Eskimo kinship

Type of kinship system

Part of a series on the

Anthropology of kinship

Basic concepts

* Family
* Lineage
* Affinity
* Consanguinity
* Marriage
* Incest taboo
* Endogamy
* Exogamy
* Moiety
* Monogamy
* Polygyny
* Polygamy
* Concubinage
* Polyandry
* Bride price
* Bride service
* Dowry
* Parallel / cross cousins
* Cousin marriage
* Levirate
* Sororate
* Posthumous marriage
* Joking relationship
* Clan
* Cohabitation
* Fictive / Milk / Nurture kinship

Descent

* Cognatic / Bilateral
* Matrilateral
* Lineal
* Collateral
* House society
* Avunculate

Linealities

* Ambilineality
* Unilineality
* Matrilineality
* Patrilineality

Household forms and residence

* Extended
* Matrifocal
* Matrilocal

Neolocal
* Nuclear
* Patrilocal

Terminology

* Kinship terminology
* Classificatory terminologies

By group

* Iroquois
* Crow
* Omaha
* Eskimo (Inuit)
* Hawaiian
* Sudanese
* Dravidian (debated)

Case studies

* Australian Aboriginal
* Burmese
* Chinese
* Philippine
* Polyandry in Tibet / in India

Feminist

* Chambri
* Mosuo

Sexuality

* Coming of Age in Samoa

Major theorists

* Diane Bell
* Tom Boellstorff
* Jack Goody
* W. D. Hamilton
* Gilbert Herdt
* Don Kulick
* Roger Lancaster
* Louise Lamphere
* Eleanor Leacock
* Claude Lévi-Strauss
* Bronisław Malinowski
* Margaret Mead
* Henrietta Moore
* Lewis H. Morgan
* Stephen O. Murray
* Michelle Rosaldo
* Gayle Rubin
* David M. Schneider
* Heinrich Schurtz
* Marilyn Strathern

Related articles

* Alliance theory
* Matrilineal / matrilocal societies
* Feminist anthropology
* Sex and Repression in Savage Society

* Social Bonding and Nurture Kinship

* "The Traffic in Women"

Social anthropology
Cultural anthropology

* v
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Eskimo kinship (or Inuit kinship in Canada) is a category of kinship used to define family organization in anthropology. Identified by Lewis H. Morgan in his 1871 work Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family, the Eskimo system was one of six major kinship systems (Eskimo, Hawaiian, Iroquois, Crow, Omaha, and Sudanese).[1] The system of English-language kinship terms falls into the Eskimo type.

## Joint family

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The joint family system places no distinction between patrilineal and matrilineal relatives; instead, it focuses on differences in kinship distance (the closer the relative is, the more distinctions are made). The system emphasizes the nuclear family, identifying directly only the mother, father, brother, and sister. All other relatives are grouped together into categories. It uses both classificatory and descriptive terms, differentiating between gender, generation, lineal relatives (relatives in the direct line of descent), and collateral relatives (blood relatives not in the direct line of descent). The Eskimo system is defined by its "cognatic" or "bilateral" emphasis - no distinction is made between patrilineal and matrilineal relatives.

Parental siblings are distinguished only by their sex (aunt, uncle). All children of these individuals are lumped together regardless of sex (cousins). Unlike the Hawaiian system, Ego's parents are clearly distinguished from their siblings.

Graphic of the Inuit kinship system

## Usage

[edit]

The Eskimo system is common among the world's kinship systems and is at present used in most Western societies (such as those of modern-day Europe or North America). In addition, it is found among a small number of food-foraging peoples such as the ǃKung tribe of Africa and the Inuit (Inuit-Yupik) for whom it is named.

The system is widely used in non-unilineal societies, where the dominant relatives are the immediate family. In most Western societies, the nuclear family represents an independent social and economic group, which has caused the emphasis on the immediate kinship. The tendency of families in Western societies to live apart also reinforces this.

## Terminology

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See also: Native American name controversy

The term Eskimo is considered pejorative in Canada, and has been replaced there by the term Inuit.[2] The former remains in use in Alaska, though less so than in past decades,[3] because the term includes both Inuit and non-Inuit Native Alaskans. In Canada, the term Inuit kinship is therefore widely used instead of Eskimo kinship.

## See also

[edit]

* Kinship terminology

## Citations

[edit]

1. ^ Schwimmer, Brian. "Systematic Kinship Terminologies". Retrieved 24 December 2016.
2. ^ Purdy, Chris (27 November 2015). "Expert says 'meat-eater' name Eskimo an offensive term placed on Inuit". Global News.
3. ^ Kaplan, Lawrence. "Inuit or Eskimo: Which name to use?". www.uaf.edu. Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.

## References

[edit]

* William Haviland, Cultural Anthropology, Wadsworth Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0-534-27479-X
* "The Nature of Kinship". Archived from the original on 26 June 2001.
* "The Encyclopedia of North American Indians - Eskimo (Yupik/Inupiat/Inuit)". Archived from the original on 24 December 2002.
* "Systematic Kinship Terminologies". University of Manitoba \- Department of Anthropology. Archived from the original on 22 April 2001.

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Family

* History
* Rights
* Household
* Nuclear family
* Extended family
* Conjugal family
* Immediate family
* Matrifocal family

First-degree relatives|

* Parent
* mother
* father
* Child
* son
* daughter
* Sibling
* brother
* sister

Second-degree relatives|

* Grandparent
* Grandchild
* Uncle/Aunt
* Niece and nephew

Third-degree relatives|

* Great-grandparent
* Great-grandchild
* Great-uncle/Great-aunt
* Cousin

Family-in-law|

* Spouse
* wife
* husband
* Parent-in-law
* Sibling-in-law
* Child-in-law
* daughter-in-law
* son-in-law

Stepfamily|

* Stepparent
* stepfather
* stepmother
* Stepchild
* Stepsibling

Kinship terminology|

* Kinship
* Australian Aboriginal kinship
* Adoption
* Affinity
* Consanguinity
* Disownment
* Divorce
* Estrangement
* Family of choice
* Fictive kinship
* Marriage
* Nurture kinship
* Chinese kinship
* Hawaiian kinship
* Sudanese kinship
* Eskimo kinship
* Iroquois kinship
* Crow kinship
* Omaha kinship

Genealogy
and lineage|

* Bilateral descent
* Cadet branch
* Common ancestor
* Family name
* Heirloom
* Heredity
* Inheritance
* Lineal descendant
* collateral descent
* Matrilineality
* Patrilineality
* Progenitor
* Clan
* Royal descent

| Family trees|

* Pedigree chart
* Genogram
* Ahnentafel
* Genealogical numbering systems
* Seize quartiers
* Quarters of nobility

|

Relationships|

* Agape (parental love)
* Eros (marital love)
* Philia (brotherly love)
* Storge (familial love)
* Filial piety
* Polyfidelity

Holidays|

* Mother's Day
* U.S.
* Father's Day
* Father–Daughter Day
* Siblings Day
* National Grandparents Day
* Parents' Day
* Children's Day
* Japan
* Family Day
* Canada
* American Family Day
* International Day of Families
* National Family Week
* UK
* National Adoption Day

Related|

* Breadwinner model
* Single parent
* Wedding anniversary
* Godparent
* Birth order
* Only child
* Middle child syndrome
* Sociology of the family
* Museum of Motherhood
* Astronaut family
* Dysfunctional family
* Domestic violence
* Incest
* Sibling abuse
* Sibling estrangement
* Sibling rivalry

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