Distant kins & -shit- :-)

[Constantine Xmelnitski]

Dear Siouanists:

I have three questions on Siouan kinship terms.
1. What are the terms for greatgrand-
fathers/mothers,and
2. What are the terms for distant relatives in
eachgeneration.

The possible ways out could be:

1) Using composite constructions, like "niyate
txunkashitku", your-father's his-grandfather,
orperhaps,
Maxpiya Luta txakozhakpaku atewaye -
Cloud-Redhis-grandchild father-I-have.for
2) Spreading closely-related kinsmen terms for distant
ones, as: all the men in my generation, not
recursively defined as my brothers - are called
cousins if they are blood relations, and
brothers-in-law if they are relatives by marriage.
Possible hint testifying that Soln #2 can be true is
the definition of Father-in-law (in Buechel's Lakota
Grammar as I recall): "Father-in-law and other men in
his generation, who are relatives of the spouse"

John Koontz wrote me on Jan 22, 1999 in this regard:
"There's a paper (unpublished, I think) by Richard
Lungstrum which shows how the various Siouan systems
all work to make it normal to use the same terms for
everyone of a given sex and generation in the group of
people one normally hangs out with."

3. Also, talking about the -shi(t)- suffix, he wrote:
"There's a suffix -shi(t)- that applies to
Dakotankinship terms that (as I
recall) refer to classifications that one can't
marryinto, or, to be more accurate, wouldn't dream of
having sex with."

--Yet the system of kinship terms seems to have
obscured that meaning. Indeed, is it possible that I
cannot have sex with mother-in-law (uncishi) but may
with grandmother (unci). Why a man cannot dream of sex
with his younger sis (txankshitku) and she CAN (he
isher thibloku) :-))?
Alfred WhiteHat claims that -shi- is a suffix of
adoption, but that doesn't add more understanding
tome.

Connie.

P.S. Oh, just got the message from Violet Catches:
> "niyate txunkashitku" -no, niyate txokapxa, the
oldest (uncle)
unci txanka is great grandmother

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