Sororate marriage is a marriage custom in which a husband marries or takes as partner his wife's sister, typically after his wife's death or if she has proven infertile. Anthropologists read the custom as a way of preserving the alliance and the marriage contract already established between the two families rather than dissolving it. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Descent RuleSourced to the subject's own accountA marriage rule rather than a descent rule: a husband marries or forms a union with his wife's sister, usually after his wife's death or if she has proven infertile; the fraternal equivalent is levirate marriage. 1 Typical RegionSourced to the subject's own accountAlso documented among the Sioux (Lakota) and some Western Mono tribes of California, and in Bhutan, where the father of the current king was married to four sisters at once, and among the Swazi people. 1 Typical RegionSourced to the subject's own accountDocumented among the Inuit of northern Alaska, Canada and Greenland, and among the Chiricahua group of the Athabaskan-speaking Western Apache. 1 Descent Rule
Descent Rule (category)Sourced to the subject's own account Connections
Held Differently
Paired customs for replacing a deceased or unavailable spouse with their sibling: sororate replaces a wife with her sister, levirate replaces a husband with his brother.
In Rule Category
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Sororate Marriage
WikipediaSororate marriage, lead paragraph
Sororate marriage is a type of marriage in which a husband marries or engages in sexual relations with his wife's sister, usually after the death of his wife or if his wife has proven infertile.
Sororate marriage, third paragraph
The Inuit (formerly known as Eskimos) of northern Alaska, Canada and Greenland follow or followed this custom.
Introductory section
Sororate marriage is practiced by the Sioux (Lakota) tribes, and some Western Mono tribes in California, such as the Wuksachi or Waksachi.
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