222 SYSTEMS OF CONSANGUINITY AND AFFINTY 



Fifth. My father's sister is my aunt. This relationship exists without its cor- 

 relatives of nephew and niece. 



Sixth. My mother's brother is my uncle. 



Seventh. My mother's sister is my little mother. 



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. 



Tenth. The grandchildren of my brother and sister, and of my collateral brothers 

 and sisters, are, without distinction, my grandchildren. 



The other relationships follow in accordance with those above given, which con- 

 trol the remainder. 



3. Mohegans. Their original name, Mo-he' -kun-ne-ulc' , which they still call 

 themselves, and from which Mohegan is derived, signifies "Seaside People." Their 

 range at the epoch of their discovery was along the Hudson and in the western 

 part of Connecticut. They are closely allied in blood with the Pequots, who were 

 probably their nearest congeners. All of the New England Indians, it is said, 

 spoke mutually intelligible dialects. Upon this subject Drake remarks: "Such 

 was the language of the Mohegans, the Pequots, the Narragansetts, and the Nip- 

 muks; so near did they approach one another that each could understand the other 

 throughout the united extent of their territories." 1 Their system of relationship 

 is still in constant use, although they number but a few more than the Munsees. 



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

 my step-child. The term used is in common gender. With Ego a female, they 

 are the same. 



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 step-father. 



Fourth. My father's brother's son and daughter are my step-brother and step- 

 sister. The males and females use different terms. 



Fifth. My father's sister is my step-mother. This is probably an error. If cor- 

 rect, the Mohegans differ in this respect from all other nations. 



Sixth. My mother's brother is my uncle. 



Seventh. My mother's sister is my step-mother. 



Eighth. My mother's sister's son and daughter are my step-brother and step- 

 sister. 



Ninth. My grandfather's brother is my grandfather. 



Tenth. The grandchildren of my brothers and sisters, and of my step-brothers 

 and step-sisters, are my grandchildren. 



It will be noticed that the Mohegan form, as to the use of the step-relationships, 

 agrees very closely with the Ojibwa. From this fact it seems not improbable that 

 a portion of the New England Indians, after the overthrow of their political power, 

 found their way to the Great Lake nations, and became incorporated with them, 

 and that it furnishes an explanation of the coincidences in special features in their 



1 Book of Indians of North America, Book II. p. 87. 



