Anambé - Kinship, Marriage, and Family

Kinship and Descent. The Anambé traditionally were organized in extended families; owing to modern influence, however, the nuclear family now predominates. In 1968 there was only one domestic group that could be considered an extended family. No information has been obtained regarding lines of descent or rules of residence. Among the available publications, only one includes a list of kinship terms, but it is incomplete. It is therefore impossible to correctly describe or analyze the Anambé terminological system with any degree of accuracy.

Marriage. Marriage can be polygynous, including marriage with outsiders. Even though women now marry when they reach puberty, monogamous unions predominate, mainly because of a shortage of available women. Because of the reduction in the group's population and because its members are closely related, marriage to people outside the group has come to be preferred.

Domestic Unit. In 1968 there were four domestic groups in the village, one formed by an extended family and the other three by nuclear families. Outside the village there were other nuclear families, formed by native women married to men from the local population. As of the early 1990s, families that were formed by those out-marrying groups are returning to the village.

Socialization. The education of children takes place within the family. Parents transmit traditional sociocultural values, although these have changed perceptibly since contact with the outside world. In earlier years, children were not sent to regional schools to be educated because such institutions were far removed from the native area. Then, in 1984, CIMI-Norte II and the vicar from Mocajuba made formal education available in a village school. The teacher was a local man who had married an Indian woman. The school was short-lived, however. In 1989 FUNAI set up a permanent village school that provides education for some thirty-four pupils.