Kinship System of Yanomamo Culture Research Paper

Kinship System of Yanomamo Culture - Research Paper Example In the Yanomamo community, their males are considered to be more valuable than their female counterparts (Rosman, Rubel & Weisgrau, 2009). The leadership positions in their community determine their village’s relations with neighboring villages due to the existing kingship along with marriage patterns. The leaders within the community are chosen from the kinship groups with most members in the village (Early & Peters, 2000). Within the Yanomamo society, marriages are usually arranged by the older kin within them who include brothers, fathers and uncles (Rosman, Rubel & Weisgrau, 2009). In these communities, there exists a social imbalance with women being less than men which is worsened by the fact that some of the men are polygamous. These people additionally practice marriage within related groups of people which have in turn helped in speeding their population’s growth (Early & Peters, 2000). The women in these villages undergo abductions along with incest taboos tha t play a great part in decreasing the effects that come from inbreeding. When bilateral marriages between cousins are allowed double relations are created since their parents may have gone through similar marriages (Rosman, Rubel & Weisgrau, 2009). The resultant internal conflicts that arise tend to bring about village fissioning among them. The villages that are not related through marriage are urged to make peace by engaging in trading activities which help them in abstaining from war. Gifts are also offered between the leaders in the warring villages to help in preventing the occurrence of conflicts (Chagnon, 2012). The Yanomamo people usually have role prescriptions within their communities which are mainly keyed into people who hold certain... This research paper focuses mostly on Kinship, that is a vital system among the Yanomamo people. Their culture has mainly remained unchanged due to their ferociousness along with strong wills. Their kinship system conforms to a pattern referred to as the Iroquois classification which insists on them having bilateral cross marriages between cousins. The people from the Yanomamo community usually organize their relationships in the order of closeness. They are organized from the local partilineal moieties, village settlements, feasting alliances, marriage alliances and trading alliances to their enemies. In localized moieties there are rarely partrilineage groups that have members who exceed two grown-up generations with members coming from the same villages. In the Yanomamo community, their males are considered to be more valuable than their female counterparts. The leadership positions in their community determine their village’s relations with neighboring villages due to the existing kingship along with marriage patterns. The Yanomamo people usually have role prescriptions within their communities which are mainly keyed into people who hold certain statuses. The individuals living within this community are supposed to know who they really are in order for them to handle their prescribed roles appropriately. The researcher states that individuals with superior statuses within the Yanomamo community are given extra roles for them to perform since they are pivotal for the operations of the society.