THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 255 



brother may inherit the property and the nephew get the relict. In 

 case there is no male relative to marry her or in case an indemnity is 

 paid, the widow may marry any other man. Sometimes an adopted 

 child or the son adopted by a sister of the deceased may be the heir. 

 The heir of Chief Skowl of Kasa-an (Kaigani) was his sister's son, 

 Sahattan, who is now chief of the village. Should a boy be killed by 

 accident, the indemnity is paid, by a reversal of this rule, to his mother's 

 brother, the boy's uncle. Property inherited is taken possession of by 

 the heir as soon as the body is burned or enclosed in the burial box. 

 It becomes his duty within a year to give a great feast and erect a 

 mortuary column in honor of the deceased. This ceremony is called 

 glorifying or elevating the dead, and is one of the principal ones in this 

 region. 



Lisiansky (1805) says of the Tliugit about Sitka: 



The right of succession is from uncle to nephew [meaning sister's sou], the dignity 

 of chief to yon excepted, which passes to him who is the most powerful, or has the 

 greatest number of relations. Though the toyons have power over their subjects, it 

 is a very limited power, unless when an individual of extraordinary ability starts up, 

 who is sure to rule despotically, and, as elsewhere, to do much mischief. These toy- 

 ons are numerous ; even in small settlements there are often four or five.* 



SUMMARY. 



The industrial organization is not different from the political, and 

 most of the laws and customs which control thom in their actions are 

 founded on totemic laws, traditions, legends, folk-lore, and super- 

 stitions. For this reason the regulative organization, while not exactly 

 weak, is at least not well differentiated. The actual function or occu- 

 pation of the individual, both as a member of a household and of the 

 tribe, is partially developed, although there are no real craft classes. 

 Organization is based on kinship, and descent is in the female line. 

 Totemism cuts across blood relationship and its chief bearing is on 

 marriage. Most of the ceremonies have a bearing directly on totemism, 

 and have for their object the identification of the individual with his 

 totem. 



*Li8iansky, Voyages, p. 243. 



