Tsimihety - Kinship

Several grades of bilateral kinship are recognized: havana are kin in general, havana lavidavitra are distant kin, and havana akaiky are close kin. Fianakaviana are close kin who are intimate and in constant contact; tokontrano refers to a group of kin living as neighbors; ankohonana is a household, the intimate family group. Especially close relations are also recognized, for example, mianaka, parents/children; mianadafy, siblings; and miafy, grandparents/grandchildren. The term for the relationship is also used by the two parties to refer to each other. For jural purposes—such as title to burial in the tomb, right to the use of land, and claim to "ownership" of land and living sites—patrilinal ascent ( fokondray ) is dominant. Primary claimants to a particular tomb are united by patrilineal ascent into a named association ( foko ). As associations of people with proprietary rights to land, they are known as zafintany. To describe the situation in which one is living as part of a zafintany, a person is said to live ambenilahy (in the father's line).