# Eskimo kinship

Part of a series on the :
Anthropology of kinship :
Basic concepts
Family
Lineage
Affinity
Consanguinity
Marriage
Incest taboo
Endogamy
Exogamy
Moiety
Monogamy
Polygyny
Polygamy
Concubinage
Polyandry
Bride price
Bride service
Dowry
Parallel / cross cousins
Cousin marriage
Levirate
Sororate
Posthumous marriage
Joking relationship
Clan
Cohabitation
Fictive / Milk / Nurture kinship
Descent
Cognatic / Bilateral
Matrilateral
Lineal
Collateral
House society
Avunculate
Linealities
Ambilineality
Unilineality
Matrilineality
Patrilineality
Household forms and residence
Extended
Matrifocal
Matrilocal
Neolocal
Nuclear
Patrilocal :
Terminology
Kinship terminology
Classificatory terminologies
By group
Iroquois
Crow
Omaha
Eskimo (Inuit)
Hawaiian
Sudanese
Dravidian (debated) :
Case studies
Australian Aboriginal
Burmese
Chinese
Philippine
Polyandry in Tibet / in India
Feminist
Chambri
Mosuo
Sexuality
Coming of Age in Samoa :
Major theorists
Diane Bell
Tom Boellstorff
Jack Goody
W. D. Hamilton
Gilbert Herdt
Don Kulick
Roger Lancaster
Louise Lamphere
Eleanor Leacock
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Bronisław Malinowski
Margaret Mead
Henrietta Moore
Lewis H. Morgan
Stephen O. Murray
Michelle Rosaldo
Gayle Rubin
David M. Schneider
Heinrich Schurtz
Marilyn Strathern :
Related articles
Alliance theory
Matrilineal / matrilocal societies
Feminist anthropology
Sex and Repression in Savage Society
Social Bonding and Nurture Kinship
"The Traffic in Women" :
Social anthropology Cultural anthropology :
vte :
Eskimo kinship (or Inuit kinship in Canada) is a category of kinship used to define family organization in anthropology. Identified by Lewis H. Morgan in his 1871 work Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family, the Eskimo system was one of six major kinship systems (Eskimo, Hawaiian, Iroquois, Crow, Omaha, and Sudanese). The system of English-language kinship terms falls into the Eskimo type.

## Joint family

The joint family system places no distinction between patrilineal and matrilineal relatives; instead, it focuses on differences in kinship distance (the closer the relative is, the more distinctions are made). The system emphasizes the nuclear family, identifying directly only the mother, father, brother, and sister. All other relatives are grouped together into categories. It uses both classificatory and descriptive terms, differentiating between gender, generation, lineal relatives (relatives in the direct line of descent), and collateral relatives (blood relatives not in the direct line of descent). The Eskimo system is defined by its "cognatic" or "bilateral" emphasis - no distinction is made between patrilineal and matrilineal relatives.
Parental siblings are distinguished only by their sex (aunt, uncle). All children of these individuals are lumped together regardless of sex (cousins). Unlike the Hawaiian system, Ego's parents are clearly distinguished from their siblings.

## Usage

The Eskimo system is relatively common among the world's kinship systems, at about 10% of the world's societies. It is now common in most Western societies (such as those of Europe or the Americas). In addition, it is found among a small number of food-foraging peoples such as the ǃKung tribe of Africa and the Inuit (Inuit-Yupik) for whom it is named.
The system is widely used in non-unilineal societies, where the dominant relatives are the immediate family. In most Western societies, the nuclear family represents an independent social and economic group, which has caused the emphasis on the immediate kinship. The tendency of families in Western societies to live apart also reinforces this.

## Terminology

The term Eskimo is considered pejorative in Canada, and has been replaced there by the term Inuit. The former remains in use in Alaska, though less so than in past decades, because the term includes both Inuit and non-Inuit Native Alaskans. In Canada, the term Inuit kinship is therefore widely used instead of Eskimo kinship.