108 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 43 



clan;' tsa'^ o'wats, 'deer clan;' tso'go d'wats, 'bear clan;' iciwada 

 o'wats, 'panther clan;' e'wxjol d'wats, 'raccoon clan;' u'lax d'wats, 

 'snake clan;' co'gol d'wats, 'bird clan.' These correspond in number 

 but not in names to the clans of the Cherokee. They are all repre- 

 sented among the Creeks, however, and Gatschet was also told of a 

 beaA'er clan existing there. 



It would be interesting to know whether a totemic clan sj^stem 

 similar to that of the surrounding Mu.skhogean tribes existed in 

 ancient times along with this aristocratic government, but the absolute 

 silence of every one of our authorities argues strongly against it. 

 Probably the aristocratic system acted in the early days of the tribe 

 to prevent its development. On the whole the Natchez castes may 

 best be compared with the war classes of Muskhogean tribes to which, 

 however, a hereditary element has been added. 



In spite of their strong maternal organization government within 

 the separate families was just as positively paternal. 



Paternal authority, as I have said, is not less inviolable and sacred than 

 the preeminence of the men. It is still among the Natchez of Louisiana such 

 as it was in the first age of the world. The children belong to the father, and 

 so long as he lives they are under his power. They live with him— they, their 

 wives, and their children. The entire family is inclosed by the same cabin. 

 The old man alone commands there, and only death puts an end to his empire." 



This old man is the oldest of the family, often enough the great-grandfather 

 or great-great-grandfather, for these natives live long, and although they have 

 gray hair only when they are great-grandfathers, some are seen to live when 

 entirely gi'ay, not being able to stand on their feet, but without any other 

 malady than old age, so that it is necessary to cari-y them outside of the cabin 

 in order to talie the air or to do anything else that is necessai-y, assistance 

 which is never refused to these old men. The respect in which they are held 

 in the family is so great that they are regarded as .judges. Their counsels are 

 .ludgments. An old chief of a family is called "father" by all the children of 

 Ilie same cabin, be they his nephews or grandnephews. The natives often say 

 that such an one is their father. It is the chief of the family. When they wish 

 to speak of their own father they say that such an one is their true father.^ 



As these people have little business between one another, or rather have none 

 at all, this paternal authority is seen to come out in nothing more perfectly 

 than in marriages.^ 



METHOD OF COUNTIXG TI:ME 



The savages have neither days, nor weeks, nor months. They do not even 

 have years. They always count by moons, and their count goes only as far as 

 ten, for the highest point in their aritlmietic does not go beyond this sum. 

 They count very well so far, but when they have arrived there it is necessary 

 that they recommence with one, after which they say one ten, two ten, as far 

 as ten times ten without being able to go farther. It is for them the non plun 

 ultra. Besides, when they have reached that point they are heard to say 

 "Tallabe" [tuhii], which signifies, "There are so many that I can not count 



» Du Pratz, Hist. dS La Louisiane, n, 386. » Ibid., 313. «• Ibid., 386. 



