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Bilateral descent is a system of familylineage in which the relatives on the mother's side and father's side are equally important for emotional ties or for transfer of property or wealth. It is a family arrangement where descent and inheritance are passed equally through both parents.[1] Families who use this system trace descent through both parents simultaneously and recognize multiple ancestors, but unlike withcognatic descent it is not used to form descent groups.[2]
While bilateral descent is increasingly the norm inWestern culture, traditionally it is only found among relatively few groups inWest Africa,India,Australia,Indonesia,Melanesia,Malaysia, thePhilippines, andPolynesia. Anthropologists believe that a tribal structure based on bilateral descent helps members live in extreme environments because it allows individuals to rely on two sets of families dispersed over a wide area.[3] Historically,North Germanic peoples inScandinavia in theLate Iron Age andEarly Middle Ages had a bilateral society, where the descent of both parents were important.[4] Genealogies featuring the legendary danish kingSigurd Snake-in-the-Eye gives him the matronymic nameÁslaugsson due to his motherAslaug's connection toVölsungs.
Under bilateral descent, every tribe member belongs to two clans, one through the father (a patriclan) and another through the mother (a matriclan). For example, among theHimba, clans are led by the eldest male in the clan. Sons live with their father's clan and when daughters marry they go to live with the clan of their husband. However inheritance of wealth does not follow the patriclan but is determined by the matriclan i.e. a son does not inherit his father's cattle but his maternal uncle's instead.[3]
Javanese people, the largest ethnic group inIndonesia, also adopt a bilateral kinship system.[5][6] Nonetheless, it has some tendency towardpatrilineality.[7]
The Dimasa Kachari people of Northeast India has a system of dual family clan. TheUrapmin people, a small tribe inPapua New Guinea, have a system of kinship classes known astanum miit. The classes are inherited bilaterally from both parents. Since they also practice strictendogamy, most Urapmin belong to all of the major classes, creating great fluidity and doing little to differentiate individuals.[8]
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