2. Now, examine the kinship chart you have drawn and answer the following questions:
a. Were there portions of your kinship chart that were easy to recollect and map? Were there portions of your kinship chart that you could not draw due to lack of knowledge? What does this reveal about the role of these family members in your
life? Explain. What might this say about the overall role of kinship within your culture/society?
There were no portions of my kinship chart for my nuclear family that I could not draw due to lack of knowledge. I drew the whole kinship chart in one swift go, and it was easy
to recollet and map. If I had to go one step above, into a further descent group, I might have had some trouble remembering exactly who was on what side. This reveals that the role of these family members have a significant impact on my life, that they are involved, which is true! Every triangle and circle on the kinship chart has played a part in
my life. This might say that the overall role of kinship in my culture/society is strong, and
that family is valued strongly with those in my chart. b. How many generations are represented on your kinship chart? What does this tell you about the importance of ancestors in your culture/society, or individual circumstance?
Two generations are represented on my kinship chart. This tells me that maybe ancestors are not respected as much as they should be in my culture/society. They are the strong links that have made way for the rest of my chart, and yet I didn’t think to add
them until I read this question. c. Are there any other “stories” your kinship chart reveals? Explain. Consider people, power dynamics, mysteries, educational patterns, geographic locations, and inheritance flows.
The strongest story my kinship chart shows is my father's side, the Greek side, all 3 siblings have children; my father has 5, my uncle 1, and my aunt 4. This is a stark contrast to my mothers side. She is the only one of her 3 siblings to have children. This could show how much more big families and lots of children is an expected action for Greek families to make. The second “story” that can be told, is that both families with many children, are also the families that bring in the most income. My father and my father’s sister are both higher earners, especially compared to the rest of the first generation in my kinship chart. 3. Why do you think it is important for an anthropologist to understand genealogical relationships and kinship structures within the culture they are
