Oroqen - Kinship and Sociopolitical Organization

Until the middle of the seventeenth century the Oroqen were organized into seven exogamous clans, called mokuns. A mokunda, the head of a clan, enjoyed high respect and authority. Decisions were made by consensus. Later, to provide marriage partners, new clans evidently split off following solemn religious ceremonies. These clans developed into wulilengs, meaning "offsprings," comprised of patrilineal families. Wulilengs were basic economic units, each managed by a democratically elected tatanda. Use of iron implements, horses, and shotguns soon changed Oroqen social Organization, with nuclear families replacing wulilengs as the basic economic unit. Each family was free to join or leave a wulileng, and the title of tatanda was only used for hunting leaders.