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Show i8ool EASTERN INDIANS 159 The clan, 1 which was the fundamental unit of the^ Iroquois system, had a definite organization and officers. \ The official head of the clan was the " sachem," whoNvas strictly a peace officer, and the position when vacant was filled by election from the members of the clan, which usage, since maternal inheritance ruled, prevented a son from succeeding his father, ^ here were also " chiefs" of the clan, the number depending upon the numbers of the clan and upon the fitness of the available candidates. ^< Che function of the chiefs was military, and distinct from that of the sachems. The clan had always the right to depose its sachems or chiefs for cause. Other rights and privileges reserved by the clan were: obligations of help, defence, and redress of injuries of members; right of inheritance of the personal property of deceased members, which passed to maternal relatives, and therefore remained within the clan limits; the right to bestow names upon its members, certain names being confined to certain clans; the right to adopt strangers or captives, and thus to strengthen the group; the observance of special religious ceremonials; and, above all, the council of the clan, in which all adults, men and women, had a voice, and which adjusted all affairs affecting the clan as a group. The council elected and deposed sachems and chiefs, avenged or 1 An excellent summary of the functions of the clan is con-taliped in Morgan, Ancient Society, 62 et seq. I 1 |