Family and Kinship Classification Systems as Proxy Indicator of Support Networks in Nandi Culture, Kenya

Abstract

Families in all their configurations are the key social groups within which different generations are embedded and supported. Following the recent demographic trends and shifts in the traditional family types and relationships, there is a need to explore actual lived kinship relational and support dynamics. Every kinship relations of a society are sustained through sets of kinship terminologies or kinship terms of reference which are signals on role expectations of those with particular labels. Kinship terminologies classify the kinship universe which helps every individual to reckon his/her kin members. The kinship terms are the vocabulary of differentiations and classifications of kinsmen with attendant role relations. However, little is understood on the mapping of kinship terms and their appropriate symbolic roles within the context of support systems in the Nandi culture. This paper explores the understanding of the concept of ‘family’ and kinship terms as indicators of support contexts within Nandi community of Kenya. The study findings indicate that, among the Nandi, family relationships are often constituted by individuals with different generational identities and world views whose connections are interactional and transactional. In this study, one of the potentially most important domains that characterizes family relationships among the Nandi people is the support and assistance that is exchanged between individuals. At the family level, the relationships are based on reciprocity and exchange. The study findings further indicate diversity in definitions of family, kinship and the embeddedness of individuals in their social networks. The study contributes to debate on how kinship classification systems work in the new era of digitalization of kinship practices in contemporary families.