonial population rather than the African, though the latter is by far the more important demographic factor. Fictive kin practices include godparenthood, or compadrio. When slaves were freed, often a compadrio relationship was maintained between master and freed slave. Illegitimacy is a common feature in Cape Verdean history. Often, lançados (illegal traders and merchants) were illegitimate offspring ( filhos de fora ) who used their patrilineal kin networks to ply their trade. Genealogies are used primarily to identify others as descendants of slaves or oneself as a descendant of Europeans.