The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1891-06-13
MEN LIVED LIKE BRUTES.
A PICTURE OF THE HoME-LiFR
OF PAST AGES.
Tho Native American, Before Civilization
stepped In to Bring New Ideas to
the Cn:ixrsn OF Nature,
Then Unadorned.


OF marriage is OF very recent growth,
comparatively. says noted arch@olo-
gist Men lived like brutes through
agss. But the care OF children de-
.Ilrsd upon tho women. and hence
they became recognized Us the head of
the primitive family. Here tho devel-
opment started. First We have the
genus or clan, then a group Of clans,
q phratry or brotherhood, and then a
number Of phratries or the tribe. A
man was never allowed to marry wo-
man Of his own clan. The phratry
was universal among all savages,
among the Greeks, Romans, and Teu-
tons, as we'll as the aboriginal inhabi-
tants OF America There was little
personal property. Real estate was
unknown. But with the gradual evo-
luton focks and herds became recog-
nized as property and still later tho
possession OF u wife or wives, as the
ability OF the male to provide for and
defend his household was increased. 1t
/ Is probable that the institution OF mar
rage had its origin in this way. In
aboriginal America the wife was always
| tdhtu lTOlu u ulHSTonb Oltiu. ITO iuih-
lily was not tho unit OF society, but the
clan.
There is an intimate connection OF
aboriginal American architecture with
the social lifa The manner OF house
building grew out Of the manner Of
life. but there was one underlying
principle in its adaptation to certain
mode Of communal living, from the
lowest tribes on the Columbia river to
the Iroquois and the Mexicans. The
long houses OF the Iroquois, 80 to 100
feet in length. built of poles, with raft
ers and connections Of withes covered
with shingles Of bark, were divided in
tho interior in compartments or stalls.
A common fireplace was provided for
each set OF four compartments, so that
house OF five fires accommodated 20
families. The supplies OF the common
household wers suspended from the
roof.
The mothers and children in these
habitations were OF the same clan; the
fathers belonged to different clans. A
system of woman's rights prevailed.
When a girl was married her husband
came to her clan and dwclt under the
rule of the women OF the household.
Woe betide him il he failed to provide.
He was speedily sent adrift. A matron
presided over every such household
and divided the food among the men,
bers. The official head of a clan, a
sort of civil officer who was obliged 70
be a member OF clan, was the
Sachem. A chief was generally select
ed to look after military matters, and
one chief was generally selected for
every so people.
The clan had the right to adept
strangers and name its members. The
clan always took the name OF some
animal as its totem, or rude her
aldic device. Among the Wyandottea
of the present day the council that
elects the Sachem is composed of four
fifths women and one-fifth men. Some
times, but these were exceptions to the
general rule, the clans organized di-
rectly into the tribe. The phratry
was an organization for social pur-
poses, the ball games, ETC., but as in
similar organizations among the
Greeks, Romans and Teutons, it con-
stituted court, and could exact pun
ishment for the murder OF the member
OF clan. A tribe was group OF
phratries with q similar language.
which might be made up of many cog
nate dialects 1t had its tribal name
and rites. A tribal council could
elect and depose it's sachems and chiefs.
The tribe was about as far as society
organization went among the aborig-
nal Americans. They were two no
table exceptions, the Iroquois and
Mexican confederacies.
The Iroquois league OF five tribes
had common language, and clans OF
the same name in different tribes.
They were brothers and sisters to one
another an acknowledgment Of con-
sanguinity being the only sound reason
among barbarians for political union.
Each tribe had its local self-govern-
ment. The confederacy had it's gener-
al council. which, however, could not
convene OF its own authority, but was
dependent upon any OF the tribal coun-
ellis.
Now the Mojaves and Tunis Of
Arizona and other tribes OF Mexico
and Central America were at least one
ethical period nearer civilization than
the Iroquois. Their culture OF maize,
and consequent ability to support
larger numbers OF people, as well az
their use OF adobe brick, and In Mex.
leo OF stone laid with adobe mortar,
may be advar Jed in support Of this
theory. The pueblos were communal
, villages, in some instances capable Of
sheltering 5000 people. The puebloi
. were remarkable structures. Most Of
! them were rectangular, facing on three
sides vast inner plaza or courtyard,
the inner wall being story In height,
with a series OF apartments rising BY
successive terraces to three, four and
even five stories.
!, Trees Can Inherit.