Most buryat
families were patriarchal, patrilineal and patrilocal. Wives were brought for
each of the sons, while daughters were married off to other clans. In the
traditional Buryat family, each son received a part of the family herd as he
married, with the elder son receiving more than the younger son. The youngest
son would remain in the parental tent caring for his parents, and after their
death he would inherit the parental tent in addition to his own part of the
herd. Each son inherited a part of the family's camping lands and pastures,
with the elder son receiving more than the younger son. The eldest son
inherited the farthest camping lands and pastures, and each son in turn
inherited camping lands and pastures closer to the family tent until the youngest
son inherited the camping lands and pastures immediately surrounding the family
tent. Family units would often remain near each other and in close cooperation,
though extended families would inevitably break up after a few generations. After
the family, the next largest social units were the subclan and clan. These
units were derived from groups claiming patrilineal descent from a common
ancestor, ranked in order of seniority.
By the Chingissid era this ranking
was symbolically expressed at formal feasts, in which tribal chieftains were
seated and received particular portions of the slaughtered animal according to
their status. The paternal descent lines were collaterally ranked according to
the birth of their founders, and were thus considered senior and junior to each
other. Of the various collateral patrilines, the senior in order of descent
from the founding ancestor, the line of eldest sons, was the most noble. In the
steppe, no one had his exact equal; everyone found his place in a system of
collaterally ranked lines of descent from a common ancestor. It was according
to this idiom of superiority and inferiority of lineages derived from birth
order that legal claims to superior rank were couched.
The Buryat kinship is one of a
particular patrilineal type classed as Omaha, in which relatives are grouped
together under separate terms that crosscut generations, age, and even sexual
difference. Thus, a man's father's sister's children, his sister's children,
and his daughter's children are all called by another term. A further attribute
is strict terminological differentiation of siblings according to seniority.
Compared to our society today, the Buryat’s
way of family and marriage were really different than what we as American’s are
used to. There system seems a lot more complex than our but that’s what they
are used to. In the end, the Buryat’s ways of family and marriage are similar
in same ways but very different in others
The way the Buryat culture handled marriage family was very interesting to me. I thought the way the sons received part of the herd when they got married. I think it makes sense that the eldest son would receive a larger amount then the younger ones. So, not all of this is "strange" or different in that, these similar ideas have been practiced throughout the whole world in different time periods.
ReplyDeleteBryan, you need to expand a bit more in your reflection. At least, apply some of the cultural anthro concepts we talked about. Delete this comment after you read it please. Thanks.
ReplyDeletePlease, add your references to increase your score for this PA. Thanks.I can't see any. Thanks.
ReplyDelete