Siouan Sociology Part 7

THE HIDATSA

Our chief authority for the names of the Hidatsa gentes is Morgan's "Ancient Society." Dr Was.h.i.+ngton Matthews could have furnished a corrected list from his own notes had they not unfortunately been destroyed by fire.

All that can now be done is to give Morgan's list, using his system of spelling:

1. Knife, Mit-che-ro'-ka.

2. Water, Min-ne pa'-ta.

3. Lodge, Ba-ho-ha'-ta.

4. Prairie chicken, Scech-ka-be-ruh-pa'-ka (Tsi-tska' do-?pa'-ka of Matthews; Tsi-tska' do-qpa'-ka in the Bureau alphabet).

5. Hill people, E-tish-sho'-ka.

6. Unknown animal, A?-na?-ha-na'-me-te.

7. Bonnet, E-ku'-pa-be-ka.

The Hidatsa have been studied by Prince Maximilian (1833), Hayden, and Matthews, the work of the last writer(8) being the latest one treating of them; and from it the following is taken:

Marriage among the Hidatsa is usually made formal by the distribution of gifts on the part of the man to the woman's kindred. Afterward presents of equal value are commonly returned by the wife's relations, if they have the means of so doing and are satisfied with the conduct of the husband.

Some travelers have represented that the "marriage by purchase" among the Indians is a mere sale of the woman to the highest bidder, whose slave she becomes. Matthews regards this a misrepresentation so far as it concerns the Hidatsa, the wedding gift being a pledge to the parents for the proper treatment of their daughter, as well as an evidence of the wealth of the suitor and his kindred. Matthews has known many cases where large marriage presents were refused from one person, and gifts of much less value accepted from another, simply because the girl showed a preference for the poorer lover. Marriages by elopement are considered undignified, and different terms are applied to a marriage by elopement and one by parental consent. Polygamy is practiced, but usually with certain restrictions. The husband of the eldest of several sisters has a claim to each of the others as she grows up, and in most cases the man takes such a potential wife unless she form another attachment. A man usually marries his brother's widow, unless she object, and he may adopt the orphans as his own children. Divorce is easily effected, but is rare among the better cla.s.s of people in the tribe. The unions of such people often last for life; but among persons of a different character divorces are common. Their social discipline is not very severe. Punishments by law, administered by the "soldier band," are only for serious offenses against the regulations of the camp. He who simply violates social customs in the tribe often subjects himself to no worse punishment than an occasional sneer or taunting remark; but for grave transgressions he may lose the regard of his friends. With the Hidatsa, as with other western tribes, it is improper for a man to hold a direct conversation with his mother-in-law; but this custom seems to be falling into disuse.

The kins.h.i.+p system of the Hidatsa does not differ materially from that of any of the cognate tribes. When they wish to distinguish between the actual father and a father's real or potential brothers, or between the actual mother and the mother's real or potential sisters, they use the adjective ka'ti (ka?t?i), real, true, after the kins.h.i.+p term when the actual parent is meant.

THE CROW OR ABSAROKA

As this tribe belongs to the Hidatsa linguistic substock, it is very probable that the social laws and customs of the one people are identical with those of the other, as there has been nothing to cause extensive differentiation.

It is not known whether the Hidatsa and Crow tribes ever camped in a circle. Morgan's list of the Crow gentes is given, with his peculiar notation, as follows:

1. Prairie Dog gens, A-che-pa-be'-cha.

2. Bad Leggings, E-sach'-ka-buk.

3. Skunk, Ho-ka-rut'-cha.

4. Treacherous Lodges, Ash-bot-chee-ah.

5. Lost Lodges, Ah-s.h.i.+n'-na de'-ah (possibly intended for Last Lodges, those who camped in the rear).

6. Bad Honors, Ese-kep-ka'-buk.

7. Butchers. Oo-sa-bot'-see.

8. Moving Lodges, Ah-ha-chick.

9. Bear-paw Mountain, s.h.i.+p-tet'-za.

10. Blackfoot Lodges, Ash-kane'-na.

11. Fish Catchers, Boo-a-da'-sha.

12. Antelope, O-hot-du-sha.

13. Raven, Pet-chale-ruh-pa'-ka.

THE BILOXI

The tribal organization of this people has disappeared. When the few survivors were visited by the author at Lecompte, Louisiana, in 1892 and 1893, they gave him the names of three of the clans of the Biloxi, descent being reckoned in the female line. These clans are: 1, Ita anyadi, Deer people; 2, On?i anyadi, Bear people; 3, Naqotoda anyadi, Alligator people. Most of the survivors belong to the Deer clan. The kins.h.i.+p system of the Biloxi is more complicated than that of any other tribe of the stock; in fact, more than that of any of the tribes visited by the author.

The names of 53 kins.h.i.+p groups are still remembered, but there are at least a dozen others whose names have been forgotten. Where the egiha language, for example, has but one term for grandchild, and one grandchild group, the Biloxi has at least fourteen. In the ascending series the Dakota and egiha do not have any terms beyond grandfather and grandmother. But for each s.e.x the Biloxi has terms for at least three degrees beyond the grandparent. The egiha has but one term for father's sister and one for mother's brother, father's brother being "father," and mother's sister "mother." But the Biloxi has distinct terms (and groups) for father's elder sister, father's younger sister, father's elder brother, father's younger brother, and so on for the mother's elder and younger brothers and sisters. The Biloxi distinguishes between an elder sister's son and the son of a younger sister, and so between the daughter of an elder sister and a younger sister's daughter. A Biloxi man may not marry his wife's brother's daughter, nor his wife's father's sister, differing in this respect from a Dakota, an Omaha, a Ponka, etc; but he can marry his deceased wife's sister. A Biloxi woman may marry the brother of her deceased husband. Judging from the a.n.a.logy furnished by the Kansa tribe it was very probably the rule before the advent of the white race that a Biloxi man could not marry a woman of his own clan.

THE TUTELO

It is impossible to learn whether the Tutelo ever camped in a circle. The author obtained the following clan names (descent being in the female line) from John Key, an Indian, on Grand River reservation, Ontario, Canada, in September, 1882: On "one side of the fire" were the Bear and Deer clans, the Wolf and Turtle being on the other side. John Key's mother, maternal grandmother, and Mrs Christine Buck were members of the Deer clan. There were no taboos. The Tutelo names of the clans have been forgotten.

THE CATAWBA

Dr A. S. Gatschet, of the Bureau of Ethnology, visited the Catawba tribe prior to March, 1882, when he obtained an extensive vocabulary of the Catawba language, but he did not record any information respecting the social organization of the people.

For further information regarding the Siouan tribes formerly inhabiting the Atlantic coast region, see "Siouan Tribes of the East," by James Mooney, published as a bulletin of the Bureau of Ethnology.