Kinship is defined as a culture's system of recognized family
roles and relationships that define the obligations, rights, and boundaries of
interaction among the members of a self-recognizing group. Kinship and family
ties may be defined through genetic relationships, adoption, or other
ritualized behavior such as marriage and household economies. Kinship systems
range in size from a single, nuclear-family to tribal or intertribal
relationships.
The book Kinship as a Cultural System by Gary Witherspoon goes into
great detail about the Navajo Nation and how they structure their kinship. The
Navajo nation has many “rules” when it comes to kinship. They have a strong
relationship between mother and child, husband and wife, father and child and
also sibling to sibling relationships. The Navajo Nation has structured its
kinship by symbols of their reproductive culture. All of these categories are
linked together by one person; the mother.
The father-child relationship involves a strong and weak bond depending
on the particular family and how you want to view it. The Navajo Indians define
a father as either a helpful friend, good instructor, disciplinarian, or an
unreliable friend, or unsure ally. Another kinship structure is between two
siblings. The Navajo believe they have a strong connection because they have a
uterine bond that was formed in their mother’s womb. The bond between mother
and child and sibling to sibling are considered the strongest bond because they
are connected through the womb.
The Navajo have many different names for members of the family. The
mother is often called Shima, you will often hear a family called the Shima
clan. Which means the mother’s clan. Clans are often called Mother’s clan
because they believe that the mother starts/ creates life, which everything
streams from her. There are some perspectives that view the father as the main
creator because technically he impregnates the woman and without him there would
be no children. In cases like this you would hear the clan be called Shizhe’s
clan. A “Dine” is a whole family, generations and all. When different dines
introduce themselves they will refer to their clan name. Clanship determines
how you can and cannot marry. The Navajo should marry into one’s own clan and
or with someone whose father’s clan is the same as yours. Clanship and ancestry
history is very important to the Navajo Indians.
References:
Witherspoon, Gary
1975
Navajo Kinship and
Marriage. Google Books. University of Chicago Press.
http://books.google.com/books?id=4RdIpAakDNwC, accessed March 24, 2015.
Carey, Harold
N.d.
K’é – Diné (Navajo) Kinship System.
http://navajopeople.org/blog/ke-dine-navajo-kinship-system/, accessed March 24,
2015.
The Navajo Nation and American Traditions have Similarities and Differences through Family Relations
ReplyDeleteIn every culture, religion, family, etc. there is a certain way they function and a specific reason for it. The Navajo nation is no different. I find it very interesting and understandable of why the Navajo have a kinship system that follows the lineage of the women. In America it is traditional for a man to carry the lineage. Typically when two people get married they take the man’s last name. Recently many American woman have been keeping their last name or hyphenating it, so they do not lose their family name. My brother recently got married, but his wife decided she wanted to hyphenate her name because she was the last “Rouisse” of her family. In the Navajo Nation it is tradition for the clan to be named after a woman, then the clan name will be passed down to the children. The children must marry someone outside of their clan even though they are not blood related. I can relate this to some American traditions, for example; if my mother got remarried to a man with children I would not be able to marry the children. Even though we are not blood related, we would be family, it would be considered incest if I married a step-brother.
Another tradition of the Navajo is to introduce the maternal and paternal clans when meeting another clan. This allows the Navajo to know who you are and what clan you come from. The American tradition is similar to this when introducing a new family to each other, but on a smaller scale. Most American families introduce the mom, dad and children, but do not go into detail. I feel The Navajo take great pride in their ancestry and family history. Even though both traditional American customs and the Navajo Nation has many difference they can related when it comes to family ties. Family is a universal component that ties all people together no matter how different they are.