XLVIII ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 



case the clan is enatic, and in the other it is agnatic. In the 

 one case descent is through females, in the other through males. 

 An enatic clan consists of a brother-group and a sister- group in 

 each of the generations represented in the clan, and the kinship 

 ss reckoned only through females. An agnatic clan consists of a 

 brother-group and a sister-group in each of the generations rep- 

 resented in the clan, and the kinship is reckoned only through 

 males. 



A second characteristic of a clan may therefore be given: A 

 clan is a body of either enatic or agnatic kindred. 



When the clan is enatic it usually has a common worship of 

 a tutelar god. This must be distinguished from the tribal wor- 

 ship, which is more miscellaneous, and based upon polytheism. 

 The tutelar god, or totem, is often an animal; or sometimes it 

 may be a river, a mountain, the sun, or some other object; in 

 which case the members of the clan call themselves the chil- 

 dren of the animal, the river, the mountain, or the sun, as the 

 case may be. When the clan is agnatic, the tutelar god is 

 usually some ancestor who has distinguished himself for valor 

 or wisdom. 



A third characteristic of a clan is thus reached: A clan is 

 a bodj T of kindred having a tutelar god, totemic or ancestral, 

 who is considered to be the father of the clan. 



When the clan is totemic it usually takes the name of its 

 tutelar god as its name, and the picture-writing, or symbol of 

 the tutelar god is used as a badge to distinguish the clan. 

 That the members of a clan have descended from a common 

 parent, seems at present to be usually a legal fiction. In tribal 

 society age is greatly revered, and "elder-rule" largely pre- 

 vails; so the gods are spoken of as "fathers," or more usually 

 "grandfathers," or even "ancient fathers," and sometimes sim- 

 ply as "ancients," that is, "the venerable." But the tutelar 

 god is especially the guide and protector of the clan, and is 

 therefore called "father," and it seems that in many cases a 

 myth is developed, explaining this fatherhood as being real. 

 When the tutelar god is a real ancestor (and such seems to be 

 the case when the clan is agnatic) the clan takes the name of 

 the ancestor. 



