The Kanza Kinship System
GRAY AREAS
Out of Practice
There are a number of murky issues inherent in the study of the Kanza kinship system. First and foremost, no one speaks the Kanza language fluently anymore, and thus no one alive today has a full grasp of all Kanza kin terms. Fortunately for us, many kin terms are known because they were recorded at a time when there were fluent speakers. On the other hand, those kin terms that were not recorded have most likely been lost. This means that the kinship system we have is probably not 100% complete. For instance, what should you call your great grandparents? Or for that matter, what should you call your great grandchildren?
Cultural Analogies
We can often turn to other Dhegiha tribes (Osage, Omaha, Ponca, and Quapaw) for information. Because these tribes are closely related to Kanza both in terms of culture and language, some of the words for things are shared or are close enough that we can deduce their forms and meanings, i.e., when the spellings are accurate and consistent. For instance, we do know the Osage names for great grandparents and for great grand children. They are the same as the words for grandfather and grandmother and for grandchild, respectively.1 We can then reasonably deduce that they would be very similar in Kanza. But what happens when the Dhegiha sources don't correspond? For instance, in Osage, your father's sister's husband is your Brother-In-Law. In Ponca, that same person is your Uncle.2
Related Customs?
Another problem is our poor understanding of some of the social customs and mores that went along with the traditional kinship system. The tribe hasn't actively practiced the system for many years, and many of these customs may have been lost. For example, in the Ponca tribe there was for many years a social taboo against the adult brothers and sisters speaking with one another. Did the Kanza tribe practice this same convention? There are no easy answers.
Footnotes