Recent anthropological research has found that there is a tendancy for Inuit to emphasize kinship on the father's side. There are groups who are strictly bilateral tracing kinship equally from both parents. However, there are more groups that emphasize the father's side. As well, there was a trend toward patrilocal residence following marriage. Kinship groups that consist of a father and mother and their married sons or groups of brothers are commonly found within households.

The most important bond was that between elderly fathers and adult sons. Weaker ties existed between married brothers and "partnerships".

Kinship charts:

"These are related people who may go away but come back and then share food, help each other, and stay together." This was the ilagiit nangminariit or "own relatives in proper".

The bilateral kinship system tends to provide the Inuit with a highly flexible social structure. It is not surprising to find a great deal of variation in how it is applied. The trend toward patrilineal kinship relationships probably stems from the benefits of having a male oriented cooperative group that remains relatively stable over time. It is more advantageous to have a group of men who live permanently in one area during their lives since they will know and understand their environment and resources.

Often it is difficult to understand how kinship terminology and the social relationships that are defined by kin terms can be adaptive, but the following is designed as an example. Inuit groups living on the "edge" require the splitting or aggregating and dependence upon a flexible set of ties to other bands or groups that one may come in contact with in times of need.

Assume that a man goes to live in or near the household of his new bride and hunts with his father-in-law for a year or more. When the first baby is born, he and his new family will return to his own family to live out his life. During the time he lives with his father-in-law's camp, his is ill-at-east and subordinate to his in-laws.