Kubachins - Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. The Kubachins of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries recognized many kinship groups. There were clans (tukhums)—variously named and consisting of families related through blood, mainly in the paternal line, and then, somewhat later, also in the maternal line. There also existed intratukhum divisions according to degree of kinship: all relatives, closest relatives, and distant relatives. The tukhum could be up to 100 persons in size. The tukhum preserved a communal and ideological unity, but in economic relations every constituent family represented an independent unity. Each tukhum had its plot in the cemetery and its name derived from a known ancestor. Tukhum endogamy was preferred.

Kinship Terminology. The Kubachi have kinship terms for father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandson, grandfather, paternal uncle, maternal uncle, cousin, second cousin, etc. Within the tukhum consanguinity was reckoned to five or six degrees; some basic terms are atta (father), gal (son), utstse (brother), bikt ïtsik'ai (cousin), and vagilaziv (relative—for the most distant degree of relative).