The Role Of Family Structure In Native American Culture

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Most native american families are patriarchal. This was true for CB’s family growing up as well. He said that his father was in charge of most decisions that were made but he did consult with his mother before finalizing them. His household that he lives in now is more balanced between the two or even slightly matriarchal. CB’s wife likes to take charge and make decisions while CB is a more relaxed person that worries about problems as they come. CB has five children and when they were growing up they were all expected to do the same chores as one another no matter what their gender was. This is contrary to the standard Native American way of life where the women would take care of the children and do the cooking while the men would hunt and fight other tribes (Dayer-Berenson, …show more content…

Politically he explained that just like the rest of the American culture he votes and keeps up with the elections. As a child though, he remembers the chief of his tribe having a very important role and he was a highly respected man. Just as the U.S. presidential candidates, there are most always males running for chief especially in the Ojibwe tribes. There are two common types of family structure in the Native American culture, they are nuclear and extended family (Dayer-Berenson, 2014). CB explained that his family when he was growing up was extended which meant that his grandparents and aunts and uncles were living with him. This is very common among the Ojibwe people. Now that CB is married and had children of his own he explained his household as nuclear because it was just him, his wife, and their

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