﻿Powell. 
  I 
  (OMMUNALISM 
  OF 
  INDIANS. 
  35 
  

  

  remarks. 
  The 
  peculiar 
  institutions 
  prevailing 
  in 
  this 
  respect 
  gave 
  

   to 
  each 
  tribe 
  or 
  clan 
  a 
  profound 
  interest 
  in 
  the 
  skill, 
  ability 
  and 
  

   industry 
  of 
  each 
  member. 
  He 
  was 
  the 
  most 
  valuable 
  person 
  in 
  the 
  

   community 
  who 
  supplied 
  it 
  with 
  the 
  most 
  of 
  its 
  necessities. 
  For 
  

   this 
  reason 
  the 
  successful 
  hunter 
  or 
  fisherman 
  was 
  always 
  held 
  in 
  

   high 
  honor, 
  and 
  the 
  woman 
  who 
  gathered 
  great 
  store 
  of 
  seeds, 
  

   fruits, 
  or 
  roots, 
  or 
  who 
  cultivated 
  a 
  good 
  corn-field, 
  was 
  one 
  who 
  

   commanded 
  the 
  respect 
  and 
  received 
  the 
  highest 
  approbation 
  of 
  the 
  

   people. 
  The 
  simple 
  and 
  rude 
  ethics 
  of 
  a 
  tribal 
  people 
  are 
  very 
  

   important 
  to 
  them, 
  the 
  more 
  so 
  because 
  of 
  their 
  communal 
  institu- 
  

   tions; 
  and 
  everywhere 
  throughout 
  the 
  tribes 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   it 
  is 
  discovered 
  that 
  their 
  rules 
  of 
  conduct 
  were 
  deeply 
  implanted 
  

   in 
  the 
  minds 
  of 
  the 
  people. 
  An 
  organized 
  system 
  of 
  teaching 
  is 
  

   always 
  found, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  duty 
  of 
  certain 
  officers 
  of 
  the 
  clan 
  to 
  

   instruct 
  the 
  young 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  industries 
  necessary 
  to 
  their 
  rude 
  life, 
  

   and 
  simple 
  maxims 
  of 
  industry 
  abound 
  among 
  the 
  tribes 
  and 
  are 
  

   enforced 
  in 
  diverse 
  and 
  interesting 
  ways. 
  The 
  power 
  of 
  the 
  elder 
  

   men 
  in 
  the 
  clan 
  over 
  its 
  young 
  members 
  is 
  always 
  very 
  great, 
  and 
  

   the 
  training 
  of 
  'the 
  youth 
  is 
  constant 
  and 
  rigid. 
  Besides 
  this, 
  a 
  

   moral 
  sentiment 
  exists 
  in 
  favor 
  of 
  primitive 
  virtues 
  which 
  is 
  very 
  

   effective 
  in 
  molding 
  character. 
  This 
  may 
  be 
  illustrated 
  in 
  two 
  

   ways. 
  

  

  Marriage 
  among 
  all 
  Indian 
  tribes 
  is 
  primarily 
  by 
  legal 
  appoint- 
  

   ment, 
  as 
  the 
  young 
  woman 
  receives 
  a 
  husband 
  from 
  some 
  other 
  

   prescribed 
  clan 
  or 
  clans, 
  and 
  the 
  elders 
  of 
  the 
  clan, 
  with 
  certain 
  excep- 
  

   tions, 
  control 
  these 
  marriages, 
  and 
  personal 
  choice 
  has 
  little 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  

   the 
  affair. 
  When 
  marriages 
  are 
  proposed, 
  the 
  virtues 
  and 
  industry 
  

   of 
  the 
  candidates, 
  and 
  more 
  than 
  all, 
  their 
  ability 
  to 
  properly 
  live 
  

   as 
  married 
  couples 
  and 
  to 
  supply 
  the 
  clan 
  or 
  tribe 
  with 
  a 
  due 
  

   amount 
  of 
  subsistence, 
  are 
  discussed 
  long 
  and 
  earnestly, 
  and 
  the 
  

   young 
  man 
  or 
  maiden 
  who 
  fails 
  in 
  this 
  respect 
  may 
  fail 
  in 
  securing 
  

   an 
  eligible 
  and 
  desirable 
  match. 
  And 
  these 
  motives 
  are 
  constantly 
  

   presented 
  to 
  the 
  savage 
  youth. 
  

  

  A 
  simple 
  democracy 
  exists 
  among 
  these 
  people, 
  and 
  they 
  have 
  a 
  

   variety 
  of 
  tribal 
  offices 
  to 
  fill. 
  In 
  this 
  way 
  the 
  men 
  of 
  the 
  tribe 
  are 
  

   graded, 
  and 
  they 
  pass 
  from 
  grade 
  to 
  grade 
  by 
  a 
  selection 
  practically 
  

   made 
  by 
  the 
  people. 
  And 
  this 
  leads 
  to 
  a 
  constant 
  discussion 
  of 
  the 
  

   virtues 
  and 
  abilities 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  male 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  clan, 
  from 
  boy- 
  

   hood 
  to 
  old 
  age. 
  He 
  is 
  most 
  successful 
  in 
  obtaining 
  clan 
  and 
  tribal 
  

   promotion 
  who 
  is 
  most 
  useful 
  to 
  the 
  clan 
  and 
  the 
  tribe. 
  In 
  this 
  

   manner 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  ambitious 
  are 
  stimulated, 
  and 
  this 
  incentive 
  to 
  

   industry 
  is 
  very 
  great. 
  

  

  When 
  brought 
  into 
  close 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  Indian, 
  and 
  into 
  inti- 
  

   mate 
  acquaintance 
  with 
  his 
  language, 
  customs, 
  and 
  religious 
  ideas, 
  

   there 
  is 
  a 
  curious 
  tendency 
  observable 
  in 
  students 
  to 
  overlook 
  

   aboriginal 
  vices 
  and 
  to 
  exaggerate 
  aboriginal 
  virtues. 
  It 
  seems 
  to 
  

  

  