Karen - Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. There is much scholarly controversy regarding the Karen kinship system, which is probably best characterized as a cognatic or bilateral system with matrilineal descent. Marshall described a group of matrilineally related persons participating in certain rituals for their ancestral spirit. The leader was the oldest living female of the line. Iijima, Hamilton, and others have observed these ancestral rituals taking place among both Sgaw and Pwo Karen matrilineages.

Kinship Terminology. Hamilton notes that the Karen bilateral system of filiation does not result in a descent group, but a set of statuses for structuring relationships. Matrilineal descent, on the other hand, indicates a person's genealogical connection to his or her mother's relatives. A Karen man and woman who are directly related to each other through a pair of sisters, for example, should not marry because they are members of the same matrilineage, although if there is even one male in the descent chain they may marry. Karen kinship terminology is overall quite similar among subgroups. A person equates his or her father's brother with his or her mother's brother. For grandparents and great-grandparents, male collaterals (maternal or paternal) of the same generation are equated, as are females. There are separate terms for generations, equating all children in each generation. Ego calls siblings only by birth-order terms, and may add a suffix to denote gender. The Sgaw term dau'pywae ( dang phu vwi in Pwo) refers to the sibling set. Ego equates all cousins, but may add one of two suffixes to distinguish lineage members from nonmembers. People distinguish their own children from their brothers' children and their sisters' children, whom they equate with the children of their cousins. Birth order is important, but is usually used only in the first ascending and descending generation.