Garo - Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. The Garos reckon their kinship through the mother. Individuals measure the degree of their relationship to one another by the distance of their matrilineages. For men, children of their sisters or sisters' daughters are very important kin. For women, children of their sisters' daughters are equivalent to those of their own daughters.

Kinship Terminology. The kinship terms used by the Garos form a set, which is broad enough so that each Garo can be assigned a term. The terms are arranged in a system that classifies the kin. This classification is based on nine principles, as follows: (1) sex, (2) generation, (3) relative age, (4) moiety membership, (5) collaterality, (6) inheritance, (7) type of wife, (8) intimacy of relationship, (9) speaker's sex.