The vast majority of tribal people are organized around their kinship relationships one to another. The standing they have in a tribe, the fighting they do, the work they do, the gifts they give etc. is determined by these relationships. Their kinship relationships are often what dictates how they should behave one toward another.

Consequently, we need to come to an understanding of their kinship if we are ever to understand why they do what they do. Finding the kinship relationships within a society shows you the key to their social behavior to each another.

If we who hardly care who we are related to, and find it difficult to keep kinship terms straight in our minds, how much harder will that task seem across language and cultural hurdles.