The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-09-11
ABORIGINAL GOVERNMENT.
Study ofthe Relations OF Sayagcs Tn
der Tribal Law.


To the ethnologist a savage Is forest
dweller IN common conception the saw
age is a brutal person, whose chlef de-
light is in taking scslps. Sometimes inc
sylvan man is cruel-out even civilized
men are sometimes cruel. Say&sery Is
status Of culture 20 the ethnologist. who
recognizes four such stages, or whlcb
savagcrv Is the lowest. In uioal
society people are grouped or regimented
in the bodies OF kindred. tribe
Is a group OF people composed OF clans;
clan is a group Of people having COM
mon name. Suppose that a tribe springs
from four persons, viz. brother ana 2
sister belonging 60 one clan and brother
and a sister belonging 10 another clan
and that each Of the men marries the
others sister. Let US call one OF the clans
wolf and the other eagle The WOLF
man marries the eagle-Woman, and me
eagle-man marries the wolf-won an. This
Is the first generation OF tribe COM
posed of two clans, the man and his vie
belonging to different clans. The four
persons belong TO two clans and con-
stitute two families. Let as suppose that
zach couple has four children, two boys
and two girls. They will belong 10 two
clans. The children OF the wolf mother
will belong 70 the wolf clan, and the
children OF the eagle mother 10 the eagle
clan. This is tho second generation.
Then four people Of the second generation
and two OF the first generation belong
10 the wolf clan, and four Of the second
generation and two of the FIRST genera
ton belong 90 the eagle clan. Thus we
see That clans do not correspond to what
in modern culture we call the family.
The husband and the wife belong 10 DIFF
ferent clans. and the children belong 70
the clan of the mother. The mother
not the father owns the children, and
the husband is but the guest Of his wife,
not the head Of the household
Suppose that each man Of the second
generation marries q woman OF tnat gem
Grafton who belongs 70 different clan'
and that each pair has four children,
two boys and two girls. These children
constitute the third generation. The chill
dren belong to the clan Of the mother
There are now three generations or peo-
pie in each clan. and every mother claims
her own children as members or her
clan. The head OF the family IS the mo-
Their: but the head OF the clan IS the
grandmothers brother. Always the eld-
or nan OF the clan IS the ruler OF the
clan. and the woman IS the family ruler
of her children. We may 90 on from the
hypothetical beginning of "a tribe through
successive generations, ana sui the Iu.eF
OF the clan viii be the elder man or the
clan and will govern. not his own chill
dren and their descendants, but his SIS
ter's children and their descendants. We
may. therefore. define q clan as group
OF kindred people whose kinshlp Is reck-
oned only through females.
The clan always has a name. which
is called its totem. and the object from
which It is named Is in Ike manner
called its totem. Thus. In the two clans
which We have considered. the wolf and
the eagle are respectively called the to-
tens OF the clan. The totem derives
great consideration IN savage society.
Il IS usually some beast bird or insect
or some important plant. such as the
corn or the tobacco; or II may be the
wind. the rain. the dawn or the sun
shine. The totem OF the clan Is con-
sidered 70 be the progenitor or proto-
type OF the clan. The people az the wolf
can claim 10 have descended from the
wolf the people OF the eagle clan from
the eagle. the people Of the Wind clan
from the wind and the people o. tho
sun clan from the sun. TIE totem IS
also the tuteer deity OF the clam