SCIENCE. 
2o5 
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 Y u-wai-yu-wd-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 chaplet 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 by the men belonging 
to the council of the tribe. Formerly the sachemship in- 
hered in the Bear gens but at present he is chosen from the 
Deer gens from the fact, as the Wyandottes say, that 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 lias 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 maybe 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 are permitted. For example, a man may not marry 
his mother’s sister’s daughter, as she belongs to the same 
gens with himself ; but he can marry 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- 
