Evening star., 1936-01-05
INHERITANCE TAX
DECLARED ANCIENT
Scientist Finds SembIance
to System Was Practiced
by FIathead Indians.
BY a STAFF Correspondent of The Star.

BY STAFF Correspondent of The Star.
ST. LOUIS, Mo-. January 4.-Con-
nscatory inheritance and income taxes
are not new in the world.
Far sitter levies than the white
man has been able to devise have been
in force for centuries in the curious
combination of capitalism and social
ism OF the Flathead Indians of Mon
tana. according to a paper presented
by Prof. H. H. Turney-High of Mon
,tana State University before anthro-
biologists here yesterday.
An individual, he said. might be-
come quite wealthy in material goods,
but as soon as there was an accumu-
lation of capital the tribe held
gift dance" This might be COM
pared to a modern community chest
drive. According to the custom Of
the tribe, men and women strove to
outdo each other in making valuable
gifts. To win" in this dance was
great honor, even though it bankrupt
q person.
OiCCtCu WIN oSdip DdhtCs
Most of the wealth was gained from
successful war parties. But when the
men returned from such foray the
women greeted them with a scalp
dance. The braves were required to
make expensive gifts to all the woman
participants or be shamed by an all
night "chivari." This was taxing
income at its source In addition, no
honorable man could be refused
loan upon request, although profess
sional moochers were held in low
esteem and could be turned down
without loss of face.
But the most effective way of re-
distributing wealth was the Inherit
ance tax-the so-called feast of the
dead After the funeral all the pos
sessions of the dead man are placed
in pile while the entire tribe gathers
round. An article is held up. Every
body groans or shrieks Then the
master of ceremonies bestoWS the
article on a guest-perhaps the one
who has shrieked loudest.
Thus the distribution continues un-
til there is nothing left anybody is
willing to shrek for. A large proper
tion of the property of the dead. Prof
Turney High said. goes in this way.
If the dead man has beer very wealthy
his relatives place good deal of their
property on the pile. in order to me- Ike
his funeral an event of great sig
nificance. Any property left was in
herited strictly in the female line.
"Share-the- Wealth" Scheme.
The Flatheads, DR.. Turney- High
said. seemed to have made a real
success of a "share-the- wealth
scheme without ever reducing it to for
NAL law.
The probability of spread of prim-
tive hunters over the eastern half of
North America while extinct bi-on,
musk OK and mammoth still we're ex-
tant was stressed before the anthro-
biologists today by Dr. Frank H. H.
Roberts of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton.
DR.. Roberts two years ago uncov-
SiSA SAAS AAAOSV A4OO1bAO ONNOpoGlOLl OltC
Of these people in Northeastern Colo
rado, and there have been scattered
finds through the Eastern Rockies.
But, he said, there is increasing evi-
dence this culture complex, generally
known as folsom" should be con-
sidered only as one aspect of a basic,
widespread, early hunting pattern
which extended across the eastern half
of the continent"
Although anthropologists generally
agree, he said. that the finds belong
to the earliest phase of aboriginal cul-
ture yet uncovered in America, the
presence of the bones of extinct ami
mails does not necessarily indicate any
great age. The ice age animals may
have extended into a post-glacial Pc
riod.