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Australian Aborigines Kinship System

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Australian Aborigines Kinship System
Donalee Lund
ANT101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Sashur Henninger
January 7, 2013

Australian Aborigines Kinship System The Aborigines of Australia have a very complex kinship system and to be honest I am not sure I fully understand their kinship system. You wanted me to give three specific examples on how the kinship system impacts the Aborigines cultures. By the time I finished researching their kinship system my head was pounding. I will try to explain how their kinship system impacts their daily lives In their culture everyone is related to everyone. The Aborigines are a tight net family; they are divided into two moieties. These moieties are really based on the environment surroundings like animals and plants. This also reinforces social and economic exchanges between the two moieties. Each moiety is given a name and in each moiety they have four marriage class names. For example; moiety A and moiety B two groups and then with in those groups are marriage class names (a, b, c and d). So a man from moiety A can only marry women from moiety B and then their children will be b’s in the moiety A. Then if a “c” man can marry only from moiety A and their children will be d’s in moiety B (Descent Groups by Dennis O’Neil 2007). A lot of times the brothers of moiety A will marry the sisters of moiety B. By marry someone in opposite moiety this is called exogamous system (outside the group). The on law they do have is that a wife or husband is not allowed to speak to the mother-in-law they must have a third part to speak to her. Also the class identities are as their grandparents and grandchildren and not of their parents. Most of these moieties are about a thousand or less of Aborigines, family and extended family is the core of the kinship system. For example; those with the same name grouping or

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