Ojibwa understanding of kinship is complex, taking into account of not only the immediate family but also the extended family. It is considered a modified Bifurcate merging (Iroquois) kinship system. Consequently, Ojibwa would speak of not only about grandfather ("nimishoomis") and grandmother ("nookomis"), father ("noos") and mother ("ningashi"), and son ("ningozis") and daughter ("nindaanis"), but also would speak of elder brother ("nisayenh"), younger sibling ("nishiimenh"), cross-uncle ("nizhishenh"), parallel-aunt ("ninooshenh"), male sibling of same gender ("niikaanis"), female sibling of same gender ("niidigikoonh") and sibling of opposite gender ("nindawemaa"), and cross-cousin of the opposite gender ("niinimoshenh"), to name only a few.