SCIENCE. 



a son, brother, or some definite relative ; and this artificial 

 relationship gives him the same standing as actual relation- 

 ship in the family, in the gens, in the phratry and in the 

 tribe. 



Thus a tribe is a body of kindred. 



Of the four groups thus described, the gens, the phratry 

 and the tribe constitute the series of organic units ; the 

 family or household as here described, is not a unit of the 

 gens or phratry, as two gentes are represented in each — the 

 father must belong to one gens and the mother and her 

 children to another. 



GOVERNMENT. 



Society is maintained by the establishment of government, 

 for rights must be recognized and duties performed. 



In this tribe there is found a complete differentation of the 

 military from the civil government. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



The civil government inheres in a system of councils and 

 chiefs. 



In each gens there is a council, composed of four women, 

 called Yu-wai'-yu-wa-na. These four women councillors 

 select a chief of the gens from its male members — that is, 

 from their brothers and sons. This gentile chief is the head 

 of the gentile council. 



The council of the tribe is composed of the aggregated 

 gentile councils. The tribal council, therefore, is com- 

 posed one-fifth of men and four-fifths of women. 



The sachem of the tribe or tribal chief is chosen by the 

 chiefs of the gentes. 



There is sometimes a grand council of the gens, composed 

 of the councillors of the gens proper and all the heads of 

 households and leading men — brothers and sons. 



There is also sometimes a grand council of the tribe, com- 

 posed of the council of the tribe proper and the heads of 

 households of the tribe and all the leading men of the 

 tribe. 



These grand councils are convened for special purposes. 



METHODS OF CHOOSING AND INSTALLING COUNCILLORS AND 

 CHIEFS. 



The four women councillors of the gens are chosen by 

 the heads of households — themselves being women. There 

 is no formal election, but frequent discussion is had over 

 the matter from time to time, in which a sentiment grows 

 up within the gens and throughout the tribe that, in the 

 event of the death of any councillor, a certain person will 

 take her place. 



In this manner there is usually one, two or more poten- 

 tial councillors in each gens who are expected to attend all 

 the meetings of the council, though they take no part in the 

 deliberations and have no vote. 



When a woman is installed as councillor a feast is pre- 

 pared by the gens to which she belongs, and to this feast all 

 the members of the tribe are invited. The woman is painted 

 and dressed in her best attire, and the sachem of the tribe 

 places upon her head the gentile chaplct of feathers, and 

 announces in a formal manner to the assembled guests that 

 the woman has been chosen a councillor. The ceremony is 

 followed by feasting and dancing, often continued late into 

 the night. 



The gentile chief is chosen by the council women after 

 consultation with the other women and men of the gens. 

 Often the gentile chief is a potential chief through a period 

 of probation. During this time he attends the meetings of 

 the council, but takes no part in their deliberations, and has 

 no vote. 



At his installation, the council women invest him with an 

 elaborately ornamented tunic, place upon his head a chap- 

 let of feathers, and paint the gentile: totem on his face. The 

 sachem of the tribe then announces to the people that the 

 man has been made chief of the gens, and admitted to the 

 council. This is also followed by a festival. 



The sachem of the tribe is selected Im the men belonging 

 to the council of the tribe. Formerly the sachemship in- 

 hered in the Beat gens but at present he is chosen from the 

 Deei gent from the fact, as the Wyandottee say, thai death 

 has carried away all the wise men of the Bear gens. 



The chief of the Wolf gens is the herald and sheriff of the 

 tribe. He superintends the erection of the council house, 

 and has the care of it. He calls the council together in a 

 formal manner when directed by the sachem. He an- 

 nounces to the tribe all the decisions of the council, and 

 executes the directions of the council and of the sachem. 



Gentile councils are held frequently from day to day and 

 from week to week, and are called by the chief whenever 

 deemed necessary. When matters before the council are 

 considered of great importance, a grand council of the gens 

 may be called. 



The tribal council is held regularly on the night of the 

 full moon of each lunation and at such other times as the 

 sachem may determine ; but extra councils are usually 

 called by the sachem at the request of a number of coun 

 cillors. 



Meetings of the gentile councils are very informal ; but 

 the meetings of the tribal councils are conducted with due 

 ceremony. When all the persons are assembled, the chief 

 of the Wolf gens calls them to. order, fills and lights a pipe, 

 sends one puff of smoke to the heavens and another to the 

 earth. The pipe is then handed to the sachem who fills his 

 mouth with smoke, and, turning from left to right with the 

 sun, slowly puffs it out over the heads of the councillors 

 who are sitting in a circle. He then hands the pipe to the 

 man on his left, and it is smoked in turn by each person 

 until it has been passed around the circle. The sachem 

 then explains the object for which the council is called. 

 Each person in the way and manner he chooses, tells what 

 he thinks should be done in the case. If a majority of the 

 council is agreed as to action, the sachem does not speak, 

 but may simply announce the decision. But in some cases 

 there may be protracted debate which is carried on with 

 great deliberation. In case of a tie, the sachem is ex- 

 pected to speak. 



It is considered dishonorable for any man to reverse his 

 decision after having spoken. 



Such are the organic elements of the Wyandotte govern- 

 ment. 



FUNCTIONS OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



It is the function of government to preserve rights and 

 enforce the performance of duties. Rights and duties are 

 co-relative. Rights imply duties, and duties imply rights. 

 The right inhering in the party of the first part imposes a 

 duty on the party of the second part. The right and its co- 

 relative duty are inseperable parts of a relation that must be 

 maintained by government ; and the relations which gov- 

 ernments are established to maintain may be treated under 

 the general head of rights. 



In Wyandotte government, these rights may be classed as 

 follows : 



First : — Rights of marriage. 



Second : — Rights to names. 



Third : — Rights to personal adornments. 



Fourth : — Rights of order in encampments and migrations. 



Fifth : — Rights of property. 



Sixth : — Rights of person. 



Seventh : — Rights of community. 



Eighth : — Rights of religion. 



To maintain rights, rules of conduct are established, not 

 by formal enactment but by regulated usage. Such custom- 

 made laws may be called regulations. 



MARRIAGE REGULATION. 



Marriage between members of the same gens is forbidden, 

 but consanguinial marriages between persons of different 

 gentes arc permitted. For example, a man may not many 

 his mother's sister's daughter, as she belongs to the same 

 gens with himself ; but he can many his father's sister's 

 daughter, because she belongs to a different gens. 



Husbands retain all their rights and privileges in their 

 own gentes, though they live with the gentes of their wives. 

 Children, irrespective of sex, belong to the gens of the 

 mother. Men and women must marry within the tribe. A 

 woman taken to wife from without the tribe, must first be 

 adopted into some family of a gens other than that to which 

 the man belongs. That a woman may take for a husband a 

 man without the tribe, he must also be adopted into the 

 family of some gens other than that of the woman. What 

 has been called by some ethnologists endogamy and exog- 



