Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines Kinship System
Lee G.
ANT 101
March 2011 The kinship system is the social relationships that constitute the family connection by blood, marriage, or adoption; family relationship in a particular culture, according to Websters Dictionary. The Australian Aborigines kinship system determines how people interact with each other and it also determines their roles and responsibilities. Within the Australian Aborigines kinship system they use it for a lot more things then say our kinship system, “it is used for marriage funeral roles and ceremonial relationships. They have a system of classes which puts everybody in a specific kinship relationship. The Australian Aborigines have a cross–cousin marriage rule. Cross–cousins are the children of opposite–sex siblings, such as the father's sister or the mother's brother. One could marry his dad’s sister’s daughter or his mom’s brother's daughter” (Nowak and Laird 2010). Some Australian Aboriginals have many names, like a birth name, personal name or a bush name and some have English speaking names. Their personal names aren’t used by English speakers, but by other Aboriginals in their community (Turpin 2000). In Australian Aboriginal culture, dreamtime is used when someone is talking about their or their family’s spirituality. It also has many meanings like “the period of creation, the moral order and the source of all spirits. Dreamtime can also refer to a specific geographic or topographic point or a totem spirit (animal spirit recognized as a kin group's ancestor). It is an all–pervasive philosophy that permeates all aspects of Aboriginal life” (Nowak and Laird 2010). The Aborigines of Australia have lived the same way with the same culture untouched until 1788. 1788 is the year of the first British fleet to land at Australia and establish a colony. The Aborigines had their own way of life until Australia started to become colonized. At that point they were the oldest surviving
Lee G.
ANT 101
March 2011 The kinship system is the social relationships that constitute the family connection by blood, marriage, or adoption; family relationship in a particular culture, according to Websters Dictionary. The Australian Aborigines kinship system determines how people interact with each other and it also determines their roles and responsibilities. Within the Australian Aborigines kinship system they use it for a lot more things then say our kinship system, “it is used for marriage funeral roles and ceremonial relationships. They have a system of classes which puts everybody in a specific kinship relationship. The Australian Aborigines have a cross–cousin marriage rule. Cross–cousins are the children of opposite–sex siblings, such as the father's sister or the mother's brother. One could marry his dad’s sister’s daughter or his mom’s brother's daughter” (Nowak and Laird 2010). Some Australian Aboriginals have many names, like a birth name, personal name or a bush name and some have English speaking names. Their personal names aren’t used by English speakers, but by other Aboriginals in their community (Turpin 2000). In Australian Aboriginal culture, dreamtime is used when someone is talking about their or their family’s spirituality. It also has many meanings like “the period of creation, the moral order and the source of all spirits. Dreamtime can also refer to a specific geographic or topographic point or a totem spirit (animal spirit recognized as a kin group's ancestor). It is an all–pervasive philosophy that permeates all aspects of Aboriginal life” (Nowak and Laird 2010). The Aborigines of Australia have lived the same way with the same culture untouched until 1788. 1788 is the year of the first British fleet to land at Australia and establish a colony. The Aborigines had their own way of life until Australia started to become colonized. At that point they were the oldest surviving