23 



of kinship terms, and their ability in remembering their relatives 

 several generations back. If therefore instead of a remote 

 ancestor, we suppose one who lived four generations or even 

 longer back and if we lay no stress upon the question about 

 father or mother-right, the original elements of the gentile 

 organisation may be said to exist in Eskimo society. A strict 

 rule for a married couple and their children as to living with 

 either the relatives of the husband or the wife could not be 

 preserved by people whose sustenance was dependant of choos- 

 ing the most favourable hunting stations. But on the other 

 hand THE ESKIMO DISAPPROVES OF MARRIAGES BETWEEN COUSINS, 

 while where mother right prevails among Indians, the gentes 

 organisation does not seem to forbid a man marrying his father's 

 brother's daughter. 



The next question to be taken into consideration is that 

 concerning THE IDEAS OF PROPERTY. The -.COMMUNISM OF 

 LARGE HOUSEHOLDS EXTENDED BY THE LAW OF HOSPITALITY* 

 is a principle common to Eskimo and Indians. We have al- 

 ready touched on this question in mentioning the dwellings. THE 

 COMMUNISM IS RESTRICTED in the first place by what may be 

 called PERSONAL PROPERTY in the strictest sense, which consists 

 of the necessary tools and the equipment for hunting; secondly 

 by what belongs to A FAMILY likewise in the strictest sense; 

 thereafter in the common stock of provisions or part of capture 

 shared with the inhabitants of the same house, with the other 

 HOUSES OF THE STATION or perhaps with some of them. A 

 body of relatives corresponding to a gens generally will con- 

 sist of people occupying the same wintering place or some of 

 its houses, if there are more of them than usual. The rights 

 and obligations connected with the kinship are contained in 

 rules concerning marriage, mutual assistance including the 

 bloodvengeauce and the duty of every man to learn and carry 

 on sealhunting to the best of his ability. The inhabitants of a 



