Shulanite Kinship System
The Shulanite people, due to their polyandrous marriage practices, have a different kinship and family structure than many other cultures.
Their family structure is characterized by the fact that the males in a family typically only get one marriage per generation due to the tradition of fraternal polyandry, the practice where brothers will marry one woman.
Shulanite Marriage
Typical Shulanite marriages will only involve one wife and two or three husbands; any more and there is a fear of conflict breaking out in the marriage and family. Fraternal polyandry, or the practice where brothers will marry one wife, is common.
Due to the tradition of fraternal polyandry as well as their patriarchal culture, families are typically patrilocal living with the husband(s) family -in the case where the husbands are unrelated they will often live with the most senior husband's family or will break off from their families and start their own household.
Members of a marriage are all expected to treat each other equally, with no favorites; favoritism is often seen as a source of conflict.
The husbands traditionally treat each other as brothers -and often due to fraternal polyandry they already are- and refer to each other as such. Sometimes they will refer to each other as brothers-in-law, especially if they are in a more modern non-traditional marriage or are not blood related.
Divorce, is a legal process often a complicated and legal one due to many different factors like inheritance, alimony, and a marriage becoming monogamous or completely dissolving if certain people leave. Shulanite law focuses a lot on this and has many different outcomes and rules depending on the situation.
Parents
All of the members in a marriage are considered to be parents of any child, with no distinguishing between the biological and non-biological parents. In fact, to make that distinction known, is seen as disrespectful and taboo. As such all the husbands in the marriage are referred to as father by any children that come from the marriage, with biological fathers often being a mystery and remaining unrecorded.
Parents, particularally the mother, are responsible for raising any children that come from the marriage, in charge of their education and day to day care giving.
Fathers, particularly the eldest husband, are more responsible for the public facing image of the family, including the children, and their careers are a major part of that. Because of this fathers traditionally do not have much to do with the day to day care of the children, and are focused on their future prospects.
Both the Mother and Fathers take part in the children’s future especially when it comes to career prospects and marriages.
Children
As stated earlier, all adults in a marriage are regarded as parents by any children from the marriage, with any distinction between biological and non-biological parents seen as disrespectful.
Children have a moral responsibility for all of their parents, regardless of biological relationship, and are morally obligated to take care of them when they are older. When the sons of a family get married, they will traditionally continue to live with their parents.
If a marriage results in more than two or three sons -the typical number of husbands in a marriage- the younger sons may be sent into a celibate monastic organisation or adopted out into another family who has no sons. This is a way for families to avoid having to split the inheritance and potential conflict stemming from some sons being married but not others.
Families with multiple daughters are considered very lucky due to the prestige that female children bring being more rare, as well as due to the practice of bride price which makes marrying off daughters quite profitable. Daughters will traditionally go live with their husbands’ family when they get married.
Grandparents
Paternal grandparents are often very involved in the raising of their grandkids due to families typically only having one daughter-in-law, who due to gender norms are saddled with most of the child rearing responsibility. Grandparents often will watch the grandkids, entertain them, or help them with homework, basically keeping them entertained and occupied when the parents are busy or need a break.
Maternal grandparents have less to do with their daughters’ children, mostly being involved as a part of the extended family and support group that can give backup.
Siblings
Siblings are some of the most important parts of a person’s support network, being morally obligated to back each other up in times of need. This is especially true for brothers who are expected to back up their sisters, who marry out of their family and support group.
Shulanites have a high chance of giving birth to twins, to the result that it is rare for a family to have no twin births. Twins are expected to be closer than other siblings, often being each other's closest companion and advisor.
Aunts & Uncles
Aunts and Uncles, on both sides of a child’s family, are often less involved in the lives of their nieces and nephews due most not living in the same household.
Married Aunts are typically only seen at special family gatherings as they typically live with their husbands’ family. Unmarried paternal aunts typically will still live with their birth family, but typically they will move out if they become married.
Paternal Uncles involved in a fraternal polandrous marriage, are referred to as Fathers by any children from that marriage, however the uncle term is used for any of their fathers’ brothers who are not involved in the marriage. These uncles are typically the youngest brothers of the fathers’ and were typically sent off to monastic institutions or adopted out of the family. These uncles typically do not live with their natal family and may only be seen at special family gatherings.
Maternal Uncles often live with their natal family -the maternal family of their sisters’ children- and are some of the most important maternal relatives that a child will have, often providing them and their mother backup should it be needed. Maternal Uncles can also live separate from their natal family due to being sent off to a monastery or adopted out.
Cousins
Paternal cousins are, for the most part, unheard of due to shulanite marriage structure. Maternal cousins on the other hand, are very common and are the main
Extended Family
Due to the Shulanite family structure being made in such a way that it rarely splits, extended family is not very numerous and typically only consists of one’s maternal relatives.
Maternal families historically were less involved in one's life -hence why they were seen more as extended family- but still gave a lot of support. Modernly, due to ease of travel and communication, the maternal family is more involved than it historically has been.
Table of Contents
Inheritance
Inheritance, in Shulanite law, follows agnatic seniority where the title or wealth is passed down from older brother to younger brother, until the line is depleted at which point the inheritance goes to the eldest son in the next generation.
Sons who are sent away into monastic orders or adopted out into another family are skipped over in the inheritance, and are sent away to thin the amount of inheritors possible in a generation. Due to this it is typically only the sons in a family who are in a fraternal marriage who are inheritors, and because they are all considered the fathers of any children from the marriage the inheritance is passed down without needing to be split.
A son of a family can request their split of the inheritance if they are dissatisfied, but this is frowned upon and often results in their being cast out of the family.
This inheritance structure is one of the leading reasons for fraternal polyandry being practiced in shulanite culture.
Family Leadership
Typically the eldest male in a family is considered the head of the family, they are in charge of the family wealth and making sure the inheritance remains as whole as possible. Because of this, they are often also in charge of any marriages in the family or the sending away of younger sons.
To get married or to ask for the inheritance must be brought up with the head of the family first or else they and the family can face social stigma.
Widows and Remarriage
Female Widowship is quite rare on Shulon due to their family structure, and oftentimes if a woman is fully widowed with all the husbands dying off she will be expected to remain a lifelong widow and stay with her marital family; this especially common when there are children involved. Traditionally, remarriage for widows was quite rare, and when it did happen the woman often got remarried to a brother or male relative of her late husbands'.
The husbands of both the first and the second marriages are considered fathers to any of the children resulting from the first marriage, with older children often taking on a bit more of a step-child role while still calling their step-fathers by official parent terms.
Male Widowship is much more common, and remarriage is almost always expected, especially if the husbands were young. Typically the widowed husbands of a woman will remarry together to a female relative -commonly a sister- of the late wife. Sometimes a widower will go into a monastic order, in which case another male relative of theirs will be brought in to replace them for the second marriage. Because of the Paternal surname system, it is important for a family to encourage the next generation of men into marriage or remarriage, until there are children who can carry on the family legacy.
The late wife of an earlier marriage and the second wife of the remarriage are both considered parents to the children, but the distinction between birth mother and step-mother is acknowledged and recorded with birth mother generally being considered more important.
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