Matrilineal Kinship

Index to Marriage and Kinship / Descent

Crow Kinship System

Compare with Patrilineal Kinship

to top of page / A-Z index

• matrilineal (uterine) = unilineal descent through women

• Found among 15% of all cultures
• Kinship is traced through the female line
• Women control land and products
• Found in the Pacific, Australia, small parts of Mediterranean coast
• Declining though capitalism (Barbara D. Miller, 2002)

= Patrilateral Kin

= Matrilateral Kin

Matrilateral vs Patrilateral Kin -- Brian Schwimmer