208 



SCIENCE. 



A wooden tablet is prepared upon which is inscribed the 

 totem or heraldic emblem of the injured man's gens, and a 

 picture writing setting forth the offence follows. 



The gentile chief appears before the chief of the council 

 of the offender, and formally states the offence, explaining 

 the picture-writing, which is then delivered. 



A council of the offender's gens is thereupon called and 

 a trial is held. It is the duty of this council to examine 

 the evidence for themselves and to come to a conclusion 

 without further presentation of the matter on the part of the 

 person aggrieved. Having decided the matter among them- 

 selves, they appear before the chief of the council of the 

 aggrieved party to offer compensation. 



If the gens of the offender fail to settle the matter with 

 the gens of the aggrieved part)', it is the duty of his nearest 

 relative to avenge the wrong. Either party may appeal to 

 the council of the tribe. The appeal must be made in due 

 form, by the presentation of a tablet of accusation. 



Inquiry into the effect of a failure to observe prescribed 

 formalities developed an interesting fact. In procedure 

 against crime, failure in formality is not considered a viola- 

 tion of the rights of the accused, but proof of his innocence. 

 It is considered supernatural evidence that the charges are 

 false. In trials for all offences forms of procedure are, 

 therefore, likely to be earnestly questioned. 



TRKASON. 



Treason consists in revealing the secrets of the medicine 

 preparations or giving other information or assistance to 

 enemies of the tribe, and is punished by death. The trial 

 is before the council of the tribe. 



WITCHCRAFT. 



Witchcraft is punished by death, stabbing, tomahawking, 

 or burning. Charges of witchcraft are investigated by the 

 grand council of the tribe. When the accused is adjudged 

 guilty, he may appeal to supernatural judgment. The test 

 is by tire. A circular fire is built on the ground through 

 which the accused must run from east to west, and from 

 north to south. If no injury is received, he is adjudged 

 innocent; if he falls into the fire, he is adjudged guilty. 

 Should a person accused or having the general reputation 

 of practising witchcraft become deaf, blind, or have sore 

 eyes, car ache, headache, or other diseases considered 

 loathsome, he is supposed to have failed in practising his 

 arts upon others and to have fallen a victim to them him- 

 self. Such cases are most likely to be punished. 



oil I.AVVKV. 



The institution of outlawry exists among the Wyandottes 

 in a peculiar form. An outlaw is one who by his crimes 

 has placed himself without the protection of his clan. A 

 man can be declared an outlaw by his own clan, who thus 

 publish to the tribe that they will not defend him in case 

 he is injured by another. Hut, usually, outlawry is de- 

 clared only after trial before the tribal council. 



The method of procedure is analogous to that in case of 

 murder. When the person has been adjudged guilty, and 

 sentence of outlawry declared, it is the duty of the chief of 

 the Wolf clan to make known the decision of the council. 

 This he does by appearing before each clan in the order of 



its encampment, and declaring in terms the crimes of the 



outlaw and the sentem e ,,t Outlawry, whieh may lie eilliei 

 of two grades. 



In the lowest grade it is declared that, if the man shall 

 thereafter continue in the commission of similar crimes, it 

 will be lawful for any person to kill him; and if killed, 

 rightfully or wrongfully, his elan will not avenge his death. 



' Outlawry of the highest degree makes it the duty of any 



membei 01 the tribe who may meel with the offendei to kill 

 him. 



Mil ll \ky GOVERNMENT. 



The management of militarj affairs inheres in the mili- 

 tarj i oun< il and < hief. The military coun< il is composed 

 of all the able-bodied linn of the tribe; the military chief 

 is chosen bj the council from the Porcupine gens. Each 

 gentile chief is responsible for the military training oi tie 

 youth under his authority. There is usually one ,,i more 



potential military chiefs who are the close companions and 

 assistants of the chief in time of war, and in case of the 

 death of the chief take his place in the order of seniority. 



Prisoners of war are adopted into the tribe or killed. To 

 be adopted into the tribe it is necessary that the prisoner 

 should be adopted into some family. The warrior taking 

 the prisoner has the first right to adopt him, and his male 

 or female relatives have the right in the order of their kin- 

 ship. If no one claims the prisoner for this purpose he is 

 caused to run the gauntlet, as a test of his courage. 



If at his trial he behaves manfully, claimants arc not 

 wanting, but if he behaves disgracefully he is put to 

 death. 



FELLOWHOOD. 



There is an interesting institution found among the 

 Wyandottes, as among some other of our North American 

 tribes, namely, that of fellowhood. Two young men agree 

 to be perpetual friends to each other, or more than bro- 

 thers. Each reveals to the other the secrets of his life, 

 and counsels with him on matters of importance, aud de- 

 fends him from wrong and violence, and at his death is 

 chief mourner. 



The government of the Wyandottes, with the social or- 

 ganization upon which it is based, affords a typical example 

 of tribal Government throughout North America. Within 

 that area there are several hundred distinct governments. 

 In so great a number there is great variety, and in this 

 variety we find different degrees of organization, the de- 

 gree of organization being determined by the differentia- 

 tion of the functions of government and the correlative 

 specialization of organic elements. 



Much has yet to be done in the study of these govern- 

 ments before safe generalizations may be made. But 

 enough is known to warrant the following statement. 



Tribal government in North America is based on kinship 

 in that the fundamental units of social organization are 

 bodies of consanguineal kindred either in the male or 

 female line: these units being what has been well denomi- 

 nated " gentes." 



These "gentes" are organized into tribes by ties of 

 relationship and affinity, and this organization is of such a 

 character that the man's position in the tribe is fixed by his 

 kinship. There is no place in a tribe for any person whose 

 kinship is not fixed, and only those persons can be adopted 

 into the tribe who are adopted into some family with arti- 

 ficial kinship specified. The fabric of Indian society is a 

 complex tissue of kinship. The warp is made of streams 

 of kinship blood, and the woof of marriage ties. 



With most tribes military and civil affairs are differenti- 

 ated. The functions of civil government are in general 

 differentiated only to this extent, that executive functions 

 are performed by chiefs and sachems, but these chiefs and 

 sachems are also members of the council. The council is 

 legislature and court. Perhaps it were better to say that 

 the council is the court whose decisions are law, and that 

 the legislative body properly has not been developed. 



In general crimes are well defined. Procedure is formal, 

 and forms are held as of such importance that error therein 

 is prima facie evidence that the subject matter formulated 

 was false. 



When one gens charges crime against a member of 



another, it can of its own motion ] eed only to retaliation. 



To prevent retaliation, the gens of the offender must take 

 the necessary steps to disprove the crime, "or to compound 

 or punish it. The charge once made is held as just and 

 true until it has been disproved, and in trial the cause of 

 the defendant is first stated. The angei of the prosecuting 



<M'iis must he placated. 



In the tribal governments there are many institutions, 



customs, and traditions which give evidence of a former 



condition in whieh SOCietJ was based, not upon kinship, 



but upon mai i iage. 



From a survey of the facts it seems highlj probable that 

 kinship society, as ii exists among the tribes of North 

 America, has developed from connubial society, which is 

 discovered elsewhere on the globe. In fact, there are few 

 tribes tnat seem scarcely to have passed that indefinite 

 boundary between the two social M;iics, Philologic re- 

 sear< ii leads to the same i onclusion. 



Nowhere in North America have a people been discov- 



