Kinship System
The system has both classificatory and descriptive terms. In addition to gender and generation, Iroquois kinship also distinguishes 'same-sex' and 'cross-sex' parental siblings: the brothers of Ego's father, and the sisters of Ego's mother, are considered blood relatives ('Parents') and also called Father and Mother. The sisters of Ego's father, and the brothers of Ego's mother, on the other hand, are called Aunt and Uncle, respectively.
Children of one's Parents, i.e. parallel cousins, are considered siblings. The children of Aunts or Uncles, i.e. cross cousins, are considered cousins.
Read more about this topic: Iroquois Kinship
Famous quotes containing the words kinship and/or system:
“The little lives of earth and form,
Of finding food, and keeping warm,
Are not like ours, and yet
A kinship lingers nonetheless....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“... in America ... children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)