256 THE ETHICAL KINSHIP 



The members of his tribe are, moreover, to the 

 savage, for the most part, his kinspeople. If 

 they are not actually related to him by blood, 

 they are usually conceived by him to be so related. 

 The co-villagers of an Indian community call 

 each other brothers. It is a characteristic of all- 

 the Aryan and Semitic races v^^hen in the tribal 

 state to conceive that the tribes themselves, and 

 all subdivisions of them, are descended each from 

 a single male ancestor. The savage sees the 

 living family of v^hich he forms a part descended 

 from a single living man and his wife or wives. 

 This family group with which he is familiar and 

 other similar groups make up the tribe. And the 

 process by which each family has been brought 

 about is in his mind identical with the process 

 by which the community as a whole has been 

 formed (2). It is a conception of this kind, 

 handed down as a tradition from ancient tribal 

 times, which causes the Jews even to-day to regard 

 themselves as the * seed ' of that venerable sheik 

 who, so many centuries ago, led them as a band 

 of nomads in their memorable migration westward 

 from the plains of Mesopotamia. It is not strange, 

 therefore, considering all of the circumstances in 

 the midst of which the savage lives and moves, 

 that he should look upon his fellow-tribesmen as 

 beings to be distinguished by him from all other 

 beings in the universe. 



Nor is it strange, when we consider the mental 

 sterility of the savage, his lack of travel and 

 imagination, the meagerness of his experiences. 



