222 swanton: institutional marriage 



has to be determined in some definite manner. Conceivably he 

 might have rights of membership in two clans at the same time, 

 or he might belong to either in accordance with his own choice, 

 and we do indeed find just this condition among some of the 

 Sahsh tribes of British Columbia, notably the Lillooet. It is, 

 however, evident that such an arrangement would present cer- 

 tain practical difficulties. In the first place, it would be un- 

 stable and hkely to disintegrate or to change into something 

 else. Secondly, it would be difficult to preserve a balance 

 between the different groups, and we know that such groups 

 were usually jealous of losses. For this and probably other 

 reasons it came about that in almost all tribes with clans the 

 clanship of the child was determined at birth either into the 

 clan of the father or that of the mother. In the former case a 

 man considered his father's clansmen to all intents and purposes 

 as his family, and in the alternative case he so regarded his 

 mother's clansmen. This meant that marriage could not be 

 contracted by him in the one case into the clan of his father and 

 in the other case into that of his mother. Among some tribes 

 this appears to have been the sole marriage prohibition, but in 

 far more there was also strong opposition to marriage into the 

 clan of the other parent. The opposition was probably stronger 

 in very early times than later; but it is usually present in some 

 form or other, varying all the way from mild disapproval to 

 absolute prohibition. It is one of those indications that avoid- 

 ance of close marriage was, at root, the main object of the regula- 

 tions. Now, granted these two regulations in full force, a mar- 

 ried man would have peculiar relations to at least three clans, 

 those of his father, his mother and his wife, and in fact we find 

 that in certain tribes three classes of men and women of as 

 many different clans are fathers,, uncles, brothers-in-law, aunts, 

 mothers, and sisters-in-law to each married man. 



Of course this is on the assumption that there were more than 

 two clans or exogamous groups in the tribe. We have a number 

 of cases, however, in which there were in fact but two such 

 groups, although then we usually call them ''phratries" or 

 "moities" instead of ''clans." In tribes of this description it 



