Central Yup'ik Eskimos - Kinship



Kin Groups and Descent. Aboriginally, the bilateral extended family was the basic social unit. This unit consisted of from two to four generations, including parents, offspring, and parents' parents. Married siblings of either the parents or their offspring might also be included as family members. These extended family networks lived in a number of territorially centered village groups, members of which were joined by overlapping ties of blood and marriage. For the larger village groups, most marriages were within the village. Although the extended family continues to be an important social and productive unit in western Alaska today, increased emphasis on the nuclear family household, intermarriage with nonnatives, and a decline in the importance of intrafamily sharing and Exchange networks have undercut its importance.

Kinship Terminology. The Yup'ik Eskimos follow the Iroquois system of kinship terminology. Although many nuances of the traditional system have been abandoned, Yup'ik kinship terms continue to be used in both reference and address. The traditional practice of addressing persons named for a deceased relative by the kinship term (in either English or Yup'ik) appropriate to that relative is also still widely employed.


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