RISE OF FATHERRIGHT 79 



clan is headed by an elder-woman, and comprises a 

 hierarchy of daughters granddaughters and (some- 

 times) great-granddaughters, collectively incarnating 

 that purity of uncontaminated blood which is the pride of 

 the tribe. And this female element is supplemented 

 by a masculine element in the persons of brothers, 

 who may be war-chiefs or shamans, and may hence 

 dominate the movements of groups, but whose blood 

 counts as nothing in the establishment and maintenance 

 of the clan organisation." 1 Their dwellings are the 

 rudest shelters that can be called huts. Such as they 

 are they are erected by the matrons without help from 

 the men or boys. " The house and its contents belong 

 exclusively to the matron, though her brothers are 

 entitled to places within it whenever tjiey wish ; while 

 the husband has neither title nor fixed place, ' because 

 he belongs to another house ' though as a matter of 

 fact he is frequently at or in the hut of his spouse, 

 where he normally occupies the outermost place in the 

 group and acts as a sort of outer guard or sentinel." 

 " Moreover, his connection with the house is veiled 

 by the absence of authority over both children and 

 domestic affairs, though he exercises such authority 

 freely (within the customary limits) in \hzjacales (huts) 

 of his female relatives." 2 The matrons participate in 

 what may be called legislative and judicial functions ; 

 many of them are shamans of repute ; and they are 

 more reverenced than any men. At the same time the 

 executive power of the family resides in the mother's 

 brothers in order of seniority, though it seems to be 

 exercisable only through or in conjunction with her, 



1 McGee, Rep. Bur. Ethn. xvii. 168*, 



2 Ibid. 269*, 272*. 



