For the past three years, I was able to study the kinship and gender roles within a group located throughout the North American continent. To join this group, an individual must prove their worthiness through completion of twelve years of skill, knowledge, and leadership training. Upon gaining acceptance the new members will leave their nuclear family and village behind, and travel to a new community. In this new place, they will spend the next four or so years, advancing their skills and expanding their knowledge, which they will use to provide for themselves for the rest of their lives.
Once they have settled in the village, the individual will be given the opportunity of joining a household, or to continue being a drifter within the village limits. The method of joining a tribe is different for men and women. This is because households are segregated by gender, meaning that they are either all male or all female. For males of this cultural group, an individual selects a few tribes that they would like to be a part of, and continually visits them, working on convincing the others to accept him.
Once accepted into a household, the new individuals have a few months in which they are initiated into the order of the members of the tribe. During this period, new individuals participate in various activities stemming from social conditioning and ritualistic practices with the other members. The new individuals are often broken down during this period, only to be built back up. Individuals will study the history of the tribe that they are entering, this is for the creation of pride, and understanding of tradition for the new members. If they fail, they will be asked to leave the household. These tasks are used to weed out those who would only drag the tribe down, and to create a bond between the older members and the newer individuals. It might seem harsh, but tribes are always competing against each other. This is a way to ensure that they have the strongest, and most dedicated members, and in turn, the strongest tribe.
Members of these tribes often refer to each other as brother or sister, though they are not necessarily blood related. These terms are used to show unity for belonging to the same tribe, or the bond between one another. Within the households, members are split up into smaller kinship groups. This is usually referred to as your "family" within the tribe. There are five different terms used when referring to different members of your kinship. There is your Big; who is the individual who is there to look after you, and help you with becoming a member of the tribe. Littles are the new individuals who are working on becoming members of the tribe. Twins are any brothers who share the same Big. There also Grand Bigs, and Great-grand Bigs, these are the elders of the Littles. Different tribes use different terminology, but a majority of them use these terms when referring to their kinship. For females of this cultural group, the Bigs pick their Littles. For males of this cultural group, the Littles pick their Bigs.
Females are sometimes given special privileges within male households. If the tribe likes the mate of one of its members, they might make them a temporary queen. If a female becomes a queen, they are considered a member of the tribe for a year, with all the benefits and rights of the males. Also female houses, and some male houses have a tribal mother. The tribal mother is in charge of keeping the peace, and regulating the actions of the household members. Those households that do not have a tribal mother form councils. The councils have all the same responsibilities as a tribal mother, except that the responsibilities are dispersed amongst many people, instead of just a singular person.
