aunting

The aunting behavior in a captive group of 22 squirrel monkeys containing three infants was done in terms of the age/sex classification of those animals involved. The time course of the aunting phenomena and the type and intensity of the interactions between the mothers and the aunts were recorded.

1978, Susan M. Hunt, Katy M. Gamache, Joan S. Lockard, “Babysitting behavior by age/sex classification in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus)”, in Primates, volume 19, page 162

I found that aunting, or the care and nurture of children by aunts and great-aunts, is gendered and invisible work that, at the most basic level, salvages children’s lives.

2006, Regina Louise Davis-Sowers, “Salvaging Children's Lives: Understanding the Experiences of Black Aunts Who Serve as Kinship Care Providers within Black Families.”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 18 Sep 2015

Many of the strong connections with aunts exist because this role is more negotiable, flexible, and adaptable than parenting, Sotirin says. And aunts don’t necessarily have to be related, either, hence the new verb, aunting, a set of practices that supports personal, familial and community bonds through material, emotional, and symbolic means.

2010, Laura Ellingson, Patty Sotirin, Aunting: Cultural Practices that Sustain Family and Community Life