94 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 
only they are larger groups with more slender ties bind- 
ing them together, and only one parent, in this case the 
mother, is considered in reckoning the relationship. 
The relationship tie, however, is sufficient to carry the 
right of special hospitality. Secondly, certain political 
and religious duties devolve upon clans as such or upon 
individuals because of their clan membership. 
The clans have no definite organization or officers, 
nor do they own houses or other secular property. Each 
clan owns a fetish which is kept in a certain house and 
cared for by the householder. It results that these 
particular houses and persons become centers of in- 
terest for the respective clans. Among the Hopi certain 
eagle nests are the property of particular clans. In the 
large villages, such as Zufi and Oraibi, a localization 
of clans in the community structure results from the 
natural spread of the family in which the women own 
the houses and women who are related by blood choose 
to live side by side. 
Nothing is known concerning the origin of these 
clans. There are similar social divisions elsewhere in , 
North America and other parts of the world. They are 
best considered as purely social phenomena either as 
larger family groups or as subdivisions of the political or 
ethnic units. It is certain that the clansin theSouthwest 
could not have resulted in the manner related in the 
myths of the Hopi. The wide distribution of these clans 
in the Southwest with names of common meaning 
makes such an origin next to impossible. 
SOcIAL CUSTOMS. 
The Hopi baby is first washed and dressed by its 
paternal grandmother or by one of her sisters. On the 
day of its birth, she makes four marks with corn meal 
on the four walls of the room. She erases one of these 
