The Versatility of Kinship

Studies in Anthropology: The Versatility of Kinship focuses on the dynamics involved in the special class of interpersonal ties that bind individuals to others. The selection first offers information on the variant usage in American kinship, uses of kinship in Kwaio, Solomon Islands, and incest and kinship structure. Discussions focus on incest categories in Cachama and Mamo, childhood bonds and adult residence, kinship with the dead, kinship, social identities, and behavior, and models of relatedness. The text then explores the biological, linguistic, and cultural aspects of the Hopi-Tewa system of mating in First Mesa, Arizona and the Navajo exogamic rules and preferred marriages. The publication ponders on the Kpelle negotiation of marriage and matrilateral ties and kinship and descent in the ethnic reassertion of the Eastern Creek Indians. Topics include social and cultural history, genealogy as social instrument, crystallization of the Eastern Creek community, Kpelle marriage and matrilateral ties, ethnographic background, and the negotiation of marriage and matrilateral ties. The selection is a valuable reference for anthropologists, sociologists, and readers interested in the dynamics of kinship.