MORGAN. ] NUMBER OF PERSONS IN A HOUSEHOLD. 73 
erous disposition, render it nearly of the same effect.”* What this author 
seems to state is that community of goods existed in the household, and that 
it was lengthened out to the tribe by the law of hospitality. Elsewhere, 
speaking of the large village of the Sauks, he says: ‘This is the largest 
Indian town I ever saw. It contains about ninety houses, each large 
‘ In a previous chapter (supra p. 49.) Hecke- 
enough for several families.” 
welder’s observations upon hospitality among the Delawares and Munsees, 
implying the principle of communism, have been given He remarks fur- 
ther that ‘there is nothing in an Indian’s house or family without its par- 
ticular owner. Every individual knows what belongs to him, from the 
5 
horse or cow down to the dog, cat, kitten, and little chicken. * * * 
For a litter of kittens or a brood of chickens there are often as many dif- 
ferent owners as there are individual animals. In purchasing a hen with 
her brood one frequently has to deal for it with several children. Thus, 
while the principle of community of goods prevails in the State, the rights 
of property are acknowledged among the members of the family. This is 
attended with a very good effect, for by this means every living creature 
is properly taken care of”* I do not understand what Heckewelder means 
by the remark that ‘the principle of community of goods prevails in the 
state,” unless it be that the rule of hospitality was so all-pervading that it 
was tantamount to a community of goods, while individual property was 
everywhere recognized until it was freely surrendered. This may be the 
just view of the result of their communism and hospitality, but it is a higher 
one than I have been able to take. 
The household of the Mandans consisting of from twenty to forty 
persons, the households of the Columbian tribes of about the same num- 
ber, the Shoshonee household of seven families, the households of the 
Sauks, of the Iroquois, and of the Creeks each composed of several fami- 
lies, are fair types of the households of the Northern Indians at the epoch 
of their discovery. The fact is also established that these tribes constructed 
as a rule large joint tenement houses, each of which was occupied by a 
large household composed of several families, among whom provisions were 
in common, and who practiced communism in living in the household. 
* Travels, etc., p. 171. 1 Travels, etc., Phila. ed. 1796, p. 29. 2Tndian Nations, p. 158, 
