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Show 2o4 BASIS OF AMERICAN HISTORY [ iSoo using it for a limited time, or for life, as the case might be. One of the chief concerns of the clan was to keep And increase its strength. Under the conditions of almost unceasing warfare in which the Indians lived, the loss of members by death was a constant menace to the life and vitality of the clan. To meet_ this danger grew up the custom of adoption. Am.***^ adopted person became in every sense a member^^^ of the clan or family or tribe into which he was received. The strangers thus adopted were, as a rule, captives in war or stray members of other tribes. The act was carried out by an individual, but had to be ratified by the clan, and sometimes by the tribe, in a ceremonial manner. Adoption was also a means of atoning for accidental homicide, and thus avoiding blood revenge. The offender in such a case would offer himself, for example, to the mother of his victim, and, being accepted by her, would assume in every form the duties and obligations of the dead son. ^ The settlement of disputes and all matters of debate which pertained to the clan exclusively were in the hands of the chiefs, or when they could not decide, devolved upon' the council, T^ his inst tion of the council was again practically unive among the Indians. Its structure might vary from that of the Iroquois clan, where the women had an equal right with men, to that of tribes of the west, where the former were not consulted; but it was |