104 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194 



Mother-Daughter 



The relationship between a mother and her daughter was an ex- 

 ceedingly close and intimate one. It was based on kinship ties, life- 

 long residence together, common occupations, and common sex. The 

 mother was the principal instructor in both economic and ritualistic 

 matters. She taught her daughters to cook and care for the lodge, 

 grind corn, tan and decorate hides, sew, butcher and cure meat, and 

 to perform all of the special tasks. If, for instance, the mother was 

 a potter and owned particular designs, the daughter was expected to 

 buy the complete rights and continue the designs unique to that 

 female lineage. 



She instructed her daughters in the care of the gardens, the planting 

 of the seeds, the pulling of weeds, the curing and storing of the 

 garden products, and the performance of those rites celebrated while 

 engaged in agricultural activities. She taught them good manners 

 toward visitors and strangers and particularly toward prospective 

 husbands. She selected her daughter's first "ceremonial" mother at 

 the time of her daughter's first introduction into and participation 

 in the age-grade societies. She also was the principal one to advise 

 the daughter in premarital sex matters and, with the assistance of 

 the other "mothers" and "older sisters," kept a watchful eye to see 

 that these instructions were obeyed. The mother assumed an impor- 

 tant role in the marriage of the daughter, for no well-trained daughter 

 would want to marry a man disapproved of by her mother. 



A woman's deepest affections were for her own daughter, but, in 

 a household where there were many others standing in a mother- 

 daughter relationship, diverse female work patterns developed. Thus, 

 one or two "mothers" commonly worked together in the gardens 

 while the others were in or about the lodge preparing the meals, 

 tanning and working with hides, or performing the multiple tasks 

 of the household. When there was urgent need of extra help in the 

 gardens, one of the "mothers" would take all of the household " daugh- 

 ters" to the fields where they worked together. Here the daughters 

 were watched to see that they performed their work. 



A mother who had given her daughter good training preferred to 

 have her live in the same lodge after marriage and to assist her as 

 she grew old, hence the tribe was strongly matrilocal. The mother 

 was always present when a child was born to her daughter; if the 

 daughter was living in another lodge, she invariably returned to her 

 mother's lodge to give birth to the child. The mother advised her 

 daughter in the care of the child and would offer such assistance as 

 she could without taking over its actual care. A mother might 

 punish her child by denying her privileges or by scolding her, but 



