OCR Text |
Show 2oa BASIS OF AMERICAN HISTORY [ 1500 The combination of common ownership and universal hospitality made the accumulation of personal property unnecessary and unusual, so that the disposition of the goods and chattels of the deceased individual- did not raise a question of much importance. It was, however, bound to arise, and, as might be expected, it appears to have been the clan in which the right of inheritance lay. The most cherished and intimate of the personal effects were ordinarily buried with the deceased. The rest of his personal property went to his nearest of kin, but remained within the clan. In a maternal group a man's brothers and sisters and maternal uncles were usually his heirs; his children took nothing, since they belonged to a different clan. In the case of a woman's death her chil-dren received the bulk of her property; husband or wife inherited nothing from the other. It appears as if the individual or the family were thus the custodian rather than the actual owner of the estate. ^ A striking characteristic of Indian society^ and one difficult for us to understand) is the great stress laid upon the name. Iji most groups certain names resided in certain clans and were used by no others, so that the personal name of an individual was indicative of the clan to which he belonged. The customs relating to name giving and acquisition varied widely in North America, but it was not usual for a person to receive his adult |