OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. 163 



collateral brothers to Ego himself. The sons and grandsons of my collateral 

 brothers are my sons and grandsons ; the father of each of these brothers is my 

 father because he is the brother of my own father ; and so is the grandfather of 

 each my grandfather, because he is the brother of my own grandfather. If Oc'-sote 

 and Oc'-sote in Plate IX are taken, and the diagram is gone through Avith, the same 

 results will be obtained ; and so, also, if Oc'-sote and Hoc'-sote in the diagram, or 

 Hoc'-sote and Oc'-sote in the other, are taken, the several relationships as given will 

 be fully verified. 



The other method is by shifting the position of Ego to that of each person on 

 the diagram in turn, and then ascertaining the correlative relationship. It can be 

 illustrated most conveniently by examples. In Plate VIII there are three figures to 

 the right of my own father, each marked Hd'-nih. If it is desired to prove that 

 the person represented by the middle of these figures is my father, under the sys- 

 tem, we may reverse the question and ascertain whether I am the son of this person. 

 In so doing the position of Ego and this Ha'-nih are exchanged, and the descrip- 

 tion of intermediate persons is reversed, whence the figure formerly occupied by 

 Ego is found to represent " my father's brother's son's son," who, as before shown, 

 is my son, I am therefore, the son of this Hd'-nih. Again, in Plate IX, if the middle 

 figure marked Hoc-no'-seh to the right of No'-ych be taken, and the description of 

 intermediate persons be reversed, it will make the person represented by the figure 

 formerly occupied by Ego " my father's sister's daughter's son," who is my nephew. 

 He is the son of my female cousin, myself a male. Thus it is seen that Ego and 

 Hoc-no' -sell are nephew and uncle. In this manner the correlative relationship will 

 be found to be the true one in every case. 



For each collateral line beyond the fourth as far as relationships can be traced 

 the classification is the same. Wheresoever the chain of consanguinity can be 

 followed, the principles of the system are rigorously applied ; but the first four 

 collateral lines, which include third cousins under the Aryan system, is as far as 

 they have occasion to apply it in ordinary intercourse. It has before been stated, 

 and the statement is here repeated, that the system of consanguinity and affinity 

 just described is not only theoretically the system of the Ganowanian family, but 

 the form as detailed is, at the present moment, in constant daily use amongst the 

 Seneca Indians of New York, and has been in use by them from time immemorial. 

 It is thoroughly understood by the rudest amongst them, and can be fully explained 

 by the more intelligent of their number. They still address each other, when 

 related by the term of relationship, and never by the personal name. To be igno- 

 rant of the relationship which another person sustains to the speaker, and to show 

 it by an omission of the proper address is a discourtesy, and is regarded as such. 

 In this usage is found a sufficient explanation of the manner in which a knowledge 

 of the system is imparted as well as preserved from generation to generation. 



It follows, from the nature of the system, that a knowledge of the degrees of 

 consanguinity, numerically, is essential to the proper classification of kindred. 

 Consanguinity in its most complicated ramifications is much better understood by 

 these Indians than by ourselves. Our collateral kindred, except within the nearest 

 degrees, are practically disowned. The more creditable Indian practice of recog- 



