Conceptual framework: What do you think is going on?

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50 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN
high economic
value of
women’s work
b<strong>is</strong>on hide
hunting
widespread
polygyny
relative age
more important
than generation
involvement
in fur trade
increased and
unequal wealth
large age d<strong>is</strong>parity
among brothers
extension of
brother terms to
same-age relatives
in other generations
acqu<strong>is</strong>ition
of guns
expansion
westward
high importance
of male solidarity
substitution of comrade
term for brother term in
close relationships
Figure 3.3 Causes of Changes in Blackfeet Kin Terminology
pressure
from Cree
widespread warfare
with other tribes
extension of
brother terms to
other relatives in
own generation
Th<strong>is</strong> map d<strong>is</strong>plays some of the events and influences leading to the
widespread use of “brother” terms in Blackfeet society by the late 1800s. More
than any other Plains tribe, the Blackfeet were involved in the fur trade. Th<strong>is</strong>
led to increased wealth (including guns), a greater value of women’s work in
preparing b<strong>is</strong>on hides for trade, a highly unequal d<strong>is</strong>tribution of wealth that
favored men who had many horses for b<strong>is</strong>on hunting, and a massive increase
in polygyny, as wealthy men acquired large numbers of wives to process
hides. The acqu<strong>is</strong>ition of guns and horses allowed the Blackfeet to move westward
into the Plains, driving out the tribes that had previously lived there.
The increase in warfare and b<strong>is</strong>on hunting created a greater need for
male solidarity and led to the widespread use of brother terms between men
of the same generation to enhance th<strong>is</strong> solidarity. However, the increased
polygyny led to a wider range of ages within a man’s generation and to the
extension of brother terms to men of other generations who were of about the
speaker’s age. Th<strong>is</strong> proliferation of the use of brother terms eventually diluted
their solidarity value, generating a new term, “comrade,” which was often used
in close relationships between men.
SOURCE: Adapted from “The Development of Plains Kinship Systems,” by J. A. Maxwell, 1971,
unpubl<strong>is</strong>hed master’s thes<strong>is</strong>, University of Chicago, and “The Evolution of Plains Indian Kin
Terminologies: A Non-reflection<strong>is</strong>t Account,” by J. A. Maxwell, 1978, Plains Anthopolog<strong>is</strong>t, 23,
13–29.