Lecture delivered during the NCIP Training on Ancestral Domain Data Gathering as designed by Ugnayang Pang-Aghamtao, Inc. (Anthropological Association of the Philippines). Waterfront, Davao City. 05 September 2018.

1. reconstructing
genealogies
through kinship
Jessie G. Varquez, Jr.
Ugnayang Pang-Aghamtao (UGAT/ Anthropological Association of the Philippines)
NCIP Training on AD Data Gathering / 05 September 2018 / Waterfront, Davao City

5. key questions
1. why do we need to reconstruct genealogies?
2. how do we reconstruct genealogies?
3. what needs to be asked to reconstruct genealogies?

6. Basic concepts
o Genealogy’s etymology: ‘genea’ (generation) + ‘logos’ (knowledge)
o Kinship
o social network of relatives within which individuals possess certain
mutual rights and obligations (Tag. Ka-mag-anak)
o PL Bennagen’s “ka-sociality” - e.g., ka-ibigan, ka-away, ka-sama, ka-
sangga, ka-laban, ka-pamilya, ka-puso, ka-patid, etc.
odetermines succession, inheritance, property rights, place of
residence, marriage partner, children, and political rights
o Kin by blood (consanguineal) or affinity (fictive):
oNuclear family, family of orientation/procreation
oincest taboo
oCompadrazgo [‘fictive kinship’]

7. Kinship by
descent
Kinship by
marriage
Source: Guest (2014)

8. Basic concepts
o Kinship by marriage: social reproduction, enculturation
o Who to marry?
o endogamy and exogamy
o parallel and cross cousins
o How many to marry?
o monogamy (serial)
o polygamy (polygyny and polyandry)
o How wealth is involved in marriage?
o Bride service
o Bride wealth/price
o Dowry
o Levirate and sororate
o Residence patterns:
o neolocal, patrilocal, matrilocal, avunculocal
Source: Kottak (2015)

9. kinship by
marriage

10. Kinship
symbols
Source: Kottak (2015)

11. Kinship exercise
On a sheet of paper and draw a simple kinship diagram of
the following:
1. ig-agaw
2. pag-umangkon
3. uyu-an
4. ugangan
5. apo sa tuhod

12. unilineal descent
Unilineal descent (sometimes called unilateral descent) establishes
descent group membership by a direct line from a common ancestor
exclusively through one’s male or female ancestors, but not both.
o common among non-Western groups
Matrilineal descent – children belong to their mother’s lineage
Patrilineal descent – through the father’s lineage

13. unilineal descent
PATRILINEAL MATRILINEAL
Source: Haviland et al. (2011)

14. ambilineal vs bilateral descent
o Ambilineal groups differ from unilineal groups in that they do not
automatically exclude either the children of sons or those of daughters.
o can choose the descent group to join and can change the descent-
group membership, or belong to two or more groups at the same
time
o In bilateral descent, people trace their descent from all ancestors,
regardless of their gender or side of the family.
oindividuals apply the same genealogical terms to identify similarly
related individuals on both sides of the family.
Kindred is an individual’s close blood relatives on the maternal and
paternal sides of his or her family. It is laterally rather than lineally
organized.

15. kinship terminology systems
ESKIMO, HAWAIIAN, AND IROQUOIS

16. Eskimo System
o the nuclear family is emphasized by specifically identifying the mother,
father, brother, and sister, while lumping together all other relatives into
broad categories such as uncle, aunt, and cousin; also known as a lineal
system.
o used by Euro-Americans, as well as by a number of food-foraging peoples
Source: Haviland et al. (2011)

17. Hawaiian System
o the least complex system, uses the fewest terms
o also called the generational system since all relatives of the same
generation and sex are referred to by the same term
o reflects the absence of strong unilineal descent, and members on both the
father’s and the mother’s sides are viewed as more or less equal.
Source: Haviland et al. (2011)

18. Iroquois System
o a father and father’s brother are referred to by a single term, as are a
mother and mother’s sister, but a father’s sister and mother’s brother
are given separate terms.
o Parallel cousins are classified with brothers and sisters, while cross cousins
are classified separately but not equated with relatives of some other
generation.
Source: Haviland et al. (2011)

19. Which is the terminology
system of Filipino kinship?
ESKIMO, HAWAIIAN, AND IROQUOIS?

20. Source: Gibson (2015)

26. Kinship exercise
Enumerate and briefly explain kinship terms from
your region’s major IP groups - e.g., equivalent to
or similar with ig-agaw, pag-umangkon,
ugangan, etc. [Bisaya kinship terms]
how do these kinship terms help you
understand the genealogy that you are
reconstructing as the AD proof?

27. References
Eder, J. F. (1975). Naming Practices and the Definition of Affines among the
Batak of the Philippines. Ethnology 14 (1): 59-70.
Elkins, R.E. (1968). Three Models of Western Bukidnon Manobo Kinship.
Ethnology 7 (2): 171-189.
Eller, J.D. (2016). Cultural Anthropology: Global Forces, Local Lives (3rd ed.).
London and New York: Routledge.
Eriksen, T.H. (2015) Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to Social and
Cultural Anthropology (4th ed). London: Pluto Press.
Gibson, T. (2015). Sacrifice and Sharing in the Philippine Highlands: Religion and
Society among the Buid of Mindoro. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University
Press.
Guest, K. J. 2014. Cultural Anthropology: A Toolkit For A Global Age (1st ed.).
New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company.
Haviland, W.A., Prins, H. E.L., Walrath, D., & McBride, B. (2011). Anthropology:
The Human Challenge (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Kottak, C.P. (2015). Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity (16th
ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

28. key questions: open forum
1. why do we need to reconstruct genealogies?
2. how do we reconstruct genealogies?
3. what needs to be asked to reconstruct genealogies?