Omaha Terminologies

Abstract

Omaha kinship terminologies are distributed globally to the north and south of the belt of ancient “high cultures” which stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to East and Southeast Asia in the Old World and includes parts of Mesoamerica and the Andes in the New World. This article offers an explanation for this curious distribution of Omaha terminologies. In so doing, it reviews examples of Omaha terminologies in Central Asia and on the Horn of Africa, noting their defining characteristics and those other aspects of social organization with which they are associated. In conclusion, it is suggested that a continuum of lineage-based systems, including systems with Omaha terminologies, was split into two areas of concentration, one to the north and the other to the south, as ancient “high cultures,” based on intensive agricultural production, arose among them, reverting, in the process, to terminological systems with a cognatic bias like those of the Eskimo type that are associated with urbanization and statehood.

The Larrakia Kinship Terminology: Asymmetrical Cross‐Cousin Marriage and Omaha Skewing

“…One of their defining features is that matrilateral cross‐cousins (MBS) are terminologically equated with relatives of an ascending generation (MB). (Schlee 2017:121)…”

“…One of their defining features is that matrilateral cross‐cousins (MBS) are terminologically equated with relatives of an ascending generation (MB). (Schlee 2017:121)In the Omaha type, which are patrilineal, the cross‐cousins on the mother's side are called mother and uncle and those on the father's side nephew and niece. (Trautmann and Whiteley 2012a:3)The main “skewing rule” for Omaha extends MB to MBS (Whiteley and Mcconvell 2021:484)Omaha systems are defined by their syncretisms across generations, often called generational skewing , where certain cousins (G0) are terminologically equated with certain nuncles (G+1) (Passmore et al 2021:180, original emphasis)…”

“…There is variation within the class of Omaha skewings, both in Australia and more generally (Dziebel 2021; McConvell 2012; Passmore et al 2021; Schlee 2017; Trautmann and Whiteley 2012b; Whiteley and Mcconvell 2021). However, discussions of Omaha skewings focus on the equations MB = MBS and M = MBD.…”

How Crow-Omaha Skewing Spreads

“…5 In short, Crow-Omaha skewing is typically part of a complex with unilineality, unilocal residence, and either AXCM or semi-complex alliance. Outside Australia, Crow-Omaha systems often occur in the mid-range of sociocultural integration-"tribes" and "chiefdoms" (Service 1975)-with relatively intensive adaptive strategies in competitive demographic environments (e.g., Dole 1972;Fox 1994;Schlee 2017). In Australia, with famously elaborate kinship systems but without "chiefdoms" or crop domestication, increased resource competition under demographic stress also accompanies systems with skewing (McConvell 2012).…”