﻿40 
  INDIAN 
  LINGUISTIC 
  FAMILIES. 
  

  

  i 
  >wnership. 
  Very 
  different 
  was 
  it 
  with 
  the 
  Indians. 
  Individual 
  own- 
  

   ership 
  of 
  land 
  was, 
  as 
  a 
  rule, 
  a 
  tiling 
  entirely 
  foreign 
  to 
  the 
  Indian 
  

   mind, 
  and 
  quite 
  unknown 
  in 
  the 
  culture 
  stage 
  to 
  which 
  he 
  belonged. 
  

   All 
  land, 
  of 
  whatever 
  character 
  or 
  however 
  utilized, 
  was 
  held 
  in 
  

   common 
  by 
  the 
  tribe, 
  or 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  instances 
  by 
  the 
  clan. 
  Apparently 
  

   an 
  exception 
  to 
  this 
  broad 
  statement 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  

   Haida 
  of 
  the 
  northwest 
  coast, 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  studied 
  by 
  Dawson. 
  

   According 
  to 
  him' 
  the 
  land 
  is 
  divided 
  among 
  the 
  different 
  families 
  

   and 
  is 
  held 
  as 
  strictly 
  personal 
  property, 
  with 
  hereditary 
  rights 
  or 
  

   possessions 
  descending 
  from 
  one 
  generation 
  to 
  another. 
  "The 
  lands 
  

   may 
  be 
  bartered 
  or 
  given 
  away. 
  The 
  larger 
  salmon 
  streams 
  are, 
  

   however, 
  often 
  the 
  property 
  jointly 
  of 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  families." 
  The 
  

   tendency 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  is 
  toward 
  personal 
  right 
  in 
  land. 
  

  

  TRIBAL 
  LAND. 
  

  

  For 
  convenience 
  of 
  discussion, 
  Indian 
  tribal 
  land 
  may 
  be 
  divided 
  

   into 
  three 
  classes: 
  First, 
  the 
  land 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  villages; 
  second, 
  

   the 
  laud 
  actually 
  employed 
  in 
  agriculture; 
  third, 
  the 
  land 
  claimed 
  

   by 
  the 
  tribe 
  but 
  not 
  occupied, 
  except 
  as 
  a 
  hunting 
  ground. 
  

  

  Village 
  sites. 
  — 
  The 
  amount 
  of 
  land 
  taken 
  up 
  as 
  village 
  sites 
  varied 
  

   considerably 
  in 
  different 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  It 
  varied 
  also 
  in 
  the 
  

   same 
  tribe 
  at 
  different 
  times. 
  As 
  a 
  rule, 
  the 
  North 
  American 
  Indians 
  

   lived 
  in 
  communal 
  houses 
  of 
  sufficient 
  size 
  to 
  accommodate 
  several 
  

   families. 
  In 
  such 
  cases 
  the 
  village 
  consisted 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  large 
  struc- 
  

   tures 
  closely 
  grouped 
  together, 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  covered 
  very 
  little 
  ground. 
  

   When 
  territory 
  was 
  occupied 
  by 
  warlike 
  tribes, 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  

   rude 
  palisades 
  around 
  the 
  villages 
  and 
  the 
  necessities 
  of 
  defense 
  

   generally 
  tended 
  to 
  compel 
  the 
  grouping 
  of 
  houses, 
  and 
  the 
  per- 
  

   manent 
  village 
  sites 
  of 
  even 
  the 
  more 
  populous 
  tribes 
  covered 
  

   only 
  a 
  very 
  small 
  area. 
  In 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  confederated 
  tribes 
  and 
  in 
  

   the 
  time 
  of 
  peace 
  the 
  tendency 
  was 
  for 
  one 
  or 
  more 
  families 
  to 
  

   establish 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  permanent 
  settlements 
  away 
  from 
  the 
  main 
  

   village, 
  where 
  a 
  livelihood 
  was 
  more 
  readily 
  obtainable. 
  Hence, 
  in 
  

   territory 
  which 
  had 
  enjoyed 
  a 
  considerable 
  interval 
  of 
  peace 
  the 
  set- 
  

   tlements 
  were 
  in 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  small 
  agricultural 
  communities, 
  

   established 
  at 
  short 
  distances 
  from 
  each 
  other 
  and 
  extending 
  in 
  the 
  

   aggregate 
  over 
  a 
  considerable 
  extent 
  of 
  country. 
  In 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  popu- 
  

   lous 
  tribes 
  the 
  villages 
  were 
  probably 
  of 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  Choc- 
  

   taw 
  towns 
  described 
  by 
  Adair. 
  2 
  "The 
  barrier 
  towns, 
  which 
  are 
  

   next 
  to 
  the 
  Muskohge 
  and 
  Chikkasah 
  countries, 
  are 
  compactly 
  set- 
  

   tled 
  for 
  social 
  defense, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  general 
  method 
  of 
  other 
  

   savage 
  nations; 
  but 
  the 
  rest, 
  both 
  in 
  the 
  center 
  and 
  toward 
  the 
  Mis- 
  

   sissippi, 
  are 
  only 
  scattered 
  plantations, 
  as 
  best 
  suits 
  a 
  separate 
  easy 
  

  

  1 
  Report 
  on 
  the 
  Queen 
  Charlotte 
  Islands, 
  1878, 
  p. 
  117. 
  

   'Hist, 
  of 
  Am. 
  Ind., 
  1775, 
  p. 
  282. 
  

  

  