OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. 211 



First Indicative Feature. My brother's son and daughter, Ego a male, are my son 

 and daughter, Neen-gwase' -sa and Nin-da'-na. With Ego a female, they are my 

 nephew and niece, Lan-gwa-les'-sa and Shames-sd' . 



Second. My sister's son and daughter, Ego a male, are my nephew and niece. 

 With Ego a female, they are my son and daughter. 



Third. My father's brother is my father, No-sa'. 



Fourth. My father's brother's son and daughter are my brother, elder or younger, 

 Ne-sa-sa" or Ne' -she-ma' ', and my sister, elder or younger, Ne-mis-sa" or Ne-she-ma". 



Fifth. My father's sister is my aunt, N'-sa-gwe'-sa. 



Sixth. My mother's brother is my uncle, Ne-zJiese'-sa. 



Seventh. My mother's sister is my mother, Nin-ge-aft'. 



Eighth. My mother's sister's son and daughter, are my brother and sister, elder 

 or younger. 



Ninth. My grandfather's brother is my grandfather, Na-ma-sho-ma' 



The grandchildren of my brothers and sisters, and of my collateral brothers and 

 sisters, are indiscriminately my grandchildren. 



Amongst these nations the relationship of cousin is unknown. The children of 

 a brother and sister, if males, are uncle and nephew to each other, and if females, 

 they are mother and daughter ; in which respect it is in precise agreement with 

 the form which prevails among the Missouri nations and the Winnebagoes. As 

 this identity is an interesting fact, the relationships may be run through specifically. 

 My father's sister's son and daughter, Ego a male, are my nephew and niece, and 

 their children are my grandchildren. With Ego a female, they are my son and 

 daughter, and their children are my grandchildren. On the reverse side, my 

 mother's brother's son is my uncle, Ne-zliese' -sa ; his son is my uncle again, and 

 his male descendants continue to be uncles, theoretically, in an infinite series. My 

 mother's brother's daughter is my mother, Nin-ge-ati ; her children are my brothers 

 and sisters, elder or younger ; the children of these collateral brothers, Ego a male, 

 are my sons and daughters ; of these collateral sisters are my nephews and nieces, 

 and their children are my grandchildren. 



The progress of this particular part of the system from a lower to a higher form 

 in branches of two independent stems of the Ga'nowanian family, taking in each 

 the same direction, and reaching the same ultimate form, is a significant fact. 

 This is seen to have been the case among the Hodenosaunian, the Dakotan, and 

 the Great Lake nations, among whom the relationship of cousin is .found. On the 

 other hand, it is a not less striking fact that among the congeners of each respec- 

 tively the same anterior form, as to the relationships between the children of a 

 brother and sister should still prevail. Two inferences arise from the premises : 

 first, that the radical forms of the system are stable and persistent. An obvious 



the latter refers to the ancient area of occupation of the Miamis as follows : "My forefathers kindled 

 the first fire at Detroit, from thence he extended his lines to the head-waters of the Scioto, from 

 thence to its mouth, from thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash, and from thence to 

 Chicago on Lake Michigan. These are the boundaries within which the prints of my ancestors' 

 houses are everywhere to be seen." Harvey's History of the Shawnees, p. 64. 



