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How did adoption make Polynesian kinship systems more flexible?
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Genealogy
Genealogical tree of the Richard and Abigail Lippincott family in America, constructed and published by Charles Lippincott, 1880.
In Polynesian kinship systems, adoption increased flexibility by functioning as a mechanism to accrue additional parents for a child rather than replacing the childās biological parents.1
Because adoption allowed for the addition of new parental figures, children were able to move freely among various households and families. This practice was common among siblings and cousins, who frequently adopted one anotherās children, and grandparents, who sometimes adopted their own grandchildren. By facilitating these fluid connections, adoption complemented the bilateral models of descent often practiced in Polynesia, allowing for greater adaptability in social and family organization.1