Group based on belief in shared ancestry

a permanent social unit whose members say

they have ancestors in common. Descentgroup members believe they share, and
descend from, those common ancestors. The
group endures even though its membership
changes, as members are born and die, move
in and move out. Often, descent-group
membership is determined at birth and is
lifelong. In this case, it is an ascribed status
Members of such a group trace their shared
connections back to such an ancestor through
a chain of
parentchild links. The addition of a few
culturally meaningful
obligations and taboos acts as a kind of glue to
help
hold the structured social group together
Although many important
functions of the descent group are taken over
by other institutions
when a society becomes politically organized
as
a state, elements of such kin-ordered groups
may continue.
We see this with many traditional indigenous
societies
that have become part of larger state societies
yet endure
as distinctive kin-ordered communities.
Descent group membership must be sharply
defined
in order to operate effectively in a kin-ordered
society.
If membership is allowed to overlap, it is
unclear where
someones primary loyalty belongs, especially
when different
descent groups have conflicting interests.
Membership
can be restricted in a number of ways.
This means the descent rule uses one line only,
either the male or the female line.
In this way, each individual
is automatically assigned from the moment of
birth to his
or her mothers or fathers group and to that
group only.
With a rule of matrilineal descent, people join
the mothers group automatically at birth and
stay members throughout life. With patrilineal
descent, people automatically have lifetime
membership in the fathers group.
In matrilineal societies females are culturally

recognized as socially significant, for they are

considered
responsible for the groups continued
existence. In patrilineal
societies, this responsibility falls on the male
members
of the group, thereby enhancing their social
importance.

Common to both is the belief that

members descend from the same
apical ancestor.
For example, Adam and Eve, according to the
Bible, are the apical ancestors of all humanity.
Since Eve is said to have come from Adams
rib, Adam stands as the original apical ancestor
for the patrilineal genealogies laid out in the
Bible.
.Lineage is a unilineal kinship group descended
from a common ancestor or founder who lived
four to six generations ago, and in which
relationships among members can be exactly
stated in genealogical terms.
Members can recite the names of their
forebears in each generation from the apical
ancestor through the present. (This doesnt
mean their recitations are accurate, only that
lineage members think they are.)
Clan is an extended unilineal kinship group,
often consisting of several lineages, whose
members claim common descent from a
remote ancestor, usually legendary or
mythological. Unlike lineages, clans use
stipulated descent. Clan members merely say
they descend from the apical ancestor. They
dont try to trace the actual genealogical links
between themselves and that ancestor.
In such a case, clans have more members and
cover a larger geographic area than lineages
do. Sometimes a clans apical ancestor is not a
human at all but an animal or plant (called a
totem). Whether human or not, the ancestor
symbolizes the social unity and identity of the
members, distinguishing them from other
groups.

Two or more local branches of different descent

groups may live in the same village. Descent
groups in the same village or different villages
may establish alliances through frequent
intermarriage.
Members have access to the lineage estate,
where some of them must live, in order to
benefi t from and manage that estate across
the generations. To endure, descent groups
need to keep at least some of their members at
home, on the ancestral estate. An easy way to
do this is to have a rule about who belongs to
the descent group and where they should live
after they get married. Patrilineal and
matrilineal descent, and the postmarital
residence rules that usually accompany them,
ensure that about half the people born in each
generation will live out their lives on the
ancestral estate.
Patrilineal
Through forefathers, the male members of a
patrilineal descent group trace their descent
from a common
ancestor (Figure 21.1). Brothers and sisters
belong
to the descent group of their fathers father,
their father,
their fathers siblings, and their fathers
brothers children.
A mans son and daughter also trace their
descent back
through the male line to their common
ancestor. In the
typical patrilineal group, authority over the
children rests
with the father or his elder brother. A woman
belongs to
the same descent group as her father and his
brothers, but
her children cannot trace their descent through
them.
Han
typically including
aged parents and their sons, their sons wives,
and their
sons children.2
In places where tradition
persists, residence is
patrilocal, with Han Chinese
children growing up
in a household dominated
by their father and his

male relatives. The

Accordingly, the Han Chinese kinship term

applied to ones
own father is extended to the fathers brother,
and the term
for a brother is extended to the fathers
brothers sons. When
families become too large and unwieldy, as
frequently happens,
one or more sons would move elsewhere to
establish
separate households. When a son does so,
however, the tie to
the household in which he is born remains
strong.
Tsu
Although a woman belongs to her fathers tsu,
for all practical
purposes she is absorbed by the tsu of her
husband, with
whom she lives after marriage.
Recently deceased ancestors, up to about
three generations
back, are given offerings of food and paper
money on the
anniversaries of their births and deaths, while
more distant
ancestors are collectively worshiped five times
a year. Each
tsu maintains its own shrine for storage of
ancestral tablets
on which the names of all members are
recorded. In addition
to its economic and ritual functions, the tsu
also functions as
a legal body, passing judgment on
misbehaving members.
Just as families periodically split up into new
ones,
so would the larger descent groups periodically
splinter
along the lines of their main family branches.
Causes for
splits include disputes among brothers over
management
of landholdings and suspicion of unfair division
of profits.
When such fissions occur, a representative of
the new tsu
would return periodically to the ancestral
temple in order
to pay respect to the ancestors and record
recent births

and deaths in the official genealogy.

Ultimately, though the lineage tie to the old tsu
still
would be recognized, a copy of the old
genealogy would
be made and brought home to the younger
tsu, and then
only its births and deaths would be recorded. In
this way,
over many centuries, a whole hierarchy of
descent groups
develops, with all persons having the same
surname considering
themselves to be members of a great
patrilineal
clan.
a patrilineal society is very
much a mans world. No matter how valued
women may be,
they inevitably find themselves in a difficult
position. Far
from resigning themselves to a subordinate
position, however,
they actively manipulate the system to their
own advantage
as best they can
In matrilineal societies females are culturally
recognized as socially significant,
However, the matrilineal pattern differs from
the patrilineal in that it does not automatically
confer
gender authority. For example, among the just
noted matrilineal
Mosuo China, property passes through the
female
line, women are often heads of their
households, and they
are usually the ones making the business
decisionsyet,
political power tends to be in the hands of
males
Indeed, while women in matrilineal societies
may
have considerable power, they do not hold
exclusive authority
in the descent group. They share it with men.
Usually,
these are the brothers, rather than the
husbands, of
the women through whom descent is traced.
Apparently,
a function of matrilineal systems is to provide
continuous
female solidarity within the female work group.
Matrilineal
systems are usually found in horticultural
societies in

which women perform much of the work in the

house and
nearby gardens. Matrilineal descent in part
prevails because
womens labor as crop cultivators is regarded
as so
important to the society.
In a matrilineal system, brothers and sisters
belong
to the descent group of the mother, the
mothers mother,
the mothers siblings, and the mothers sisters
children.
Thus every male belongs to the same descent
group as his
mother, and a mans own children belong to his
wifes descent
group, not his.
Although not true of all matrilineal systems, a
common
feature is the relative weakness of the social
tie
between wife and husband. A womans
husband lacks
authority in the household they share. Her
brother, and
not the husband-father, distributes goods,
organizes
work, settles disputes, supervises rituals, and
administers
inheritance and succession rules. Meanwhile,
her
husband fulfills the same role in his own
sisters household.
Furthermore, his property and status are
inherited
by his sisters son rather than his son. Thus
brothers and
sisters maintain lifelong ties with one another,
whereas
marital ties are easily severed. In matrilineal
societies,
unsatisfactory marriages are more easily ended
than in
patrilineal societies.
Hopi
Hopi lineages function as landholding
corporations,
allocating land for the support of member
households.
These lands are farmed by outsiders, the
husbands of
the women whose lineage owns the land, and
the harvest
belongs to these women.
*and in return they are
given food and shelter. Although sons learn
from their

fathers how to farm, a man has no real

authority over his
son. This is because a mans own children
belong to his
wifes lineage while his sisters children form
part of his.
When parents have difficulty with an unruly
child, the
mothers brother is called upon to mete out
discipline.
A mans loyalties are therefore divided
between his wifes
household on the one hand and his sisters on
the other.
According to tradition, if a man is perceived as
being an
unsatisfactory husband, his wife merely has to
place his personal
belongings outside the door, and the marriage
is over.
Decisions are made on a consensual
basis, and womens views have to be
considered, as
well as those of men.
Once again, although men hold positions of
authority,
women have considerable control over their
decisions in a
behind-the-scenes way. These men, after all,
live in households
women control, and their positions within them
depend
largely on how well they get along with the
senior
women. Outside the household, womens
refusal to play
their part in the performance of ceremonies
gives them.

Ambilineal

Unilineal descent is a matter of ascribed status;

ambilineal descent illustrates achieved status.
With unilineal descent, membership is
automatic; no choice is permitted. People are
born members of their fathers group in a
patrilineal society or of their mothers group in
a matrilineal society. They are members of that
group for life. Ambilineal descent permits more
fl exibility in descent-group affi liation.
such a kin-ordered system provides a measure
of flexibility. However, this flexibility also
introduces a
possibility of dispute and conflict as unilineal
groups
compete for members.
Double Descent
Generally, where double descent is traced, the
matrilineal
and patrilineal groups take action in different
spheres of society. For example, among the
Yak of eastern
Nigeria, property is divided into both patrilineal
possessions
and matrilineal possessions.
The patrilineage owns perpetual productive
resources, such as land, whereas the
matrilineage owns consumable property, such
as livestock.
The legally weaker matriline is somewhat more
important
in religious matters than the patriline. Through
double
descent, a Yak might inherit grazing lands
from the fathers
patrilineal group and certain ritual privileges
from
the mothers matrilineal group.