Khasi Is A Matrilineal System

Kinship is defined through your descent group/ people who you are related to. In the film, Dadi’s family is shown to be related through an affine kinship. The relationships that are discussed in the film are all based on marriage. Dada, Dadi, the sons and her daughters-in-law are part of the family through marriage. The family is patrilocal extended family.

Family, kin, and marriage lies are established by the type of descent system the society uses. Descent is traced kinship relationships through parents. The concept of family, kin, and marriage strive to and support

The kinship system is a defining feature of Aboriginal social organisation and family relationships1. This ‘kinship’ system establishes how all members of a community are related and what their position is2.It is a complex system that determines how people relate to each other, and what their roles, responsibilities and obligations in relation to one another are. It also plays an important role in ceremonies and relationships to the land. As such, the kinship system dictates who can marry who, ceremonial relationships, funeral roles and how kinfolk should behave towards one another1.

The Khasi is one of the tribes living in Meghalaya state of North-East India. This tribe draws much attention of the sociologists, because this tribe practices matrilineal system characterized in terms of marriage, inheritance of property and matrilocal post-marital residence and other social relations. This is rare in other society. It is commonly believed that the status of women in matrilineal society is higher as compared to that of patrilineal society. This can be seen in terms of empowerment and other roles played by the women.

This idea of a balance of life also seeps into Gebusi marriage practices. If two Gebusi people wish to get married often the sister of either the groom or bride must also marry the brother or “brother like” of the other spouse so that one clan is not losing a

A society where people are recognised as matriline descedants.A matriline is a line of succession from a female ancestor to a successor(of either sex). There are many matrilineal societies standing in contrast to the general pattern of paternal lineage in the world. 'Mosuo of China ' is an example of matrilineal society which is famous for its strong resemblance to a matriarchal society.

The Kin group is a social group formed on the basis of recognized. A group of people who culturally view themselves as relatives, cooperate in certain activities, and share a sense of identity as kinfolk. For example, Incest Taboo is any cultural rule or norm that prohibits sexual relations between closely related persons. Nearly every society prohibits sex and marriage between nuclear family members, except in three documented cases: Ancient Hawaiians, prehistoric Incans, and Egypt Allowed only to preserve the royal family purity and bloodlines. These ancient Hawaiian, prehistoric Incans and Egypt allow sex and marriage between nuclear family members because of their ancient beliefs of passing down your gene are like their root for them. That is why they let the family have sex with each other just to pass down their genes, root, culture, and

There are many forms of families around the world. The structure of these families are influenced by the culture around them. Family is defined as "two or more people related by blood, marriage or adoption. The family may take many forms, ranging from a single parent with one or more children, to a married couple or polygamist spouses with or without offspring, to several generations of parents and their children” (226). There are many functions of the family unit around the world.

The family structure is different from other societies. People who live with you aren’t your born parents, your siblings in your family are not actually your sister or brother. You don’t have any relationship with anyone and never connected to anyone around you. They can be assigned to each family unit. During the ceremonies, you name, your job, your child and your spouse can all be decided by the chief elder.

This joint family, like any social organization, must face problems such as acceptable division of work, relationships and specific family roles. These familial relationships are managed on the basis of a secular hierarchical principle. In fact, all Indians owe respect and obedience to the head of the family, who usually is the father or the oldest man of the family community. In The Gift of a Bride: A Tale of Anthropology, Matrimony and Murder by Nanda and Gregg, it is explained that, “females [are] placed under the perpetual guardianship of first their fathers and elder brothers, then their husbands.” (Nanda & Gregg 22) Thus, all the spending decisions, studies and profession, or marriage, are exclusively the responsibility of the father after the possible discussions with the other men of the family. Age and sex are the basic principles of this hierarchical system. The eldest sons enjoy greater unchallenged authority than their cadets. Of course men have more authority than women, but older married women have an important role within the family. In fact, the authority of a woman depends on the rank of her husband inside the group. Traditionally, the wife of the patriarch rules over domestic affairs and has considerable power over the other women in the community, especially her daughters- in-law.

The kinship system is based on the concept of "equivalence of same-sex siblings". Two siblings of the same sex are considered essentially the same and thus interchangeable. For example, if a man has

The Khasis being one of the most sophisticated tribe of North East India, the Khasis dwell in Meghalaya with Shillong as the capital, carved in the early part of 1972, prior to the arrival of the British in 1834, the region was under Hima (kingdom) Shillong. The Khasis are a matrilineal

     This patriarchal role of males in the Indian family allows for all the power to be placed on the father of the household. This power can be abused which I would assume happens with the children in these families. The oldest male child has the authority to boss around his other siblings, and in the death of his father he then becomes the leader of the household. This could lead to many harsh or unfair ruling by older siblings or by other members of society. This would lead for the younger sibling to have to adjust greatly as they grow into adulthood. These rules that govern Indian household are often strict and are always final. This is accepted by all.

Females do give birth to the children, but in these societies, a female is more like a piece of property than of heritage. Marriage in these societies is usually based on the best dowry, rather than being based on love like most modern marriages.

Moreover, financial distribution at times become a problem when two people from different cultures decide to marry and have children. Usually, it is not a major issue but in some cases money becomes a reason of dispute. During the course of study, several aspects of cultures in certain countries came forward in which daughters are not considered during financial distribution of parental property. Like for example, in most African countries, in some cultures girl child is not preferred over boy child and therefore during distribution of ancestral property married daughters are not given any share. It can hence generate disputes in between a couple or between the guy from the other culture/country and girl’s family (African).