EADiN] SOCIAL ORGANIZATION GENEBAL DISCUSSION 203 



gifts from one spirit, the thunderbird, and a secondarily associated 

 night-spirit (hqhe). The Winter Feast might thus be interpreted 

 as a society of those who have obtained blessings from the thunder- 

 bird. The bundle remains in the possession of a certain family, 

 however, and cannot pass out of the clan. The war bundle may 

 therefore be said to be primarily the personal possession of a 

 family which has become associated with all the members of the clan 

 to such an extent that it is almost regarded as a clan possession. 



In the possession of the two crooks by the Bear clan we have an 

 example of specific clan property. The crooks are in the nature of 

 emblems and are used on the warpath to indicate the extreme line 

 of advance. They are thus of tribal significance. When not in use 

 they are kept in the lodge of the Bear clan. 



IMMATERIAL POSSESSIONS OF THE CLAN 



Although there are no specific material possessions, each clan 

 has certain "inmiaterial" possessions. They all have the added con- 

 notation of sacredness. For the Bird clans, it is the possession of fire; 

 for the Bear, the doorway of his lodge; for the Wolf and Water-spirit, 

 water. They were not obtained for all the clans. We indicated before 

 that these "possessions" may have been primarily connected with the 

 animals associated with the clan, upon which an additional socio- 

 religious interpretation has been superimposed. The whole subject 

 is, however, closely related to that of clan etiquette, for which, of 

 course, no explanations can be given now. 



THE CLAN MARKS OF IDENTTFICATION 



As if more fully to set off the social unit of the clan, there have 

 come to be associated with it definite marks of identification, such as 

 symbols, property marks, facial decorations, and songs. 



The symbols of only two clans were obtained, although a number 

 of other clans seem to have possessed them. These were the war 

 club (namqtce) of the Thunderbird clan and the peculiarly whittled 

 stick inamaxinixini) of the Bear clan. When a member of the 

 Thunderbu-d clan died a miniature war club was buried with liim. 

 Whether the namaxinixini was buried with a member of a Bear 

 clan we do not know. 



The property mark consisted of the effigy of the clan animal, and 

 was woven on such objects as bags, tobacco pouches, etc. It was 

 also frequently engraved on wooden objects. Its most peculiar uses, 

 however, were the emblematic earthen effigy mounds, in the shape 

 of the clan animal, which were erected near the habitation of each 

 clan in the village and in the center of clan squash fields, cornfields, etc. 



