Joking Relations
At a glance:
- Series: American Indians Ready Reference
- Categories: Social Science
- Subcategories: Native Americans, American Indians, Family, Marriage
- Curriculum: American Indian History
- Geographical Location: North America
Article abstract: Joking relations refer to the humorous {$IHumor{/I}} and informal relations between certain relatives in many Indian tribes.
A feature of many North American kinship systems is joking relations. Joking relations are almost always paired with, and given definition by, a corresponding set of avoidance relations. In avoidance relations, kin are to act in a reserved, formal fashion with each other; in some cases, kin in avoidance relations are actually to avoid each other physically. In joking relations, by contrast, certain kin engage in free and...
[The entire page is 490 words long]
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