Kinship systems among cultures that depend on foraging and horticultural activities are usually very well formulated. Foraging and horticultural based societies are often faced with harsh climatic and environmental conditions.
Such realities make it necessary to have a strong kinship system in which all members of the group take care of one another. One of such cultures is that of the Arctic Inuit. This paper will explore the kinship system of the Inuit, and how it affects its members’ behaviors. The kinship system of the Inuit and its effects will then be compared to those of my society.
The Inuit people have their home in the Arctic area of North America. The culture of the Inuit people also known as the Eskimo is unique mostly because they have managed to live and survive in a cold desert. Their territory is vast and covers several continents along the Arctic. Kinship among the Inuit is mostly emphasized on the father’s side.
However, in some instances kinship on the mother’s side can be considered. This bilateral mode of tracing kinship is not very common among the Inuit. The Inuit live in groups consisting of nuclear families. This family consists of a father, a mother, and their offspring. A group will therefore include an extended family. This family is mostly on the paternal side although sometimes it stretches to the maternal side. In the Inuit’s kinship system, there are usually strong ties between sons and their elderly fathers.
The kinship system of the Inuit has a direct impact on their behavior. For instance, the Inuit do not own any property. The only property owned by an Inuit includes a few personal belongings and tools. This usually eases tension between potential property owners and enhances kinship. Properties such as land and houses are owned collectively. Another behavior of the Inuit that is affected by their kinship system is their hunting pattern.
Usually, members of one band consisting of about fifteen families come together during this exercise (Nowak & Laird 2010). This optimizes the hunting activity. During summer, these bands are reduced to fewer families. In essence, a band has to consist of people who share kinship. One of the factors that led to this development was the competitive and uncooperative behavior that was usually witnessed in times of scarcity.
The kinship system of the Inuit emphasizes the role of the men in their society. This is why the system is modeled along paternal lines. In this society, the men hunt while the women reproduce and care for the young. This necessitates a strong bond between men because their division could have dire consequences for the society. Under this system, elderly men are also under pressure to make sure they leave behind able successors (Nowak & Laird 2010).
In my society, kinship is not as well defined as that of the Inuit. For instance, my system includes only my parents and my other siblings. My relationship with other members of my extended family is mostly casual and occasional. Unlike the Inuit, in my family everybody who comes of age contributes financially.
Under the system, it is also pertinent for young men and women to seek housing arrangements elsewhere once they are through with their education. Ownership of property like land and housing is also encouraged. The main reason for this difference in behavior is the distribution of resources. In my culture, resources are widely available as opposed to the Inuit’s culture where resources are scarce.
Kinship organization for most foraging and horticultural based cultures is mostly necessitated by the scarcity of resources. This means these cultures have to behave in a manner that ensures even distribution of resources.
Reference
Nowak, B., & Laird, P. (2010). Band Societies. Cultural Anthropology, 10(2), 3-4.