San Culture Kinship System

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San Culture Kingship System Danita White ANT: 101 Instructor: Kathryn Johnson August 6, 2012 San Culture Kingship System The culture that I have choices to do an impact on their kinship system is “The San Culture.” The San people are indigenous cultures that are referred to as the Bushmen they live and have lived in the deserts of the Kalahari for many thousands of years. The San people are foraging band of families that gather and hunt for their livelihood traditionally “women are responsible for eighty percent of the food gathering which consists of nuts, fruits, melons and berries while the men are responsible for twenty percent of the meat” Nowak, B. & Laird, P Culture Anthropology (2010). It is little for the San to gather during the Arctic's long winter, so men's hunting activities provide nearly all food and other material items the people need. The family structure of the San people is one of kinship in which could include many family member such as uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers, sisters, maternal, paternal grandparent and their parents. It is a band of families that work together as a group to provide food for all family members if another person killed a big animal they will share it with another family who wasn’t as fortunate in hunting that day this is their way of life. The San, who live in one of the most marginal environments in the world, search for food only two or three days a week. Women can collect enough food in one day to feed their families for a full week, while men hunt two or three days a week. The rest of the time is spent in leisurely pursuits: visiting, playing, sleeping, and just enjoying each other's company (Lee, 1979). People in every culture give and receive goods and services. I will provide you with two examples of this kinship system to display how it affects the San culture. General Reciprocal

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