SOME FEATURES OF INDIAN SOCIOLOGY

'

As shown by

Powell, there are

two

fundamentallydistinct classes or stages in

human

society

—

^{(1) tribal society}

^and

^{(2) national society.}

National society characterizescivilization_; primarilyitis organized

on

a territorial basis,but as enlightenment grows the bases are multi- iflied. Tribal society is characteristic of savagery

and

barbarism; so faras

known,

alltribal societies are organized on thebasis of kinship.

The

transfer from tribal society to national society is often, perhaps always,through ^feudalism,in which the territorial motivetakes root

and

in which the kinship motivewithers.

All of the

American

aborigines north of Mexico

and most

^of those farther southward were in the stageof tribal society

when

the conti- nents were discovered, though feudalism

was

apitarently

budding

in South America, Central America,

and

parts of Mexico.

The

partly developed transitional stage

may,

for the present, be neglected,

and

American

Indian sociology

may

be cousidered as rexiresenting tribal society or kinship organization.

200 THE SIOUAN

INDIANS ^{[ktii.a.vn.15}

The

fundamental i)rinciples of tribal organization through kinship have been formulated

by

rowell; they are as follows:'

I.

A

bodyofkiuilred constitutingadistinct bodypolitic isdivided into groups, themalesintogroupsof brothersandthe females intogroups ofsisters, ondistinc- tionsof generations, regardless of degrees of consanguinity; andthe kinshipterms usedexpressrelativeage. Incivilizedsocietykinships areclassifiedondistinctions ofsex,distinctions of generations,anddistinctions arising fromdegrees ofnmsan.

guinity.

II.

When

des<eutisin the femaleline,thebrother-groupconsistsof natal brothers, togetherwithallthe matertcrate malecousinsofwhateverdegree. Timsmother's Bisters' sons and mother's mother'ssisters' daughters' sous, etc,are included in a group with natal brothers. In like mannerthe sister-group is (composed of natal sisters,togetherwithallinaterteratofemalecousins ofwhateverdegree.

III.

When

descent is iu the male line, the brother-group is composed of natal brothers, togetherwithallpatruatomalecousins ofwhateverdegree,andthesister- group is comjiosed of natal sisters, together with all patruate female cousins of whateverdegree.

IV. The son ofamemberofabrother-groupcallseach oneof the group, father;

the father of amemberof abrother-group callseach oueof the group,son. Thusa father-groupiscoextensivewiththebrother-grouptowhich the fatherIjeloiigs.

A

brother-group may also constitute a father-group and grandfather-group, a son- groupandagraudsou-group. It may^also beapatruate-groupand an avuuculate- group. Itmayalso be a patruate cousin-group and an avuuculate cousiu-group;

andingeneral,everymemberof abrother-grouphas thesamecousanguiuealrelation to i)ersonsoutsideof thegroujiasthat ofevery othermember.

Two

postulatesconcerningprimitive society,adoiited

by

variouseth- nologic students of othercountries, have been erroneously applied to the Aniericau aborigines; atthe

same

time theyhave been so widely accepted as to

demand

consideration.

Tlie first postulate is that primitive

men

were originally assembled in chaotic hordes,

and

thatorganized society

was

developed out of the chaotic

mass by

the segregation of groups

and

tlie dift'erentiation of functions within each group.

Now

the

American

aborigines collect- ivelyrepresent a wide range ⁱⁿ development, extending from acondi- tion about as primitive as ever observed well toward the verge of feudalism, and thus off'er opportunities for testing the postulate;

and

it hasbeen found that

when

higher and lower stages representing

any

portion of thedevelopmentalsuccession are compared,thesocial organ- izations of thelowergrade are noless definite, ])erhaps

more

definite,

than those pertainingto the higher grade; so tliat

when

the history of demotic growtli

among

the

American

Indians is traced backward, the organizations arefound on thewhole to

grow more

^{definite, albeit}

more

simple.

When

the linesofdevelopmentrevealed throughresearch are l>roJected still farthertowardtheir origin, they indicate an initial con- dition, directly antithetic to tlie postulated horde, in which the scant population

was

segregated iu small discrete bodies, probably family groups; and that in each of these bodies there

was

adefiniteorganiza- tion, while each group

was

practically independent of,

and

i)robably

'TlrirdAnnualKeportoftheBureauofEthnologj-, for 1881-82(1884),pp.iliv-xlv.

MCGEE]

BEGINNING Of MARRIAGE 201

iniuiicalto, all other groups.

The

testimony of the observed iustitu- tions is corroborated

by

the testimony of language, which, as clearly

shown by

Powell,'represents progressivecombination ratherthan con- tinued diflerentiation, a iirocess of involution rather than evolution.

It

would

appearthattheoriginal definitelyorganized groupsoccasion- ally

met and

coalesced,

whereby

changesinorganization wererequired;

that these

compound

groups occasionally coalescedwith other gionjjs both simple

and compound, whereby

theywereelaboratedinstructure, alwayswith

some

loss in detiniteness

and

permanence;

and

that grad- uallythegroupsenlarged

by

incorporation, while thecomposite organ- ization

grew

complex

and

variable to

meet

the ever-changing condi- tions. It

would

also appear that in

some

cases the corporeal growth outranthe structuralorinstitutional growth,

when

the bodies

—

^clans,

gentes,tribes, orconfederacies

—

^splitinto

^two

^or

^more

fragments which continued to

grow

independently; yet that in general the progress of institutionaldevelopment

went

forwardthroughincorporation of peoples

and

differentiation of institutions.

The same

process

was

followed as tribal societypassed intonational society;

and

itis the

same

process which^is today exalting national society intoworld society,

and

trans- forming simplecivilization intoenlightenment. Tlius the evolution of socialorganization isfrom thesimple

and

deflnite towardthe complex

and

variable; or from the involuntary to thevoluntary^; or from the enviroumeut-shapedto the environment-shaping; orfrom thebiotic to the demotic.

The

secondpostulate,

which may

be regarded as a corollaryof the

first, is that the primary conjugal condition

was

oneof promiscuity, outof which^different formsot marriageweresuccessively segregated.

Now

the wide range in institutional development exemplified

by

the

American

Indiansaffords unprecedented opportunities for testing this postulatealso.

The

^simplestdemotic unitfound

among

the aborigines

isthe clanormother-descentgroup,in

which

thenormalconjugalrela- tion is essentially monogamous,'* in

which

marriage is

more

or less strictlyregulated

by

a system of prohibitions,

and

in whichthe chief conjugal regulation is

commonly

that of

exogamy

with respect to the clan; in higher groups,

more

deeply affected

by

contactwith neighbor- ing peoples, the simple clan organization is sometimes found to be modified, (1)

by

the adoption

and

subsequent conjugation of captive

men and

boys, and, doubtless

more

profoundly, (2)

by

the adoption

and polygamous

marriageoffemale captives;

and

^instill

more

highly organized groups the mother-descent is lost

and polygamy

is regular

and

limited only

by

the capacity of the

husband

as a provider.

The

second

and

third stages are

commonly

characterized,like the first, 'Notably in "Relationof primitivepeoplestoenvironment,illustratedbyAmericanexamples,"

SmithsonianReportfor 1896,pp. G25-638, especiallyp. 635.

^Neither space nor present occasion warrants discussionofthe curious aphrodiaian cultsfound amongmanypeoples,usuallyintbobarbaricstageofdevelopment; itmaybo noted merelytliatthis isan aberrant branch fromthemain stem^ofinstitutionalgrowth. Thesubjectistouchedbrieily in

"Thebeginiiinsofmarriage,"AmericanAnthropologist,vol. ix,pp. 371-383,Nov.,1896.

202 THE SIOUAN

INDIANS ^{[eth.*nn. 15}

by

establislicd piohib.tioiis and

by

clan

exogamy;

tlionj^li with the advance in orifanizatioii amicable rehvtions with certain othergroups are nsually estabbslied.

whereby

the

germ

of tribal organization ^is implanted and a system ot interclan marriage,or tribal entlogamy, is

developed.

With

lurther advance the mother-descent group istrans- formed into a father-descent group, wiien the clan is replaced

by

the gens;

and polygamy

^isa conunon feature of the gentile organization.

In all of these stages theconjugal

and

cousanguineal regulations are

afl'e(!ted

by

the militant habitscharacteristicof])rinntive giou])S;

more

warriors than

women

are slain in battle,

and

there are

more

female captives than male;

and

thus the

polygamy

is mainly or wholly polygyny. In

many

^{cases civil conditions} combine with or i)artially replacethe militant conditions, yet the tendencyof conjugal develoj)-

ment

^is not changed.

Among

the Seri Indians, ])robably the most primitive tribe in

North

America, in which the demotic unit is the clan, there ^is a rigorous marriage custom under

which

the would-be

groom

is required to enter the family of the girl and demonstrate (1) hiscapacity as ai)rovider

and

(2) his strength of character as a

man, by

a year'sprobation,before he islinally accepted

—

^{the conjugal the-}

ory of thetribe being

monogamy,

though the practice, at leastduring recent years, has,

by

reason of conditions, passed into polygyny.

Among

severalothertribesof

more

^provident

and

lessexclusivehabit, the firstof the

two

conditions recognized

by

the Seri is

met by

rich presents (representing accumulated i)roi)erty) from the

groom

to the

girl's family, the second condition being usually ignored, the clan organization remaiidng in force;

among

^still other^tribes the firstcon- dition is

more

orlessvaguelyrecognized, thoughthevoluntary present

is

commuted

into, or replaced by, a negotiated value exacted by the girfs fimily,

when

the motherdescent is conmionlyvestigial;

and

in the next stage, which is abundantly exemplified, wife-purchase pre- vails,

and

the chui is rephiceil by the gens. In this succession the development of wife-purchase

and

the decadence of mother-descent

may

be traced,and ^itis significantthatthereisatendencyfirsttoward

])artialenslavementof the wife

and

latertoward the multiplication of wives to the limit of the husband's means,

and

toward transforming

all, orall butone,of thewivesintomenials.

Thus

the linesof devel-

opment

undermilitant

and

civilconditions areessentiallyparallel. It is possible to project these lines

some

distance

backward

into the

unknown

of the exceedingly i)rimitive,

when

theyare found to define small discrete T)odies

—

^{^just such} as are indicated

by

the institutional and linguistic lines

—

^probably family groups, which

must have

beeu essentially, and werei)erhai)s strictly,

monogamous.

Itwould ap])ear that in these groups mating

was

either between ^distant

members

(under a law of attraction toward the remote

and

repulsionfrom the near,which issharedby

mankind

and the higheranimals), or the result of a(;cidental meeting between nul)ile

members

of different groups;

that in the se(;ond case

and

sometimes in the first the conjugation

MCGEE]

CLASSIFICATION OF TRIBAL SOCIETY 203