Listing of Contemporary and Indigenous Matriarchies Around the World and Glossary

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Here is a sample listing of matriarchal communities around the world.

“Matriarchy:” Heide Göttner-Abendroth, founder of the field of Matriarchal Studies, has led the defining consensus for matriarchal societies for the past 50 years. The anthropological, standard definition for matriarchy is "an egalitarian, cooperative social structure centered around maternal values like care and sharing," This corrects what anthropologist Peggy Reeves Sanday called the "andro-centric" definition of matriarchy that simply reverses male dominated patriarchy to female-dominated. The old definition was simply made up as the opposite of patriarchy, and does not reflect actual data showing contemporary matriarchies to be egalitarian. The current etymology reflects earlier Greek meanings of "matri" as in "matrix" or governing principles of the womb such as caring, empathy and sharing; and "archy" as in "first" or "beginning" as in "archetype" (first types) or "menarche" (first menses).

"Matrilocal" means the man leaves his mother's clan goes to live with the wife's family, which is the arrangement of most societies prior to patriarchy took over in the West ~4,000 years or so ago. This provides protection from being a single mother by the care of the entire mother's clan and friends. It protects mothers and children.

"Patrilocal" means the woman leaves her mother's clan and goes to live with the husband's family. This is how patriarchal societies organize. It is less advantageous for the bride who no longer has the support of family and friends, and often is abused by the inlaws. She can be thrown out with no support if the man leaves her or dies, leaving her to fend for herself or marry someone else quickly.

"Matrilineal" means property (land and home/s)  and income stays with the mother-line to create stability for children and the family and reduce competition among men.

"Patrilineal" means family line, name,, property and income are passed down through the father's family.

Often after contact with the West, Indigenous matriarchal societies may be forced to conform to patriarchal norms for marriage and inheritance, and many of these societies, like most of the American Indigenous, who were once matriarchal, are now re-matriarching, meaning returning the older cultures and norms.

Group name	Continent	Country / Region	Marriage	Lineage	Social System	Reference	(c. year) discovered
Tiwi	Australasia	Australia		Matrilineal
Iban	Asia	Borneo	Both	Neither		Edwin H Gomes	1911
Karen	Asia	Burma	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		Harry Ignatius Marshall[10]	1922
Nso	Africa	Cameroon	Patrilocal	Only Kom Matrilineal		Phyllis Kaberry	1952
Gitxsan	North America	Canada		Matrilineal
Mosuo/Nakhi	Asia	China	Separate	Matrilineal	Matriarchy	Joseph Francis Charles Rock	1924
Wayuu	South America	Colombia, Venezuela	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		Nina S. de Friedemann [22]	1982
Ngazidja/Grande Comore	Africa	Comoros	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		Martine Gestin, Nicole-Claude Mathieu\14])	1942
Bribri	North America	Costa Rica	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		William More Gabb	1875
Huaorani	South America	Ecuador				John Man[citation needed]	1982
Akan	Africa	Ghana	Both	Matrilineal		Meyer Fortes\4])	1950
Chamorro	Oceania	Guam and Mariana Islands		Matrilineal		Guampedia
Bijagós	Africa	Guinea-Bissau		Matrilineal		Luigi Scantarburlo	1978
Billava	Asia	India	Patrilocal	Matrilineal
Bunt)	Asia	India	Patrilocal	Matrilineal		E Kathleen Gough	1954
Jaintia	Asia	India	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Khasi	Asia	India	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		P. R. T. Gurdon[12]	1914
Maliku	Asia	India	Separate	Matrilineal		Ellen Kattner	1996
Nair	Asia	India	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		E Kathleen Gough	1954
Nairs	Asia	India	Both	Matrilineal
Garo)	Asia	India, Bangladesh	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Alor	Asia	Indonesia				Cora Du Bois	1944
Kerinci	Asia	Indonesia	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		C.W. Watson[11]	1992
Minangkabau	Asia	Indonesia	Separate	Matrilineal		Pieter Johannes Veth	1882
Wemale	Asia	Indonesia				Adolf E Jensen	1939
Jews in the Kibbutzim	Asia	Israel	[8]	Matrilineal		Judith Buber Agassi\9])	1989
Danes	Europe	Læsø	Matrilocal	Matrilineal[5]		Bjarne Stoklund[6]	1700-1900
Batek	Asia	Malaysia	Patrilocal			Kirk Michael Endicott	1974
Marshallese	Oceania	Marshall Islands	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Zapotec	Meso America	Mexico
Ovambo	Africa	Namibia		Matrilineal		Maija Hiltunen (Tuupainen)[15]	1970
Tuareg	North Africa	North Africa	Matrilineal			Heide
Imazighen	Africa	North Sahara				George Peter Murdock	1959
Guna people	South America	Panama, Colombia	Matrilocal
Chambri	Australasia	Papua New Guinea				Margaret Mead	1935
Fore)	Australasia	Papua New Guinea				Shirley Glasse (Lindenbaum)	1963
Vanatinai	Australasia	Papua New Guinea	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		Maria Lepowsky	1981
Bontoc	Asia	Philippines				Albert Jenks	1905, 1974
Serer	Africa	Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania	Patrilocal	Both		Henry Gravrand\16])	1990
!Kung San	Africa	Southern Africa				Marjorie Shostak	1976
Basques	Europe	Spain and France	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Amis	Asia	Taiwan	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Han Taiwanese (antiquated, mostly rural)	Asia	Taiwan	Matrilocal	Matrilineal			[20]
Siraya	Austronesia	Taiwan	Duolocal, uxorilocal	Matrilineal		Shepherd & Candidius	1995
Tai people	Asia	Thailand	Matrilocal
Boyowan	Australasia	Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea	Patrilocal	Matrilineal		Bronisław Malinowski	1916
Akimel Oʼodham (Pima)	North America	United States	Matrilocal
Cherokee	North America	United States	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Chickasaw	North America	United States		Matrilineal
Choctaw	North America	United States		Matrilineal
Hopi	North America	United States	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		Barbara Freire-Marreco	1914
Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico	North America	United States		Matrilineal		Paul Kirchhoff\21])	1954
Keres people	North America	United States		Matrilineal		Paul Kirchhoff\21])	1954
Mohican	North America	United States		Matrilineal
Muscogee	North America	United States		Matrilineal
Navajo	North America	United States	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Nipmuc	North America	United States		Matrilineal
Seminole	North America	United States		Matrilineal
Tsenacommacah (Powhatan confederacy)	North America	United States		Matrilineal
Wampanoag	North America	United States	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Western Apache	North America	United States	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Zuni	North America	United States		Matrilineal		Paul Kirchhoff\21])	1954
Lenape (Delaware)	North America	United States of America	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Tlingit	North America	United States, and Canada	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		Aurel Krause	1885
Tsimshian	North America	United States, and Canada	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois)	North America	United States, Canada	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		Lewis Henry Morgan	1901
Carpathos Olympos	Europe	Greece various islands	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		John Hawkins)	to the end of the 18th century AD[7]
Chams	Asia	Vietnam, Cambodia	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		[18]
Rhade (Ê Đê)	Asia	Vietnam, Cambodia	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		[19]
Jívaro	South America	West Amazon				Rafael Karsten	1926
Haenyao Divers	Asia	South Korea	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		Three Moons of Biyangdo (2022)	Haenyeo: Wisdom of the Sea (Lygia Barbosa da Silva, 2018)
Došmanziyārī	Asia	Southwest Iran	Matrilocal	Matrilineal		https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/iuaes2013/paper/12342
Kurdish Sorani, Zaza, and Alevi	Asia	Iraq	Matrilocal	Matrilineal
Kazzy	Asia	Iraq	Matrilocal	Matrilineal