Tairora - Kinship



Kin Groups and Descent. A patrilineal ideology ascribes at birth membership in one's fathers lineage and clan, although residence in itself can blur such distinctions, especially in the north, where immigrants (such as refugees in time of war) acquire the status of "quasiagnates." Patricians are named and exogamous but not localized; while land in any settlement is associated with particular clans, clan segments may reside (and claim land) in a number of neighboring settlements. Clan members seldom act as a unit in Ceremonies, exchange, or war.

Kinship Terminology. In the north, kin terms are of a modified Iroquois type, with collaterals in Ego's generation other than mother's brother's children, and all collaterals in the first descending generation other than sister's children, being terminologically equivalent to a man's own children. Farther south, terms for mother's kin show Omaha-type tendencies; however, choices of terms are complicated by bride-wealth exchange.

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