Koryaks and Kerek - Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. The basis of Koryak social organization was the patriarchal family community. But unlike, for example, the Even, who carried the names of genealogical clans, Koryaks were named mainly after the place of residence, usually by the name of a river. Ancestor cults were widespread. All ethnic groups of Koryaks had special sites for sacrifices. Settled Koryaks had these sites near their villages. Nomadic Koryaks located such sites in the places where their ancestors and relatives had been cremated.

Kinship Terminology. The fixed system of kinship terms seems at first glance not to show any special deviations from the system that, for example, Russians have. Yet, for example, there is preserved the term "family" (Chavchuv: yaicyin, or Nymylan: rair?in ) and the term "large family"—that is, evidently, "community" ( vaiat or varat ), which is interpreted in modern usage as "people."