Crow-Omaha: New Light on a Classic Problem of Kinship AnalysisThomas R. Trautmann, Peter M. Whiteley The “Crow-Omaha problem” has perplexed anthropologists since it was first described by Lewis Henry Morgan in 1871. During his worldwide survey of kinship systems, Morgan learned with astonishment that some Native American societies call some relatives of different generations by the same terms. Why? Intergenerational “skewing” in what came to be named “Crow” and “Omaha” systems has provoked a wealth of anthropological arguments, from Rivers to Radcliffe-Brown, from Lowie to Lévi-Strauss, and many more. Crow-Omaha systems, it turns out, are both uncommon and yet found distributed around the world. For anthropologists, cracking the Crow-Omaha problem is critical to understanding how social systems transform from one type into another, both historically in particular settings and evolutionarily in the broader sweep of human relations. This volume examines the Crow-Omaha problem from a variety of perspectives—historical, linguistic, formalist, structuralist, culturalist, evolutionary, and phylogenetic. It focuses on the regions where Crow-Omaha systems occur: Native North America, Amazonia, West Africa, Northeast and East Africa, aboriginal Australia, northeast India, and the Tibeto-Burman area. The international roster of authors includes leading experts in their fields. The book offers a state-of-the-art assessment of Crow-Omaha kinship and carries forward the work of the landmark volume Transformations of Kinship, published in 1998. Intended for students and scholars alike, it is composed of brief, accessible chapters that respect the complexity of the ideas while presenting them clearly. The work serves as both a new benchmark in the explanation of kinship systems and an introduction to kinship studies for a new generation of students. Series Note: Formerly titled Amerind Studies in Archaeology, this series has recently been expanded and retitled Amerind Studies in Anthropology to incorporate a high quality and number of anthropology titles coming in to the series in addition to those in archaeology. |
Contents
1 A Classic Problem Thomas R Trautmann and Peter M Whiteley | 1 |
CrowOmaha in Theory | 29 |
North America | 67 |
Africa | 133 |
South America | 203 |
Australia | 241 |
Afterword | 279 |
Notes | 299 |
Glossary | 303 |
References | 309 |
| 337 | |
| 344 | |
| 347 | |
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Common terms and phrases
affinal Algonquian Aluridja American analysis Anthropology asymmetrical Australia Barnes brother Cape York Peninsula chapter clan classificatory context cousins cross-cousin marriage cross-kin cross-parallel neutralization Crow and Omaha Crow-Omaha Crow-Omaha skewing Crow-Omaha systems cultural descent groups Dousset Dravidian Dravidian crossness ego’s Ehret elementary family equations ethnographic exchange family of procreation Fanti father female figure FZCh Godelier Gumuz Hawaiian Héritier Hopi Iroquois crossness Jinghpaw Kachin Kayapó kin terminology kin terms kin types kinship systems kinship terminologies Kronenfeld Kunama language Lévi-Strauss lineage linguistic linked male marriage alliance marriage rules marry Maurice Godelier McConvell Morgan mother names Ngaatjatjarra Nilo-Saharan North America Omaha kinship Omaha skewing Omaha systems Orayvi patrilateral patrilineal pattern prohibitions relations relationships relatives semi-complex shift siblings sister sister-exchange social societies spouse structure subsystem Sudanese Sudanic tetradic tion Tjon Sie Fat transformations Trautmann tree Uduk unilineal descent unskewed Western Desert Yolngu