Asiatic Eskimos - Kinship



Kinship Groups and Descent. The Asiatic Eskimos differ substantially from other Eskimo groups in that they have patrilineal clans or lineages. Clans are clearly distinguished to this day and are the characteristic feature of social organization. Being a member of one clan or another can be a subject of pride; all adults who belong to a given clan know by name all the "relatives," even those living in other settlements.

Kinship Terminology. A precise division is observed between relatives in the paternal as opposed to the maternal line: anana (mother's sister), asaq (father's sister), atata (father's brother), anaq (mother's brother)—note ata (father), ana (mother). Cousins are also differentiated on this basis: atalghun (children of the father's brother) and aghnalghun (children of the mother's brother). The kinship terminology groups cross cousins together under one term but differentiates between paternal and maternal parallel cousins and the corresponding nepotic kin; for example, ilughag (father's sister's or mother's brother's children), anagaghag (woman's brother's children), nughag (woman's sister's children), gangighug (man's brother's children), uyghu (man's sister's children).


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