SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF WINNEBAGO INDIANS. 
39 
of just those two kinds of influence that we wished to point 
out, one radiating from the clan, as a unit of organization, the 
other from the entire clan complex. 
In the Winter feasts the unit of organization is the clan. 
Generally all the clans were represented in the person of the 
owner of each specific clan war-bundle. The order of invitation 
was traditionally fixed, but it seems that in a number of cases 
the “friend” clan always had the position of honour. The war- 
bundle owner was not, however, supposed to represent the clan 
at all, but the spirits to whom offerings were being made. 
In every case, although the participants were supposed to 
impersonate a fairly large number of animals, the main blessings 
contained in the bundle were from the thunderbird and night- 
spirit and the main offerings were made to them. Indeed, there 
seem to be two separate ceremonies involved, one to the thunder- 
bird and the other to the night-spirits. 
The question that arises with regard to the clan basis 
of these ceremonial organizations is whether we are to imagine 
that the ceremonial unit of organization was displaced by the 
clan unit, or that the ceremony is of comparatively recent 
origin, let us say at least long after the clan organization 
had been perfected, and that a number of things combined 
to determine the acceptance of the clan as a unit of organization, 
as opposed to the traditional ceremonial one. To the foregoing, 
we must also add the fact that the Winter feast seems to be 
related to similar ceremonies of the Central Algonkin, whose 
influence on the Winnebago must first be determined. If, 
then, we are not in a position at present to suggest the course 
of development, there can be no doubt that the content of the 
ceremony is strictly comparable to that of the religious societies, 
and that there are hints that the ceremonial unit of organization 
had begun to assert itself. If this could be definitely established, 
it would indicate that the clan basis of organization is historic- 
ally primary. 
The clan unit of organization is found in no other Winne- 
bago ceremony, although the specific clan feasts show marked 
influences radiating from the clan complex. The clan feast is 
a typical ceremonial complex, both in type of organization 
