76 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



fixed waj' whereby they attain in time the rank of tlie conquerors. More- 

 over, the method of promotion permits any "slave" (i. e., captive-junior) 

 to attain "age" by the display of prowess, industry, skill, generosity, or 

 other attributes appealing to the sentiments of primitive men. Among cer- 

 tain other jieoples, the custom of collective adoption appears tt) be so modi- 

 fied that the captives remain juniors not only to members of the captor 

 tribe born anterior to the captivity, but to all others, and it is this modi- 

 fied institution which matures in actual slavery with the development of 

 property-sense; l)ut even in this case there are (at least in the early stages) 

 devices for the manumission or liberation of, or the acquisition of rank by, 

 captives (or captive-descendants) of exceptional abilities. The several 

 primitive customs grade into the institution of slavery proper in ways 

 which are of much interest, but which need not now be followed; it suf- 

 fices to emphasize the important distinction between the captive subordi- 

 nation of primitive peoples and the real slavery of some civilized nations. 

 In the course of his researches among the Cocopa Indians Mr. McGee 

 discovered several industrial factors of dispersive tendency, i. e., factors 

 tending to weaken home ties and family bonds and to scatter the families 

 and clans; and naturally these factors are reflected in the social organiza- 

 tion. The tribe is now distributed over an area of several thousand square 

 miles, extending from the international boundary on the north to the head 

 of salt water (of Gulf of California) on the south, and from the eastern 

 border of the Colorado bottom to the base of Cocopa Mountains; and within 

 this area are seven subtribes, of which some, and perhaps all, are really 

 clans, each organized under a subchief and all definitely united under a 

 head chief, the present incumbent of this office being a man of parts, an 

 orator of ability, and a leader of much shrewdness, commonly known as 

 Pablo Colorado. Now, naturally (and necessarily for the maintenance of 

 tribal integrity) the dispersive factors are counteracted and balanced by 

 connective factors; and while it is probable that some of these remain 

 undiscovered, a few others of no small significance were detected by Mr. 

 McGee. As already mentioned, the mortuary observances include sacri- 

 fice of all the immediate belongings of decedents, for immediately after the 

 death of a tribesman his personal possessions — horse, saddle, weapons, 

 implements, apparel, grain and other food stuffs, bedding, dogs, etc. — 

 become public and are distributed among nonrelatives in the order of 

 arrival, while any unclaimed residue is burned with the body and house. 

 Several social consequences attend this imlustrially improvident proce- 

 dure. In the first place, the largess is an incentive to maintaining connec- 

 tion between the scattered families and clans and to lively (albeit morbid) 

 interest in the state of health of invalids, thrifty producers, and other 

 members of the tribe; again, the actual mortuarj' distribution brings 

 together scattered tribesmen and their families and unites their interests 

 in ceremonies of affecting if not imposing character; and finally the mate- 

 rial sacrifice commonly leaves dependents (widows, children, and perhaps 

 agelings) to be supported by the informal public bounty of tribal life, or 

 perhaps to be distributed among scattered families in such manner as to 

 strengthen sentiments of communality and to keep alive the sense of com- 

 munity in interests. This factor is prominent in the customs of the tribe. 



