Editing Matrilineality (section)

== Cultural patterns ==
In some societies, membership was—and, in the following list, still is if shown in ''italics''—inherited matrilineally.  Examples include many, if not most, Native [[North American]] groups: the [[Cherokee]], [[Choctaw]], ''[[Gitksan]]'', [[Haida people|Haida]], [[Hopi]], [[Iroquois]], [[Lenape]], [[Navajo people|Navajo]] and [[Tlingit people|Tlingit]] among others; the ''[[Cabécar people|Cabécar]]'' and ''[[Bribri people|Bribri]]'' of Costa Rica; the ''[[Naso people|Naso]]'' and ''[[Guna people]]'' of Panama; the ''[[Kogi people|Kogi]]'', ''[[Wayuu people|Wayuu]]'' and [[Kalina people|Carib]] of South America; the ''[[Minangkabau people|Minangkabau]]'' people of [[West Sumatra]], [[Indonesia]] and [[Negeri Sembilan]], [[Malaysia]]; the ''[[Trobrianders]]'', ''[[Dobu]]'' and ''Nagovisi'' of Melanesia; the [[Nairs]], some [[Ezhava|Thiyyas]] & [[Muslims]] of [[Kerala]] and the [[Mogaveera]]s, [[Billava]]s & the [[Bunt (community)|Bunt]]s of [[Karnataka]] in south [[India]]; the ''[[Khasi people|Khasi]]'', ''[[Synteng|Jaintia]]'' and ''[[Garo (tribe)|Garo]]'' of [[Meghalaya]] in northeast India and [[Bangladesh]]; the ''[[Ngalop people|Ngalops]]'' and ''[[Sharchops]]'' of [[Bhutan]]; the ''[[Mosuo]]'' of [[China]]; the ''[[Kayah people|Kayah]]'' of Southeast Asia; the [[Basques]] of [[Spain]] and [[France]]; the ''[[Akan people|Akan]]'' including the ''[[Ashanti people|Ashanti]]'', ''[[Bono people|Bono]]'', ''[[Akwamu]]'', ''[[Fante people|Fante]]'' of [[Ghana]]; most groups across the so-called "[[matrilineal belt]]" of south-central Africa; the [[Nubians]] of Southern [[Egypt]] & [[Sudan]]; the ''[[Tuareg people|Tuareg]]'' of west and north Africa; and the ''[[Serer people|Serer]]'' of [[Senegal]], [[The Gambia]] and [[Mauritania]]. The title of the [[Rain Queen]] in [[South Africa]] is inherited via matrilineal [[primogeniture]]: [[dynasty|dynastic]] descent is matrilineal, with only females eligible to inherit.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-07-27 |title=The Balobedu Queenship Recognised and Dignity Restored |url=http://www.cogta.gov.za/?p=867 |access-date=2020-01-24 |website=Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs |language=en-US}}</ref>

Genetic evidence shows matriliny, and matrilocality, among [[Celts]] in [[Iron Age Britain]]. As other data indicate patriarchy in the [[Early Bronze Age]], this may indicate a rare patriarchal to matrifocal transition.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cassidy |first1=Lara M. |last2=Russell |first2=Miles |last3=Smith |first3=Martin |last4=Delbarre |first4=Gabrielle |last5=Cheetham |first5=Paul |last6=Manley |first6=Harry |last7=Mattiangeli |first7=Valeria |last8=Breslin |first8=Emily M. |last9=Jackson |first9=Iseult |last10=McCann |first10=Maeve |last11=Little |first11=Harry |last12=O’Connor |first12=Ciarán G. |last13=Heaslip |first13=Beth |last14=Lawson |first14=Daniel |last15=Endicott |first15=Phillip |date=January 2025 |title=Continental influx and pervasive matrilocality in Iron Age Britain |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=637 |issue=8048 |pages=1136–1142 |doi=10.1038/s41586-024-08409-6 |pmid=39814899 |pmc=11779635 |bibcode=2025Natur.637.1136C |issn=1476-4687}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ferreira |first=Becky |date=2025-01-15 |title=Celtic Women Held Sway in 'Matrilocal' Societies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/science/celtic-women-dna.html#:~:text=An%20ancient%20cemetery%20reveals%20a,according%20to%20a%20DNA%20analysis. |access-date=2025-04-02 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> There is evidence of matrilineal royal descent, from maternal uncle to nephew, in early Iron Age (ca. 500 BCE) Celtics in continental Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gretzinger |first1=Joscha |last2=Schmitt |first2=Felicitas |last3=Mötsch |first3=Angela |last4=Carlhoff |first4=Selina |last5=Lamnidis |first5=Thiseas Christos |last6=Huang |first6=Yilei |last7=Ringbauer |first7=Harald |last8=Knipper |first8=Corina |last9=Francken |first9=Michael |last10=Mandt |first10=Franziska |last11=Hansen |first11=Leif |last12=Freund |first12=Cäcilia |last13=Posth |first13=Cosimo |last14=Rathmann |first14=Hannes |last15=Harvati |first15=Katerina |date=August 2024 |title=Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe |journal=Nature Human Behaviour |language=en |volume=8 |issue=8 |pages=1467–1480 |doi=10.1038/s41562-024-01888-7 |pmid=38831077 |pmc=11343710 |issn=2397-3374}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Anderson |first2=Sonja |title=Ancient Celtic Elites Inherited Wealth From Their Mothers' Sides |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-celtic-elites-inherited-wealth-from-their-mothers-sides-180984486/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> There is evidence of matriliny in [[Pre-Islamic Arabia]] among a subclan of the Amarite tribal confederation of [[Ancient Saba]]; the wider society there was overwhelmingly patrilineal.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Korotayev |first1=A. V. |year=1995 |title=Were There Any Truly Matrilineal Lineages in the Arabian Peninsula? |url=https://www.academia.edu/27745315 |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=25 |pages=83–98}}</ref> Genetic data has also established matriliny and matrilocality of an elite among [[Ancestral Pueblo people|Ancestral Pueblo People]], from 8th to 11th century AD, in [[Chaco Canyon]], [[New Mexico]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kennett |first1=Douglas J. |last2=Plog |first2=Stephen |last3=George |first3=Richard J. |last4=Culleton |first4=Brendan J. |last5=Watson |first5=Adam S. |last6=Skoglund |first6=Pontus |last7=Rohland |first7=Nadin |last8=Mallick |first8=Swapan |last9=Stewardson |first9=Kristin |last10=Kistler |first10=Logan |last11=LeBlanc |first11=Steven A. |last12=Whiteley |first12=Peter M. |last13=Reich |first13=David |last14=Perry |first14=George H. |date=2017-02-21 |title=Archaeogenomic evidence reveals prehistoric matrilineal dynasty |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=8 |issue=1 |page=14115 |doi=10.1038/ncomms14115 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=5321759 |pmid=28221340|bibcode=2017NatCo...814115K }}</ref> The initial people of [[Micronesia]] practiced matrilocality, as seen in ancient DNA.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Yue-Chen |last2=Hunter-Anderson |first2=Rosalind |last3=Cheronet |first3=Olivia |last4=Eakin |first4=Joanne |last5=Camacho |first5=Frank |last6=Pietrusewsky |first6=Michael |last7=Rohland |first7=Nadin |last8=Ioannidis |first8=Alexander |last9=Athens |first9=J. Stephen |last10=Douglas |first10=Michele Toomay |last11=Ikehara-Quebral |first11=Rona Michi |last12=Bernardos |first12=Rebecca |last13=Culleton |first13=Brendan J. |last14=Mah |first14=Matthew |last15=Adamski |first15=Nicole |date=July 2022 |title=Ancient DNA reveals five streams of migration into Micronesia and matrilocality in early Pacific seafarers |journal=Science |volume=377 |issue=6601 |pages=72–79 |doi=10.1126/science.abm6536 |pmc=9983687 |pmid=35771911|bibcode=2022Sci...377...72L }}</ref> Ancient DNA from a late neolithic site in Northern China (Fujia in [[Shandong|Shandong Province]]), dated around 2700 BCE, showed both matrilocality and possibly a general preference for the maternal bloodline as opposed to affinal (marital) kin.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dong |first1=Yu |last2=Li |first2=Chunxiang |last3=Luan |first3=Fengshi |last4=Li |first4=Zhenguang |last5=Li |first5=Hongjie |last6=Cui |first6=Yinqiu |last7=Zhou |first7=Hui |last8=Malhi |first8=Ripan S. |date=2015 |title=Low Mitochondrial DNA Diversity in an Ancient Population from China: Insight into Social Organization at the Fujia Site |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/595013 |journal=Human Biology |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=71–84 |doi=10.13110/humanbiology.87.1.0071 |pmid=26416323 |issn=1534-6617|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Clan names vs. surnames ===
Matrilineal groups are often made up of matrilineal [[clan]]s, at times with ''[[descent group]]s'' or ''family groups'' each with a separate female ancestor. Sometimes the male ancestor, that is, the partner of the female ancestor where known, is mentioned as the ancestor though the clan is matrilineal.<ref name=":1" /> Surnames in these situations may follow several patterns. The clan name may be the surname, handed down matrilineally. The clan name may be tracked but not used in the personal names. This is true of the Minangkabau, for instance, who mostly use just one name. It is also true of the Akan, who do use two names, but do not inherit the second name, hence making it a surname but not a family name.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Witte |first=Marleen de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fmf5UqZzbvoC&q=%22Adwoa+Dufie%22 |title=Long Live the Dead!: Changing Funeral Celebrations in Asante, Ghana |date=2001 |publisher=Aksant Academic Publishers |isbn=978-90-5260-003-1 |language=en}}</ref> The surname may also be the name of the descent group.
=== Care of children ===
While a mother normally takes care of her own children in all cultures, in some matrilineal cultures, particularly matrilocal ones, an "uncle-father,"  termed a ''social father'', will take care of, and be guardian to, his nieces and nephews instead of his sons. The biological father plays little role in child rearing.<ref>Schneider, D. M. 1961. The distinctive features of matrilineal descent groups. Introduction. In Schneider, D. M. and K. Gough (eds) ''Matrilineal Kinship.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 1–29.</ref>