| OCR Text |
Show 186 BASIS OP AMERICAN HISTORY [ 1500 tribes, each pueblo having a peace- chief or governor, with a number of councillors, and a war- chief. The clans, 1 which are very numerous in proportion to the population, are at the basis of the entire social and religious organization. Marriage is monogamous, and the children belong to the clan of the mother, the daughters inheriting the mother's personal possessions. Private property in land is not recognized, though individual occupation is respected as long as the land is in use. The Pueblo, as a rule, are very religious, much of their time being spent in elaborate ceremonials. The performance of these ceremonies and rites is in the hands of secret societies or priesthoods, of which there are several in every village. These have been studied in a number of villages, but probably those of the Hopi or Moki are the best known. Here from four to sixteen days in every month are employed by one society or another in the carrying out of religious rites; the public performances are inappropriately termed " dances" by the whites, as in the case of the so- called " snake- dance." The secret portion of these ceremonies takes place in the " kiva," a rectangular room, usually underground, and always entered by a trap- door in the roof. The ceremonies are very complex, some of them lasting over a week, and abound in details too long for these pages. In many cases an elaborate structure, usually called 1 Hodge, " Pueblo Indian Clans" ( American Anthropologist, IX., 345). |
