Kickapoo - Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. Kickapoo social organization features thirteen groups that direct the inheritance of Personal names. These nonunilineal, nonexogamous groups may have constituted patrilineal clans in the past. Association is now based on a personal name, or eponym, which is conferred by a namer who is of the same naming group. These eponymous units are groups in a system that determines reciprocal obligations among them. There are also dual divisions, which were probably true moieties in the past. The various name groups are divided into one or the other of these: kiiskooha is symbolized by the color white and the direction north, and oskasa is associated with black and south. The dual divisions provide rival teams for ball games and contests, and thereby redirect competitions and rivalries away from family, lineage, and name group. The Kickapoo are also Divided into four bundle societies, which are essentially Different "denominations" of the Kickapoo religion.

Kinship Terminology. Traditional kin terms follow the Omaha system.