The Washington times., 1901-09-08
TRIBAL LAWS OF INDIANS.
Codes Established by Custom
Among tie Red Men Long Ago.
Results Of Investigation by the Gov
crnmcnt bureau OF EthnoloEy-
Prof. w NcGce Describes Re
Iirious Tendencies of AboriGines.

crnmcnt Bureau OF EthnoIoEy-
Prof. w J NcGce Describes Re
Iigious Tendencies of Aborigines.
The researches of the Bureau of Eth
nology have revealed that the Indians
of this country are subservient to their
own system of tribal laws. which are
said to be nota bly, fair, comprehensive.
and adequate In the absence of writ
! ing" said Prof. w McGee, of the
bureau. a day or two ago, there are
no statutes, yet through the intricate
system of prescIiptorial association the
laws are perpetuated almost as COM
pletely as, and inculcated much more
generally than. the statutes of civilized
peoples. In nearly all tribes the code
has been crystallized in the tribal or
ganiZa ton, in the names of individuals
and groups, in kinship and marital re
lations in form of salutation. in the
position of individuals around the
campfire and of camps in the group.
in the points of the compass, in colors,
| in symbols on arrow shaft, or garment,
or habitation, and in many other ways.
When this Bureau of Ethnology was
instituted" continued Prof MCGEE,
aboriginal law was found to form
fruitful field for research, and much
information has been collected. on
comparing the facts discovered among
| many tribes, il has been aScertained
that the legal system of the Indians,
while varying from place to place and
| from stage to stage in degree of de-
velopment, and while often singularly
l.ln -,
on a simple and definite basis, the pri-
| mary purposes of all Indian law being
TO prevent or settle dispute and thus
! to promote the general peace and well
| fare.
In most tribes the laws relating to
marriage are strict and are rigidly en-
! forced; and while the regulations vary,
| il is a generally observed law that a
man may not marry in his own clan,
but must marry in his own tribe, when
the marriage is commonly arranged by
! the council.
| 1T is found that the regulations con-
corning marriage in the different tribes
| tend toward complexity, and that vari-
| Gus devices are adopted to prevent
them from becoming unduly onerous
| and inimical to tribal welfare. Thus, a
| prohibited marriage may be effected
| through elopement, and, If the elopers
are able to avoid vengeance for stated
period, the offence is condoned, and the
couple eventually joins the proper clan
or yens.
In some cases provision is made for
settling rival claims to the hand of
woman by wager of battle; and in some
cases there are regulations relating to
marriage by capture, in which the or
dinary prohibition is suspended.
"A result of the researches relating
to marriage among the Indians is the
discovery that the blending of clans,
the union of gentes, the confederation
of tribes, and in general the combina
ton and dicmotic development of the
people were brought about through in
termarriage, partly spontaneous, part
ly regulated by common law, and
sometimes adopted by leaders to termi-
nate intertribal strife.
"Researches into TIE religion and
philosophy OF the Indians show that the
distinction between opinions and be-
liefs is vague and does not agree with
that found among cultured peoples 1t
has been asceriained that the Indian
philosophy and belief are fundamental
ly mystical. Among many tribes OBJ
jects are vaguely supposed to have
mysterious doubles in a vague ideal
counterpart of the actual world, and
the unknown is invested with shadowy
and illimitable potency; and all of the
Indians so far investigated have been
found to be mystics
The -pervading mystery of In
dian belief is hardly susceptible of def
mite translation into civilized language.
Several stages in the development of
the primitive belief have been discover
ed and subjected to comparative study,
chiefly by Major Powell, the Chief of
the Bureau, and light has been thrown
on the natural history of sophiology.
the earliest clearly defined stage Is that
In which mysterious potencies are i'm
puted TO all objects, inanimate and
animate; this has been called hecasto-
theism. In the second definite stage
| the mysterious potency is limited gen
| orally to animate forms, though some
times extending to plants and rarely
to inorganic things; this has been call
| ed zootheism
Most of the tribes were in the higher
of these stages, and their belief was
bound up with every day conduct and
social organization in curious fashion.
One expression of the belief was found
| in the clan nomencla ture: nearly ey
| cry clan or gems bore the name of an
animal tuteIary, and a picture of. or
| conventional symbol representing this
! animal being used as a clan totem.
Some of the tribes were found to
! have advanced partly into the third
stage of belief, in which the forces Of
| nature are personified or deified; this
| Is termed physitheism. Contrary to a
popular notion originating in the Sc
cretiYeness and shrewdness of the In
dians with respect to their matters of
religious belief, it has been found that
none of the native peoples thus far
studied with care have advanced To the
stage OF spiritual concepts or psyche
| thesm, as il is called. With the quail
fcations and limitations thus implied,
all of the American tribes have been
| found to be polytheistic.
The beliefs of the Indians are crys-
| talliZed in symbols and ceremonials
which are often highly elaborate. The
| simpler symbols OF fetiches, usually
represent Zoic deities; these are adored
| through the symbols which although
| held to be sacred, are not in themselves
objects of worship. Commonly the