Paper long abstract:

Based on fieldwork among Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan from October 2018 to February 2019, this paper focuses on the interplay of localized kinship ideology and practice. Ethnic Uzbeks frequently prefer to marry first cousins, producing local communities tightly bound by inter-marriage. Specifically, I draw on ethnographic materials as well as quantitative results in exploring kinship systems of Uzbeks. I show the importance of mothers for the maintenance and advancement of the households of their daughters, a matrilineal link which contrasts with the literature which describes Central Asian Muslim societies with a unilateral emphasis on patriliny and patriarchy. In term of economic transfers between males, I found a chain from fathers-in-law to sons-in-law and on to the sons-in-law of the latter, for which there is no name in anthropology yet.

The main source of support for a sister's children comes from the mother's brother. The 'Toga' is the closest elder male kinsman and has the same responsibilities for his sister's children as his own. Among Kyrgyz families, the egos, (the father's brothers) are responsible for their brother's children. However, among Uzbeks the Mother's brother's (toga) role is very crucial in supporting the sister's daughter. Uzbeks have a saying that boys have a strong belly (beli bekem), meaning that they are free and allowed to work and earn money. In contrast, a girl is dependent on her husband and his family. The only source of support comes from her mother's relatives - sisters (khola), mother's brother, and maternal grandparents.

The Kinship Network Questionnaire (KNQ) research was conducted in the rural village of Alim-teppe and in urban areas of Osh city in southern Kyrgyzstan. I followed a random sampling technique in collecting KNQ data in both locations. So far we collected 41 KNQ interviews in the two localities. Initial findings show that people variously remember the names of their kin, and their birth and death dates; recall of kin names ranged from 100 to 400 members depending on the age of respondents. Using a genealogical method, I systematically collected information on genealogies.