Is it possible to solve it? An Aboriginal family puzzle

Hi guzzlers,

Today I’ve a logic puzzle according to the complex kinship rules obtained in Australian Aboriginal society. Aboriginal groups are split up into subgroups, called “skins.” Your skin is at birth, based on your parents’ skins, and it does not improvement in your health. The actual skin will determine certain social rules, just like who you marry.

The Warlpiri, who live northwest of Alice Springs, divide themselves into eight skins, good rules during the diagram below. Yes, it’s complicated! The skins are numbered 1 to eight. The horizontal rows indicate marriage correspondences, although the arrows point from mother to child. (Many of the marriages listed here are between males and females, and that we can assume no divorces or half-siblings or step children.).

So, when your skin is 1, you ought to marry someone with a skin of 5, and viceversa, since both these skins are on precisely the same horizontal line. When your skin is 2, you need to marry a 6, and vice versa.

Similarly, if you’re an female with skin 1, children might be skin 4. If you’re a female with skin 4, your kids will be skin 2, et cetera, following arrows around.

For skin 1, guys are Jakamarra, and females are Nakamarra. Likewise, what they are called on the other skins always get started with a J adult males, additionally, the J is replaced with an N to the women. (Except Jupurrula, which becomes Napurrula.) I am not earning any of the up, incidentally.

Now imagine one goes towards a Warlpiri village and speak with six people about their family relations. Based upon these responses, will you determine the woman name for each of the skins?

“I am a Jangala. My daughter is Nampijinpa.” –

“I am a Nakamarra. My brother’s son is Jupurrula.”

“I am a Nampijinpa. My mother’s grandfathers were Jungarrayi and Jupurrula.”

“I am a Napangardi. My husband’s sister’s husband’s father’s father’s mother was Napurrula.”

“I am a Napanangka. Several of my people are Napaljarri and Nangala and Nungarrayi. Oh, you want me to mention our family? Oops.”

“I am a Japanangka. My wife’s father’s mother’s brother’s wife’s father’s mother’s brother’s wife’s father’s mother’s brother’s wife’s father’s mother’s brother’s wife’s father’s mother’s brother’s wife’s father’s mother’s brother’s wife was Napurrula. I recognize my loved ones tree well.”

Even if you do today’s puzzle C in fact it is quite tricky C as a minimum you’ve learnt about Aboriginal kinship groups!

For mathematicians, extra points when you can inform me which dihedral group describes the relationship structure within the Warlpiri.

I’ll return at 5pm UK with all the answers.

Today’s puzzle was devised by Alan Chang, a maths PhD student along at the University of Chicago, and appeared during the 2013 American Computational Linguistics Olympiad. Alan got the concept while he did a class on Aboriginal languages when studying within the University of Melbourne.

PLEASE NO SPOILERS

(Hints are fine, as a discussion from the ideas behind the puzzle and related issues, but don’t write the solution.)

UPDATE: The most effective might be read here.

I set a puzzle here every 14 days using a Monday. I’m always around the look-out for nice puzzles. When you need to suggest one, message me.

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