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nYourncousins are (generally speaking) your aunts’ and uncles’ kids.
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Theynmay help you from going crazy during long Thanksgiving feasts, ornthey may drive you crazy at family birthday parties! They may benalmost exactly your age, or they may seem to be an entire generationnolder or younger than you. You may see your cousins every singlenweek, or you may have never met them before in your life.
Theynmay help you from going crazy during long Thanksgiving feasts, ornthey may drive you crazy at family birthday parties! They may benalmost exactly your age, or they may seem to be an entire generationnolder or younger than you. You may see your cousins every singlenweek, or you may have never met them before in your life. n
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nWhatevernthe case, consider visiting or calling your cousins today to catch upnor to make new memories!
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nDidnyou know…?
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Differentnsocieties keep track of (and name) different relatives…well,ndifferently! For example, in traditional Iroquois culture, yournfather’s brothers are called the Iroquois word for “father,” justnas your actual father is! However, your father’s sisters are calledn“aunt.” In the same way, your mother’s sisters are called thenIroquois word for “mother,” but your mother’s brothers are calledn“uncle.” Your father’s brother’s kids are not called “cousins,”nas they would be in the modern U.S. society—instead, they are yournbrothers and sisters. But your father’s mother’s kids are considerednyour cousins. These are just some of the differences between Iroquoisnand my own kinship systems.
Differentnsocieties keep track of (and name) different relatives…well,ndifferently! For example, in traditional Iroquois culture, yournfather’s brothers are called the Iroquois word for “father,” justnas your actual father is! However, your father’s sisters are calledn“aunt.” In the same way, your mother’s sisters are called thenIroquois word for “mother,” but your mother’s brothers are calledn“uncle.” Your father’s brother’s kids are not called “cousins,”nas they would be in the modern U.S. society—instead, they are yournbrothers and sisters. But your father’s mother’s kids are considerednyour cousins. These are just some of the differences between Iroquoisnand my own kinship systems.n
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nnPeoplenof South Sudan, in Africa, have different names for your father’snbrother and for your mother’s brother. (Let’s say, “funcle” fornyour uncle on your father’s side, and “muncle” for the one onnyour mother’s side.) The Sudanese have a different name yet for yournmother’s sister’s husband, and another name for your father’snsister’s husband. So there are four different sorts of names for thenvarious people I would call “uncles.” The same is true for allnthe varying sorts of aunts, and there are eight different kin namesnfor all the different sorts of cousins!
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nnEvennin my own society, there are a lot of kin terms that I don’t reallynknow or use. For example, who is my second cousin once removed? Well,nmy second cousin is my grandpa’s sister’s grandchild, whoever he ornshe may be (let’s says it’s a she, and her name is Sally)—well, innthat case my second cousin once removed would be Sally’s child! See,nI really don’t know who those people are; if I met them on the streetnand asked what our relationship was, I would say “stranger”! Andnthis is my own kinship system I’m talking about!
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nAlsonon this date:
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nChildren’s Day in Vanuatu
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nSimon Bolivar Day
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