MICHELSON— PI EGAN CONSANGUINITY 



Algonquian we are faced with a linguistic problem, namely, What 

 is the source of the new terms, and whence are the new categories? 

 Arapaho and Gros Ventre can shed no light on this, for they have a 

 number of old Algonquian words in their terms of relationship, and 

 the categories are the old ones in at least many cases, even if both 

 are more divergent Algonquian languages than Piegan. At present 

 the source is unknown, but it may be suggested that Salish (especially 

 Flathead), Kutenai, and Athapascan (especially Sarcee) be examined 

 to see if they will shed any light on the problem. The possibility of 

 other stocks influencing Algonquian categories in terms of relation- 

 ship will be discussed elsewhere. 1 



Those who believe marriage customs can be inferred from terms 

 of relationship will doubtless make many deductions concerning 

 such customs. From 21 of the above schedules they will conclude 

 son and brother share the same wife; from 26 and 27, that a man 

 married his own mother, from 4, 15, 16, that one's younger brothers 

 and sisters married one's own daughters and sons; and other possi- 

 bilities probably will present themselves. I do not in the least doubt 

 that such extraordinary forms of marriage apparently occur in some 

 quarters of the globe. But as such marriages are fundamentally 

 repugnant to Piegans, there is no reason to regard the terms of 

 relationship as a survival of such marriages, especially as the terms 

 are, for the greater part, young, and not old Algonquian ones. 



As said in the beginning of this paper, much that it contains is 

 destructive criticism rather than constructive synthesis. But I shall 

 be satisfied if I have at least cleared the field, and made a small 

 contribution toward the final comprehension and understanding of 

 the Piegan system of consanguinity. 



Bureau of American Ethnology 

 Washington, D.C. 



1 Sea Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1916, 11, p. 299. 

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