Kinship System

The people are divided into four lineages, two flowing water (tana) lineages and two still water (bebe) lineages: Gadatana, Wudutana, Konobebe, and Medebebe. These lineages intermarry on a rotating basis, with every tana generation marrying a bebe generation, alternating which lineages marry which with each generation. In order to keep track, each lineage has a male name and a female name that everyone in a given generation carries as a public name. So, for the Gadatana lineage, one generation will have all the women named Hatada and all the men named Yillete. Hatada will always marry Lohote from the Konobebe lineage and her brother will always marry Lohote’s sister Hedele. Hatada’s children will all be named Gehiŋi (female) and Ekeke (male). This continues for four generations and then the names repeat.

Gadatana Konobebe Medebebe Wudutana
Hatada (f) &
Yillete (m)
marry Konobebe
Hedele (f) &
Lohote (m)
marry Gadatana
Kukudi (f) &
Dalidali (m)
marry Wudutana
Nidinidi (f) &
Bulute (m)
marry Medebebe
Gehiŋi (f) &
Ekeke (m)
marry Medebebe
Galala (f) &
Linne (m)
marry Wudutana
Mabada (f) &
Nesibe (m)
marry Gadatana
Maŋaŋa (f) &
Malete (m)
marry Konobebe
Senete (f) &
Kiyete (m)
marry Konobebe
Malamete (f) &
Sibete (m)
marry Gadatana
Haside (f) &
Keteke (m)
marry Wudutana
Tuwulu (f) &
Gadama (m)
marry Medebebe
Lulige (f) &
Gahada (m)
marry Medebebe
Peŋete (f) &
Munnu (m)
marry Wudutana
Magiye (f) &
Kiyokiyo (m)
marry Gadatana
Giyime (f) &
Momote (m)
marry Konobebe

Furthermore, the kinship system used is classificatory. Everyone in the table above is related to everyone else, often in more than one way. If we take one person in the chart (Haside), we can see how each person is related. Using standard abbrevations for relationships (si = sister, br = brother, mo = mother, fa = father, so = son, da = daughter, sp = spouse), we can map out all of a person’s kin. Tesseseya terms are below the abbreviations.

Gadatana Konobebe Medebebe Wudutana
Hatada
famo
padadi
Yillete
famobr
sobadi
Hedele
fafasi
padadi
Lohote
fafa
sobadi
Kukudi
momo
madadi
Dalidali
momobr
besadi
Nidinidi
spmomo
padadi
Bulute
spmomobr
sobadi
Gehiŋi
fasi/mobrsp
pada
Ekeke
fa
sobo
Galala
spfasi
pada
Linne
spfa
sobo
Mabada
mo
mada
Nesibe
mobr
bese
Maŋaŋa
spmo
kiyimada
Malete
spmobr
kiyibese
Senete
fasida/mobrda
danu
Kiyete
fasiso/mobrso
bono
Malamete
fasisosp
danu
Sibete
fasidasp
bono
Haside
SELF/si
tiyi
Keteke
br
kagi
Tuwulu
spsi/brsp
kiyene
Gadama
sp
kiyumu
Lulige
sosp
laki
Gahada
dasp
koda
Peŋete
brsosp
kaŋi
Munnu
brdasp
meli
Magiye
da
laki
Kiyokiyo
so
koda
Giyime
brda
kaŋi
Momote
brso
meli
Hatada
soda
lakisi
Yillete
soso
kodisi
Hedele
brsoda
kaŋisi
Lohote
brsoso
melisi
Kukudi
dada
lakisi
Dalidali
daso
kodisi
Nidinidi
brdada
kaŋisi
Bulute
brdaso
melisi

Keteke uses the exact same terms. His son is meli not koda because his son is part of his wife’s lineage and not his.

List of Kinship Terms

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