denig] THE ASSIN1B01N 503 



the Great Bear and are appointed to walk around and keep guard 

 over their sister forever. 



After the narrator had concluded I inquired if it had any other 

 meaning than a story told to excite interest. He said it had, and 

 that it showed the woman was revenged on all her persecutors, and 

 for her resolution and good in cutting off the first cannibal and her 

 own son, thereby destroying the species, was rewarded by being 

 placed as a star; likewise her brothers who had protected her 

 through life were stars also and guard her from harm. That if she 

 had not acted thus a great part of the Indians would be cannibals. 

 This he said was the commencement of stars, and their traditions 

 named many other instances of like manner in which stars were 

 created. 



Manners and Customs 



Constitution of the Assiniboin Family; Kinship. — There are 

 terms for each degree of relationship and the collateral branches. 

 These affinities are traced as far back as the great-grandfather, and 

 the line of descent is distinguished by their referring to the names 

 of the grandfather, father, or parents through some of their descend- 

 ants living. The. names for collateral relatives are the same by the 

 father's as by the mother's side. All stepchildren become the chil- 

 dren of all the wives the Indian has. The terms aunt and uncle are 

 the same on both sides. The elder brother is called Ma-chin'-ah and 

 the rest of the brothers Mis-soon-kah ; the youngest is named the last. 

 The eldest sister is called Me-tun'k-ah and the rest of the sisters 

 Me-choon-ah. Their names are the same on either part. The name 

 of a dead person is seldom mentioned, or if so, in a very low voice. 

 Usually they name some living relative, and add his or her dead 

 father. Where confusion exists as to a distant collateral relative 

 they are all classed under the general head of cousins, though they 

 are generally correct. They always address one of their nation as 

 kindred if there is reason to believe the least possible degree of rela- 

 tionship is acknowledged, and never use their proper names if they 

 are of kin. The name of the mother-in-law or father-in-law is never 

 pronounced by the son-in-law. She never speaks to him nor he to 

 her, neither do they ever look at the face nor go into the same lodge. 



Should the father-in-law happen to go into a lodge where his son- 

 in-law is seated, the latter would cover his face with his robe and 

 not speak while the former remained. Usually they stop the one 

 entering by crying out, " He of whom you are ashamed is here," 

 when the other goes away and postpones his visit. All communica- 

 tions on business to these people by their son-in-law is transacted 

 through his wife or strangers. To speak to or name the father or 

 mother of an Indian's wife would excite the ridicule and laughter 



