Note 53 — SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS (continued 9)

The words “nephew” and “uncle” in story-telling do not always denote real kinship or relationship by affinity or consanguinity, but rather a male person living in the same neighborhood with another who is “uncle” or “nephew” according to relative age. The neighborhood usually includes all accessible territory. This statement is true of Iroquoian reciters and, perhaps, others.