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 Zuņi, 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 Zuņi 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 Zuņi. 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.
Handbook of American Indians, Frederick W. Hodge,1906
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