a limited range of other persons most closely related to it. For this reason it has been called a family system of kinship. It consists of a limited number of terms which, as far as they go, indicate generation level, collateral position [indefinitely], sex [mostly] and marriage ties. To proceed by generations, there are (a) grandfather and grandmother; (b) father and mother, uncle and aunt, father-in-law and mother-in-law; (c) brother and sister, first cousin and sometimes, second cousin, husband, wife, brother-in-law, sister-in-law; (d) son, daughter, nephew, niece, son-in- law, daughter-in-law; and (e) grandson and grand daughter. We also use the terms for great grandparents and great grandchildren, but we are usually satisfied with the above twenty-four terms. If we desire to refer to the relationship of persons outside the range of those terms, we have to use descriptive phrases, such as, my second cousins son, or my mothers second cousins grandson. Even so, we do not know whether these relationships are reckoned through male or female lines unless we add further details."As we have already said, Aboriginal relationships are unique but a further complication is added through a system of age grouping that existed in many tribes. "Thus, whereas I distinguish in terminology my brother from my father and son, in many tribes I call my fathers father, elder brother, and my sons son, younger brother, and call my son by the term for father. Likewise, whereas I distinguish my cross cousin from my uncle [mothers brother] and sisters son, I very often use the term for mothers brother and sisters son. In other words, members of alternate generations are grouped together as belonging to one social group, or line. The significance of this is that marriage takes place between those grouped together, in accordance, of course, with kinship rules, whereas the two groups or lines should not inter-marry, because with very few exceptions in Australia a...
