The effect is mandatory. You'll lose 1 life even if you have only 1 life left.

The life loss isn't a payment. You'll get a token even if you had 0 life (and another effect is stopping you from losing the game).

While it appears only on cards that already have other card types, kindred is a card type and will be counted by effects that refer to the number of card types among cards in a zone.

Kindred is a card type that allows noncreature cards to have creature types. For example, Echoes of Eternity is an Eldrazi (although not a creature) while on the battlefield and an Eldrazi card (although not a creature card) in zones other than the battlefield.

This cards was originally printed with the "tribal" card type. That card type has been replaced with "kindred". This change does not affect the gameplay function of this card.