ABSTRACT
Smaller groups of Tio society were and are still organized around kinship relations. The principles underlying structures based on kinship can be best approached through an examination of the terminology of kinship. Three types of groupings based on kinship existed: the matrilineage ndzo, the bilateral kindred ibuuru, and the residential groups ula. The kindred, even though it was not corporate, was an important social group. Taken together the rituals for ikwii and okuu formed a necessary underpinning in terms of beliefs and knowledge, values and emotion which gave meaning to the kinship categories. There were three major patterns of behavior of kinship: to behave with respect, to joke, or to behave neutrally. Despite the terminology and its classificatory character, the Tio individual looked at the world of his kinsmen from himself outwards. In the last resort people probably adhered to the kinship system because of an elementary need for security as well as a need for society.
