A subsistence pattern distinguished by intensive gardening. Essentially small-scale farming, growing all manner of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and other plant products.
In societies that subsist on horticulture, there is a strong association with matrilineal families; daughters inherit the land from their mothers. The
men clear a patch of forest for a garden and the women take over. This is usually accomplished by slash-and-burn.
The most important
relationship in a horticultural society is usually the bond between brother and sister (as opposed to between
father and son in many farming societies); a woman marries and her husband is recognized as the
father of her children, husband and wife generally live separately and the main father figure for her children is their maternal uncle.
Among the societies that
practice horticulture are the Maroons of Suriname, the Mosuo and Naxi of
China, and numerous indigenous peoples in
Indonesia and the Americas, like the Iroquois, Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, and Zapotec. All of these nations are traditionally matrilineal.
