TRIBAL SOCIETY 269 



associations, and hence the explanations will differ 

 markedly. 



Primitive people have in general two theories of the 

 human soul. The idea of transmigration of souls, and 

 the idea of an independent life of the soul after the death 

 of the body. The idea of transmigration is illustrated by 

 the belief that the soul of the dead person is reincarnated 

 in the body of the next born child. An Indian will some- 

 times bury a dead child under the spot where two paths 

 cross, in the hope that the soul of the dead child, lingering 

 near, may enter the body of some woman who passes that 

 way and be born in the body of her next child. There is 

 also the belief that animals are often entered by the souls 

 of departed men. Hence there arise restrictions as to the 

 killing of certain animals. The doctrine of the independ- 

 ent life of the soul after death takes two forms: the 

 continuous notion, and the retributive notion. In ac- 

 cordance with the former it is believed that the soul of 

 the human being continues after death the activities 

 which it was accustomed to during its existence in the 

 body. Hence there are buried with the dead warrior, his 

 spears, arms, utensils, and personal belongings, and in 

 some cases his favorite wife and his slaves are sacrificed 

 on the funeral pile. The retributive notion is less wide- 

 spread and of a later origin. According to this it is be- 

 lieved that the condition of the after life depends upon 

 conduct and action during the worldly existence in the 

 flesh. In addition to these beliefs we find among primi- 

 tive peoples the system of worshiping ancestors. The 

 spirits of the recent dead are believed to take particular 

 interest in the affairs of the living. Ancestor-worship 

 involves the question of the benevolent or malevolent in- 

 fluence of these spirits. Hence there have arisen elab- 



