While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
North American tribes contained
(1) subdivisions of a
geographic or consanguineal character;
(2) social and governmental classes or
bodies, especially chiefs and councils, with particular powers and privileges;
and
(3) fraternities of a religious or semi-religious character, the last of
which are especially treated under ''secret societies.
Tribes may be divided broadly into those in which the organization was loose,
the subdivisions being families or bands and descent being counted prevailingly
in the male line, and those which were divided into clearly defined groups
called gentes or clans, which were strictly exogamic. Among the former may be
placed the Eskimo; the eastern branch of the northern Athapascans; the Cree,
Montagnais, Nascapee, Micmac, and Cheyenne, among the Algonquians; the northern
Caddoan tribes; the Kiowa; most of the Shoshonean tribes; the Apache, and nearly
all of the peoples of California, Oregon, Washington, south Texas, and south British
Columbia; among the latter the Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Heiltsuk, and western Athapascans; the Pueblos, Navaho, a few southern California tribes, and the majority
of tribes in the Atlantic and Gulf states.
Where clans exist the distinctive character of each is very strongly defined,
and a man can become a member only by birth, adoption, or transfer in infancy
from his mother's to his father's clan, or vice versa. Each clan generally
possessed some distinctive tutelary from which the majority of the persons
belonging to it derived their names, certain rights, carvings, and ceremonies in
common, and often the exclusive right to a tract of land.
Although the well-defined caste system of the north Pacific coast,
based on property and the institution of slavery, does not seem to
have had a parallel elsewhere north of Mexico except perhaps among the Natchez, bravery in war, wisdom
in council, oratorical, poetical, or artistic talents, real or supposed psychic powers in short, any variety of excellence whatever served in all Indian tribes
to give one prominence among his fellows, and it is not strange that popular
recognition of a man's ability sometimes reacted to the benefit of his
descendants. Although it was always a position of great consequence, leadership
in war was generally separate from and secondary to the civil chieftainship.
Civil leadership and ceremonial primacy were much more commonly combined. Among
the Pueblos all three are united, forming a theocracy. Councils of a democratic,
unconventional kind, in which wealthy persons or those of most use to the tribe
had the greatest influence, were universal where no special form of council was
established.
An Eskimo tribe consisted of those households that hunted or fished in the same
geographical region and wintered in one village, or in several villages not far
apart. Government was carried on by the heads of houses, and usually there was a
headman in the tribe whose word had weight in matters connected with hunting and
fishing. A class of helpers was composed of "bachelors without any relations,
cripples who were not able to provide for themselves, or men who had lost their
sledges and dogs" (Boas, Central Eskimo, 1888). A young man generally lived with
his wife's family, much under their control, until the death of his
parents-in-law. If he or his wife died meantime, their children remained with
her people. When a man had once established his household independently,
however, he was the head of it, and on his death his principal possessions went
to the eldest of his sons, born to him or adopted, who had not an independent
position. In so simple an organization as this we see the basis on which very
important structures were elsewhere built. Nelson claims to have found traces of
totemism among the Alaskan Eskimo, but it was probably imported from the Indians
to the south and does not appear to have taken deep root in the social life.
Among the more eastern Athapascan tribes the social organization is said to have
been of a similar loose, paternal type. The Paiute and some other Shoshonean
tribes consisted of bands, each governed by a chief, which occupied and took
their names from particular localities. There were also chiefs whose authority
extended, probably in a very indefinite form, over a number of others.
Throughout California, except in one small area, subdivisions were also local,
and descent was paternal, so far as it was distinguished at all. Hupa men, for
instance, usually resided throughout life in the town where they were born,
while the women went elsewhere to live with their husbands, the towns being in
practice chiefly exogamic, though there was no recognized requirement of
exogamy. A man more often married a woman from outside of his village than one
born there, only because the chances were that the majority of women in his own
village were his actual blood-relations. Headship among them depended on wealth,
and might be lost with it. Amount of property also determined headship over the
villages of an entire district when they united for war or for ceremonial
observances. The Mohave also reckoned descent through the father, and there are
indications of a nascent or decadent gentile system. Among the Hupa, Yurok,
Karok, and other tribes of northwest California slavery was a recognized
institution, though the number of slaves was small.
The coast people of Oregon and Washington were organized on the basis of village
communities similar to those of California, but slavery occupied a more
prominent position in the social fabric and its importance increased northward,
the institution extending as far, at least, as Copper River, Alaska (see
Slavery).
The Salish tribes of the interior of British Columbia consisted of many village
communities, for the greater part independent of one another. Civil, military,
and religious matters were each directed by different persons whose special
fitness had been recognized, and though the succession usually passed from
father to son, the actual selection rested with the people. In the selection of
a civil chief, property was the determining factor. The few totemic devices or
crests found in this region were inherited by all of the original owner's blood
relations in both the male and female lines. A chief, like the noted Seattle,
was sometimes found ruling over his mother's instead of his father's people, and
a man was often known by a different name in his mother's town from that he bore
in his father's.
Freemen among the coast Salish were divided into nobles, middle-class men, and
servants. Below the last were the slaves captured in war. Servants were either
poor relations of the better classes or members of formerly independent
divisions reduced by war or otherwise to a servile condition, yet not actually
enslaved. A chief might he displaced, but his office was usually hereditary from
father to son, and it carried with it leadership in ceremonial matters, though
not in war. According to Hill-Tout many of the larger Salish tribes recognized
the paramount authority of one among the various local chiefs.
The Nootka tribes of the west coast of Vancouver Island were subdivided into septs,
or gentes, each possessing a single crest and ruled by a head chief. A council
formed of these head chiefs determined the action of the tribe, and the chief of
the sept that was highest in rank exercised some influence over the rest.
Membership in the septs did not involve marriage prohibition, which was confined
to real blood relationship, marriage within the sept being otherwise
permissible. Chieftainships are said to have descended from father to son, but
when persons of different septs married, the children belonged to the one higher
in rank.
Although related by language to the Nootka, the Kwakiutl system differed
considerably. Each division composing a Kwakiutl tribe was thought to be
descended from an ancestor who had set up his house at a definite place, and it
is probable that these divisions were originally local groups like those of the
Salish, though some of them have now spread among several different tribes.
Descent appears originally to have been paternal, but a man might obtain new
crests and membership in a different gens for his son by marrying the daughter
of another man who had them. This, however, may have been due to the influence
of the more northern tribes having maternal descent.
The tribes possessing a well-defined clan system are divided into three
groups the North Pacific, Southwestern, and Eastern. All of the first group had
two or more phratries, each named after some animal or bird and subdivided into
a number of clans ruled over by chiefs. Unless there was a more powerful clan at
the same place a family chief was also chief of his town. In some cases a clan
was divided, having chiefs in different towns. The lowest unit was the house
group, consisting of a family in the European sense, including remote relations
together with servants and slaves over which ruled the house chief or
householder. As among the tribes farther south, there were also low-caste groups,
which formed a large part of the servant class. The principal power rested with
the town chiefs, but depended on their ability to maintain their superiority in
riches. A house chief might displace a family chief, and the chief of a
different family could supplant a town chief.
The Pueblos had a large number of small clans, organized on a theocratic basis
with special rituals and special leaders in the rituals, and in some pueblos, as
Zuñi, Laguna, Acoma, and the Hopi
villages, there existed also phratries. In some towns, at least, a man was not
permitted to marry into either the clan of his mother or that of his father, but
since the advent of missionaries, inconsequence of the reduction in numbers
which has taken place and as a result of their teachings, this law has been
often set aside in recent years.
The Zuñi are divided into a large number of clans, and many offices are always
filled with reference to these. A boy or a girl is regarded as belonging to the
mother's clan, but is spoken of as a "child" of the father's clan, and marriage
into either of these is practically prohibited. Land, along with most other
kinds of property, is owned by individuals and passes to the daughters in
preference to the sons. The government of the entire state is hierarchic, the
supreme authority resting in a body consisting of the rain priests of the six
cardinal points north, south, east, west, zenith, and nadir-the priestess of fecundity,
assistant of the priest of the north, and the two head war priests. The priest
of the north is first among these and may be considered the high priest of
Zuñi. Each
of the male priests above enumerated, except the priest of the zenith, has
assistants who usually succeed him and one another in regular order, but whose
original appointment as assistants rests practically with their principal,
although ostensibly he was appointed by the body of nine. The civil governor,
his lieutenant, and the four assistants of each are nominated by the six rain
priests and two war priests, though outside pressure may be brought to bear for
or against this or that candidate. Although the governor attends to most civil
matters, the appointing body acts as a final court of appeal in matters of
extreme importance. His term of office is for one year, but he is eligible for
reelection. War expeditions were formerly in the hands of the war priesthood
under control of the two priests just referred to (Stevenson).
Sia is governed by two priests, with their vicars or intended successors. One
priest has control over civil matters, the other over war and hunting. These
offices are elective, the choice being limited to members of certain clans.
Although the determinations reached by the two head priests and their vicars are
referred to the heads of the ceremonial societies for confirmation, this is a
mere matter of courtesy. They hold their positions for life and have the
appointment of the subordinate officers who carry out their instructions. In
Taos and a few other pueblos descent was patrilineal.
Like their neighbors, the Pueblos, the Navaho were divided into numerous clans,
with female descent and prohibition of marriage within the mother's and the
father's clans. In addition there were several sets of clans which could not
intermarry and thus constituted phratries analogous to those of Eastern tribes.
Matthews considers it probable that the Navaho clans had a local rather than a
totemic origin, and this may be true of most of the Pueblo clans.
Among the Plains Indians the Omaha had a highly organized social system. The
tribe was divided into 10 gentes called "villages," with descent through the
father, each of which had one head chief. Seven of these chiefs constituted a
sort of oligarchy, and two of them, representing the greatest amount of wealth,
exercised superior authority. The functions of these chiefs were entirely civil;
they never headed war parties. Below them were two orders of warriors, from the
higher of which men were selected to act as policemen during the buffalo hunt.
Under all were those who had not yet attained to eminence. During the buffalo
hunts and great ceremonials the tribe encamped in a regular circle with one
opening, like most other Plains tribes. In it each gens and even each family had
its definite position. The two halves of this circle, composed of five clans
each, had different names, but they do not appear to have corresponded to the
phratries of more eastern Indians. A man was not permitted to marry into the
gens of his father, and marriage into that of his mother was rare and strongly
disapproved. Other Plains tribes of the Siouan family probably were organized in
much the same manner and reckoned descent similarly. The Dakota are
traditionally reputed to have been divided at one time into seven council fires,
each of which was divided into two or three major and a multitude of minor
bands. Whatever their original condition may have been, their organization is
now much looser than that of the Omaha.
Most of the southern Caddoan tribes reckoned descent through the mother. The
Caddo proper, who came from a timber country, had 10 clans with maternal
descent.
The social organization of the western and northern Algonquian tribes is not
well known. The Siksika have numerous subdivisions which have been called
gentes; they are characterized by descent through the father, but would appear
to be more truly local groups. Each had originally its own chief, and the
council composed of these chefs selected the chief of the tribe, their choice
being governed rather by the character of the person than by his descent. The
head chief's authority was
made effective largely through the voluntary cooperation of several societies.
The Chippewa, Potawatomi, Menominee, Miami, Shawnee, and Abnaki in historic
times have had gentes, with paternal descent, which Morgan believed had
developed from a maternal stage owing to white influence; but this theory must
be viewed with caution, inasmuch as there never has been a question as to the
form of descent among the Delaware, who were subjected to white influences at
an earlier date than most of those supposed to have changed.
The Delaware consisted of three sub-tribes, called by geographic names from the
regions occupied by them, each characterized by a special totem. Over each
presided a head chief, said to have been elected by the heads of the other
divisions; but more probably they merely inducted him into office. The chief of
the Unami is said to have been ordinarily first in dignity. These chiefs were
assisted by councils, composed of heads of wealthy families and prominent
warriors; but their authority was almost entirely confined to civil matters.
"War was declared by the people at the instigation of the 'war captains,'
valorous braves of any birth or family who had distinguished themselves by
personal prowess, and especially by good success in forays against the enemy." (Brinton,
The Lenape, 1885). According to Morgan, each of the three tribes was subdivided
into twelve groups, probably consanguineous, though it is uncertain whether they
were geographic or ;totemic.
The towns consisting the Creek confederacy were composed of members of various
clans, and each was ruled by a civil chief, or miko, assisted by two councils.
The chief was elected for life from a particular clan, and appointed the head
war chief of the town. The town council advised the mike on questions of
intertribal policy as well as the appointment of minor officers, while the
council of old men concerned itself with internal questions, such as those
connected with the raising of corn. Below these ranked the "beloved men," and
then the common people. Subordinate to the "great warrior" were two grades of
war leaders. Members of the same clan are said to have occupied houses adjoining
one another, and in the larger towns all these surrounded a central square, in
which were the houses of the chiefs, the council houses, and the playground. It
is known that some clans could not intermarry, and thus constituted phratries.
The part which clans and phratries played in the composition of the councils,
the appointment of officers, and the order of business has not been determined.
The confederacy was so loosely constituted that decisions for war or peace
rested directly with the individual towns. In cases where numbers of towns
decided to go to war together they appointed a head war chief for themselves.
The Natchez were divided into two castes, called by the French nobility and
puants. The first was again divided into suns, nobles, and honored men, the
individuals of each of which were compelled to marry among the puants. Children
of the women of the three noble classes belonged to the class of the mother, and
children of the honored men by puant women also belonged to their mother's
class. Children of puant women and sun men, however, belonged to the middle
class of nobles, while children of puant women and noble men belonged to the
honored. By the exhibition of superior qualities a man could raise himself from
the puants as far at least as the middle class of nobles. The highest chief, or
Great Sun, derived his power from the mythic lawgiver of the nation. Thus the
state constituted a theocracy resembling that of the Quichua of Peru.
The most advanced social organization north of the Pueblo country was probably
that developed by the Iroquois confederated tribes. Each tribe consisted of two
or more phratries, which in turn embraced one or more clans, named after various
animals or objects, while each clan consisted of one or more kinship groups
called ohwachira. When the tribes combined to form the confederacy called the
Five Nations they were arranged in three phratries, of two, two, and one tribes
respectively. There were originally 48 hereditary chieftainships in the five
tribes, and subsequently the number was raised to 50. Each chieftainship was
held by some one ohwachira, and the selection of a person to fill it devolved on
the child-bearing women of the clan to which it belonged, more particularly
those of the ohwachira, which owned it. The selection had to be confirmed
afterward by the tribal and league councils successively. With each chief a
vice-chief was elected, who sat in the tribal council with the chief proper, and
also acted as a leader in time of war, but the chief alone sat in the grand
council of the confederacy. See Clan and Gens;
Government.
Consult Boas, Dorsey, Murdoch, Nelson, Powell, Mrs Stevenson, and Turner in
Reports B. A. E.; Boas (1) in Reports Brit. A. A. S. from 1889; (2) in Rep. Nat.
Mus. 1895, 1897; Brinton, Lenape and their Legends, 1885; Cushing in Pop. Sci.
Mo., 1., June 1882; Dixon in Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., xvii, pt. 3, 1905
Gatschet, Creek Migration Legend,
1884, 1888; Goddard, Life and Culture of the Hupa, Univ. Cal. Pub., 1, 1903;
Grinnell, Blackfoot Lodge Tales, 1892; Krause, Tlinkit Ind., 1885; Kroeber (1)
in Am. Anthr., iv, no. 2, 1902, (2) in Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., xviii, pt. 1,
1902; Loskiel, Hist. Missions United Brethren, 1794; Matthews, Navaho Legends,
1897; Morgan, Ancient Society, 1877; Morice in Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., x, 1905;
Powell and Ingalls, Rep. regarding the Indians of Utah, 1874; Teit in Mem. Am.
Mus. Nat. Hist., it, no. 4, 1900.
