article

Kinship organization of the Saru Ainu

Ethnology1Published In 1962 • Pages: 287-298

By: Sugiura, Ken ichi, Befu, Harumi.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This study discusses a unique feature of the Ainu kinship system of Saru River Valley, Hokkaido. Among the Ainu, men trace their descent patrilineally and women matrilineally. However, there is little evidence that the matrilineal group is functionally significant in Ainu society. It is suggested that further investigation should be carried out in this area. The senior author, Sugiura was a member of a team sent by the Japanese Society of Ethnology to the Saru River Valley in 1951 for an anthropological field study. Mr. Befu, the junior author, extracted information from a Japanese article written by the senior author, now deceased, and reorganized the material with further analysis and discussion.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Kin relationships
Kinship terminology
Clans
Rule of descent
Household
Polygamy
Community structure
Regulation of marriage
Burial practices and funerals
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Ainu
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2009
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Asia
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
East Asia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Hesung C. Koh ; 1962
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1951
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1951-1962
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Saru River Valley, Hokkaido, Japan
NotesAdditional notes
[by] Kenichi Sugiura and Harumi Befu
Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-298)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
64005713
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Ainu