2939: Kinship System pt 2: Parallel Cousins Jan 7, 2025

This is the second and final set of primary kinship systems, which distinguishes cousins based not only on gender individually, but on the gender-dynamic of the generation above.

Iroquois System:

The Iroquois system distinguishes between cross and parallel cousins. These terms are relevant for later categories.

Parallel cousins are children of a parent’s same-sex sibling (e.g. a mother’s sister’s child) while cross cousins are those of a parent’s opposite-sex siblings.In this system, only cross cousins are distinguished as cousins, but parallel cousins use the same terminology as siblings.

Crow System: / Omaha System:

The Crow system and the Omaha system are virtually the same; both use a system cross- and parallel cousins, but the former is matrilineal and the latter is patrilineal. Both are found primarily in languages native to northern and western North America.

 In the Crow system, parallel cousins are, like in the Iroquois system, known by the same terminology as siblings, but cross-cousins are not uniform. A mother’s brother’s children are called ‘son’ and ‘daughter’, but conversely on the father’s side cross-cousins and uncles are known as ‘father’ and likewise ‘father’s sister’ in feminine. 

The opposite is true in the Omaha system where there are no generational differences on the mother’s side, i.e. just ‘mother’ and ‘mother’s brother’ even for cross-cousins, but patrilineal cross-cousins (i.e. one’s father’s sister’s children) are known as ‘niece’ and ‘nephew’.

In both systems, all uncles and aunts are not distinguished from parents, except ‘father’s sister’ and ‘mother’s brother’.