XLII ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 



group to which the maternal uncle belongs; but there is no 

 materterate-group (maternal aunt) 



The essential characteristic of this system of kinship is that 

 the brother- group consists of own brothers, together with the 

 collateral brothers that come through maternal aunts; and that 

 the sister-group consists of own sisters, together with the col- 

 lateral sisters that come through maternal aunts; and it matters 

 not whether maternal uncles and paternal uncles are distin- 

 guished from each other. They may or may not be thrown 

 into one group. The cousins which arise from the discrimina- 

 tion of paternal and maternal uncles and paternal aunts may 

 be thrown into two, four, or six groups; but the general sys- 

 tem does not seem to be affected thereby. Where this system 

 of kinship prevails, the brother and sister groups are on the 

 mother's side, the children belonging to their mothers and not 

 to their fathers, and descent is said to be in the female line. 



There is another system of tribal organization which widely 

 prevails In this the mother's sisters are recognized as mater- 

 nal aunts, and a materterate-group is constituted of the mother's 

 sisters, own and collateral, and the cousins arising therefrom 

 are taken out from the brother and sister groups. But in this 

 case the father's brothers, own and collateral, are still consid- 

 ered as fathers ; there is no patruate group. The brother-group 

 is thus composed of the sons of the father with the sons of all 

 his brothers, own and collateral. It is therefore a large group, 

 and the sister-group corresponds therewith. When the brother 

 and sister groups arise through paternal uncles, children belong 

 to their fathers, and descent is said to be in the male line. 



From the above statements it will be seen that one of the 

 fundamental principles used in classifying kinships in tribal 

 society is that which arises from the discrimination of genera- 

 tions. The simple communal form first described is classed in 

 groups of kindred on characteristics of generations and sex, 

 and in the various systems which develope from it the charac- 

 teristic of distinct generations still remains, although collateral 

 descents are to some extent differentiated from lineal descent. 



It would seem that generation-groups extending collaterally 

 many degrees would speedily become confused, as a series of 



