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The system has both classificatory and descriptive terms; in addition to gender and generation, also distinguishes between parental siblings of opposite sexes. Parental siblings of the same sex are considered blood relatives. However, parental siblings of differing sex are labelled as "Aunt" or "Uncle as the situation necessitates. Thus, one's mother's sister is also called mother, and one's father's brother is also called father; however, one's mother's brother is called father-in-law, and one's father's sister is called mother-in-law.

Children of the parental generation are considered siblings ( parallel cousins ). The children of an Aunt or an Uncle are not siblings, they are instead cousins ( cross counsins specifically).

1 Marriage

Ego (the subject from whose perspective the kinship is based) is encouraged to marry his cross cousins but discouraged to marry his parallel cousins . In doing so, new genetic material is constantly brought into the pool via Ego's father's sister's (Aunt's) husband or Ego's mother's brother's (Uncle's) wife. The system also is useful in reaffirming alliances between related lineages or clans.

2 Usage

The term Iroquois comes from the Iroquoian Indians of northeastern North Ameria. However, multiple groups around the globe employ the "Iroquois" system and is fairly commonly found in unilineal descent groups. Until recently, the system was in use in rural ChineseThis article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation). China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguo, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a country in continental East Asia with some oute societies.

3 See also

• Family
• Kinship and descent
• MarriageMarriage is a relationship that plays a key role in the definition of many families. Precise definitions vary historically and between and within cultures, but it has been an important concept as a socially sanctioned bond between people who (usually) are
• Cultural anthropologyCultural anthropology also called social anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology, is one of four commonly recognized fields of anthropology, the holistic study of humanity. It reflects in part a reaction against earlier Western discourses based on an
• AnthropologyAnthropology (from the Greek word ANTHROPOLOGIA consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo . It is holistic in two senses: it is concerned with all humans at all times, and with all dimensions of humanity. Central to anthropology is the concept of
• List of anthropologistsSee Anthropology. Notable anthropologists include Ruth Benedict Wilhelm Bleek Franz Boas Pere Bosch-Gimpera Paul Pierre Broca Joseph Campbell Napoleon Chagnon Noam Chomsky Raymond Dart Eugene Dubois Mircea Eliade E. Evans-Pritchard Dian Fossey James Fraze