Crow kinship

Crow kinship is a system used to define. Identified by in his  work Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family, the Crow system is one of the six major kinship systems (,, , Crow, , and ).

Kinship system
The system is somewhat similar to the, but further distinguishes between the mother's side and the father's side. Relatives on the mother's side of the family have more descriptive terms, and relatives on the father's side have more classificatory terms.

The Crow system is distinctive because unlike most other kinship systems, it chooses to not distinguish between certain generations. The relatives of the subject's father's matrilineage are distinguished only by their sex, regardless of their age or generation. In contrast, within Ego's own matrilineage, differences of generation are noted. The system is associated with groups that have a strong tradition of. In doing so, the system is almost a mirror image of the.

The system, like the Iroquois, uses Bifurcate Merging, however, only the uses BM as a secondary name.

Usage
The system is named for the (more properly known as the Absoroka Tribe), of. The system is in common usage throughout the world and is currently used by the in the Southwestern  as well as (traditionally) by members of the.

Sources & external links

 * William Haviland, Cultural Anthropology, Wadsworth Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0-534-27479-X
 * The nature of kinship
 * Archnet: Crow kinship
 * Crow Kin Terms
 * Crow Kinship & Social Organization