﻿TRIBAL 
  GOVERNMENT 
  

   Development 
  of 
  Political 
  Unity 
  

  

  From 
  an 
  examination 
  by 
  the 
  light 
  of 
  tribal 
  traditions 
  of 
  the 
  rites, 
  

   duties, 
  and 
  interrelations 
  of 
  the 
  gentes, 
  one 
  discerns 
  in 
  the 
  tribal 
  

   organization 
  of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  and 
  cognates, 
  as 
  it 
  stood 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  part 
  

   of 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  century, 
  the 
  evidences 
  of 
  past 
  vicissitudes, 
  all 
  of 
  

   which 
  show 
  that 
  a 
  tendency 
  had 
  existed 
  toward 
  disintegration 
  

   because 
  of 
  a 
  lack 
  of 
  close 
  political 
  organization, 
  and 
  that 
  various 
  ex- 
  

   pedients 
  for 
  holding 
  the 
  people 
  together 
  had 
  been 
  tried. 
  This 
  weak- 
  

   ness 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  specially 
  felt 
  when 
  the 
  people 
  were 
  in 
  the 
  

   buffalo 
  country; 
  while 
  there 
  groups 
  would 
  wander 
  away, 
  following 
  

   the 
  game, 
  and 
  become 
  lost. 
  Occasionally 
  they 
  were 
  discovered 
  and 
  

   would 
  rejoin 
  the 
  main 
  body, 
  as 
  has 
  been 
  shown 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  

   Ho 
  n 
  'ga 
  utanatsi 
  of 
  the 
  Osage 
  tribe. 
  The 
  environment 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  

   did 
  not 
  foster 
  sedentary 
  habits, 
  such 
  as 
  would 
  have 
  tended 
  toward 
  a 
  

   close 
  political 
  union; 
  therefore 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  in 
  which 
  

   these 
  cognates 
  dwelt 
  added 
  to 
  rather 
  than 
  lessened 
  the 
  danger 
  of 
  dis- 
  

   integration. 
  This 
  danger 
  was 
  further 
  increased 
  by 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  

   religious 
  rites 
  aiming 
  the 
  people, 
  each 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  was 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  

   complete 
  in 
  itself 
  and 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  keeping 
  of 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  exogamous 
  

   kindred. 
  The 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  group 
  was 
  exogamous 
  indicates 
  that 
  

   some 
  form 
  of 
  organization 
  had 
  long 
  existed 
  among 
  the 
  people, 
  but 
  the 
  

   frequent 
  separations 
  that 
  took 
  place 
  emphasized 
  the 
  importance 
  of 
  

   maintaining 
  the 
  unity 
  of 
  the 
  tribe, 
  and 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  devising 
  means 
  

   !o 
  secure 
  this 
  essential 
  result 
  was 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  serious 
  concern 
  to 
  the 
  

   thinking 
  and 
  constructive 
  minds 
  among 
  the 
  people. 
  The 
  Sacred 
  

   Legend, 
  already 
  quoted, 
  says: 
  "And 
  the 
  people 
  thought, 
  How 
  can 
  

   we 
  1 
  >etter 
  ourselves?" 
  

  

  As 
  lias 
  been 
  stated, 
  the 
  ideas 
  fundamental 
  to 
  the 
  tribal 
  organiza- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  and 
  their 
  cognates 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  creation 
  and 
  

   perpetuation 
  of 
  living 
  creatures. 
  The 
  expression 
  of 
  these 
  ideas 
  in 
  

   tlic 
  dramatic 
  form 
  of 
  rites 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  early 
  achieved 
  and 
  

   those 
  which 
  symbolically 
  present 
  the 
  connection 
  of 
  cosmic 
  forces 
  

   witli 
  the 
  birth 
  and 
  well-being 
  of 
  mankind 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  persisted 
  in 
  

   whole 
  or 
  in 
  part 
  throughout 
  the 
  various 
  experiences 
  of 
  the 
  five 
  cog- 
  

   nate 
  tribes, 
  and 
  to 
  have 
  kept 
  an 
  important 
  place 
  hi 
  tribal 
  life. 
  These 
  

   rites 
  constitute 
  what 
  may 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  the 
  lower 
  stratum 
  of 
  reli- 
  

   gious 
  ceremonies 
  — 
  for 
  example, 
  in 
  the 
  recognition 
  of 
  the 
  vital 
  relation 
  

   of 
  the 
  Wind, 
  as 
  shown 
  in 
  the 
  ceremony 
  of 
  Turning 
  the 
  Child, 
  per- 
  

  

  199 
  

  

  