CHAPTER IV.

THE KINSHIP SYSTEM AND MARRIAGE LAWS.

CLASSES OF KINSHIP.

§ 73. Joseph La Flèche and Two Crows recognize four classes of kinship:

1. Consanguineous or blood kinship, which includes not only the gens of the father, but also those of the mother and grandmothers.

2. Marriage kinship, including all the affinities of the consort, as well as those of the son's wife or daughter's husband.

3. Weawa^n kinship, connected with the Calumet dance. (See § 126.)

4. Inter-gentile kinship, existing between contiguous gentes. This last is not regarded as a bar to intermarriage, _e. g._, the Weji^ncte and Iñke-sabě gentes are related; and the Weji^ncte man whose tent is at the end of his gentile area in the tribal circle is considered as a very near kinsman by the Iñke-sabě man whose tent is next to his. In like manner, the Iñke-sabě Wa¢igije man who camps next to the Hañga gens is a brother of his nearest Hañga neighbor. The last man in the Hañga area is the brother of the first ₵atada (Wasabe-hit`ajĭ), who acts as Quʞa for the Hañga. The last ₵atada [K]e-`i^n man is brother of the first [K]a^nze man, and so on around the circle.

Two other classes of relationship were given to the writer by members of three tribes, Omahas, Ponkas, and Missouris, but Joseph La Flèche and Two Crows never heard of them. The writer gives authorities for each statement.

5. Nikie kinship. "Nikie" means "Something handed down from a mythical ancestor," or "An ancient custom." Nikie kinship refers to kinship based on descent from the same or a similar mythical ancestor. For example, Big Elk, of the Omaha Weji^ncte or Elk gens, told the writer that he was related to the Kansas Elk gens, and that a Weji^ncte man called a Kansas Elk man "My younger brother," the Kansas man calling the Weji^ncte "My elder brother."

Icta¢abi, an Iñke-sabě, and Ckátce-yiñ´e, of the Missouri tribe, said that the Omaha Weji^ncte calls the Oto Hótatci (Elk gens) "Elder brother." But Big Elk did not know about this. He said, however, that his gens was related to the Ponka Niʞa[p]aᴐna, a deer and elk gens.

Icta¢abi said that Omaha Iñke-sabě, his own gens, calls the Ponka ₵ixida "Grandchild"; but others say that this is owing to intermarriage. Icta¢abi also said that Iñke-sabě calls the Ponka Wajaje "Elder brother"; but some say that this is owing to intermarriage. Gahige, of the Iñke-sabě gens, calls Standing Grizzly bear of the Ponka Wajaje his grandchild; and Standing Buffalo, of the same gens, his son. So Icta¢abi's statement was incorrect.

Icta¢bi and Ckatce-yiñe said that Iñke-sabě calls the Oto Arúqwa, or Buffalo gens, "Grandfather;" and that the Oto Rútce or Pigeon gens is called "Grandchild" by Iñke-sabě.

Some said that the Omaha Wasabe-hit`ajĭ called the Ponka Wasabe-hit`ajĭ "Grandchild"; but [P]á¢i^n-na^npájĭ, of the Omaha Wasabe-hit`ajĭ, said that his subgens called the Ponka Wasabe-hit`ajĭ "Younger brother"; and ₵ixida and Wajaje "Grandfather." Húpe¢a, another member of the Omaha Wasabe-hit`ajĭ, said that Ubískă of the Ponka Wasabe-hit`ajĭ was his son; Ubískă's father, his elder brother (by marriage); and Ubískă's grandfather his (Hupe¢a's) father. He also said that he addressed as elder brothers all Ponka men older than himself, and all younger than himself he called his younger brothers.

Fire Chief of the Omaha Wajiñga-¢atajĭ said that he called Keʞré[ç]e, of the Oto Tuna^n´p'i^n gens, his son; the Ponka Wasabe-hit`ajĭ, his elder brother; the Kansas Wasabe and Miʞa, his fathers; the Kansas Eagle people, his fathers; the Kansas Turtle people, his elder brothers; the Oto Rútce (Pigeon people), his fathers; the Oto Makátce (Owl people), his sisters' sons; and the Winnebago Ho^ntc (Black bear people), his fathers.

Omaha Ma^n¢iñka-gaxe calls Yankton-Dakota Tcaxú, "Sister's sons," but Tcañ´kuté, Ihá-isdáye, Watcéu^npa, and Ikmu^n´, are "Grandsons."

[T]a-[p]a calls Oto [T]ᴐéxita (Eagle people) "Grandchildren"; and Ponka Hísada "Grandfathers."

Icta¢abi said that Ictasanda called Ponka Maka^n´ "Mother's brother"; but Ibaha^nbi, of the Ictasanda gens, denied it. Ibaha^nbi said that he called a member of a gens of another tribe, when related to him by the nikie, "My father," if the latter were very old; "My elder brother," if a little older than himself, and "My younger brother," if the latter were Ibaha^nbi's junior. Besides, Ibaha^nbi takes, for example, the place of Standing Bear of the Ponka Wajaje; and whatever relationship Standing Bear sustains to the Hisada, ₵ixida, Nikadaᴐna, etc., is also sustained to the members of each gens by Ibaha^nbi.

6. Sacred Pipe kinship. Gahige, of the Omaha Iñke-sabě, said that all who had sacred pipes called one another "Friend." Ponka Wacabe and Omaha Iñke-sabě speak to each other thus. But Joseph La Flèche and Two Crows deny this.

CONSANGUINEOUS KINSHIP.

§ 74. All of a man's consanguinities belong to fourteen groups, and a woman has fifteen groups of consanguinities. Many affinities are addressed by consanguinity terms; excepting these, there are only four groups of affinities. In the accompanying charts consanguinities are designated by capital letters and affinities by small letters. Roman letters denote males and script letters females. Some necessary exceptions to these rules are shown in the Legends.

§ 75. _Peculiarities of the Charts._--The most remote ancestors are called grandfathers and grandmothers, and the most remote descendant is addressed or spoken of as a grandchild.

My brother's children (male speaking) are my children, because their mother ([J]) can become my wife on the death of their father. My brother's son (I) and daughter ([b]), female speaking, are my nephews and nieces. A man calls his sister's children his nephews and nieces (G and [G]), and they do not belong to his gens.

A woman calls her sister's children, her own children, as their father can be her husband. (See "e.") My mother's brother's son (m. or f. sp.) is my mother's brother (H), because his sister ([A]) can be my father's wife. The son of an "H" is always an "H" and his sisters and daughters are always "[A]'s." The children of [A]'s are always brothers and sisters to Ego (m. or f.), as are the children of A's. The husband of my father's sister (m. sp.) is my brother-in-law (a) because he can marry my sister ([E] or [F]), and their children are my sister's children (G and "[G]"). A brother of the real or potential wife of a grandfather is also a grandfather of Ego (m. or f.). The niece of the real or potential wife of my grandfather (m. or f. sp.) is his potential wife and my grandmother, so her brother is my grandfather.

§ 76. From these examples and from others found in the charts, it is plain that the kinship terms are used with considerable latitude, and not as we employ them. Whether Ego be a male or female, I call all men my fathers whom my father calls his brothers or whom my mother calls her potential husbands. I call all women my mothers whom my mother calls her sisters, aunts, or nieces, or whom my father calls his potential wives.

I call all men brothers who are the sons of such fathers or mothers, and their sisters are my sisters. I call all men my grandfathers who are the fathers or grandfathers of my fathers or mothers, or whom my fathers or mothers call their mothers' brothers. I call all women my grandmothers who are the real or potential wives of my grandfathers, or who are the mothers or grandmothers of my fathers or mothers, or whom my fathers or mothers call their fathers' sisters.

I, a male, call all males my sons who are the sons of my brothers or of my potential wives, and the sisters of those sons are my daughters. I, a female, call those males my nephews who are the sons of my brothers, and the daughters of my brothers are my nieces; but my sister's children are my children as their father is my potential or actual husband. I, a male, call my sister's son my nephew, and her daughter is my niece. I, a male or female, call all males and females my grandchildren who are the children of my sons, daughters, nephews, or nieces. I, a male or female, call all men my uncles whom my mothers call their brothers. And my aunts are all females who are my fathers' sisters as well as those who are the wives of my uncles. But my father's sisters' husbands, I being a male, are my brothers-in-law, being the potential or real husbands of my sisters; and they are my potential husbands, when Ego is a female.

AFFINITIES.

§ 77. Any female is the potential wife of Ego, a male, whom my own wife calls her ija^n¢e (E), itañge ([F]), itimi ([H]) or itujañge ([Script-J]). I, a male, also call my potential wives those who the widows or wives of my elder or younger brothers.

I, a male, have any male for my brother-in-law whom my wife calls her elder or younger brother; also any male who is the brother of my wife's niece or of my brother's wife. But my wife's father's brother is my grandfather, not my brother-in-law, though his sister is my potential wife. When my brother-in-law is the husband of my father's sister or of my own sister, his sister is my grandchild, and not my potential wife. A man is my brother-in-law if he be the husband of my father's sister, since he can marry my own sister, but my aunt's husband is not my brother-in-law when he is my uncle or mother's brother (H). Any male is my brother-in-law who is my sister's husband (a). But while my sister's niece's husband is my sister's potential or real husband, he is my son-in-law, as he is my daughter's husband (d). I, a male or female, call any male my son-in-law who is the husband of my daughter ([C]), my niece ([G] or [J]), or of my grandchild ([D]), and his father is my son-in-law.

When I, a male or female, call my daughter-in-law's father my grandfather, her brother is my grandchild (D).

Any female is my daughter-in-law (male or female speaking) who is the wife of my son, nephew, or grandchild; and the mother of my son-in-law is so called by me. Any male affinity is my grandfather (or father-in-law) who is the father, mother's brother, or grandfather of my wife, my potential wife, or my daughter-in-law (the last being the wife of my son, nephew, or grandson). The corresponding female affinity is my grandmother (or mother-in-law).

MARRIAGE LAWS.

§ 78. A man must marry outside of his gens. Two Crows, of the Hañga gens, married a Weji^ncte woman; his father married a [T]e-sĭnde woman; his paternal grandfather, a Hañga man, married a Wasabe-hit`ajĭ woman; and his maternal grandfather, a [T]e-sĭnde man, married a [T]e-[p]a-it`ajĭ woman. His son, Gai^n´-bajĭ, a Hañga, married an Iñke-sabě woman; and his daughter, a Hañga, married Qi¢á-gahíge, a [T]a-[p]a man. Caa^n´, a brother of Two Crows, and a Hañga, married a [T]a[p]a woman, a daughter of the chief Sĭn´ac-xa^n´xa^n. Another brother, Mi^nxá-ta^n, also a Hañga, married a [K]a^nze woman.

Joseph La Flèche's mother was a Ponka Wasabe-hit`ajĭ woman; hence he belongs to that Ponka gens. His maternal grandfather, a Ponka Wasabe-hit`ajĭ, married a Ponka Wajaje woman. Her father, a Wajaje, married a Ponka Maka^n woman.

Two Crows, being a Hañga, cannot marry a Hañga woman, nor can he marry a [T]e-sĭnde woman, as they are all his kindred through his mother. He cannot marry women belonging to the Wasabe-hit`ajĭ and [T]e-[p]a-it`ajĭ subgentes ("uʞig¢a[s]ne") of the ₵atada gens, because his real grandmothers belonged to those subgentes. But he can marry women belonging to the other ₵atada subgentes, the Wajiñga-¢atajĭ and [K]e-`i^n, as they are not his kindred. In like manner Joseph La Flèche cannot marry a Ponka Wasabe-hit`ajĭ woman, a Ponka Wajaje woman, or a Ponka Maka^n woman. But he can marry an Omaha Wasabe-hit`ajĭ woman, as she belongs to another tribe.

Gai^n-bajĭ cannot marry women belonging to the following gentes: Hañga (his father's gens), Weji^ncte (his mother's gens), [T]e-sĭnde (his paternal grandmother's gens), Wasabe-hit`ajĭ, and [T]e-[p]a-it`ajĭ.

Gai^n-bajĭ's son cannot marry any women belonging to the following gentes: Iñke-sabě, Hañga, Weji^ncte, [T]e-sĭnde, or that of the mother of his mother. Nor could he marry a Wasabe-hit`ajĭ or [T]e-[p]a-it`ajĭ woman, if his parents or grandparents were living, and knew the degree of kinship. But if they were dead, and he was ignorant of the fact that the women and he were related, he might marry one or more of them. The same rule holds good for the marriage of Qi¢a-gahige's son, but with the substitution of [T]a-[p]a for Iñke-sabě.

Two Crows cannot marry any Iñke-sabě woman belonging to the subgens of his son's wife; but he can marry one belonging to either of the remaining subgentes. So, too, he cannot marry a [T]a-[p]a woman belonging to the subgens of Qi¢a-gahige, his son-in-law, but he can marry any other [T]a-[p]a woman. As his brother Caa^n, had married a [T]a-[p]a woman of Sĭnde-xa^nxa^n's subgens, Two Crows has a right to marry any [T]a-[p]a woman of her subgens who was her sister, father's sister, or brother's daughter. He has a similar privilege in the [K]a^nze gens, owing to the marriage of another brother, Mi^nxa-ta^n.

An Omaha Hañga man can marry a Kansas Hañga woman, because she belongs to another tribe. A Ponka Wasabe-hit`ajĭ man can marry an Omaha Wasabe-hit`ajĭ woman, because she belongs to a different tribe.

WHOM A MAN OR WOMAN CANNOT MARRY.

A man cannot marry any of the women of the gens of his father, as they are his grandmothers, aunts, sisters, nieces, daughters, or grandchildren. He cannot marry any woman of the subgens of his father's mother, for the same reason; but he can marry any woman belonging to the other subgentes of his paternal grandmother's gens, as they are not his kindred. The women of the subgens of his paternal grandmother's mother are also forbidden to him; but those of the remaining subgentes of that gens can become his wives, provided they are such as have not become his mothers-in-law, daughters, or grandchildren. (See § 7, 126, etc.)

A man cannot marry any women of his mother's gens, nor any of his maternal grandmother's subgens, nor any of the subgens of her mother, as all are his consanguinities.

A man cannot marry a woman of the subgens of the wife of his son, nephew, or grandson; nor can he marry a woman of the subgens of the husband of his daughter, niece, or granddaughter.

A man cannot marry any of his female affinities who are his iʞa^n, because they are the real or potential wives of his fathers-in-law, or of the fathers-in-law of his sons, nephews, or grandchildren.

A man cannot marry any woman whom he calls his sister's daughter. He cannot marry any woman whom he calls his grandchild. This includes his wife's sister's daughter's daughter.

He cannot marry the daughter of any woman who is his ihañga, as such a daughter he calls his daughter.

He cannot marry his sister's husband's sister, for she is his iʇucpa. He cannot marry his sister's husband's father's brother's daughter, as she is his iʇucpa; nor can he marry her daughter or her brother's daughter, for the same reason. He cannot marry his sister's husband's (brother's) daughter, as she is his sister's potential daughter, and he calls her his iʇija^n.

A woman cannot marry her son, the son of her sister, aunt, or niece; her grandson, the grandson of her sister, aunt, or niece; any man whom she calls elder or younger brother; any man whom she calls her father's or mother's brother; her iʇijiga^n (including her consanguinities, her father-in-law, her brother's wife's brother, her brother's wife's father, her brother's son's wife's father, her brother's wife's brother's son, her father's brother's son's wife's brother, her grandfather's brother's son's wife's brother); or any man who is her iʇande.

WHOM A MAN OR WOMAN CAN MARRY.

A man can marry a woman of the gens of his grandmother, paternal or maternal, if the woman belong to another subgens. He can marry a woman of the gens of his grandmother's mother, if the latter belong to another subgens, or if he be ignorant of her kinship to himself.

He can marry a woman of another tribe, even when she belongs to a gens corresponding to his own, as she is not a real kinswoman.

He can marry any woman, not his consanguinity, if she be not among the forbidden affinities. He can marry any of his affinities who is his ihañga, being the ija^n¢e, iʇañge, iʇimi, or iʇujañge of his wife. And vice versa, any woman can marry a man who is the husband of her ija^n¢e, iʇañge, iʇimi, or iʇujañge. If a man has several kindred whom he calls his brothers, and his wife has several female relations who are his ihañga, the men and women can intermarry.

IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBGENTES.

Were it not for the institution of subgentes a man would be compelled to marry outside of his tribe, as all the women would be his kindred, owing to previous intermarriages between the ten gentes. But in any gens those on the other side of the gentile "une¢e," or fire-place, are not reckoned as full kindred, though they cannot intermarry.

REMARRIAGE.

§ 79. A man takes the widow of his real or potential brother in order to become the stepfather (i¢adi jiñga, _little father_) of his brother's children. Should the widow marry a stranger he might hate the children, and the kindred of the deceased husband do not wish her to take the children so far away from them. Sometimes the stepfather takes the children without their mother, if she be maleficent. Sometimes the dying husband knows that his kindred are bad, so he tells his wife to marry out of his gens. When the wife is dying she may say to her brother, "Pity your brother-in-law. Let him marry my sister."