EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 65 



this .su])ject. An outline of the definition of sociology has been printed foi- the use 

 of students, and for the benefit of such suggestions as may be offered by other inquir- 

 ers; and it is planned to expand the discussion and incorporate it in a later report. 



The primary purpose of the trip by Mr. Hodge and his companions was to ascer- 

 tain and record the details of social organization as now maintained among the 

 pueblo tribes. As indicated in various publications of the Bureau, the aborigines of 

 America belong in approximately equal proportions to two of the culture stages 

 defined by social organization — i. e., (1) savagery, in which the institutions are based 

 on consanguinity reckoned in the female line, and (2) barbarism, m which the insti- 

 tutions are founded on consanguinity reckoned in the male line. In some cases a 

 transitional condition has been found, as, for example, among the Muskwaki Indians, 

 who give a patronymic to the first-born child, but, in case of its death in infancy, 

 revert to the matronymic system; sometimes, again, the basis of the organization 

 is so well concealed as to be obscured, as among the Kiowa Indians (note<l in the 

 last report) ; or, again, the consanguinity may be practically concealed by the over- 

 placement of some other factor, as among the California tribes, who regard language 

 as the ostensibly dominant factor of their institutions (also noted in the last report); 

 but the fortuitous relations may commonly be reduced without serious difficulty, and 

 shown not to affect the general fact that the American aborigines belong to the cul- 

 ture stages of savagery and barbarism in about equal proportions, reckoned on the 

 basis of population — though it is to be remembered that the tribes belonging to the 

 higher stage are much the larger and fewer. Now a recent line of inquiry relates 

 to the causes and conditions of the transition from the first great stage to the 

 aecond. In the Old World the transition has l)een fairly correlated with the gradual 

 passage from hunting to herding — there the initial phase of agrii-ulture; but in 

 the Western Hemisphere the characteristics of the native fauna were not such as to 

 place herding in the van of agricultural development. Accordingly it has been 

 thought desirable to trace the influence of harvesting and planting, when pursued for 

 generations, on social organization; and the most favorable opportunity for such 

 research was that afforded by the Pueblos. Morever, it seemed desirable to inquire 

 into the rate of the transition, as indicated by records covering a considerable period; 

 and for this ])urpose also the Pueblos seemed to be admirabh' adapted, partly since 

 the customs of the jieople have been subjects of record for three and a half centuries, 

 and partly because their arid habitat is so uninviting as to have practically repelled 

 the invasion of revolutionary methods. It was by reason of his intimate acquaint- 

 ance with the early records, and also in the hope that he might be able to discover 

 unpublished manuscripts among the ancient archives of the missions, that Dr. Elliott 

 Coues, compiler of the American Explorers' Series, waa attached to the party. 

 Although no noteworthy discoveries of manuscripts were made, a considerable body 

 of data essential to the discussion of social organization in the pueblo region was 

 ol)tained. Portions of the material are in preparation for prospective reports, while 

 Mr. Hodge is incorpf)rating the data relating to the clans and gentes of the Pueblo 

 peoples in a Cyclopedia of Native Tribes. 



During his stay among the Hopi, Dr. Fewkes' attention was directed to the inter- 

 relation between the tribesmen and certain feral creatures, notably eagles. The eagles 

 are of much consequence to the folk, chiefly as a source of feathers, which are exten- 

 sively used in ceremonies for symbolic representation, etc. ; and it appears from the 

 recent observations that particular clans claim and exercise a sort of collective owner- 

 ship in certain families of eagles, perhaps homing in distant mountains; and that 

 this right is (commonly recognized by other clans, and even by neighboring tribes. 

 Thus the relation affords a striking example of that condition of toleration between 

 animals and men which normally precedes domestication, and forms the first step in 

 zooculture, as has been set forth in preceding reports. These relations, together 

 with the methods of capture, etc., will be described in a prospective paper. 



SM 1900 5 



