Yukagir - Kinship and Sociopolitical Organization

The basic social unit is the slightly extended nuclear family, which, until the nineteenth century, may have been grouped into largely exogamous patrilineal clans—essentially a small group of patrilineally related families never exceeding 100 persons in number. Among the Upper Kolyma Yukagir, marriage was matrilocal (after considerable premarital freedom), whereas among the Tundra Yukagir it was patrilocal. Both groups inherited through the male line, however. "The old man," the ablest adult male in the group, selected fishing sites, dispatched hunters, directed the distribution of food, and organized the group for defense.