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BECEIVED 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  PUBLICATICfMtt  3       jgio 

'LlBRARyoFTWB     n 
PEABODY  MUSEUM 


AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  ETHNOLOGY 


VOLUME    12 


A.  L.  KROEBER 

EDITOR 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  PRESS 
BERKELEY 
1916-1017 


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Cited  as  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn. 


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CONTENTS 


NuMBEE  1. — Composition  of  California  Shellmounds,  Edward  Winslow  Giflford, 
pages  1-29. 

Number  2. — California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin,  A.  L.  Kroeber,  pages 
31-69. 

Number   3. — Arapaho  Dialects,  A.  L.  Kroeber,  pages  71-138. 

Number   4. — Miwok  Moieties,  Edward  Winslow  Gifford,  pages  139-194. 

Number  5. — On  Plotting  the  Inflections  of  the  Voice,  Cornelius  B.  Bradley, 
pages  195-218,  plates  1-5. 

Number  6. — Tiibatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  Kinship  Terms,  Edward  Winslow  Gif- 
ford, pages  219-248. 

Number  7. — Bandolier's  Contribution  to  the  Study  of  Ancient  Mexican  Social 
Organization,  T.  T.  Waterman,  pages  249-282. 

Number   8. — ^Miwok  Myths,  Edward  Winslow  Giflford,  pages  283-338,  plate  6. 

Number   9. — California  Kinship  Terms,  A.  L.  Kroeber,  pages  339-396. 

Number  10. — Ceremonies  of  the  Pomo  Indians,  8.  A.  Barrett,  pages  397-441, 
8  text-figures. 

Number  11. — Pomo  Bear  Doctors,  S.  A.  Barrett,  pages  443-465,  plate  7. 

INDKX,  pages  467-473. 

Errata,  page  473. 


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UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA    PUBLICATIONS 

IN 

AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  ETHNOLOGY 

Vol.  12,  No.  1,  pp.  1-29  February  24,  1916 


COMPOSITION  OF  CALIFORNIA  SHELLMOUNDS 

BY 

EDWARD  WINSLOW  GIFFORD 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction 1 

Shellmound  Constituents   4 

Shellmound  Environment 7 

Age  of  the  Shellmounds  ~ - 12 

Tables  15 


INTRODUCTION 

The  study  of  the  composition  of  California  shellmounds  for  the 
present  paper  was  begun  in  August,  1913,  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr. 
A.  L.  Kroeber.    The  paper  has  also  had  the  benefit  of  his  advice. 

The  first  portion  of  the  work  was  to  find  by  analysis  the  quantity 
of  the  various  constituents  entering  into  the  mound  composition,  the 
relation  of  quantity  and  depth  in  the  occurrence  of  these  constituents, 
and  the  amount  of  disintegration  to  which  they  have  been  subjected. 
The  second  portion  of  the  work  has  been  to  consider  the  facts  brought 
out  by  the  analyses  and  see,  first,  whether  they  gave  any  insight  into 
the  environment  of  the  shellmounds  during  their  growth,  and  hence, 
whether  they  threw  any  light  on  the  daily  life  of  the  shellmound 
dwellers;  second,  whether  they  offered  any  evidence  as  to  the  age  of 
the  mounds,  either  directly  or  relatively. 

The  results  of  the  analyses  of  eighty-four  samples  (all  part  of  the 
collection  of  the  University  of  California  Museum  of  Anthropology) 
are  embodied  in  the  present  paper.  These  samples  total  in  weight 
10,003.15  grams,  and  range  in  weight  from  31.47  to  832.9  grams 
(average  119.08  grams).     In  each  case  the  sample  is  typical  of  the 


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2  University  of  Calif omia  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.       [  VoL  12 

mound  at  a  particular  level  and  does  not  merely  represent  the  contents 
of  a  pocket  of  any  kind,  for  example  a  fireplace.  Such  pockets  and 
their  contents  have  been  purposely  avoided  as  not  being  typical. 

Each  sample  was  sifted  through  three  square-mesh  screens.  The 
largest  screen  had  meshes  twelve  millimeters  square,  the  intermediate 
had  meshes  four  millimeters  square,  and  the  smallest  meshes  two  milli- 
meters square.  The  material  caught  by  each  of  these  three  screens, 
beginning  with  the  coarsest,  was  separated  by  the  eye  and  the  various 
constitutents  weighed.  The  fine  material  passing  through  the  two- 
millimeter  screen  was  analyzed  chemically,  by  Mr.  C.  A.  Harwell  of 
the  University  of  California,  for  the  proportion  of  shell  and  of  ash. 
All  matter  not  proving  to  be  either  shell  or  ash  in  this  chemical  analysis 
has  been  called  residue  wherever  mentioned  in  this  paper. 

Samples  were  examined  from  mounds,  shown  on  the  accompanying 
map,  in  the  vicinity  of  San  Francisco  Bay,  as  listed  below.  The 
mound  numbers  refer  to  a  manuscript  map^  and,  in  part,  to  a  pub- 
lished map,^  both  by  Mr.  N.  C.  Nelson. 

Sausalito  (Mound  No.  3)  6  samples 

Greenbrae  (Mound  No.  76) 8 

San  Rafael  (Mound  No.  86c) 6 

Carquinez  (Mound  No.  236) 2 

Ellis  Landing  (Mound  No.  295) 10 

West  Berkeley  (Mound  No.  307) 8 

Emeryville  (Mound  No.  309) 19 

Castro  (Mound  No.  356) » 5 

San  Mateo  (Mound  No.  372) 4 

San  Mateo  Point  (Mound  No.  418) 2 

San  Francisco  (Mound  No.  417) 1  sample 

Half  Moon  Bay  (Mound  No.  407) „ 4  samples 

Samples  were  also  examined  from  three  mounds  outside  of  the  San 
Francisco  Bay  region.  The  first  two  of  these,  listed  below,  are  on  the 
shores  of  Humboldt  Bay  in  northern  California,  and  are  numbered 
as  shown  below  on  a  manuscript  map  of  that  region  by  Mr.  L.  L.  Loud.** 
One,  Eureka  mound,  is  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of  the  county  courthouse 
at  Eureka.  The  other,  Gunther  Island  mound,  is  a  mile  north  of  the 
waterfront  of  Eureka  and  is  on  an  island  which  lies  in  front  of  the 
town.    The  third  mound  (Point  Loma)  is  on  the  west  shore  of  San 


1  Univ.  Calif.  Mus.  Anthrop.,  No.  13-1065. 

2  N.  C.  Nelson,  Shellmounds  of  the  San  Francisco  Bay  Region,  Univ.  Calif. 
PubL  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  vii,  map  1,  1909. 

8  Univ.  Calif.  Mus.  Anthrop.,  No.  13-994. 


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1916]  Giford:  Composition  of  California  Shellmounda  3 

Diego  Bay  in  southern  California.    Its  exact  location  is  also  shown  on 
a  manuscript  map.^ 

Eureka  (Mound  No.  N59) 1  sample 

Gunther  Island  (Mound  No.  N67)... ^ « 7  samples 

Point  Loma  (Mound  No.  B49) — 1  sample 

The  two  samples  obtained  from  Carquinez  mound,  and  likewise  the 
five  from  Castro,  have  not  yet  been  catalogued  with  the  Museum's 
collection.  The  remaining  samples,  arranged  in  order  of  depth  of 
sample  from  top  to  bottom  of  each  mound,  are  catalogued  as  follows : 

Sausalito  mound:  1-14817  to  1-14822. 

Greenbrae  mound:  1-14906  to  1-14913. 

San  Rafael  mound:  1-14968  to  1-14973. 

EUis  Landing  mound:   1-11406,  1-11403,  1-11399,  1-11407,  1-11400, 

1-11404,  1-11408,  1-11401,  1-11405,  1-11402. 
West  Berkeley  mound:  1-7312,  J.-7313,  1-17003,  1-7314  to  1-7318. 
Emeryville  mound:   1-9869,  1-9870,  1-9872,  1-9874,  1-9876,  1-9878, 

1-9880    to  1-9884,  1-9890  to  1-9893,  1-7941,  1-7963,  1-7964, 

1-7967. 
San  Mateo  mound:  1-18586  to  1-18588,  1-16758. 
San  Mateo  Point  mound:  1-17331,  1-18585. 
San  Francisco  mound:  1-17031. 

Half  Moon  Bay  mound:  1-17320,  1-17322  to  1-17324. 
Eureka  mound:  1-17978. 
Gunther  Island  mound:  1-18546,  1-18547,  1-18553,  1-18556,  1-18576 

to  1-18578. 
Point  Loma  mound:  1-17366. 

All  depths  were  measured  in  feet  from  the  surface  of  the  mound. 
Often  the  samples  from  a  given  mound,  however,  were  not  all  taken  in 
one  vertical  plane.  Such  is  the  case  with  the  samples  from  Carquinez, 
Ellis  Landing,  West  Berkeley,  Emeryville,  Castro,  San  Mateo,  San 
Mateo  Point,  Half  Moon  Bay,  and  Gunther  Island.**    The  samples  from 


4  Univ.  Calif.  Mus.  Anthrop.,  No.  13-960. 

s  Of  the  Ellis  Landing  samples,  those  taken  at  1.5,  4.5,  and  7  (second  seven 
in  tables)  feet  are  all  in  the  same  vertical  plane  (70  feet  from  the  center) ;  those 
taken  at  2,  7  (first  seven  in  tables),  and  11  feet  are  all  in  another  vertical  plane 
(35  feet  from  the  center);  and  those  taken  at  3,  6,  10,  and  17  feet  are  in  a  third 
vertical  plane  (the  center).  Of  West  Berkeley  samples  the  one  marked  4.5  feet 
was  not  taken  in  the  same  vertical  plane  as  the  other  samples.  The  first  fifteen 
Smeryville  samples  (.5  to  19.5  feet  deep)  are  from  a  vertical  shaft  sunk  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  mound.  The  remaining  four  samples  are  from  various  places 
at  the  bottom  of  an  excavation  on  the  western  side  of  the  mound,  and  represent 
the  mound  at  its  very  base.  The  first  three  Castro  samples  (1,  2,  and  3  feet 
deep)  were  taken  in  one  vertical  plane;  so  also  were  the  first  three  San  Mateo 
samples  (3,  6,  and  8  feet  deep).  The  first  Half  Moon  Bay  sample  (1  foot  deep) 
^was  not  taken  in  the  same  vertical  plane  with  the  other*  three.  The  last  three 
Gunther  Island  samples  (6,  6.5,  and  8  feet  deep)  came  from  one  vertical  plane. 


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4  University  of  Calif omia  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.        [Vol.  12 

Sausalito,  Greenbrae,  and  San  Rafael  were  taken  from  one  vertical 
plane  in  the  case  of  each  mound. 

Where  only  the  approximate  and  not  the  absolute  depths  are  given 
in  the  Museum's  catalogue,  the  average  depth  is  given  in  this  paper. 
For  example,  three  to  six  feet  in  the  catalogue  is  here  given  as  four 
and  a  half  feet  to  serve  better  the  purposes  of  comparison. 

The  listing  of  the  mounds  in  most  of  the  tables  is  in  a  series  begin- 
ning at  Sausalito  on  the  north  side  of  the  Golden  Gate  and  following 
the  bay  shore  around  to  San  Francisco  on  the  south  side  of  the  Golden 
Gate.  Then  come  the  mounds  located  at  Half  Moon,  Humboldt,  and 
San  Diego  bays. 

The  species  of  shells  from  the  Point  Loma  mound  are  entirely 
foreign  to  the  San  Francisco  Bay  and  Humboldt  Bay  mounds.  For 
that  reason  the  shell  of  the  single  Point  Loma  sample  has  not  been 
separated  specifically,  being  of  no  use  for  comparison. 

The  records  of  the  analyses  are  stated  in  terms  of  weight  and  not 
of  volume. 


SHELLMOUND  CONSTITUENTS 

The  seven  main  constituents  into  which  each  sample  of  shellmound 
material  was  separated  were  fish  remains  (bones  and  scales),  other 
vertebrate  remains  (chiefly  bones),  shell  (almost  entirely  moUuscan, 
but  including  also  barnacles,  crab  shell,  and  sea-urchin),  charcoal,  ash, 
rock,  and  residue  (earth,  sand,  charcoal  dust,  etc.).  Of  these  con- 
stituents, shell  is  the  most  abundant,  the  average  mound  containing 
over  fifty-two  per  cent  by  weight.  Then  follow  residue  with  nearly 
twenty-eight  per  cent,  ash  with  over  twelve  per  cent,  rock  with  over 
seven  per  cent,  and  charcoal,  fish  remains,  and  other  vertebrate 
remains  with  less  than  one  per  cent  combined.  Table  1  gives  the 
average  per  cent  of  these  constituents  in  the  fifteen  mounds. 

The  percentage  for  fish  remains,  other  vertebrate  remains,  charcoal, 
and  rock  should  undoubtedly  be  higher  than  given  in  the  tables.  All 
of  the  very  minute  pieces  of  these  constituents  passed  through  the 
fine  or  two-millimeter  screen,  and,  as  they  were  not  separated  chem- 
ically, are  included  in  the  shell,  ash,  and  residue.  The  percentages  for 
these  three  are  therefore  too  high,  but  there  is  no  practical  method  of 
making  the  adjustment,  so  that  this  slight  error  in  the  results  will 
have  to  stand. 


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1916]  Gifford:  Composition  of  California  SJiellmounds  5 

In  the  second  table  the  seven  constituents  of  the  first  table  have 
been  combined  so  as  to  form  only  three  groups.  Fish  remains,  other 
vertebrate  remains,  and  shell  are  included  under  material  derived 
from  animal  sources ;  charcoal  and  ash  under  products  of  combustion ; 
and  rock  and  residue  under  material  derived  from  inorganic  sources. 
The  percentages  in  table  1  for  shell  and  ash  differ  but  little  from  the 
corresponding  percentages  in  table  2  under  animal  and  combustion. 
This  is  due  in  the  first  case  to  the  uniformly  small  amounts  of  fish  and 
other  vertebrate  remains  found  in  the  mounds,  and  in  the  second  case 
to  the  uniformly  small  quantity  of  charcoal.  The  average  mound  is 
composed  by  weight  of  over  fifty-two  per  cent  of  material  derived  from 
animal  sources,  of  thirteen  per  cent  of  material  produced  by  com- 
bustion, and  of  thirty-five  per  cent  of  material  derived  from  inorganic 
sources.  For  the  average  San  Francisco  Bay  mound  the  figures  are  a 
trifle  different,  being  fifty-six,  fifteen,  and  twenty-nine,  respectively. 

The  seven  main  constituents  are  presented  in  detail  in  the  third 
to  the  ninth  tables.  The  quantities  are  stated  as  percentages  of  the 
weight  of  each  sample.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  percentages  for  fish 
remains,  other  vertebrate  remains,  and  charcoal  are  all  very  low,  while 
those  for  shell,  ash,  rock,  and  residue  range  widely.  In  the  case  of 
fish  remains  (table  3)  the  two  high  percentages  (2.11  and  .9)  for 
Emeryville  are  due  to  extraordinarily  large  fragments  of  bone.  Con- 
sidering the  rapidity  with  which  fish  bones  disintegrate,  especially 
when  cooked,  it  seems  rather  remarkable  that  any  were  preserved  at 
all.  Inasmuch  as  there  are  found  in  some  of  the  mounds,  and  at  all 
levels,  grooved  stones  considered  to  be  net  sinkers,  it  is  evident  that 
fishing  was  a  regular  means  of  procuring  food.® 

In  the  material  examined  remains  of  other  vertebrates  were  found 
in  slightly  larger  amounts  than  those  of  fish  (cf.  tables  3  and  4).  If 
these  samples  are  typical,  one  of  two  conclusions  must  be  true :  either 
the  shellmound  people  ate  very  few  vertebrates  outside  of  fish,  or  some 
destroying  agency  (possibly  a  domestic  dog)  has  been  a  factor  in 
obliterating  the  evidence.^ 

In  the  eighth  table  it  will  be  noted  that  specimens  of  rock  were 
retained  by  the  screens  from  all  but  two  of  the  eighty-four  samples. 
The  records  of  the  amounts  caught  by  each  screen  demonstrate  that 
in  the  average  mound  eighty-three  per  cent  passed  through  the  twelve- 


o  Cf .  N.  C.  Nelson,  Shellmounds  of  the  San  Francisco  Bay  Region,  Univ.  Calif. 
Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  vu,  p.  339,  1909. 
7  Cf .  N.  C.  Nelson,  op,  cit,  p.  339. 


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6  University  of  Caiifomia  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.        [Vol.  12 

millimeter  and  was  caught  by  the  four-millimeter  and  two-millimeter 
screens.  From  this  it  is  evident  that  eighty-three  per  cent  of  the  rock 
consists  of  very  fine  fragments  and  pebbles.  Mounds  such  as  Sausalito 
and  San  Mateo  Point  probably  derive  the  high  average  percentage  of 
rock  (see  table  1)  from  the  stony  land  on  which  they  are  laid.  In 
many  cases,  however,  the  pebbles  and  small  fragments  of  rock  doubtless 
were  attached  to  roots  and  bulbs  dug  elsewhere  for  food.  Some  of  the 
ordinary  earth  or  dirt  in  the  shellmounds  must  have  been  brought 
there  in  a  similar  adventitious  fashion. 

Mussel  {MytUus  ediUis),  clam  (Macoma  nasuta),  and  oyster  {Ostrea 
lurida)  are  the  most  prominent  molluscan  species,  at  least  one  of  them 
being  of  importance  in  each  of  the  mounds  except  Half  Moon  Bay  and 
Castro.  In  the  eleven  San  Francisco  Bay  mounds,  with  the  exception 
of  Ellis  Landing  and  Castro,  mussel  predominates  above  all  other 
species.  In  Ellis  Landing  clam  and  in  Castro  horn-shell  {Ceriihidea 
calif ornica)  are  the  commonest  species.  In  the  tenth  table  are  shown 
the  records  for  the  San  Francisco  Bay  region.  The  amount  of  each 
species  is  mentioned  as  a  percentage  of  the  total  amount  of  shell. 

The  mounds  of  Half  Moon  and  Humboldt  bays  naturally  yield,  at 
least  in  part,  shell  species  different  from  those  typical  of  the  San 
Francisco  Bay  mounds.  These  species  are  listed  in  the  eleventh  table. 
That  the  sources  of  shellfish  supply  of  the  Eureka  and  Gunther  Island 
mounds,  although  less  than  two  miles  apart,  were  not  the  same,  is  made 
apparent  at  a  glance  by  the  species  found  in  Gunther  Island  and  not 
in  Eureka,  and  furthermore,  where  they  have  species  in  common,  by 
the  widely  divergent  percentages.  Gunther  Island  savors  strongly  of 
the  ocean  as  well  as  the  bay ;  Eureka  only  of  the  bay. 

As  stated  in  the  introduction,  three  sizes  of  screens  were  used  as 
aids  in  segregating  the  various  constituents.  At  the  same  time  record 
was  kept  of  the  amount  of  each  constituent  caught  by  these  screens, 
and  likewise  of  the  amount  of  material  passing  through  the  fine 
screen.  There  proved  to  be  a  considerable  variation  in  regard  to  this 
last  point.  Eighty-seven  per  cent  of  the  Gunther  Island  and  only  forty- 
one  per  cent  of  the  San  Mateo  material  passed  through  the  fine  screen. 
Castro  with  eighty-five  per  cent  and  Point  Loma  with  eighty-two  per 
cent  are  similar  to  Gunther  Island  in  this  respect.  This  is  owing  to 
the  abundance  of  earth  in  Castro  and  of  sand  in  Gunther  Island  and 
Point  Loma.  The  remaining  mounds  treated  in  this  paper  are  more 
typical  than  the  above  four,  ranging  from  sixty-six  per  cent  in  the 
case  of  San  Bafael  to  forty-three  per  cent  in  Ellis  Landing.     Sixty 


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1916]  Gifford:  Composition  of  California  Shellmounds  7 

per  cent  of  the  material  composing  the  average  mound  passed  through 
the  fine,  or  two-millimeter,  screen. 

That  all  shell  species  do  not  break  up  alike  was  definitely  demon- 
strated by  keeping  a  record  of  the  amount  of  mussel,  clam,  and  oyster 
caught  by  the  three  screens.  Of  mussel,  two  per  cent  was  caught  by 
the  coarse  screen,  twenty-eight  per  cent  by  the  medium,  and  seventy 
by  the  fine ;  of  clam  fifteen  per  cent  by  the  coarse  screen,  fifty-one  by 
the  medium,  and  thirty-four  by  the  fine;  of  oyster  thirteen  per  cent 
by  the  coarse  screen,  sixty  by  the  medium,  and  twenty-seven  by  the 
fine.  It  is  very  clear  that  the  mussel  breaks  far  more  readily  than 
either  clam  or  oyster,  a  fact  which  will  have  a  bearing  later  in 
explaining  the  difference  in  the  size  of  shell  fragments  in  the  upper 
and  lower  portions  of  Ellis  Landing  mound. 


SHELLMOUND  ENVIRONMENT 

No  evidence  of  change  of  environment  is  afforded  by  the  results 
of  the  analyses.  The  definite  facts  established  point  the  other  way: 
that  is,  towards  the  continuity  throughout  shellmound  times  of  the 
conditions  as  they  were  at  the  coming  of  the  white  man.  This  con- 
tinuity of  conditions  is  demonstrated  by  the  shell  species  found  in  the 
mounds.  It  may  be  taken  as  almost  axiomatic  that  the  species  in  a 
mound  reflect  the  moUuscan  fauna  of  the  vicinity,  and  hence  the 
environment  during  the  period  of  growth  of  the  mound.  A  very  clear 
case  in  point  is  that  of  the  small  San  Francisco  mound  located  in  a 
swamp  in  the  Presidio  on  the  south  shore  of  the  Golden  Gate.  This 
mound,  as  one  can  see  by  consulting  the  accompanying  map,  is  situated 
in  a  position  favorable  for  the  hunting  of  both  bay  and  ocean  species 
of  moUusks.  The  fact  that  the  mound  dwellers  sought  both  forms 
regularly  is  shown  in  table  10  by  the  nearly  equal  percentages  of 
MytUtts  calif omianus  and  Mytilus  edvlis.  The  former  is  an  ocean 
species  frequenting  surf-beaten  rocks;  the  latter  lives  in  the  quieter 
bay  waters. 

The  presence  of  large  quantities  of  oyster  shell  (Ostrea  lurida)  in 
the  shellmoimds  of  the  central  San  Francisco  Bay  region — ^West 
Berkeley,  Emeryville,  San  Mateo,  and  San  Mateo  Point — points  to 
the  similarity  between  the  conditions  during  the  period  of  their  growth 
and  the  conditions  during  modem  times.  This  abundance  of  Ostrea 
Inrida  is  made  manifest  in  table  10.    Generally  speaking,  these  four 


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8  University  of  California  Puhlicaiions  in  Am,  Arch,  arid  Ethn.        [Vol.  12 

mounds  lie  in  the  region  which  has  been  largely  utilized  at  the  present 
day  for  the  raising  of  the  introduced  Atlantic  coast  oyster  {Ostrea 
virginiana)  for  the  market.  The  introduced  oyster  has  in  part  dis- 
placed the  native  oyster  of  shellmound  days. 

Many  examples  of  the  occurrence  throughout  mounds  of  other 
species  might  be  added  as  further  proof  of  the  absence  of  sweeping 
physiographic  changes  in  the  environment  of  the  shellmounds.  How- 
ever, I  will  be  content  with  mentioning  two  others,  which  are  par- 
ticularly interesting  because  they  not  only  show  continuity  of  con- 
ditions but  also  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  locations  of 
the  mounds  involved.  These  two  cases  hinge  on  the  occurrence  of  the 
horn-shell  (Cerithidea  calif ornica) ,  a  small  univalve  with  a  great  many 
spirals,  and  of  another  univalve  (Phytia  myosotis),  which  is  minute. 

In  Castro  mound  near  the  southern  end  of  San  Francisco  Bay,  the 
horn-shell  proves  to  be  the  commonest  species  (see  table  10).  Almost 
invariably  it  is  found  with  the  apex  of  the  spiral  broken  off,  evidently 
to  aid  in  extracting  the  animal  without  crushing  the  entire  shell.  This 
species  inhabits  salt  marshes,  where  it  is  usually  found  by  thousands 
in  shallow  pools  on  top  of  the  marsh.  Its  occurrence  from  top  to 
bottom  of  the  Castro  mound  proves  the  existence  of  salt  marsh  near  by 
from  the  very  beginning  of  its  accumulation.  This  salt  marsh  with 
its  deep  sloughs,  lying  between  the  mound  and  the  bay,  must  have  been 
a  fairly  effective  barrier  against  the  mound-dwellers  reaching  the  bay 
shore.  This  conclusion  is  further  warranted  by  the  comparative 
scarcity  here  of  ordinary  shellmound  species,  which  is  very  well 
shown  by  the  column  for  Castro  in  table  10.  Bhirther  negative  proof 
of  the  difficulty  that  the  Castro  people  had  in  obtaining  the  usual 
molluscan  food  is  also  shown  in  table  10  by  the  scarcity  or  absence 
of  Cerithidea  calif  ornica  in  other  mounds,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it 
is  a  common  species  in  the  San  Francisco  Bay  region.  Thus  it  appears 
that  the  people  of  Castro,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
the  ordinary  shellmound  species,  were  forced  to  make  use  of  the  small 
and  unsatisfactory  Cerithidea  calif  ornica.  Conversely,  the  people  of 
the  other  San  Francisco  Bay  mounds  appear  to  have  neglected  it 
because  of  the  bountiful  supply  of  other  molluscan  food. 

The  deduction  that  the  Castro  people  lived  under  conditions  differ- 
ing from  those  at  Ellis  Landing,  for  example,  is  obvious.  It  is  sup- 
ported, moreover,  by  the  fact  that  nearly  seventy  per  cent  of  Ellis 
Landing  mound  is  composed  of  shell,  while  Castro  mound  contains  only 
about  twenty-six  per  cent  (see  table  1). 


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1916]  Giford:  Composition  of  California  Shellmounds  9 

The  next  species  to  be  considered  in  connection  with  the  matter  of 
environment  is  the  tiny  Phytia  myosotis.  Its  distribution  in  certain 
of  the  San  Francisco  Bay  mounds  is  indicated  by  crosses  in  table  12. 
Like  the  last  species,  it  also  lives  in  salt  marshes,  where  it  occurs  on  the 
underside  of  driftwood  which  has  lain  in  the  marsh  for  a  considerable 
time.  Briefly  then,  the  presence  of  Phytia  myosotis  in  a  mound 
indicates  that  there  must  have  been  salt  marsh  close  by ;  which,  further- 
more, supplied  the  inhabitants  with  some  of  their  firewood.  An 
examination  of  table  12  shows  therefore  that  salt  marsh  existed  in 
the  vicinity  of  some  of  the  mounds  throughout  the  period  of  their 
growth. 

Mr.  N.  C.  Nelson  inclines  to  the  theory  that  some  of  the  San 
Francisco  Bay  shellmounds  may  have  been  **  begun,  if  not  actually 
abandoned,  prior  to  the  building  up  of  the  now  broad  belt  of  reclaim- 
able  marsh."®  The  absence  of  salt  marsh  during  shellmound  days 
would  mean  a  very  remote  antiquity  for  the  mounds  and  a  great 
difference  in  the  physical  geography  of  the  San  Francisco  Bay  region. 
There  is  no  evidence  for  either.  The  salt  marsh  doubtless  grew  rapidly 
enough  to  offset  the  general  subsidence  of  the  region  as  a  whole  and 
thus  kept  the  conditions  practically  unchanged  for  countless  centuries. 
Only  a  very  sudden  and  extensive  elevation  or  subsidence  could 
obliterate  the  salt  marsh  of  the  bay.  This  would  have  meant  a  great 
difference  in  the  habits  of  life  of  the  people.  The  contents  of  the 
mounds  certainly  offer  no  indication  of  such  a  condition,  while  the 
presence  of  the  two  mollusks  discussed  give  positive  proof  that  such 
was  not  the  case. 

Mr.  Nelson  directs  attention  **to  the  noticeable  variation  of  the 
preponderating  shell  species  represented  in  the  section  wall  of  the 
Ellis  mound  (see  pi.  49,  fig.  1) .  The  lower  portion  of  this  accumulation 
is  composed  almost  exclusively  of  mussel  shells,  and  it  is  only  in  the 
upper  eight  feet  that  the  clam  shells  become  at  all  plentiful.*'*  Table 
13  bears  out  Mr.  Nebon's  statement.  In  it,  the  amount  of  clam 
{Macoma  nasuta)  in  each  sample  is  compared  with  the  amount  of 
mussel  (Mytilus  €dulis)y  each  species  being  given  as  a  percentage  of 
the  combined  quantities  of  both.  It  will  be  noted  that  below  ten  feet 
the  amount  of  Macoma  drops  to  less  than  ten  per  cent  by  weight  of  the 


s  Nelson,  SheUmounds  of  the  San  Francisco  Bay  Region,  p.  328;  see  also  p.  317. 

»  N.  C.  Nelson,  The  Ellis  Landing  Shellmound,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch. 
Ethn.,  VII,  p.  376,  1910.  The  reference  in  the  above  quotation  is  to  plate  49  in 
the  paper  cited. 


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10  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,       [VoL  12 

combined  species.  It  would  be  interesting  to  test  by  samples  the 
extent  to  which  Mr.  Nelson's  assertion  holds  true  below  the  depth  of 
seventeen  feet. 

Similar  variations  of  the  preponderating  shell  species  are  found 
in  Sausalito  mound  between  mussel  and  clam  (table  14) ;  in  Emery- 
ville mound  between  mussel,  oyster  {Ostrea  lurida),  and  clam  (table 
15) ;  in  Castro  mound  between  mussel,  horn-shell  {Cerithidea  calif  or- 
nica),  and  oyster  (table  16);  in  San  Mateo  mound  between  mussel 
and  oyster  (table  17) ;  in  Half  Meon  Bay  mound  (table  18)  between 
the  large  coast  mussel  {MytUus  cdlifornianus)  and  the  black  turban 
shell  (Tegula  funebralis) ;  and  in  Gunther  Island  mound  between  all 
four  of  its  chief  food  species  (table  19).  The  twentieth  table  for 
West  Berkeley  mound  shows  variations  less  extensive  than  in  the  pre- 
ceding. Tables  21  and  22  show  that  in  Greenbrae  and  San  Rafael 
mounds  clam  (with  one  exception)  and  oyster  in  no  case  amount  to 
over  ten  per  cent  of  the  total  of  mussel,  clam,  and  oyster.  Moreover, 
mussel  varies  but  little. 

All  of  these  cases,  where  not  merely  accidental,  are  to  my  mind 
nothing  but  instances  of  the  mound-dwellers'  overtaxing  the  supply 
of  one  particular  shell  species  and  thus  being  forced  to  rely  more  on 
other  species.  I  consider  that  this  explanation  covers  the  case  of  Ellis 
Landing  as  well  as  of  the  other  mounds.  I  have  actually  seen  a  modem 
instance  of  this  sort.  Several  years  ago  clams  {My a  arenaria) 
became  very  scarce  in  the  mud  flats  at  the  east  end  of  the  city  of 
Alameda  on  the  eastern  shore  of  San  Francisco  Bay,  owing  to  a  few 
Chinese  clam  diggers  becoming  too  persistent  in  their  work  in  such  a 
small  area.  Why  could  not  such  a  case  have  occurred  in  ancient  times  f 
With  Ellis  Landing  mound,  I  fail  to  see  where  it  is  necessary  to 
postulate  changes  in  physiography  to  account  for  the  abundance  of 
clam  shell  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  mound  and  its  scarcity  in  the 
lower  portion.*®  A  further  consideration  of  table  13  will  show  that 
in  part  mussel  is  more  abundant  than  clam  in  the  upper  portion  of  the 
mound.  This  recurrence  of  mussel  in  abundance  perhaps  represents 
a  recovery  from  the  drain  to  which  it  had  been  subjected.  It  is  per- 
fectly natural  that  a  primitive  people  should  prefer  mussels,  for  they 
can  be  obtained  without  tools  and  merely  for  the  effort  of  pulling 
them  off  the  rocks  or  wood  on  which  they  grow.  Clams,  on  the  other 
hand,  have  to  be  dug,  requiring  more  labor. 


10  Cf.  N.  C.  Nelson,  The  Ellis  Landing  Shellmound,  pp.  376-378. 


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1916]  Oxford:  Composition  of  California  Shellmounds  11 

The  very  different  manner  in  which  mussel  shell  and  clam  shell 
break  up  has  been  already  pointed  out.  In  Ellis  Landing  an  average 
of  seventy-one  per  cent  of  all  the  mussel  (see  table  23)  stopped  by  the 
screens  was  caught  by  the  fine  or  two-millimeter  screen,  while  only 
fifteen  per  cent  of  the  clam  was  caught  by  the  same  screen.  Speaking 
of  the  difference  in  structure  of  the  upper  and  lower  portions  of  Ellis 
Landing  mound,  Mr.  Nelson  states  that  *'the  upper  six  or  eight  feet 
of  the  deposit  is  comparatively  coarse  material,"  while  ** below  it  the 
material  is  of  an  almost  uniformly -fine  and  compact  nature. ''^^  Two 
pages  farther  on  in  the  same  paper,  he  says  that  **the  lower  portion 
of  this  accumulation  is  composed  almost  exclusively  of  mussel  shells, 
and  it  is  only  in  the  upper  eight  feet  that  the  clam  shells  become  at 
all  plentiful."  These  two  statements  seem  to  dovetail  with  the  facts 
mentioned  above  as  to  the  average  size  of  the  fragments  of  mussel  and 
clam  shell  in  the  mound.  It  is  obvious  that  the  peculiarity  of  struc- 
ture, to  which  Mr.  Nelson  calls  attention,  is  due  merely  to  the  different 
manner  in  which  the  preponderating  species  in  the  two  portions  of 
the  mound  break  up. 

Besides  the  cause  just  mentioned,  another  has  been  operative  in 
producing  layers  and  streaks  of  finely  broken  shell  at  various  depths 
in  the  shellmounds.  This  second  cause,  which  operated  constantly 
while  the  mounds  were  inhabited,  was  the  people  themselves.  In  their 
excursions  for  fuel,  food,  water,  and  other  necessities,  the  mound- 
dwellers  must  in  time  have  formed  more  or  less  well-defined  trails. 
Not  only  must  we  consider  trails,  but  also  the  places  frequented  by 
people  around  their  houses.  Then,  too,  dances  and  other  ceremonies, 
which  attracted  a  large  number  of  visitors,  were  certainly  instrumental 
in  breaking  up  the  shell.  On  the  other  hand,  pockets  of  unbroken  shell 
probably  represent  refuse  heaps  where  people  were  not  in  the  habit 
of  walking.  The  occurrence  of  the  sort  of  streaks  and  layers  mentioned 
above  is  shown  in  table  23  for  Sausalito,  Qreenbrae,  San  Rafael,  Ellis 
Landing,  and  Emeryville  mounds.  Mussel  shell  is  used  to  demonstrate 
this  point,  a  high  percentage  representing  a  large  amount  of  finely 
broken  shell,  a  lower  percentage  indicating  the  reverse. 

It  is  just  possible  that  the  favorable  location  for  shellfish  at  Ellis 
Landing  mound  (note  in  table  1  that  it  has  a  higher  percentage  than 
any  other  mound)  may  have  made  it  not  only  the  metropolis  but  also 
a  sort  of  ceremonial  center  for  the  region.    This  would  be  an  additional 


11  Nelson,  The  Ellis  Landing  SheUmound,  p.  374. 


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12  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.        [Vol.  12 

factor,  in  helping  to  exhaust  the  mussel  supply  and  enforce  the  more 
extended  use  of  clams. 


AGE  OP  THE  SHELLMOUNDS 

Mr.  N.  C.  Nelson  estimates  the  volume  of  Ellis  Landing  mound  at 
1,260,000  cubic  feet,**  in  other  words  35,649  cubic  meters.  By  actual 
test  of  shellmound  material  before  it  had  been  broken  up  or  disturbed, 
I  have  found  that  its  specific  gravity  is  about  1.3.  This  makes  the 
total  weight  of  the  Ellis  Landing  shellmound  about  51,085  short  tons. 
The  shell  entering  into  the  mound  would  be  about  69.43  per  cent  (see 
table  1)  of  this,  or  35,468  tons.  If  we  take  Mr.  Nelson's  estimate  of 
thirty-five  hundred  years  as  the  age  of  the  mound,  the  shell  must  have 
been  laid  down  at  the  average  rate  of  10.13  tons  a  year,  or  fifty-six 
pounds  a  day.  This  amount  of  shell  a  day  certainly  seems  reasonable 
enough,  if  we  accept  one  hundred  people  as  the  average  population 
of  the  mound  throughout  its  growth.  Both  .Dr.  Kroeber  and  Mr. 
Nelson  consider  this  figure  to  be  the  most  probable,  the  former  basing 
his  opinion  on  his  knowledge  of  California  Indian  life,  the  latter  on 
his  findings  at  Ellis  Landing. 

Turning  to  table  1  it  is  found  that  13.99  per  cent  of  Ellis  Landing 
mound  consists  of  ash.  The  actual  weight  of  ash  in  the  mound  is 
therefore  about  7147  short  tons.  Again  employing  Mr.  Nelson's 
estimate  of  thirty-five  hundred  years  as  the  age  of  the  mound,  we  find 
that  ash  accumulated  at  the  rate  of  2.04  tons  a  year,  or  11.2  pounds 
a  day.  If  we  adopt  .009*'  pound  of  ash  as  the  average  amount  pro- 
duced by  one  pound  of  wood,  then  it  appears  that  the  Ellis  Landing 
people  used  1240  pounds  of  wood  a  day.  If  the  assumed  population  of 
one  hundred  individuals  was  distributed  among  fifteen  families,  this 
would  mean  an  average  of  eighty-three  pounds  of  wood  per  family 
per  day.  This  is  a  moderate  amount  if  one  considers  that  they  had 
an  abundance  of  driftwood  close  at  hand.  The  two  great  rivers  which 
drain  the  interior  of  California,  the  Sacramento  and  the  San  Joaquin, 
empty  into  San  Francisco  Bay  through  the  adjoining  Suisun  and  San 
Pablo  bays.  They  must  have  given  the  shellmound  people  of  the 
region  a  great  variety  of  driftwood  as  well  as  a  great  quantity. 


12  Nelson,  Shellmounds  of  the  San  Francisco  Bay  Region,  p.  346. 

18  This  approximate  figure  was  derived  by  averaging  the  percentages  of  ash 
for  the  trees  likely  to  have  been  accessible  to  the  shellmound  dwellers.  The 
percentages  were  obtained  from  Romeyn  Beck  Hough,  American  Woods,  1888  ff. 


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1916]  Gifford:  Composition  of  California  Shellmounds  13 

These  results  accordingly  corroborate  Mr.  Nelson's  figure  of  thirty- 
five  hundred  years  as  the  age  of  Ellis  Landing  mound.  Of  course  they 
are  dependent  primarily  on  the  acceptance  of  his  assumption  of  one 
hundred  people  as  the  average  population  day  in  and  day  out. 

Dr.  Max  Uhle  estimated  the  volume  of  Emeryville  mound  at  39,000 
cubic  meters.^*  Again  using  1.3  as  the  specific  gravity  of  shellmound 
material,  the  weight  of  the  entire  mound  proves  to  be  about  55,885 
short  tons.  Of  this  mass  I  assume  that  59.86  per  cent  by  weight  is 
shell  and  13.47  per  cent  is  ash,  as  shown  in  table  1.  Then  in  actual 
figures  the  shell  in  Emeryville  mound  would  weigh  33,455  tons  and 
the  ash  7528  tons. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  average  population  at  Emeryville  mound 
was  one  hundred  as  at  Ellis  Landing,  for  the  two  mounds  approximate 
each  other  in  volume.  If  we  allow  that  these  hundred  people  ate 
shellfish  at  the  same  rate  as  the  Ellis  Landing  people,  it  then  took 
thirty-three  hundred  years  to  accumulate  the  shell  in  Emeryville 
mound.  Assuming  that  thirty-three  hundred  years  is  the  correct  age, 
the  amounts  of  wood  burned  daily  by  the  two  populations  were  slightly 
different,  though  in  virtual  agreement.  In  Ellis  Landing  with  an 
average  population  of  one  hundred  and  an  age  of  thirty-five  hundred 
years,  it  was  shown  that  the  rate  of  accumulation  of  ash  was  11.2 
pounds  a  day.  In  Emeryville  mound,  however,  the  people  burned  more 
wood,  and  ash  accumulated  at  the  rate  of  twelve  pounds  a  day  or  2.2 
short  tons  a  year.  The  Emeryville  people  used  about  1333  pounds  of 
wood  a  day. 

Of  course  the  results  for  Emeryville  could  be  reversed  by  assuming 
that  the  amount  of  wood  burned  per  day  was  the  same  as  at  Ellis 
Landing.  In  that  case  the  amount  of  shellfish  consumed  per  day  would 
be  less  and  the  age  of  the  mound  would  be  thirty-seven  hundred  years 
instead  of  thirty-three  hundred.  This  is  really  a  further  confirmation 
of  the  probable  age  of  the  mound  rather  than  a  contradiction.  By 
age  I  mean,  of  course,  the  number  of  years  during  which  accumula- 
tion took  place;  not  the  number  of  years  the  mound  has  been  in 
existence. 

It  is  plain  that  results  depend  upon  what  we  assume  our  unknown 
quantities  to  be,  and  unfortunately  there  are  many  of  these.  Never- 
theless, the  period  of  thirty-three  hundred  or  thirty-seven  hundred 
years  for  Emeryville  mound  may  be  claimed  to  be  a  reasonable  length 

14  The  Emeryville  Shellmound,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  vii,  p.  10, 
1907. 


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14  University  of  Caiifomia  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.        [ VoL  12 

of  time  for  the  accumulation  of  the  mound.  In  fact,  it  is  substantiated 
by  Mr.  Nelson's  figures  for  Ellis  Landing.  His  estimate  and  the 
present  one  for  Emeryville  really  corroborate  each  other. 

This  method  of  ascertaining  the  age  of  the  mounds  might  be  applied 
to  all  treated  in  this  paper,  were  it  not  that  the  precarious  factors  are 
too  numerous.  The  percentages  of  shell  and  ash  in  table  1,  however, 
aflford  evidence  that  all  shellmounds  did  not  grow  at  the  same  rate. 
The  mode  of  accumulation  for  the  average  mound  was  one  part  of  ash 
to  four  parts  of  shell.  In  Ellis  Landing  the  ratio  is  one  to  five  and 
in  Emeryville  one  to  four.  Emeryville  matches  the  average  mound, 
while  Ellis  Landing  exceeds  it  on  the  side  of  shell.  San  Francisco 
and  Emeryville  mounds  are  the  only  ones  that  show  the  average  ratio 
of  ash  to  shell. 

Considering  the  entire  list  of  fifteen  mounds,  four  have  exception- 
ally large  amounts  of  ash  compared  to  shell :  San  Rafael,  Carquinez, 
and  West  Berkeley  with  the  ratio  of  one  to  two ;  and  Castro  with  the 
ratio  of  one  to  three.  In  the  majority  of  mounds  the  amount  of  ash 
is  below  the  average  when  compared  to  the  amount  of  shell :  Green- 
brae,  Ellis  Landing,  and  San  Mateo  with  the  ratio  of  one  to  five ;  Eureka 
with  one  to  six ;  Point  Loma  with  one  to  seven ;  Gunther  Island  with 
one  to  nine;  San  Mateo  Point  with  one  to  ten;  and  Sausalito  and 
Half  Moon  Bay  with  one  to  thirteen. 

Differences  of  this  sort  have  a  very  direct  bearing  on  calculations 
with  regard  to  the  age  of  the  mounds.  Where  the  amount  of  ash  is 
exceptionally  high  in  proportion  to  the  shell,  it  does  not  mean  merely 
that  the  inhabitants  burned  more  than  the  usual  amount  of  wood; 
but  it  undoubtedly  means  that  the  mound  was  built  up  more  slowly 
than  others  with  a  less  amount  of  ash.  The  inhabitants,  instead  of 
depending  to  the  usual  extent  on  shellfish,  lived  more  on  vegetable 
foods  which  would  leave  no  trace.  The  only  thing  to  tell  the  tale  would 
be  the  unusually  high  percentage  of  ash  compared  to  shell.  Therefore 
one  cannot  estimate  the  accumulation  of  shell  in  a  mound  of  this  sort 
at  the  same  rate  as  in  an  average  mound  like  Emeryville. 

The  puzzle  of  the  age  of  the  shellmounds  requires  for  its  solution 
every  scrap  of  information  bearing  on  the  mounds.  A  knowledge  of 
shellmound  composition,  of  population,  of  artifacts,  of  skeletal  remains, 
of  environment,  or  of  food  alone  will  not  solve  the  puzzle.  The  proper 
combination  of  all  of  these  is  necessary  to  gain  the  end. 

Transmitted  December  4,  1914. 


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1916] 


Oxford:  Composition  of  California  Shellmounds 


15 


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16 


University  of  Calif omia  Publications  ia  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.        [  VoL  12 


TABLE  2 

Shellmound  Composition  in  Percentages  of  Mate&ial  Derived  from  Animal 

Sources,  from  Combustion,  and  from  Inorganic  Sources 

Hound  Animal       OombuBtion     Inorganic 

Sausalito 55                  4  41 

Greenbrae 65  13  22 

San  Rafael  54  25  21 

Carquinez  55  27  18 

Ellis  Landing  70  14  16 

West  Berkeley 53  24  23 

Emeryville  60  14  26 

Castro  26  10  64 

San  Mateo  59  11  30 

San  Mateo  Point  59                  6  35 

San  Francisco  57  16  27 

Half  Moon  Bay 57                  4  39 

Eureka    69  12  19 

Gunther  Island  16                  2  82 

Point  Loma  29                  5  66 

Average  mound   52  13  35 

Average  S.  F.  Bay  mound  56  15  29              * 


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Gifford:  Composition  of  California  Shellmounds 


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University  of  California  Fuhlications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,        [VoL  12 


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Gifford:  Composition  of  California  Shellmounds 


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Giford:  Composition  of  CaUfomia  Shellmounds 


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Giford:  Composition  of  California  Shellmounds 


25 


TABLE  11 

Average  SPEaFic  Composition  (in  Percentages)*  of  the  Shell  from 
Half  Moon  Bay  and  Humboldt  Bay  Mounds 


Species 
Mytilos  edulis 

Barnacles  (Balanus)  — 

Crab  shell 

Cardium  corbis  

Paphia  staminea 

Sehizothaerus  nuttallii 

Macoma  nasuta 

Mytilus  ealifomianus  .. 

Littorina  scutulata 

Sea  urchin  

Tegula  funebralis  

Tegula  brunnea 

Chitons 

Limpets 

Platyodon  canceUatus  .. 

Pholadidea  penita ^ 

Sazidomus  nuttallii  

Crepidula  adunca  

Saxidomus  giganteus  .... 

Cardium  californiense  .. 

Paphia  tenerrima 

Zirphaea  crispata 

Unidentified  shell 


Half  Moon  Bay 
X 

X 

Y 

Y 

1 

X 

25 
Y 
X 
35 
X 
X 
Y 
Y 
Y 
X 
Y 


32 


Eureka 
58 


34 


Ounther  Island 
X 

X 

Y 
14 
i2 
23 
17 


1 
Y 

1 
Y 

28 


*  Where  the  amount  of  a  species  is  less  than  one  ner  cent,  but  more  than  one-tenth  of  one 
per  cent,  an  X  has  been  substituted  for  the  actual  figure;  where  less  than  one-tenth  of  one 
per  cent  a  Y  has  been  substituted. 


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University  of  California  PublicatioTis  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,       [Vol.  12 


TABLE  12 

OCCUEBBNCE  OF 

Phytia  myosotia  (indicated  by  x) 

Depth 

1 

1 

1 
1 

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1 

1 

1 

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1 
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X 

X 

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X 

.... 

X 

X 



3.5 

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X 

.... 

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.... 

4 

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— 

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— 

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4.5 







X 

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5 

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— 

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X 

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— 

6 

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— 

— 

— 

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X 

.... 

6.5 

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— 

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— 

X 

— 

— 

.... 

7 



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7 
8 
9 

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I 

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I 



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9.5 

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— 

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X 

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10 

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— 

X 

X 

— 

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10.5 

— 

.... 



.... 

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11 

.... 

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X 

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X 

.... 

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12 

— 

— 

.... 

.... 

— 

.... 



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12.5 

— 

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— 

— 

13 

— 

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— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

14 



X 

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.... 

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X 

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15.5 

.... 

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X 

.... 

..«. 

17 

.... 

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X 

.... 

.... 

.... 

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17.5 

.... 

.... 

.... 

— 



~~ 

19.5 

.... 

.... 

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X 

— 

.... 

Bottom 
Bottom 

.... 

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X 

.... 

.... 

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.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

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.«- 

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.... 

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Giford:  Composition  of  California  SheUmounds 


27 


TABLES  13  TO  22 

Tables  13  to  22  show  the  relative  abundance  in  each  sample  of  the 
species  included  in  the  table.  This  relative  abundance  is  expressed  in 
percentages  of  the  sum  of  the  species. 


1 

TABLE  13 

Elus  Landing 

Depth 
1.5 

MytUuBednlit 
43 

Haeoma  nasata 
57 

2 

55 

45 

3 

98 

2 

4.5 

87 

13 

6 

2 

98 

7 

7 

93 

7 

85 

15 

10 

53 

47 

11 

91 

9 

17 

' 

96 

TABLE  14 
Sausalito 

4 

Depth 

1 

MytiluBednlit 
41 

Maeoma  nasuta 
59 

3.5 

37 

63 

5 

38 

62 

8 

79 

21 

12 

69 

31 

12.5 

57 
TABLE  15 

EMSBTVUiLE 

43 

Depth 
.5 

MytOni  edoli*         Macoma  natata         Ostrea  lurida 
74                         14                         12 

1.5 

62 

25 

13 

3 

43 

49 

8 

5 

87 

6 

7 

7 

49 

46 

5 

8 

42 

51 

7 

9 

79 

18 

3 

9.5 

57 

34 

9 

10 

40 

56 

4 

10.5 

80 

19 

1 

11 

50 

47 

3 

18 

81 

13 

6 

15.5 

71 

18 

11 

17.5 

71 

19 

10 

19.5      • 

58 

22 

20 

Bottom 

34 

— 

66 

Bottom 

31 

5 

64 

Bottom 

42 

4 

54 

Bottom 

63 

— 

37 

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28  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,        [  Vol.  12 


TABLE  16 
Castbo 

Depth  Mytilus  edolis    Cerithidea  californica    OBtrea  lurida 

1  6  65  29 

2  10  78  12 

3  10  81  9 

4  6  61  33 

5  1  84  15 


TABLE  17 

San  Mateo 

Depth 
3 

Mytilns  edulis 
62 

Ostrea  lurida 
38 

6 

41 

59 

8 

54 

46 

14 

50 
TABLE  18 

50 

Half  Moon  Bay 

Depth 

1 

Tegula  f  unebralii 
78 

I 

Mytilus  califomianus 
22 

1 

59 

41 

3 

32 

68 

6 

28 
TABLE  19 

72 

GUNTHEB  Island 

Depth 

1 

Schizothaeros 
nnttallii 

1 

Macoma 
nasuta 

71 

Cardium 
corbis 

Paphia 
staminea 

28 

2 

33 

67 

— 

— 

2.5 

54 

7 

11 

28 

6 

58 

28 

14 

— 

6.5 

10 

30 

42 

18 

8 

45 

34 
TABLE  20 

16 

5 

West  Berkeley 

Depth 
2 

MytiluB  edulis         Macoma  nasuta         Ostrea  lurida 
73                            3                          24 

3.5 

► 

74 

2 

24 

4.5 

57 

26 

17 

5 

77 

2 

21 

6.5 

60 

2 

38 

8 

58 

1 

41 

10 

54 

1 

45 

12 

73 

— 

27 

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Giford:  Composition  of  California  Shellmounda 


29 


TABLE  21 

Gbeenbrae 

Depth 
.5 

Mytilns  edulis 
81 

Macoma  nasata 
13 

Ostrea  Inrida 
6 

2 

96 

4 

— 

4 

96 

1 

3 

6 

91 

9 

— 

8 

97 

2 

1 

10 

99 

1 

— 

12 

99 

— 

1 

14 

90 

1 

9 

TABLE  22 

San  Rafael 

Depth 
.5 

MytiluB  edalis 
97 

Macoma  nasata 
3 

Ostrea  lurida 

2 

99 

1 

— 

4 

99 

— 

1 

6 

99 

— 

1 

8 

95 

2 

3 

10 

97 

2 

1 

TABLE  23 

Mussel  Shell  (MytUus  edulis)  Caught  by  the  Fine,  ob  Two-millimeteb,  Scbeen 

IN  Peecentages  of  the  Amount  of  all  Mussel  Caught  by  Screens 


Depth 
.5 

Sausalito 

Oreenbrae 

77 

San  Rafael 
97 

Ellis  Landing 

Emeryville 

1 

88 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

1.5 

.... 

86 

62 

2 

.... 

65 

86 

61 

.... 

3 

.... 

.... 

.... 

41 

55 

3.5 

68 

.... 

.... 

.... 

4 

.... 

82 

91 

.... 

.... 

4.5 

.... 

.... 

80 

.... 

5 

92 

.... 

.... 

.... 

66 

6 

70 

67 

63 

7 

.... 

.... 

54 

71 

7 

.... 

.... 

.... 

82 

— . 

8 

79 

76 

86 

.... 

67 

9 

.... 

.... 

.... 

75 

9.5 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

67 

10 

.... 

71 

95 

71 

62 

10.5 

.... 

..~ 

.... 

.— . 

85 

11 

.... 

.... 

90 

73 

12 

93 

83 

.... 

.... 

.... 

12.5 

91 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

13 

.... 

96 

14 

.... 

81 

.... 

.... 

.... 

15.5 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

88 

17 

.... 

.... 

87 

.... 

17.5 

.... 

.... 

.... 

92 

19.5 

.... 

.... 

90 

Bottom 

.... 

.... 

.... 

84 

Bottom 

.... 

.... 

.... 

83 

Bottom 
Bottom 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

95 
97 

Average 

85 

76 

87 

71 

79 

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UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA    PUBLICATIONS 

IN 

AMERICAN   ARCHAEOLOGY  AND    ETHNOLOGY 

Vol.  12,  No.  2,  pp.  31-69  June  15,  1916 


CALIFORNIA  PLACE  NAMES  OF 
INDIAN  ORIGIN 

BY 

A.  L.  KBOEBER 


The  origin  of  many  place-names  in  California  which  are  of  Indian 
derivation  is  very  imperfectly  known,  and  has  often  been  thoroughly 
misunderstood.  There  is  no  subject  of  information  in  which  rumor 
and  uncritical  tradition  hold  fuller  sway  than  in  this  field.  The  best 
literature  dealing  with  the  topic — and  it  is  one  of  widespread  interest 
— contains  more  errors  than  truths.  The  present  compilation,  in  spite 
of  probably  embodying  numerous  misunderstandings  and  offering 
only  doubt  or  ignorance  on  other  points,  is  at  least  an  attempt  to 
approach  the  inquiry  critically.  It  is  based  on  fifteen  years  of 
acquaintance,  from  the  anthropological  side,  with  most  of  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  state.  In  the  course  of  the  studies  made  in  this  period, 
geographical  and  linguistic  data  were  accumulated,  which,  while  not 
gathered  for  the  present  purpose,  serve  to  illuminate,  even  though 
often  only  negatively,  the  origin  and  meaning  of  many  place-names 
adopted  or  reputed  to  have  been  taken  from  the  natives.  Authorities 
have  been  cited  where  they  were  available  and  known.  If  they  are  not 
given  in  more  cases,  it  is  because  unpublished  notes  of  the  writer  are 
in  all  such  instances  the  source  of  information. 

The  present  state  of  knowledge  as  to  place-names  derived  from  the 
Indians  is  illustrated  by  the  following  example.  There  are  nine 
counties  in  California,  Colusa,  Modoc,  Mono,  Napa,  Shasta,  Tehama, 
Tuolumne,  Yolo,  and  Yuba,  whose  names  are  demonstrably  or  almost 
demonstrably  of  Indian  origin,  and  two  others,  Inyo  and  Siskiyou, 
that  presumably  are  also  Indian.  Of  these  eleven,  Maslin  in  his  of- 
ficially authorized  list,  cited  below,  gives  two.  Mono  and  Yuba,  as  being 
Spanish ;  he  adds  Solano  and  Marin,  of  which  the  first  is  certainly  and 


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32  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

the  latter  probably  Spanish,  as  being  Indian ;  and  the  only  etymologies 
which  he  mentions — ^those  for  Modoc,  Napa,  Shasta,  Tuolumne,  and 
Yolo — are  all  either  positively  erroneous  or  unverified.  The  lists  by 
other  authors,  which  include  the  names  of  less  widely  known  locali- 
ties, are  as  a  rule  even  more  unreliable.  The  prevalent  inclination  has 
been  to  base  explanations  of  place-names  of  Indian  origin  not  on 
knowledge,  or  where  certainty  is  unattainable  on  an  effort  at  investi- 
gation, but  on  vague  though  positively  stated  conjectures  of  what  such 
names  might  have  meant,  or  on  naive  fancies  of  what  would  have  been 
picturesque  and  romantic  designations  if  the  unromantic  Indian  had 
used  them. '  It  is  therefore  a  genuine  pleasure  to  mention  one  notable 
and  recent  exception,  the  Spanish  and  Indian  Place  Names  of  Cali- 
fornia of  Nellie  Van  de  Grift  Sanchez,  a  really  valuable  work  which 
unites  honest  endeavor  and  historical  discrimination  with  taste  and 
pleasing  presentation.^ 

To  avoid  an  array  of  foot-notes,  most  references  have  been  cited 
in  the  text  in  a  simplified  form,  which  will  be  clear  upon  consultation 
of  the  following  list. 

Maslin:  Prentiss  Maslin.  I  have  not  seen  this  work,  printed  for  or  by  the 
State  of  California,  in  the  original.  It  may  be  more  accessible  to  most  readers 
as  reprinted  as  an  appendix  to  John  S.  McGroarty's  California,  1911,  pages  311 
and  following.  As  the  names  follow  one  another  in  alphabetical  order,  page 
references  are  unnecessary. 

Gannett:  Henry  Gannett,  "The  Origin  of  Certain  Place-Names  in  the 
United  States.'*  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  Bulletin  197,  1902.  As  this  is  also 
an  alphabetic  list,  page  references  have  again  been  omitted. 

Bailey:  G.  E.  Bailey,  "History  and  Origin  of  California  Names  and 
Places,"  in  several  instalments  (the  pages  indicated  in  the  table  of  contents 
for  the  volume  are  in  part  erroneous),  in  volume  44  of  the  Overland  Monthly, 
San  Francisco,  July  to  December,  1904.  The  Indian  section  is  arranged  alpha- 
betically and  begins  on  page  564. 

PowEEs:  Stephen  Powers,  "Tribes  of  California,"  being  Contributions  to 
North  American  Ethnology,  volume  3,  Washington,  1877. 

Merriam:  C.  Hart  Merriam,  "Distribution  and  Classification  of  the  Mewan 
Stock  of  California, '  *  American  Anthropologist,  new  series,  volume  9,  pages  338- 
357,  1907. 

Barrett,  Pomo:  S.  A.  Barrett,  "The  Ethno-geography  of  the  Porno  and 
Neighboring  Indians,"  being  pages  1  to  332  of  volume  6  of  the  present  series 
of  publications.  Page  citations  follow  the  title,  in  references  in  the  present 
text  made  to  this  and  the  following  works. 

Barrett,  Miwok:  S.  A.  Barrett,  "The  Geography  and  Dialects  of  the  Mi  wok 
Indians, ' '  pages  333  to  368  of  volume  6  of  the  same  series  of  publications. 


1  San  Francisco,  A.  M.  Robertson,  1914. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  33 

Kaoebeb,  Miwok:  A.  L.  Kroeber,  ''On  the  Evidences  of  the  Occupation  of 
Certain  Regions  \>j  the  Miwok  Indians,"  pages  369  to  380  of  the  same  volume 
as  the  last. 

Kroeber,  Shoshonean:  The  same,  "Shoshonean  Dialects  of  California," 
volume  4,  pages  65  to  165,  also  of  the  present  series. 

Kroeber,  Cahuilla:  The  same,  ''Ethnography  of  the  Gahuilla  Indians," 
pages  29  to  68  of  volume  8  of  the  present  series. 

Several  important  original  sources,  such  as  Hugo  Reid  in  the  Los 
Angeles  Star  of  1852,  and  Alexander  Taylor  in  the  California  Farmer 
of  1860  following,  are  referred  to  or  partly  extracted,  so  far  as  Indian 
place-names  are  concerned,  in  the  above  works. 

The  number  of  California  place-names  taken  from  the  several  Cali- 
fornia Indian  languages  varies  greatly.  In  general,  Spanish  occupa- 
tion has  been  more  favorable  than  American  settlement  to  preservation 
of  native  designations  of  localities.  The  distribution  of  positively  and 
probably  identified  names,  according  to  their  source  from  the  various 
families  of  speech,  is  as  follows : 


Shoshonean 

33 

Maidu 

7 

Chumash 

28 

Yuki 

6 

Miwok 

26 

Athabascan 

4 

Wintun 

25 

SaUnan 

2 

Yurok 

16 

Shastan 

2 

Yuman 

15 

Washo 

1 

Pomo 

13 

Lutuami 

1 

Yokuts 

9 

Wiyot 

1 

Costanoan 

7 

Karok,  Chimariko,  Yana,  and  Esselen  have  furnished  no  terms  to 
modern  California  geography. 

Such  obviously  imported  names  of  Indian  origin  as  Cherokee, 
Seneca,  Mohawk,  Oneida,  Tioga,  Sequoya,  and  Maricopa,  have  not 
been  discussed  in  the  present  account. 

THE  NAMES 

Acalanes,  a  land  grant  in  Contra  Costa  County,  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  present  town  of  Lafayette,  is  probably  named  from  a  Costanoan 
Indian  village  of  the  vicinity,  Akalan  or  something  similar,  which  the 
Spaniards  dignified  into  the  Acalanes  ** tribe."  The  ending  occurs  on 
many  Costanoan  village  names :  Sacla-n,  Olho-n,  Bolbo-n,  Mutsu-n,  etc. 

Aguanga,  in  Riverside  County,  has  no  connection  with  Spanish 
agua,  ** water,''  but  is  a  place  or  village  name  of  the  Shoshonean 


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34  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

Luiseno  Indians.  The  meaning  is  not  known,  but  the  word  is  derived 
from  the  place-name  proper,  Awa,  plus  the  Indian  locative  case  end- 
ing -nga  (Kroeber,  Shoshonean,  147). 

Ahpah  creek,  entering  the  Klamath  River  from  the  south  just  above 
Blue  Creek,  in  Humboldt  County,  is  named  from  its  Yurok  designa- 
tion, O'po. 

Ahwahnee,  in  Madera  County,  is  situated  forty  miles  from  the  orig- 
inal Awani,  which  was  the  Southern  Miwok  name  of  the  largest  village 
in  Yosemite  Valley  and  therefore  of  the  valley  itself.  The  Indian 
name  of  American  Ahwahnee  was  Wasama  (Merriam,  346,  and  Bar- 
rett, Miwok,  343).  It  is  of  interest,  though  perhaps  of  no  bearing  in 
the  present  connection,  that  a  similar  name,  Awaniwi,  appears  among 
the  far-distant  but  related  Coast  Miwok  Indians  of  Marin  County  as 
the  appelation  of  a  former  village  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city  of 
San  Rafael. 

Algomah,  in  Siskiyou  County,  is  of  unknown  origin,  and  suggests 
coinage,  or  borrowing  from  the  Eastern  place-name  Algoma,  also 
coined,  given  by  Gannett. 

Algootoon,  which  does  not  appear  on  most  maps,  is  given  by  Bailey 
as  another  name  of  Lakeview,  Riverside  County,  and  as  derived  from 
Algoot,  the  Saboba  {i.e.,  Luiseno)  hero  who  killed  **Taquitch'*  (see 
Tahquitz).  The  name  Algut  sounds  Luiseno,  but  does  not  appear  in 
the  Sparkman  Luiseno  dictionary  in  possession  of  the  University  of 
California.  It  is  probably  a  Spanish  spelling  of  Alwut,  ** raven,"  who 
is  one  of  the  most  important  traditional  and  religious  heroes  of  the 
Luiseno,  and  into  whom  Tukupar,  **Sky,"  turned  himself  when  he 
went  to  visit  Takwish  on  Mount  San  Jacinto  preparatory  to  killing 
him.'  This  etymology,  however,  does  not  account  for  the  last  syllable 
of  ** Algootoon."  Were  it  not  that  guesses  are  already  more  numerous 
in  these  matters  than  knowledge,  the  writer  would  be  tempted  to 
hazard  the  suggestion  of  a  possible  American  corruption  from  Spanish 
algodon,  '* cotton." 

Aloma  mountain,  in  Ventura  County,  has  an  unidentified  name. 

Anacapa,  the  name  of  the  island  off  Ventura  County,  is  absurdly 
given  by  Bailey,  page  360,  as  Spanish  for  *  *  Cape  Ann. '  *  The  Chumash 
original  is  Anyapah,  recorded  by  Vancouver  as  Enneeapah,  misspelled 
Enecapah  by  the  map  engraver,  and  then  Spanicized  into  Anacapa 
(Sanchez,  351,  fide  George  Davidson). 

2  Journ.  Am.  Folk  Lore,  xix,  318,  1906 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  35 

Anapamu,  the  name  of  a  street  in  Santa  Barbara  city,  is  said  locally 
to  be  of  Indian  origin^  and  has  a  good  Chumash  ring. 

Aptos,  in  Santa  Cruz  County,  is  given  by  Bailey  as  the  name 
of  a  ** tribe."  If  this  is  a  fact,  the  village  was  Costanoan;  but  the 
derivation  from  Spanish  apto  seems  not  impossible. 

Areata,  in  Humboldt  County,  is  said  by  Gannett  to  mean  **  sunny 
spot'*  in  Indian.  Such  a  place-name  would  be  very  unusual  in  any 
California  Indian  language,  nor  does  the  sound  suggest  a  word  in  the 
Wiyot  language,  which  is  the  idiom  spoken  in  the  vicinity. 

Aukum,  in  Eldorado  County,  is,  if  Indian,  which  seems  doubtful, 
of  Northern  Miwok  origin. 

Ausaymas,  a  land  grant  in  Santa  Clara  and  San  Benito  counties, 
is  obviously  named  after  the  Ausaymas  or  Ansaymas  Indians  men- 
tioned in  Arroyo  de  la  Cuesta's  Phrase  Book  of  the  Mutsun  Language 
as  speaking  a  dialect  somewhat  different  from  that  of  the  Mutsunes. 
Evidently  Ausayma  and  Mutsun  were  both  Costanoan  villages  near 
Mission  San  Juan  Bautista. 

Avawatz  mountains,  north  of  Ludlow  in  San  Bernardino  County, 
have  a  name  that  sounds  like  good  Shoshonean.  Southern  Paiute  or 
Serrano  tribes  lived  in  the  neighborhood. 

Azusa,  or  Asuza,  in  Los  Angeles  County,  was  a  Gabrielino  Sho- 
shonean village,  Asuksa-gna  in  Gabrielino*  or  Ashuksha-vit  in  the 
neighboring  Serrano*  dialect.  According  to  a  correspondent,'  the 
word  means  ** skunk  hill." 

Bally,  or  Bully,  mountain,  in  Shasta  County  near  the  Trinity  line, 
has  its  name  from  Wintun  boU  (o  like  English  **aw"),  ** spirit."  See 
Bully  Choop  and  Yallo  Bally.  There  is  also  a  Bully  Hill  in  Shasta 
County  between  the  Pit  and  McCloud  rivers. 

Beegum  and  Beegum  Butte,  in  Tehama  County,  are  names  of  un- 
identified origin. 

Bohemotash  mountain,  in  Shasta  County,  bears  a  northern  Wintun 
name.  Bohem  is  ** large,"  but  the  second  part  of  the  word  is  not 
known. 


»  J.  P.  Harrington,  American  Anthropologist,  n.  s.  xm,  725,  1911. 

4  Hugo  Reid,  originally  in  the  Loa  Angeles  Star,  quoted  by  A.  Taylor,  Cali- 
fornia Farmer,  xiv,  1861,  and  by  Hoffman,  Bulletin  Essex  Institute,  xvn,  1885. 

»  Present  series,  vin,  39,  1908. 

«  Mr.  C.  C.  Baker  of  Azusa,  quoting  Mr.  W.  A.  Balton,  whose  godfather  was 
Hugo  Beid:  Azuncsabit,  ''skunk  hill,'^  the  skunks  beinc  of  the  small  or  polecat 
variety,  and  the  name  applied  by  the  Indians  to  the  hill,  east  of  the  present 
town,  where  the  ranch  house  of  the  grant  stood.  As  -bit  is  the  regular  locative 
ending  in  Serrano,  the  literal  meaning  was  probably  ** skunk  place''  rather 
than  "hill." 


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36  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

Bolbones,  or  more  fully  Arroyo  de  las  Nueces  y  Bolbones,  a  grant 
in  Contra  Costa  County,  probably  derives  its  name  from  a  village 
whose  inhabitants  were  called  Volvon,  Bolbon,  and  Bulbones  by  the 
Spaniards.    See  Bancroft,  Native  Races,  I,  453. 

BoUnaSy  in  Marin  County,  is  said  by  Sanchez,  228,  355,  to  be  prob- 
ably an  alteration  of  Los  Baulines,  a  grant  name,  based  in  all  likeli- 
hood on  an  Indian  geogi*aphical  designation.  This  seems  reasonable. 
The  division  involved  would  be  the  Coast  Miwok,  and  the  native  word 
probably  Wauli-n. 

Bully  Choop,  or  Bally  Ckup,  mountain,  between  Shasta  and  Trinity 
counties,  is  apparently  from  Wintun  boli,  ** spirit."  The  meaning  of 
chup  is  not  known.    See  Bally  and  Yallo  Bally. 

Buriburi,  a  land  grant  in  San  Mateo  County,  is  a  name  of  unknown 
source.  The  grant  is  near  San  Bruno,  so  that  the  Costanoan  Indians 
on  it  would  have  been  attached  to  Mission  Dolores  in  San  Francisco. 
Urebure  occurs  as  the  name  of  one  of  the  many  rancherias  formerly 
existing  in  the  vicinity  of  Mission  Dolores.^ 

Cahto,  in  Mendocino  County,  is  in  Athabascan  territory  and  has 
come  to  be  used,  in  the  form  Kato,  for  an  Athabascan  tribe  or  division, 
but  is  a  Pomo  word,  meaning  **lake."*  The  Bailey  definition  of 
** quicksand,"  from  cah,  ** water,"  and  to,  **mush,"  is  unproved;  al- 
though ka  and  to  separately  have  this  meaning  in  Pomo,  and  the  ety- 
mology is  repeated  in  the  meaning  cited  in  Barrett  {Pomo,  262),  for 
Bida-to,  ** mush-stream"  (also,  it  is  said,  on  account  of  the  presence 
of  quicksand),  the  Northern  Pomo  name  of  a  Coast  Yuki  village  at 
the  mouth  of  Ten  Mile  River  in  the  same  part  of  Mendocino  County. 
Cahto  Creek  in  southeastern  Humboldt  County  is  probably  the  same 
name  as  Cahto  in  northern  Mendocino. 

Cahuenga  pass  and  peak,  in  Los  Angeles  County,  are  undoubtedly 
named  from  some  Gabrielino  Shoshonean  word,  as  shown  by  the 
locative  ending  -nga. 

Cahuilla,  often  written  Coahuila,  but  always  pronounced  **Kawia" 
and  never  **Kwawila,"  is  the  name  of  a  Shoshonean  tribe,  or  rather 
dialect  group,  located  in  San  Gorgonio  Pass,  the  Colorado  desert,  and 
the  vicinity  of  the  present  Cahuilla  reservation  in  Riverside  County. 
The  name,  ever  since  Reid,  an  excellent  authority,  has  been  said  to 
mean  ** master,"  but  the  author  has  never  found  an  Indian  to  cor- 


f  Bancroft,  Native  Baces,  i,  453. 

8  Goddard,  present  series,  v,  67,  1909;  Powers,  150. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  C<ilifomia  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  37 

roborate  this  interpretation,  or  to  admit  the  word  as  being  anything 
else  than  Spanish.    There  is  no  connection  with  Kaweah. 

Calleguas,  in  Ventura  County,  is  derived  from  Chumash  Kayiwilsh, 
"my  head,'*  the  name  of  a  rancheria. 

Calpella,  in  Mendocino  County,  according  to  Barrett,  Porno,  143,  is 
named  after  Kalpela,  the  chief  of  the  former  Northern  Pomo  village 
of  Chomchadila,  situated  '*on  the  mesa  just  south  of  the  town  of 
Calpella.  * '  Kalpela 's  name*  *  *  was  given  to  his  people,  and  was  applied 
by  the  whites  in  a  general  way  to  all  of  the  Indians  living  in  Redwood 
Valley.  .  .  .  The  late  Mr.  A.  E.  Sherwood  is  authority  for  the  state- 
ment that  *Cal-pa-lau'  signifies  *  mussel  or  shellfish  bearer,'  '' — whence 
Bailey's  notice  is  apparently  derived.  ** Mussel"  is  khal,  hal,  in  North- 
em  Pomo. 

Camulos,  in  Ventura  County,  is  named  from  an  Indian  village 
Eamulus  or  Kamulas.*®  This  territory  has  usually  been  considered 
Chumash,  but  was  more  likely  Shoshonean;  it  is,  however,  probable 
that  Kamulas  was  its  Chumash  name;  at  any  rate,  the  etymology  in 
Chumash  is  my-mulus,  mulus  being  an  edible  fruit. 

Capay,  a  land  grant  in  Glenn  and  Tehama  counties,  and  another  in 
Yolo  County,  the  latter  surviving  in  modern  nomenclature  as  Capay 
Valley,  are  named  from  Southern  Wintun  (Patwin)  kapai,  ** stream." 

Carquinez  straits,  in  San  Francisco  Bay,  are  named  from  a  South- 
ern Wintun  ** tribe"  or  village,  Carquin  or  Karkin. 

Caslamayomd,  a  land  grant  in  Sonoma  County,  seems  Indian,  espe- 
cially on  account  of  its  ending,  -yomi  or  -yome,  which  means  ** place" 
both  in  Southern  Pomo  and  Coast  Miwok. 

Castac  Lake,  in  Tejon  Pass  in  Kern  County,  and  Castac  Creek  in 
Los  Angeles  County,  are  named  from  a  Shoshonean  village,  situated 
near  the  mouth  of  the  stream,  and  called  by  the  neighboring  Chumash 
Kashtuk  (the  u  unrounded),  **my  eyes"  (dual),  or  **our  eye."  A 
frequented  Indian  trail  led  from  the  village  up  the  stream  to  the  lake 
and  thence  into  the  San  Joaquin  Valley — whence  probably  the  appli- 
cation of  the  name  to  the  two  localities.  The  Shoshonean  Kitanemuk 
or  Serrano  of  the  vicinity  of  the  lake  call  this  Auvapya,  and  the 
Yokuts  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  Sasau.  Both  words  mean  **at  the 
eye."  The  Castac  grant  extended  from  Castac  Lake  north  into  the 
San  Joaquin  Valley. 


»  Becited  in  Kroeber,  Shoshonean,  152. 

10  Handbook  of  American  Indians,  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.  Bull.  30,  part  i,  649. 


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38  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  ArcK  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Catacula,  in  Napa  County,  is  a  name  of  unknown  origin.  The 
grant  lay  in  Wintun  or  Wappo  territory. 

Caymus  grant  in  Napa  County  is  named  for  the  Yukian  Wappo 
village  of  Kaimus,  derivation  unknown,  formerly  on  the  site  of  what 
is  now  Yountville  (Barrett,  Porno,  268). 

Cayucos,  in  San  Luis  Obispo  County,  means  ** boats**  or  ** skiffs" 
in  South  American  Spanish,  according  to  the  dictionaries,  while 
Cayuca,  a  form  of  the  name  that  also  appears,  denotes  **head"  in 
Cuban  Spanish. 

Chagoopa  plateau  and  creek,  southwest  of  Mount  Whitney,  are  in 
Tulare  County.  The  meaning  is  unknown,  but  the  name  is  almost 
certainly  a  Mono  word.  A  familiar  Shoshonean  noun  ending  -pa 
appears,  as  also  in  Ivanpah,  Hanaupah,  Nopah. 

ChancheluUa  mountain,  in  Trinity  County,  also  appearing  on  maps 
as  ChauchetuUa  and  Chenche  Lulla,  seems  to  derive  its  name  from  a 
Wintun  source,  but  the  etymology  is  unknown. 

Chemehuevi  valley  and  mountains,  in  eastern  San  Bernardino 
County,  are  named  after  the  Chemehuevi  tribe,  an  offshoot  of  the 
Southern  Paiute.  The  meaning  of  their  name  ,is  unknown,  and  its 
source  is  also  not  certain,  although  the  Mohave  appear  to  use  it  not 
only  of  the  Chemehuevi  but  of  all  Paiute  divisions,  and  may  have 
originated  the  term. 

Chimiles,  a  land  grant  in  Napa  County,  between  Vacaville  and 
Napa  city,  bears  a  name  of  unidentified  but  possibly  Indian  origin. 

Choenimne  mountain,  in  Fresno  County,  derives  its  name  from  the 
Yokuts  tribe  of  the  Choinimni,  who  lived  on  Kings  River  near  the 
mountain. 

Cholame,  in  San  Luis  Obispo  County,  is  a  name  of  Salinan  Indian 
derivation.  Cholam,  more  exactly  TcIola'M, — also  given  as  Tco'alam- 
tram,  ** Cholam  houses'*  or  ** Cholam  village,*' — was  a  rancheria  near 
Mission  San  Miguel,^*  and  therefore  at  the  mouth  of  Estrella  Creek, 
as  the  lower  course  of  Cholame  Creek  is  called. 

Choul  mountain,  in  Santa  Clara  County,  bears  a  name  of  unknown 
origin. 

Chowchilla  Biver  in  the  drainage  of  the  San  Joaquin  was  in  its 
lower  course  the  habitat  of  the  Chauchila  tribe  of  the  Yokuts.  This 
division  bore  a  warlike  reputation  among  neighboring  groups,  and  its 


11  Mason,  present  series,  x,  107,  1912.  The  settlement  known  as  Cholame  is, 
however,  on  the  Cholame  grant,  which  is  on  Cholame  Creek,  toward  Cholame 
Pass,  and  some  distance  easterly  of  San  Miguel,  so  that  the  site  of  the  aborig- 
inal Cholam  village  cannot  be  regarded  as  certainly  known. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  39 

name  may  be  connected  with  the  Yokuts  verb  taudja,  *'to  kill,"  but 
this  etymology  is  far  from  certain.  Yokuts  Indians  have  at  times 
translated  the  tribal  name  as  ** murderers,"  but  this  may  be  an  incor- 
rect ex  post  facto  etymology  on  their  part.  The  Chauchila  have  been 
referred  to  as  a  Miwok  division ;  but  as  the  Miwok,  in  distinction  from 
the  Yokuts,  had  no  true  tribes,  it  is  likely  that  the  Miwok  Chauchilas 
were  so  named  by  the  Americans,  or  by  English-speaking  Indians,  after 
the  name  of  the  stream  near  whose  upper  course  they  live.  There  are 
also  Chowchilla  Mountains  in  Mariposa  County. 

Chualar,  in  Monterey  County,  is  Spanish  **  place  of  chual,"  or 
Chenopodium  album, 

Cisco,  in  Placer  County,  is  given  by  Bailey  as  of  Indian  origin,  and 
meaning  a  kind  of  trout.  The  word  will  be  found  in  any  modern  Eng- 
lish dictionary  as  the  name  of  a  fresh-water  fish.  If  originally  Indian, 
it  is  not  California  Indian.    It  is  also  a  family  name. 

Cleone,  in  Mendocino  County,  is  probably  named  from  Kelio,  the 
Northern  Pomo  name  of  one  of  their  divisions  or  more  probably  a 
village.^^ 

CoacheUa,  in  Riverside  County,  is  in  Cahuilla  territory,  but  it  has 
not  been  learned  that  the  name  has  an  Indian  source,  though  it  is 
sometimes  so  stated. 

Coahuila,  see  Cahuilla. 

Collayomi,  a  land  grant  in  Lake  County,  is  no  doubt  named  after 
the  Coyayomi  or  Joyayomi  ** tribe"  mentioned  by  Engelhardt.^'  This 
is  probably  a  Coast  or  Lake  Miwok  name,  as  shown  by  the  ending 
-yome,  ** place,"  though  the  same  element  occurs  with  a  similar  mean- 
ing in  Southern  Pomo.  Barrett  {Pomo,  316)  identifies  it  hesitatingly 
with  Shoyome,  a  Lake  Miwok  village  on  the  south  side  of  Puta  Creek 
three  and  a  half  miles  below  Quenoc. 

Coloma,  where  gold  was  first  discovered  in  California,  in  Eldorado 
County,  is  given  by  Powers,  315,  as  the  name  of  a  Nishinam  (Southern 
Maidu )  *  *  tribe ' '  or  village. 

Colusa  County  is  named  from  the  Patwin,  that  is.  Southern  Win- 
tun,  Koru,  a  village  on  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Colusa.  The 
meaning  of  Koru  is  not  known  to  the  Indians,  who  declare  it  to  be 
merely  a  place  name.  The  r  in  this  word  is  trilled,  hence  presents 
difficulty  to  Americans,  which  fact  seems  to  account  for  its  change 
into  1.    The  origin  of  the  third  syllable  is  not  entirely  clear.    Colusa 


12  Handbook  of  American  Indians,  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.  Bull.  30,  part  i,  672. 
IS  Franciscans  in  California,  1897,  p.  451. 


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40  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

was  originally  spelled  Colusi  or  Coluse,  as  it  is  still  vulgarly  pro- 
nounced. It  is  possible  that  the  ending  is  from  a  Spanish  plural  of 
the  place  name  used  as  a  tribal  name,  as  so  often  happened;  or 
Korusi  may  have  been  an  Indian  variant  of  Koru.  Indian  informants 
mention  a  belief  locally  current  among  Americans  that  Koru  was  the 
name  of  a  chief  of  the  rancheria,  but  emphatically  deny  this.  It  will 
be  seen  that  a  similar  statement  has  been  made  concerning  Yolo,  and 
that  this  statement  is  also  contradicted  by  the  available  Indian  in- 
formation. 

Comptche,  in  Mendocino  County,  is  from  an  unknown  source. 
There  was  a  Pomo  village  Komacho  in  the  region.  Barrett,  Porno, 
178. 

Concow,  in  Butte  County,  surviving  also  as  the  ofScial  and  popular 
name  of  the  Concow  or  Maidu  Indians  on  Round  Valley  reservation, 
is  from  the  Southwestern  Maidu  word  Koyongkau.  Powers,  283,  gives 
the  etymology  from  koyo,  ** plain"  or  *Walley,  and  kau,  ** earth"  or 
**  place." 

Cortina  Valley,  in  Colusa  County,  appears  to  be  named  for  Kotina, 
a  former  Southern  Wintun  chief  (Barrett,  Pomo,  324),  though 
whether  his  name  was  Indian,  or  an  Indian  corruption  of  Spanish 
Cortina,  is  not  known. 

Cosmit  reservation,  in  San  Diego  County,  is  called  Kosmit  also  in 
the  Diegueno  language,  but  the  meaning  is  not  known. 

Coso,  a  range  and  place  in  Inyo  County,  appear  to  be  named  after 
a  Shoshonean  Indian  division,  allied  to  the  Panamint  or  part  of  them. 
It  is,  however,  possible  that  Coso  is  originally  a  place  name,  from 
which  the  range  derived  its  name,  after  which  the  whites  and  then  the 
Indians  came  to  speak  of  the  Coso  Mountain  Indians  or  the  Koso  tribe. 
The  ethnology  of  this  region  is  very  little  known.  Bailey  says  that 
Coso  means  ** broken  coal."  Words  beginning  with  ku-  mean  char- 
coal in  several  Shoshonean  dialects  of  the  vicinity.  A  locality  or  vil- 
lage, but  hardly  a  tribe,  might  be  given  such  a  name  by  Indians. 

Cosumnes  River  is  evidently  named  from  an  Indian  village  or 
tribe,  as  shown  by  the  ending  -umne  or  'amni,  discussed  under  Tuo- 
lumne. The  location  indicates  a  Plains  Miwok  origin.  Kawso 
(=Koso)  is  mentioned  by  Merriam,  348,  as  the  name  given  by  the 
Pawenan  (part  of  the  Southern  Maidu)  to  the  Mokozumne  Plains 
Miwok  division.  Cosumne  thus  appears  to  be  Koso  plus  -umni  plus 
the  Spanish  or  English  plural  -s ;  Mokozumne  may  be  only  a  form  of 
the  same  name;  and  the  term  denotes  the  people  of  a  Plains  Miwok 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Flace  Names  of  Indian  Origin  41 

village  or  tribe.  The  derivation  of  Cosumnes  from  Miwok  kosum, 
** salmon/'  given  by  Bailey  and  others,  should  also  be  mentioned, 
though  unverified. 

Cotati,  in  Sonoma  County,  is  named  for  Kotati,  a  Coast  Miwok  vil- 
lage just  north  of  the  present  town  (Barrett,  Porno,  311).  The  mean- 
ing of  the  word  is  unknown. 

Coyote,  and  Coyote  Creek,  in  Santa  Clara  County.  Gannett  says : 
**The  word,  in  the  dialect  of  the  Cushina  and  other  tribes  inhabiting 
the  upper  portions  of  Sacramento  Valley,  means  a  species  of  dog.'* 
This  is  untrue.  The  origin  of  the  word  is  Aztec  coyotl,  whence  Mexi- 
can Spanish  and  ultimately  English  coyote. 

Cxiati,  the  name  of  a  land  grant  in  Los  Angeles  County,  not  to  be 
confused  with  Quati  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  is  of  unknown  origin. 

Cucamonga,  in  San  Bernardino  County,  is  a  Shoshonean  place 
name,  Kukomo-nga  or  Kukamo-nga  in  Gabrielino,  Kukumu-nga-bit  or 
Kukamo-na-t  in  Serrano  (Kroeber,  Shoshonean,  134,  142,  Cahuilla, 
34,39). 

Cuyama  River,  between  San  Luis  Obispo  and  Santa  Barbara  coun- 
ties, derives  its  name  from  a  Chumash  place-name  Kuyam,  of  un- 
known significance. 

Cuyamaca  Mountains,  in  San  Diego  County,  were  so  called  by  the 
Diegueno  Indians.    Ekm-amak  is  ** rain-above.'' 

EUm,  in  Tehama  County.  The  origin  is  unknown.  If  Indian,  the 
name  is  of  Wintun  source. 

Guajome,  in  San  Diego  County,  is  from  Luiseno  Wakhaumai 
(Kroeber,  Shoshonean,  147). 

Gualala  River,  in  Sonoma  and  Mendocino  counties,  according  to 
Barrett,  Porno,  224y  is  probably  from  **  Porno  wala'li  or  wa'lali,  which 
in  the  Southern  and  Southwestern  dialects  is  ...  a  generic  term 
signifying  the  meeting-place  of  the  waters  of  any  in-flowing  stream 
with  those  of  the  stream  into  which  it  flows  or  with  the  ocean,"  in 
short,  a  river  mouth.    Any  connection  with  Walhalla  is  imaginary. 

Guaiay,  a  San  Diego  County  reservation,  is  named  from  Diegueno 
kwatai,  ** large." 

Chienoc,  a  land  grant  and  town  in  Lake  County,  is  a  name  of  doubt- 
ful origin,  according  to  Barrett,  Porno,  317. 

Guejiio,  in  San  Diego  County,  is  from  an  unknown  source,  prob- 
ably Spanish,  as  indicated  by  the  ending.  Chiijo  is  ** gravel"  in 
Spanish. 


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42  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  ArcK  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

Guesisosi,  a  land  grant  in  Yolo  County,  on  Cache  Creek  a  few  miles 
above  Woodland,  in  territory  originally  belonging  to  the  Patwin  or 
Southern  Wintun.    The  name  is  unidentified. 

Guilicos  or  Los  Guilicos  grant,  in  Sonoma  County,  is  from  Wilikos, 
the  Coast  Miwok  name  of  a  former  Wappo  village  at  the  head  of 
Sonoma  Creek  (Barrett,  Porno,  269) .  There  was  also  a  Southern  Pomo 
village,  named  Wilok,  about  three  miles  northeast  of  Santa  Rosa  (Bar- 
rett, Pomo,  222). 

Guyapipe  reservation,  in  San  Diego  County,  is  named  ewi-apaip  or 
am-apaip,  **rock  lie  on,'*  in  the  Diegueno  dialect. 

Haiwee  Creek,  in  Inyo  County.    Unidentified. 

Hanaupah  Canyon,  in  the  Panamint  range,  in  Inyo  County.  Un- 
identified. The  form  of  the  name,  however,  including  the  suffix  -pa, 
as  well  as  the  situation  of  the  locality,  make  an  ultimate  Shoshonean 
source  likely. 

Hemet,  in  Riverside  County,  appears  not  to  have  been  identified, 
although  the  word  sounds  as  if  it  might  be  Luiseno  Shoshonean. 

Hetch  Hetchy  Valley,  in  the  famous  canyon  on  Tuolumne  River,  is 
named  from  a  Central  Miwok  word  denoting  a  kind  of  grass  or  plant 
with  edible  seeds  abounding  in  the  valley.  Merriam,  345,  gives  Hetch- 
hetch-e  as  a  Miwok  village  in  the  valley. 

Hettenchow,  or  Kettenchow,  or  Kettenshaw,  a  peak  and  valley  in 
Trinity  County,  are,  according  to  Powers,  117,  named  from  Wintun 
ketten  or  hetten,  **cammas,"  and  chow,  ** valley,"  whereas  Hetten 
Pum  means  '^cammas  earth."  Pom  is  Wintun  for  **land,"  and  there 
seems  little  reason  to  doubt  that  hetten  denotes  camas,  or  at  least  some 
kind  of  edible  root. 

Homoa,  near  San  Bernardino,  is  from  Shoshonean  Serrano  Hom- 
hoa-bit  (Kroeber,  Shoshonean,  134). 

Honcut,  in  Butte  County,  and  Honcut  Creek  between  Butte  and 
Yuba  counties,  probably  named  after  a  land  grant  in  Yuba  County, 
take  their  designation  from  a  Maidu  village  near  the  mouth  of  the 
creek.    Powers,  282. 

Hoopa,  in  Humboldt  County,  is  the  Yurok  name  of  the  valley  as  a 
whole,  Hupa,  or  better  Hupo,  though  the  **o"  is  so  open  that  its 
quality  is  well  given  by  English  **aw."  It  is  not  the  name  of  the 
** tribe,"  for  the  Yurok  called  the  Hoopa  Indians  Hupo-la  after  the 
locality. 

Hoppow  Creek,  an  affluent  of  the  Klamath,  in  Del  Norte  County, 
is  named  after  the  Yurok  village  Ho 'open. 


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1916]  Kroeher:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  43 

Horse  Linto  Creek,  in  Humboldt  County,  is  a  settler's  rendering 
of  Haslinding,^*  the  Hupa  name  of  the  village  at  the  mouth  of  the 
stream. 

Hosselkus  valley,  in  Plumas  County,  has  an  unidentified  name ;  if 
Indian,  it  would  be  Maidu. 

Huctsna,  in  San  Luis  Obispo  County,  is  given  as  a  Chumash  village 
by  Alexander  Taylor.^* 

Hueneme,  in  Ventura  County,  is  originally  a  Chumashan  place 
name,  Wene'me  or  Wene'mu. 

Huichica,  a  land  grant  in  Sonoma  and  Napa  counties,  is  named 
from  Huchi,  a  Coast  Miwok  village  which  stood  near  the  plaza  of  the 
city  of  Sonoma.    The  etymology  is  unknown  (Barrett,  Porno,  312). 

Hunto,  the  name  of  a  mountain  in  Yosemite  National  Park,  is  from 
an  Indian  word  for  eye,  according  to  Sanchez,  379.  Huntu  is  **eye'' 
in  Southern  Sierra  Miwok,  the  native  dialect  of  the  vicinity. 

Hyampom,  on  the  south  fork  of  the  Trinity  River,  in  Trinity  Coun- 
ty, is  evidently  Northern  Wintun,  in  which  pom  is  **land  "  or  ** place.*' 
Powers,  231,  gives  Haienpum  as  a  place  on  the  Hay  Pork  of  Trinity 
River  and  as  meaning  **high  hill,"  but  pom  clearly  has  the  meaning 
of  '*down,"  ** earth,"  or  **land"  rather  than  of  *' elevation"  in 
Wintun. 

laqua  Buttes,  and  laqua,  in  Humboldt  County,  seem  to  be  named 
from  Aiekwi  or  Aiekwe  or  Ayokwe,  the  form  of  native  greeting,  as 
well  as  of  salutation  at  parting,  common  to  several  of  the  languages  of 
Humboldt  County,  and  still  frequently  used  instead  of  ''good  day" 
between  Indians  and  whites. 

Igo,  in  Shasta  County,  is  of  unknown  origin. 

Inaja,  more  properly  Inaja,  an  Indian  reservation  in  San  Diego 
County,  is  named  from  Diegueno  Indian  Any-aha,  '*my  water." 

Inyo  County  is  said  to  be  named  after  an  Indian  tribe.  No  such 
division  or  village  appears  to  have  been  recorded,  and  although  the 
word  sounds  Shoshonean,  and  the  derivation  seems  probable,  it  must 
be  regarded  as  uncertain. 

Ivanpah,  in  San  Bernardino  County,  is  in  Chemehuevi,  that  is. 
Southern  Paiute,  territory,  and  the  name  contains  only  sounds  that 
occur  in  that  language.  Bailey  says  it  is  from  ivan,  **dove,"  and  pah, 
** water,"  which  the  writer  is  unable  either  to  admit  or  refute. 


14  Ooddard,  present  series  i,  12,  1903:  Xaslindin. 
16  California  Fanner,  October  18,  1861. 


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44  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Jalama,  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  is  named  from  a  Chumash  vil- 
lage Halam.^* 

Jamacha  or  Jamacho,  in  San  Diego  County,  is  from  Diegueiio  In- 
dian Hamacha,  the  place  being  named  after  a  small  wild  squash  plant. 

Jamul,  in  San  Diego  County,  has  its  name  from  Diegueno  ha-mul 
(from  aha,  ** water''),  meaning  **foam''  or  ** lather.'' 

John,  in  Monterey  County,  is  an  aboriginal  site  of  the  so-called 
Salinan  Indians,  and  is  still  inhabited  by  them.  The  origin  of  the 
name,  however,  is  uncertain,  and  the  meaning  undetermined." 

Jonive,  a  grant  in  Sonoma  County,  has  a  name  of  unknown  origin. 
The  sound  v  is  not  Indian,  in  this  vicinity;  but  might  be  Spanish 
orthography  for  b. 

Juristac,  a  land  grant  in  San  Benito  County,  is  named  from  a 
Costanoan  place-word,  as  indicated  by  the  locative  case  -tak.  See  also 
VUstac. 

Jurupa,  in  San  Bernardino  County,  is  Serrano  or  Gabrielino  Sho- 
shonean  Hurupa  or  Hurumpa,  meaning  unknown  (Kroeber,  Sho- 
shonean,  134,  Cahuilla,  39). 

Kaweah  River  is  named  after  a  Yokuts  tribe  called  Kawia,  or  prob- 
ably, more  exactly,  Ga'wia.  They  lived  on  or  near  the  river  where  it 
emerges  from  the  foothills  into  the  plains.  The  name  has  no  known 
connection  with  the  almost  identically  pronounced  Southern  Cali- 
fornia term  Cahuilla. 

Kai-ai-au-wa  Peak,  near  Yosemite,  in  Mariposa  County,  is  in  South- 
trn  Miwok  territory,  but  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  name  are  not 
known. 

Ke-ka-wa-ka,  or  Kekawa,  creek,  an  aflBuent  of  Eel  River,  in  South- 
western Trinity  County,  bears  a  name  of  unknown  but  presumably 
Indian  origin. 

Kenoktai,  Conockti,  Kanaktai,  the  name  of  a  prominent  peak  in 
Lake  County  also  known  as  Uncle  Sam  Mountain,  is  derived  from 
the  Southeastern  Pomo  name  Knoktai,  from  kno,  ** mountain,"  and 
hatai,  ** woman"  (Barrett,  Pomo,  183). 

Kenshaw  Spring,  in  Shasta  County,  between  ChancheluUa  and 
Beegum  Mountains,  is  in  Wintun  territory.  The  word  sounds  Wintun. 
Compare  Hettenchow  or  Kettenchow. 


i«  Alexander  Taylor,  California  Farmer,  October  18,  1861,  corroborates  the  ex- 
istence of  the  village,  but  his  lalamma  is  only  a  misspelling  of  Spanish  Jalama. 

17  See  Mason,  ' '  The  Ethnology  of  the  Salinan  Indians,  *  *  in  the  present  series, 
X,  106-108,  1912. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  45 

KibesiUak,  in  Mendocino  County,  suggests  a  derivation  from  Pomo 
kahe,  **rock/*  sila,  **flat.''  No  such  Pomo  name  is  known  in  the 
vicinity  of  KibesiUah,  but  Barrett,  Pomo,  230,  mentions  kabe-sHa-mna, 
**rock-flat-upon,*'  as  a  former  village  of  the  Southwestern  Pomo  at 
Salt  Point. 

Kimshew  and  Little  Kimshew  creeks,  in  Butte  County,  are  near 
Nimshew,  and  their  name,  like  the  latter,  is  presumably  also  of  Maidu 
Indian  origin. 

Klamath,  This  well-known  name  of  a  large  river,  lakes,  former 
California  county,  present  post-office  in  the  same  state,  and  flourish- 
ing city  in  Oregon,  is  of  obscure  origin.  The  Klamath  Indians  of 
Oregon,  a  sister  tribe  of  the  more  famous  Modoc,  still  live  on  the  upper 
drainage  of  the  river.  They  call  themselves  Maklaks,  ** people."  The 
Chinook  of  the  Columbia  River  called  the  tribe  Tlamatl.^*  Prom  this 
word  the  early  American  forms  of  the  name,  Tlameth  and  Clamet, 
seem  to  be  derived,  whence  in  turn  the  more  recent  Klamath.  English 
speaking  people  regularly  change  aboriginal  surd  1  or  tl  into  kl  at  the 
beginning  of  words,  because,  although  tl  in  little  is  as  familiar  as  kl 
m  pickle,  tl  does  not  occur  initially  in  English,  whereas  kl  is  common 
(clear,  clean,  clever,  click,  close),  and  it  is  well  known  that  the  un- 
trained ear  hears  only  what  the  tongue  is  accustomed  to  produce.  The 
same  phonetic  law  has  produced  Klickitat,  and  Klingit  for  Tlingit. 
It  is,  however,  not  certain  that  Chinook  Tlamatl  is  a  rendering  of 
Maklaks.  De  Mofras,^'  earlier  than  Hale,  speaks  of  the  Klamacs.  This 
form  is  nearer  both  to  original  Maklaks  and  to  modern  Klamath  than 
is  Tlamatl.  It  is  possible  that  Klamacs  and  Klamath  are  a  corruption, 
by  metathesis  of  consonants,  directly  from  Maklaks. 

Klamathon,  in  Siskiyou  County.  This  name  is  apparently  coined 
from  Klamath. 

Koip  Peak,  between  Mono  and  Tuolumne  counties,  is  probably, 
like  near-by  Kuna  Peak,  named  from  a  Mono  Indian  word.  Koipa  is 
** mountain  sheep''  in  the  closely  related  Northern  Paiute  dialect. 

Kosk,  and  Kosk  Creek,  in  Shasta  County,  are  in  Achomawi  or  Pit 
River  Indian  territory,  and  the  word  sounds  as  if  it  might  have  been 
taken  from  that  language. 

Kuna  Peak,  between  Tuolumne  and  Mono  counties,  is  probably 
named  from  the  Shoshonean  word  kuna,  usually  meaning  **fire,"  but 
appearing  in  the  Mono  dialect  of  the  vicinity  with  the  signification  of 
**fire.wood.'' 


"  Hale,  U.  S.  Expl.  Exped.,  vi,  218. 
J»  II,  335. 


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46  University  of  California  PublicatioM  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

Lac,  a  grant  in  Sonoma  County.    Unidentified. 

Lasseck  Peak,  in  Humboldt  County,  is  said  to  be  named  after  a 
chief  Lasseck  or  Lassik.  The  Athabascan  Indians  of  Van  Duzen,  Lar- 
rabee,  and  Dobbin  creeks,  and  the  head  of  Mad  River,  have  also  gen- 
erally been  called  Lassik  after  his  name. 

Lebec,  in  Kern  County,  has  an  unidentified  name. 

LocoaUomi  or  Locallomi  grant,  in  Pope  Valley  in  Napa  County, 
seems  to  be  named  from  Lakahyome  (Barrett,  Porno,  273),  the  Lake 
Miwok  name  of  a  Wappo  rancheria  which  these  Indians  themselves 
called  Loknoma,  and  which  stood  three-fourths  of  a  mile  northeast  of 
Middletown  in  Lake  County.  The  LocoUomillo  (pronounce  Loko- 
yomio)  Indians  were  said  by  Alexander  Taylor^®  to  be  near  the 
Guenocks'  rancheria  which  in  turn  lay  between  Clear  Lake  and  Napa. 
The  meaning  of  Lakahyome  is  not  known,  except  that  -yome  occurs  as 
an  ending  on  many  Lake  Miwok  village  names  with  the  signification 
of  *' place.'' 

Loconoma  Valley,  in  which  Middletown,  Lake  County,  is  situated, 
is  named  from  a  former  Wappo  village,  near  Middletown,  called  Lok- 
noma, from  lok,  **wild  goose,*'  and  noma,  ** village."    See  Locoallomi. 

Loleta,  in  Humboldt  County,  is  given  by  Gannett  as  meaning  **a 
pleasant  place"  in  Indian.  This  meaning  does  not  appear  probable, 
and  the  word  has  not  a  Wiyot  ring.  It  is  more  likely  the  Spanish 
woman's  name  Lolita. 

Lompoc,  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  like  Huasna,  is  mentioned  by 
Alexander  Taylor^^  as  having  been  the  name  of  a  Chumash  village. 

Lospe  Mountain,  near  Guadalupe  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  was  in 
Chumash  Indian  territory,  and  the  word,  though  unidentified,  might 
with  perfect  propriety  have  been  taken  from  one  of  the  Chumash 
idioms. 

MaUbu,  one  of  the  three  names  of  the  Topanga-Malibu-Sequit  land 
grant  in  Los  Angeles  County,  seems  to  go  back  for  its  source  to  the 
appelation  of  a  Chumashan  or  Gabrielino  Shoshonean  village,  called 
Maliwu  in  Chumash,  which  lay  on  the  east  side  of  the  mouth  of  Malibu 
Creek. 

Mallacomes,  two  land  grants  also  called  Moristul  (which  see),  one 
in  Sonoma,  the  other  in  Napa  and  Sonoma  counties,  are  named  from 
Maiyakma,  a  former  Yukian  Wappo  village  a  mile  south  of  the  pres- 
ent Calistoga.     Barrett,  Porno,  269.     The  meaning  is  not  known. 


20  In  the  Califorma  Farmer  of  March  30,  1860. 

21  California  Farmer.  October  18,  1861. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  47 

Bailey's  etymology  of  may-a-camass,  **eamas8  eaters,"  is  imaginary, 
since  camas  is  a  Northern  and  not  a  Califomian  Indian  word,  and 
**eat"  is  not  mai  in  Wappo  or  any  neighboring  language. 

Marin  County.  The  ** official*'  derivation  is  from  chief  Marin  of 
the  Lecatuit  or  Likatuit  or  Lekahtewutko  ** tribe,"  a  division  or  more 
probably  a  village  of  the  Coast  Miwok.  This  is  probably  true,  but  it 
is  unlikely  that  Marin  was  the  Indian  name  of  this  man.  In  his  native 
language  the  sound  **r"  does  not  occur.  Maslin  goes  on  to  say  that 
after  being  subdued,  ** Marin"  was  baptized  Marinero,  ** mariner"  and 
became  a  ferryman  on  San  Francisco  Bay.  It  is  altogether  more  prob- 
able that  he  first  followed  this  occupation,  was  then  called  ** Marinero," 
and  that  Marin  is  an  abbreviation  or  corruption  of  this  Spanish  name. 

Matajuai,  in  San  Diego  County,  is  Diegueno  Amat-ahwai,  **  earth- 
white,  '  *  so  named  from  white  earth  or  scum,  used  as  paint,  being  found 
at  the  spot.    The  variant  Matagual  is  only  a  misprint. 

Matilija,  in  Ventura  County,  is  from  Ma'tilha,  or,  according  to  H. 
W.  Henshaw,  Matilaha,  a  Chumash  place  name. 

Mattole  River,  in  Humboldt  County.  The  Wiyot  of  Humboldt  Bay 
call  the  Athabascan  Indians  of  this  vicinity  Medol,  but  it  is  not  known 
if  the  name  is  original  with  them. 

Maturango  Peak,  in  Inyo  County.  Uncertain,  but  more  probably 
Spanish  or  corrupted  Spanish  than  Indian. 

Menione,  in  San  Bernardino  County,  is  given  by  Bailey  as  **  In- 
dian" for  *'chin."  Menton  is  Spanish  for  this  part  of  the  body;  but 
it  is  more  likely  that  the  place  is  named  after  the  one  in  the  French 
Riviera. 

Mettah,  a  school  district  in  Humboldt  County,  is  named  from  the 
Yurok  village  of  Meta  on  the  south  side  of  the  Klamath  River. 

Moco  Canyon,  in  Eldorado  County.  This  name  is  not  Indian,  but 
means  muck,  mucus,  or  slag  in  Spanish. 

Modoc  County  is  named  after  the  Modoc  Indians,  a  tribe  closely 
aUied  in  speech  to  the  Klamath  or  ** Klamath  Lakes"  adjoining  them 
on  the  north.  Maslin  gives  the  meaning  of  the  word  as  **the  head  of 
the  river,"  but  in  a  note  cites  General  O.  0.  Howard  as  stating  that 
Modoc  is  a  ** corruption"  of  Maklaks  and  means  ** people."  As  the 
late  veteran  Indian  linguist  A.  S.  Gatschet  more  than  twenty  years 
ago  compiled  and  published  an  elaborate  and  careful  dictionary  of 
the  Klamath  language,^^  from  which  the  Modoc  differs  scarcely  even 
as  a  dialect,  so  that  all  the  facts  bearing  on  the  question  have  long 


22  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  n,  Washington,  1890. 


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48  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

since  been  of  authentic  record,  this  word  furnishes  a  memorable  ex- 
ample of  the  free  rein  which  it  has  been  customary  to  give  to  current 
tradition,  vulgar  rumor,  and  unsubstantiated  opinion,  in  the  matter  of 
Indian  names.  Modoc  is  the  Klamath  and  Modoc  word  for  ** south'' 
or  ** southern,''  written  by  Gatschet  moatok,  in  another  grammatical 
form  moatokni,  applied  by  the  Klamath  to  their  southern  kinsmen  the 
Modoc,  though  never,  in  such  application,  without  the  addition  of  a 
word  like  maklaks,  ** people"  (see  Klamath).  In  a  word,  ** Modoc" 
means  ** south,"  and  nothing  more  or  less. 

Mohave,  or  Mojave,  originally  written  Jamajab  by  the  Spanish  ex- 
plorer Garces,  from  Hamakhava  (k  and  h  separate  sounds),  the  name 
for  themselves  of  an  important  tribe,  of  Yuman  lineage,  in  the  bottom 
lands  of  the  Colorado  River  in  the  region  where  California,  Arizona, 
and  Nevada  now  meet.  Outside  of  their  own  territory,  the  name  was 
first  applied  to  the  Mohave  River  to  the  west,  from  an  erroneous  im- 
pression that  this  drained  into  the  Colorado  in  the  habitat  of  the 
Mohave.  From  the  river,  the  desert  in  which  it  is  lost  took  its  designa- 
tion, and  from  this  the  town  in  its  western  reaches.  All  the  localities 
to  which  the  name  Mohave  now  adheres  were  in  Shoshonean  and  not 
in  Mohave  territory.  The  meaning  of  the  name  Hamakhava  is  not 
known  to  the  Mohave  of  today,  and  analysis  of  their  language  has  so 
far  failed  to  reveal  an  etymology.  A.  S.  Gatschet  appears  to  be  re- 
sponsible for  the  explanation  ** three  mountains,"  adopted  by  Bailey, 
Gannett,  and  others.  This  derivation  is  positively  erroneous.  *  *  Three ' ' 
is  hamok  in  Mohave,  and  ** mountain,"  avi,  so  that  the  vowels  differ 
from  those  of  Hamakhava;  moreover  the  rules  of  composition  in  the 
language  demand  the  inverse  order,  Avi-hamok.  This  is  a  place  name 
actually  found  in  the  Mohave  dialect,  but  denotes  a  locality  near 
Tehachapi  Pass. 

Mokelumne  River  is  named  from  Indian  Mokelumni,  **  people  of 
Mokel, ' '  a  Plains  Miwok  village  near  Lockf ord  on  this  stream,  accord- 
ing to  Barrett,  Miwok,  340,  and  Merriam,  350.  The  ending  -umni 
occurs  also  in  Tuolumne  and  Cosumnes. 

Monache  Peak,  in  Tulare  County,  is  named  from  the  Monachi 
Indians,  usually  called  Mono,  which  word  see. 

Mono  County  and  Lake  are  named  after  a  wide-spread  division  of 
Shoshonean  Indians  on  both  slopes  of  the  Southern  Sierra  Nevada. 
In  speech  and  presumably  in  origin  they  are  closely  allied  to  the 
Northern  Paiute  of  Nevada  and  Oregon  and  the  Bannock  of  Idaho. 
By  their  Yokuts  neighbors  they  are  called  Monachi.    The  ending  -chi 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  49 

occurs  otherwise  in  Yokuts  and  Miwok  as  a  suflSx  on  names  of  tribes 
or  divisions:  Yaudanchi,  Wimilchi,  Heuchi,  Pitkachi,  Wakichi,  Dalin- 
chi,  Apiachi,  Pohonichi,  perhaps  also  Tachi,  Wobonuch,  and  Endim- 
bich.  The  stem  therefore  appears  to  be  Mona.  To  the  Spaniards,  who 
knew  the  Miwok  and  Yokuts  earlier  than  they  knew  the  Monachi, 
this  stem  might  easily  suggest  mono,  ** monkey.''  This  is  the  interpre- 
tation usually  given,  as  by  Maslin,  but  it  seems  to  be  secondary. 
Bailey  also  says  that  Mono  is  a  tribal  name,  but  his  explanation  of 
** good-looking''  is  unfounded.  The  Yokuts  themselves  give  a  sec- 
ondary interpretation  of  Monachi,  which  is  interesting  as  an  example 
of  folk  etymology,  but  very  improbable.  Monai,  monoi,  or  monoyi 
means  ** flies"  in  Yokuts  speech.  The  Monos,  as  mountain  dwellers  in 
the  higher  Sierra,  climbed  skillfully  about  steep  cliffs  and  rocks  until 
from  a  distance  they  looked  like  flies  on  a  vertical  surface :  hence  their 
designation,  the  Indians  say.  But  Indian  tribal  names  of  known  origin 
do  not  follow  such  lines  of  thought.  It  appears  that  Monachi,  like 
most  of  the  names  of  the  Yokuts  for  their  own  or  other  tribes,  no 
longer  possesses  a  determinable  meaning. 

Moorek,  a  school  district  in  Humboldt  County,  is  named  from 
Mureku  or  Murekw,  a  Yurok  village  on  the  north  side  of  the  Klamath 
River. 

Moosa,  in  San  Diego  County,  is  a  name  of  unknown  origin. 

Moristul,  or  Muristul,  the  name  of  two  land  grants  in  Sonoma  and 
in  Napa  and  Sonoma  counties,  also  called  Mallacomes  (which  see),  is 
from  Mutistul,  a  Wappo  village  formerly  four  and  a  half  miles  west 
of  Calistoga  in  the  mountains.  The  derivation  is  from  muti,  ** north," 
and  tul,  ** large  valley."    Barrett,  Porno,  271. 

Morongo,  the  name  of  a  valley,  a  creek,  and  an  Indian  reservation 
near  Banning,  Riverside  County,  is  Serrano  Shoshonean  for  a  native 
village  in  Morongo  Valley  or  on  Mission  Creek.    Kroeber,  Cahttilla,  35 

Muah,  a  peak  between  Tulare  and  Inyo  counties.  Unidentified,  but 
the  location  of  the  mountain  and  the  sound  of  the  word  indicate  a 
Shoshonean  origin,  probably  Mono. 

Mugu,  a  point  and  lagoon  in  Ventura  County,  is  Chumash  Indian 
muuni,  ** beach,"  used  as  a  specific  village  or  place  name. 

Musaldcon,  a  land  grant  near  Cloverdale,  Sonoma  County,  is  prob- 
ably of  Pomo  origin.  Powers,  183,  says  of  the  Indians  he  calls  the 
Misalla  Magun:  **This  branch  of  the  [Pomo]  nation  was  named  after 
a  famous  chief  they  once  had.    A  Gallinomero  [Southern  Pomo]  told 


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50  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

me  the  name  was  a  corruption  of  mi-sal'-la-a'-ko,  which  denotes  *long 
snake.'    Another  form  for  the  name  is  Mu-sal-la-ktin'." 

Mu^cupiabSy  near  San  Bernardino,  was  in  Serrano  Shoshonean  ter- 
ritory, and  is  the  Serrano  name  of  the  place  or  vicinity,  Muskupia 
being  the  stem,  and  -bit,  appearing  also  as  -pet  and  -vit,  a  locative 
suflBx.    Cited  by  Kroeber,  Shoshonean,  134. 

Najalayegua,  a  land  grant  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  is  evidently 
named  after  a  Chumash  village,  called  Majalayghua  by  Alexander 
Taylor.**  This  is  no  doubt  a  misspelled  form  of  Najalayegua,  but  was 
probably  given  to  Taylor  as  an  aboriginal  site  and  name  by  Indian 
informants. 

Napa  County  and  City  are  said  by  Maslin  and  others  to  be  named 
from  an  Indian  word  meaning  **fish.'*  Bailey  gives  a  derivation  from 
an  Indian  ** tribe,"  while  Gannett  says  the  word  means  ** house"  in 
Indian.  No  Indian  village  called  Napa  has  ever  been  located  in  the 
region.  As  regards  the  meaning  **fish,"  ** harpoon-point"  is  perhaps 
to  be  substituted,  since  Barrett,  Porno,  293,  says  that  no  such  word  as 
Napa  has  been  found  in  the  Wintun,  Wappo,  or  Miwok  languages, 
which  are  the  ones  that  would  come  in  question,  but  that  the  word  is 
used  in  several  of  the  Pomo  dialects,  some  of  which  were  spoken  not 
far  away,  as  the  name  of  the  detachable  points  of  the  native  fish  har- 
poon, although  there  is  no  distinct  evidence  that  this  is  the  origin  of  the 
name  Napa. 

Natoma,  in  Sacramento  County,  passes  current  as  meaning  **  clear 
water,"  but  this  appears  the  creation  of  an  American  mind.  The 
word  seems  derived  from  Maidu  nato  or  noto,  ** north"  (or,  according 
to  some  translations,  **east" — probably  the  true  meaning  is  **up 
stream"),  and  was  presumably  a  village  name.    See  Powers,  317. 

Neenach,  in  Los  Angeles  County,  is  of  unknown  origin,  but  the 
place  is  in  Shoshonean  territory  and  the  word  sounds  as  if  it  might  be 
from  some  Shoshonean  dialect. 

Nimshew,  in  Butte  County,  is  named  from  Maidu  7i€nu  sen  (or 
sewi),  *' large  stream."    Powers,  283. 

Nipomo,  in  San  Luis  Obispo  County,  is  named  from  a  Chumash 
village.** 

Nojoqui,  probably  more  correctly  Nojogui,  since  Nojohui  is  also 
found,  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  seems  to  go  back  to  a  Chumash 
Indian  Onohwi. 


28  California  Fanner,  April  24,  1863. 

24  Schumacher  in  Smithsonian  Beport  for  1874,  342,  1875. 


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1916]  Kroeher:  California  Flckce  Names  of  Indian  Origin  51 

Nomcult  Farm,  the  first  name  applied  to  the  reservation  later  desig- 
nated as  Bound  Valley.  This  term  is  not  in  use  now.  The  word  is 
Wintun,  although  the  reservation  is  on  original  Yuki  territory.  Norn- 
is  **west,"  as  in  Nomlaki,  ** west-tongue,  west  language";  -cult  eon- 
tains  a  combination  of  consonants  not  tolerated  in  Wintun  but  stand- 
ing for  **lh,"  as  the  surd  or  ** Welsh*'  1  of  that  language  may  be  rep; 
resented.  The  second  element  would  in  that  case  be  kolh,  which,  ac- 
cording to  Powers,  230,  represents  kekhl,  ** tribe."  Bailey  gives 
Meshakai,  **tule  valley,"  as  the  aboriginal  name  of  Round  Valley,  but 
the  writer  has  never  met  with  this  term. 

Nopah  Range,  in  Inyo  County.  The  name  sounds  Shoshonean,  the 
locality  suggests  the  same. 

Noyo  River,  in  Mendocino  County,  is  named  after  the  former 
Northern  Pomo  village  at  the  mouth  of  Pudding  Creek.  Barrett, 
Porno,  134,  says  that  this  creek  was  named  after  the  village  (which  is 
general  Indian  custom),  but  that  ** after  the  coming  of  the  whites  the 
name  was  transferred"  (i.e.,  by  them)  **to  the  larger  stream  south  of 
Port  Bragg,  which  now  bears  the  name  of  Noyo  River.  The  Indian 
name  of  Noyo  River  is  tce'mli-bida"  (i.e.,  Chendi-bida).  The  mean- 
ing of  Noyo  is  unknown. 

Ojai,  in  Ventura  County,  is  given  by  Bailey  and  Gannett  as  mean 
ing  '*nest."  This  signification  would  be  characteristic  of  civilized 
fancy  rather  than  of  Indian  geographical  usage.  The  word  is  a 
Chumash  place  name,  A'hwai,  and  means  **moon." 

Olanche,  in  Inyo  County,  may  be  named  from  an  Indian  source, 
though  its  origin  appears  to  be  unknown.  The  word  has  a  general 
Shoshonean  ring,  though  neither  the  Mono-Paiute-Bannock,  the  Sho- 
shoni-Panamint-Coso,  nor  the  Chemehuevi-Paiute-Kawaiisu  dialect 
groups  of  this  vicinity  contain  the  sound  **1."  The  nearest  Shoshonean 
language  in  which  **1"  occurs  is  the  Tiibatulabal  of  Kern  River,  across 
the  main  divide  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  It  is  not  impossible  that  the 
word  is  taken  from  the  name  of  a  Yokuts  tribe  on  Tule  River  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  who  call  themselves  Yaudanchi, 
and  are  called  by  their  western  neighbors  Yaulanchi.  This  pronun- 
ciation, via  the  intermediate  form  Yolanchi,  is  not  very  different  from 
*  *  Olanche.  * '  There  is  also  an  Olancha  Peak  in  the  crest  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada  west  of  the  settlement  called  Olanche,  and  therefore  nearer  to 
the  habitat  of  the  Yaudanchi. 

Olcma,  in  Marin  County,  according  to  Barrett,  Pomo,  307,  is  prob- 
ably named  from  a  former  Coast  Miwok  village  Olemaloke,  **frora 


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52  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

6'le,  coyote,  and  lo'klo  or  lo'kla,  valley,  near  the  town  of  Olema  at  the 
southern  extremity  of  Toraales  Bay/'  It  is  probable  that  this  name 
is  also  the  source  of  the  ** tribal''  name  Olamentke,  frequently  ap- 
plied, since  the  time  of  the  Russian  settlement  in  California,  to  the 
Coast  Miwok  Indians  of  Bodega  Bay,  and  thence  to  those  of  Marin 
County  as  a  group. 

Oleta,  in  Amador  County,  is  in  Miwok  Indian  territory.  A  stem 
ole  appears  in  several  Miwok  dialects  with  the  meaning  ** coyote" — 
compare  Olema, — and  -ta  or  -to  means  **at."  There  is,  however,  no 
evidence  that  this  suggested  derivation  is  the  actual  one.  Merriam, 
344,  gives  Tamm-oolette-sa  as  a  Miwok  village  near  Oleta,  but  this 
name  is  more  probably  connected  with  tamalin,  north. 

Olompaliy  in  Marin  County,  is  from  Olompolli,  a  Coast  Miwok  vil- 
lage five  miles  south  of  the  present  Petaluma.  Barrett,  Pomo,  310. 
Olom  signifies  ** south,"  but  the  meaning  of  polli  is  not  known. 

Omagar  Creek,  a  southerly  affluent  of  the  Klamath  River,  in  Del 
Norte  County,  has  a  name  that  is  derived  from  Omega',  the  Yurok 
designation  of  the  stream. 

Omjumi  Mountain,  in  Plumas  County,  is  in  Maidu  Indian  terri- 
tory, and  the  name  sounds  as  if  it  might  be  Maidu,  in  which  dialects 
om  means  *  *  rock ; ' '  but  the  derivation  is  not  recorded. 

Onto  Ranch,  in  Eldorado  County,  is  named  for  the  Northern  Sierra 
Miwok  village  Omo.    Merriam,  344. 

Omochumnes,  a  land  grant  in  Sacramento  County,  has  an  Indian 
name.  It  contains  the  ending  -umni  (or  -amni,  -imni),  borne  by  many 
Yokuts,  Miwok,  and  Maidu  tribal  or  group  names  in  the  valley  of  the 
San  Joaquin  and  Lower  Sacramento.  Oomoochah  is  given  by  Mer- 
riam, 349,  as  a  Northwestern  (Plains)  Miwok  village  at  Elk  Grove 
The  Umuchamni  or  Omochumne  would  therefore  be  the  people  of  this 
village.  According  to  several  authors  other  than  Merriam,  but  less 
definite  in  their  statements.  Elk  Grove  and  the  tracts  north  of  the 
Cosumnes  were  Maidu,  not  Miwok. 

Ono,  in  Shasta  County,  is  from  an  unknown  source.  In  the  Maidu 
language,  and  in  the  Southern  Wintun  dialect  of  the  vicinity  of 
Colusa,  ono  means  *'head."  The  settlement  Ono  is  in  Northern  Win- 
tun  territory,  but  this  and  all  the  other  dialects  of  the  family,  except 
that  of  Colusa,  have  quite  different  words  for  **head,"  so  that  the 
derivation,  although  possible,  must  be  considered  entirely  uncon- 
firmed. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  53 

Orestimha,  a  land  grant  on  the  west  side  of  the  San  Joaquin  River, 
in  Stanislaus  and  Merced  counties,  at  the  mouth  of  Orestiraba  Creek, 
is  a  name  of  unknown  origin.  The  first  part  of  the  word,  ores,  how- 
ever, denotes  **bear*'  in  the  Costanoan  dialects,  and  it  is  perhaps  more 
than  a  coincidence  that  an  affluent  of  Orestimha  Creek  is  known  as 
Oso,  that  is,  *'bear,"  creek.  The  Costanoan  Indians  ranged  from  the 
coast  at  least  to  the  Mount  Diablo  Range,  and  perhaps  beyond;  at 
any  rate,  whether  Orestiraba  was  in  Yokuts  or  in  Costanoan  territory, 
the  Spaniards  would  have  reached  it  from  the  Costanoan  Indians. 

Orick,  in  Humboldt  County,  is  named  after  Arekw  or  Orekw  (the 
first  vowel  nearly  like  English  aw),  a  Yurok  village  on  the  south  side 
of  the  mouth  of  Redwood  Creek,  a  mile  and  a  half  below  the  present 
post-office  and  stage  station  of  the  same  name. 

Osagon  Creek,  in  Humboldt  County.  Prom  Yurok  Asegen,  a  place 
name  of  unknown  meaning. 

Otay,  in  San  Diego  County,  is  named  from  a  Diegueno  Indian  word, 
otai  or  otay  a,  **  brushy." 

Pachappa,  near  Riverside.    Of  unknown  origin. 

Pacoima,  in  Los  Angeles  County.  Probably  of  Qabrielino  Sho- 
shonean  origin,  but  unknown. 

Pahute  Mountain,  in  Kern  County,  is  named  from  the  same  tribe 
as  Piute,  which  see. 

Paicines,  or  Pajines,  in  San  Benito,  is  probably  a  tribal  name,  as 
stated  by  Sanchez,  160,  399.  The  region  was  occupied  by  Costanoan 
Indians,  many  of  whose  village  or  group  names  end  in  -n,  to  which 
the  Spaniards  frequently  added  the  plural  -es.  Compare  Mutsu-n, 
Rumse-n,  Olho-n-es,  Bolbo-n-es,  Salso-n-es;  also,  in  the  territory  of 
their  immediate  neighbors,  Essele-n,  Carqui-n-ez,  Suisu-n,  Ulpi-n-os. 

Pala,  in  San  Diego  County,  may  be  named,  as  sometimes  stated, 
from  Spanish  pala,  ** shovel,''  but  is  much  more  probably  from  Luiseno 
Shoshonean  pala,  '* water.''  At  least,  the  Luiseiio  accept  it  as  a  native 
place  name  of  this  significance.    Kroeber,  Shoshonean,  147. 

Pamo,  in  San  Diego  County,  was  called  Pamo  by  the  Diegueno 
Indians,  but  the  meaning  is  not  known. 

PananUnt  Mountains  and  Valley,  in  Inyo  County,  are  named  from 
a  Shoshonean  tribe  in  the  region  of  the  range,  who  were  close  rela- 
tives of  the  Shoshoni  proper  of  central  and  northeastern  Nevada,  and 
identical,  or  practically  so,  with  the  Shikaviyam  or  Koso.  The  Mohave 
apply  the  name,  in  their  pronunciation  **  Vanyume,"  to  the  Serrano  of 


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54  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

the  Mohave  River  and  adjacent  regions.  The  origin  of  the  word  is 
unknown. 

Paoha  Island,  in  Mono  Lake,  has  a  name  which  for  all  that  is  known 
to  the  contrary  may  be  from  a  Mono  or  Northern  Paiute  source.  It  is 
of  unknown  origin,  however,  and  in  its  present  form  looks  more  like 
a  Hawaiian  than  an  Indian  word.  The  Faoho  of  some  maps  appears 
to  be  only  a  misspelling. 

Pasadena  is  often  known  as  **the  Crown  City,"  and  Bailey  gives 
its  derivation  from  Chippewa  Weoquan  Pasadena,  **  crown  of  the 
valley."  The  Chippewa  may  now  have  a  descriptive  word  for  crown, 
but  such  a  conception  is  certainly  not  aboriginal.  No  unsophisticated 
and  very  few  civilized  Indians  would  think  of  calling  any  place  the 
** crown  of  the  valley."  The  phrase  has  all  the  appearance  of  having 
been  coined  by  an  American  out  of  Indian  or  imaginary  Indian  terms. 

Paskenta,  in  Tehama  County,  is  Central  Wintun  Paskenti,  **  bank- 
under,"  under  the  bank. 

Pauba,  in  Riverside  County,  was  in  Luiseno  territory,  and  the  name 
sounds  as  if  it  had  been  taken  from  that  language,  but  nothing  appears 
to  be  known  as  to  its  source. 

Pauja,  in  San  Diego  County,  is  named  from  Diegueno  Pauha,  of 
unknown  significance. 

Pauma,  in  San  Diego  County,  is  Paumo,  a  still  inhabited  Luiseno 
village.    The  meaning  is  unknown.    Kroeber,  ShoshoneaUy  147. 

Pecwan  Creek,  Humboldt  County,  has  its  designation  from  the 
Yurok  village  of  Pekwan,  at  the  entrance  into  the  Klamath  of  the 
creek,  which  is  named,  according  to  Indian  custom,  after  the  spot  at 
its  mouth. 

Petaluma,  in  Sonoma  County,  is  named  from  an  aboriginal  Peta- 
luma,  which  stood  **on  a  low  hill  east  of  Petaluma  Creek  at  a  point 
probably  about  three  and  one-half  miles,  a  little  north  of  east,  of  the 
town  of  Petaluma."  So  Barrett,  Porno,  310.  The  village  belonged  to 
the  Coast  Miwok,  and  its  name  in  their  dialect  signifies  ** flat-back,"  no 
doubt  from  the  appearance  of  the  elevation  on  which  it  was  situated. 

Piru,  in  Ventura  County,  according  to  Alexander  Taylor, ^'^  is 
named  from  a  Chumash  village  Piiru;  according  to  the  writer's  in- 
formation, the  name  of  the  village,  which  was  Shoshonean,  not  Chu- 
mash, was  Pi'idhuku  in  Shoshonean,  and  signified  a  kind  of  plant, 
perhaps  a  sedge  or  grass. 


25  California  Fanner,  July  24,  1863. 


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1916]  Kroeher:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  55 

Pismo,  in  San  Luis  Obispo  County,  is  of  unknown  origin.  The 
place  was  in  Chumash  Indian  territory,  and  the  name  sounds  like  good 
Chumash. 

Piute,  places  in  Kern,  also  in  San  Bernardino  County,  and  a  spring 
in  eastern  San  Bernardino  County,  take  their  name  from  a  well- 
known,  or  rather  two  well-known,  Shoshonean  divisions,  too  wide- 
spread and  too  loosely  organized  to  be  truly  designable  as  tribes,  but 
each  possessing  a  considerable  uniformity  of  speech  and  customs.  The 
Southern  Paiute,  who  appear  to  have  been  first  called  by  this  name, 
lived  in  southwestern  Utah,  northernmost  Arizona,  southern  Nevada, 
and  southeastern  California,  and  may  be  said  to  include  the  Cheme- 
huevi  and  Eawaiisu.  Their  language  is  similar  to  Ute.  The  Northern 
Paiute,  who  disclaim  this  name,  although  it  is  universally  applied  to 
them  by  Americans  in  their  habitat,  and  who  have  also  been  called 
Paviotso  in  literature,  speak  a  dialect  virtually  identical  with  Ban- 
nock. They  live  in  eastern  Oregon,  northwestern  Nevada,  an  eastern 
fringe  of  northern  and  central  California,  and  apparently  shade  into 
the  Mono.  Thus  the  Indians  of  Owens  River  Valley,  who  appear  to 
be  substantially  Monos,  are  commonly  called  Paiutes.  The  usual 
American  pronunciation  of  Paiute  is  Paiyut,  but  the  meaning  of  the 
word,  which  has  been  interpreted  both  as  ** water  Ute''  and  **true 
Ute,"  cannot  be  considered  as  positively  determined.''*  Most  of  the 
places  in  California  called  Piute  or  Pahute  are  in  or  near  the  range  of 
the  Southern  Paiute  or  their  close  kindred;  but  a  Piute  mountain 
and  creek  in  Tuolumne  County  are  apparently  named  after  the  Mono- 
speaking  Indians  of  Mono  County,  who  affiliate  with  the  ** false''  or 
Northern  Paiute. 

PogoUmi,  a  land  grant  in  Sonoma  County,  bears  an  unidentified 
name  which  may  be  Indian. 

Pohono  Palls,  in  Yosemite  Valley,  appears  to  be  of  Miwok  Indian 
origin.  These  Indians,  however,  do  not  recognize  the  often  quoted 
meaning  **evil  wind,"  and  connect  the  word  rather  with  Pohonichi, 
the  Yokuts  name  of  a  Miwok  group  in  the  vicinity,  in  which  -chi  is  an 
ending  denoting  ** people." 

Porno,  a  post-office  in  Potter  Valley,  Mendocino  County,  embodies 
the  name  Pomo  or  Poma — meaning  ** people"  and  much  used  as  a  suf- 
fix of  village  names — which  in  literature  and  popular  usage  has  come 
to  designate  a  large  group  or  linguistic  family  of  Indians  in  Mendo- 


2«  See,  however,  W.  L.  Marsden,  in  American  Anthropologist,  n.s.  xiii,  724-725, 
1911,  who  presents  good  evidence  favoring  the  meaning  ** water  Ute.'* 


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56  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

cino,  Lake,  and  Sonoma  counties.  It  was,  however,  also  the  name  of 
one  particular  village  of  the  Northern  Pomo,  which  stood  at  the  present 
Potter  Valley  flour  mill,  south  of  the  post-oflSce,  and  is  probably  the 
source  of  the  name  of  the  town.    Barrett,  Pomo,  140. 

Poonkiny,  in  Mendocino  County,  is  Yuki  punkini  (more  exactly 
punkHni),  meaning  ** wormwood.'* 

Posolmi,  a  land  grant  in  Santa  Clara  County,  may  be  a  name  of 
Costanoan  origin,  but  is  not  identifiable. 

Poway,  in  San  Diego  County,  was  in  Diegueiio  territory.  The 
neighboring  Luiseno  today  call  the  place  Pawai  (Kroeber,  Shosho7iean, 
149) ;  the  Diegueno  use  the  same  term ;  but  whether  this  designation  is 
native  with  either  tribe,  or  borrowed  by  them  from  the  whites,  is  not 
certain. 

Puta  or  Putah  or  Putos  Creek,  has  sometimes  been  said  to  be  of 
Indian  origin,  but  appears  to  be  from  the  Spanish  puta,  ** harlot." 

Quaii,  a  grant  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  bears  an  unidentified 
name. 

Requa,  in  Del  Norte  County,  is  said  to  have  been  named  after  a 
member  of  the  Requa  family  prominent  in  California.  It  is  more 
likely  that  the  origin  is  from  Rekwoi,  an  important  Yurok  village  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Klamath,  just  below  the  present  American  town. 

Saboba,  in  Riverside  County,  is  Luiseno  Sovovo  (both  *'v's*' 
bilabial),  a  place  or  village  name,  meaning  unknown.  Kroeber,  Sho- 
shonean,  147. 

Samagatuma,  near  Cuyamaca  in  San  Diego  County.  Unknown. 
If  Indian,  Diegueno. 

Sanel,  in  Mendocino  County,  is  given  by  Bailey  as  named  after  a 
** tribe,"  which  is  correct  in  the  sense  of  a  village.  According  to  Bar- 
rett, Pomo,  171,  this  rancheria  was  called  Shanel  (cane'l),  from  shane 
(cane'),  ** sweat-house,"  and  was  a  populous  place  **on  the  south  bank 
of  McDowell  Creek  at  a  point  just  south  of  the  town  of  Sanel  or  Old 
Hopland."  Prom  this  village  was  named  the  Senel  land  grant.  An- 
other Pomo  village  called  Shanel,  which,  however,  does  not  appear  to 
have  entered  into  American  geographical  nomenclature,  was  situated 
farther  north,  in  Potter  Valley. 

Sapaque  Valley,  on  the  line  of  San  Luis  Obispo  and  Monterey 
counties,  has  an  unidentified  name.    If  Indian,  it  is  of  Salinan  origin. 

Saticoy,  in  Ventura  County,  goes  back  to  a  Chumash  original 
Sati'koi,  a  village  in  the  vicinity. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  57 

Sequan  or  Sycuan  or  Cycuan  reservation,  also  a  peak,  in  San  Diego 
County,  has  its  name  from  a  Diegueiio  Indian  word,  sekwan,  denotnig 
a  kind  of  bush. 

Sequit,  the  third  name  of  the  Malibu  or  Topanga  land  grant  in  Los 
Angeles  county,  is  unidentified,  but,  like  these  two  other  names,  evi- 
dently of  Indian  origin. 

Sesma,  in  Tehama  County,  bears  an  unidentified  name. 

Sespe,  in  Ventura  County,  is  named  from  a  Chumash  village, 
Se-ek-pe,  Shehpe,  or  Sekspe;  the  mjeaning  of  the  word  may  be  **fish." 

Shasta,    The  name  of  this  county  is  involved  in  obscurity.     The 

county  is  obviously  named  after  the  far- visible  gigantic  mountain.  The 

suggested  derivation  from  French  chaste,  **pure,''  as  applicable  to  its 

perpetual  snows,  is  unlikely.    Dr.  R.  B.  Dixon,  who  is  the  authority 

above  all  others  on  the  Shasta  group  of  Indians,  says  :^^ 

''The  earlier  forms — smh  as  Saste,  Shaste,  Sasty,  Shasty,  Chasty,  Shastl, 
Shastika — have  given  place  to  the  form  Shasta.  .  .  .  The  origin  and  meaning 
of  this  term  .  .  .  are  both  obscure.  So  far  as  my  information  goes,  it  is  not  a 
term  used  by  the  Shasta  for  themselves,  either  as  a  whole  or  in  part,  although 
there  is  some  doubt  as  to  whether  or  not  the  term  may  not  have  been  used  to 
designate  a  portion  of  the  stock,  i.e.,  that  about  the  eastern  portion  of  Shasta 
Valley.  Its  use,  however,  as  such,  is  recent.  It  is  not  a  term  for  the  Indians 
of  this  stock  in  the  languages  of  the  surrounding  stocks,  whose  names  for  the 
people  are  known,  although  in  use  by  both  Achoma'wi  and  Atsuge'wi.  It  is 
emphatically  denied  by  the  Shasta  that  it  is  a  place-name  for  any  section  of 
the  territory  occupied  by  them,  and  indeed  there  is  some  question  as  to 
whether  it  is  even  a  word  proper  to  their  language.  After  persistent  inquiry, 
the  only  information  secured  which  throws  any  light  on  the  matter  is  to  the 
effect  that  about  forty  or  fifty  years  ago  there  was  an  old  man  living  in  Shasta 
Valley  whose  personal  name  was  Shastika  (Susti'ka).  He  is  reported  to  have 
been  a  man  of  importance;  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  name  Shasta  came 
from  this  Indian,  an  old  and  well-known  man  in  the  days  of  my  informant's 
father,  who  was  living  at  the  time  of  the  earliest  settlement  in  this  section, — 
in  the  '50 's.  Inasmuch  as  the  suffix  ka  is  the  regular  subjective  suffix,  we 
should  have  susti  as  the  real  name  of  this  individual,  from  which  the  earlier 
forms  of  Shasty,  etc.,  could  easily  have  been  derived.  The  derivation  from  the 
Russian  CHI8TY,  meaning  ** white  [sic],  clean," — a  term  supposed  to  have  been 
applied  by  the  settlers  at  Fort  Boss  to  Mount  Shasta, — is  obviously  improbable. 
The  matter  is  further  complicated  by  the  difficulty  of  clearing  up  the  precise 
relationships  of  the  so-called  '^Chasta'*  of  Oregon,  and  of  explaining  the  re- 
currence of  the  same  term  in  the  name  of  the  Athabascan  tribe  of  the  Chasta- 
Coeta28  of  the  Oregon  coast. ' ' 

Dr.  Dixon,  however,  also  says  that  the  Shasta  are  called  Sasti'dji 
by  the  Achomawi  and  Siisti'dji  by  the  Atsugewi.    These  names  would 


2T  **The  Shasta/*  in  Bull.  Am.  Museum  Natural  History,  xvii,  384,  1907. 
28  Pronounced  * '  Shasta-Costa. '  *    The  spelling  with  *  *  Ch  "  points  to  an  original 
French  use  of  the  word  in  Oregon. 


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58  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

point  to  an  Indian  origin  for  the  tribal  term  and  geographical  designa- 
tion, were  it  not  entirely  possible  that  they  have  but  recently  been 
coined  or  derived,  from  the  American  name  of  the  Shasta,  by  these 
other  Indians  who  now  know  English  in  addition  to  their  own  dialects. 

The  origin  of  the  word  must  therefore  be  regarded  as  still  unde- 
termined, although  almost  certainly  Indian. 

The  current  derivation  of  the  word,  as  given,  for  instance,  by 
Maslin,  is  from  a  tribal  name  meaning  ** stone  house  or  cave  dwellers." 
This  erroneous  tradition  seems  to  go  back  to  a  hasty  misunderstanding 
of  a  statement  by  Steele  on  page  120  of  the  Report  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Indian  Affairs  for  1864,  to  the  effect  that  '*the  Shasta  In- 
dians, known  in  their  language  as  Weohow — it  meaning  stone  house, 
from  the  large  cave  in  their  country — occupy  the  land  east  of  Shasta 
River,"  etc.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  alleged  meaning  does  not  apply 
to  ** Shasta"  at  all,  but  to  the  native  name  ** Weohow"  for  which  the 
Americans  use  Shasta.  Indiscriminateness  of  this  sort  is  typical  of 
most  of  the  attempts  to  explain  native  names  in  California. 

Simi,  in  Ventura  County,  is  Ventura  dialect  Chumash  Shimiyi  or 
Shimii,  a  place  or  village.  Indian  informants  can  give  no  etymology, 
and  Bailey's  signification  of  *' source  of  water"  appears  unfounded. 

Sisar  Canyon,  in  Ventura  County,  derives  its  name  from  a  Chu- 
mash village  site  Sis 'a. 

Siskiyou,  the  name  of  the  county,  is  a  term  the  significance  of 
which,  according  to  Maslin,  has  **  never  been  authentically  deter- 
mined," although  it  has  *' generally  been  assumed"  to  be  the  **name  of 
a  tribe."  He  cites,  however,  a  suggestion  that  it  is  a  corruption  of 
French  **Six  Cailleux,"  applied  in  1832  to  a  ford  on  the  Umpqua 
river  in  Oregon  because  of  six  stepping  stones.  This  story  looks  too 
much  like  a  typical  case  of  subsequent  folk-etymology  to  engender 
much  confidence.  The  usual  assumption  of  an  Indian  origin,  though 
not  necessarily  from  a  tribal  name,  is  more  credible.  The  source,  if 
aboriginal,  is,  however,  at  least  as  likely  to  have  been  Oregonian  as 
Californian. 

Sisquoc,  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  is  unidentified.  It  looks  to  be 
Chumash  Indian. 

Skukum  Rock,  a  mountain  in  Siskiyou  County,  is  apparently  named 
from  the  Chinook  jargon  word  skukum,  ** strong."  This  trade  dialect 
barely  penetrated  to  the  northernmost  parts  of  California,  and  the 
name  was  therefore  almost  certainly  applied  by  white  men. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  PlcLce  Names  of  Indian  Origin  59 

Soboyame,  in  San  Diego  County,  may  be  Indian.  It  is  unidenti- 
fied. 

Somis,  in  Ventura  County,  has  a  Chumash  name,  the  appelation  of 
a  village  variously  rendered  S'ohmiis,  Somus,  Somes,  and  Somo.^" 

Sonoma  County  is  named  after  the  mission  and  city  of  Sonoma. 
The  translation  ** valley  of  the  moon''  is  fanciful.  It  has  also  been 
said,  according  to  Barrett,  Porno,  313,  that  the  term  is  of  Spanish 
origin  and  was  given  as  a  name  to  a  chief  at  Sonoma  by  the  Spaniards. 
The  last  part  of  this  statement  is  no  doubt  correct,  since  Dr.  Barrett's 
Indian  informants  recalled  a  Coast  Miwok  chief,  properly  called  Hoi- 
pustolopokse,  who  was  commonly  known  as  Sonoma.  But  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  as  in  the  case  of  Solano  the  individual  was  so 
dubbed  from  the  Mexican  establishment.  Dr.  Barrett  gives  what  must 
be  regarded  the  most  likely  derivation  when  he  says  that  there  is,  **in 
the  village  names  of  the  Yukian  Wappo  dialect,  the  territory  of  which 
extends  to  within  a  few  miles  of  Sonoma,  a  constantly  recurring  end- 
ing -tso'noma,  derived  from  tso,  earth  or  ground,  and  no'ma,  village, 
as  micewal-tso'noma ;  and  it  seems  probable  that  this  is  the  true  source 
of  the  name  Sonoma." 

Soquel,  in  Santa  Cruz  County,  also  written  Shoquel  in  the  name  of 
the  land  grant,  is  a  Costanoan  village  name.  Alexander  Taylor  cites 
**080cali8  (Souquel)  "  as  one  of  the  rancherias  from  which  the  mission 
of  Santa  Cruz  had  neophytes.'® 

Sotoyome,  a  land  grant  in  Sonoma  County,  is  given  by  Bailey  as 
from  Spanish  soto  yo  me,  literally,  ** forest  I  me,"  which  he  makes  by 
a  peculiar  idiom  into  **my  own  forest."  What  is  perhaps  the  same 
name  in  another  spelling,  Sotoyama,  he  interprets  as  a  compound  of 
Spanish  soto,  forest,  and  ** Indian"  yama,  lake — ^which  would  be 
equally  remarkable.  Barrett,  Porno,  218,  says  that  the  chief  of  the 
Southern  Pomo  village  of  Wotokkaton  (on  the  Luce  Ranch  a  short 
distance  upstream  from  Healdsburg  and  across  the  Russian  River 
from  the  town),  was  known  as  Santiago;  also  as  Manteca,  literally 
**lard,"  evidently  a  Spanish  nickname  corresponding  to  English 
**Pat;"  and  also  as  Soto;  and  that  **it  is  from  this  latter  name  that 
Sotoyome  is  derived,  the  latter  part  of  the  name  signifying  *the  home 
of.'  "  Whether  Soto  is  a  third  Spanish  name  of  this  conspicuous  indi- 
vidual, or  Indian,  is  not  certain ;  but  it  is  clear  that  even  if  the  word 
Sotoyome  is  good  Pomo  it  is  not  an  ancient  name  of  a  locality,  for 


29  Handbook  of  American  Indians,  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.  Bull.  30,  part  n,  615. 
«o  California  Farmer,  April  5,  1860. 


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60  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

the  California  Indians,  before  contact  with  the  whites,  never  based 
the  permanent  appelation  of  a  village  or  locality  on  the  name  of  a 
person.  It  seems  therefore  that  Sotoyome  is  an  Indian  place-name 
formed  by  Indians  from  a  personal  name  in  Spanish  times. 

Soulajule,  a  land  grant  in  Marin  County,  appears  to  be  named 
from  an  Indian  word,  but  this  has  not  been  identified. 

Suey,  a  land  grant  in  San  Luis  Obispo  and  Santa  Barbara  coun- 
ties, bears  an  unidentified  name.  The  only  suggestion,  and  it  is  a 
slender  one,  is  afforded  by  Suiesia,  mentioned  by  Taylor'^  as  a  Chu- 
mash  village  connected  with  Santa  Ynez  mission. 

Suisun  Bay,  and  Suisun  City,  in  Solano  County,  bear  the  name  of 
a  prominent  **  tribe,  *'  that  is,  probably  a  village,  of  the  Patwin  or 
Southern  Wintun  Indians  of  this  region.  This  village  is  often  men- 
tioned in  Spanish  sources,  but  has  not  been  exactly  located. 

Surper  appears  on  some  maps  as  a  settlement  on  the  Klamath 
River,  in  Humboldt  County.  It  is  occupied  only  by  one  or  two  Yurok 
Indian  houses,  representing  the  former  native  village  of  Serper. 

Suscol  Creek,  in  Napa  County,  is  the  aboriginal  Southern  Wintun 
village  of  Suskol. 

Taboose  Pass,  in  the  crest  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  Taboose 
Creek,  in  Inyo  County.  Unidentified,  but,  judging  from  the  sound, 
very  likely  of  Mono  Shoshonean  origin. 

Tache,  Laguna  de,  a  land  grant  in  Fresno  County,  is  named  for 
the  Tachi  tribe  of  Yokuts  Indians,  who  lived  in  the  slough-intersected 
region  at  the  outlet  of  Tulare  Lake,  near  by. 

Tahoe  Lake  is  said  to  be  named  from  Washo  tah-hoo-he,  **big 
water.*'  This  etymology  is  given  by  Bailey,  and  is  also  current.  There 
is  very  little  on  record  concerning  the  Washo  language.  Intrinsically 
the  above  derivation  seems  reasonable,  but  the  accepted  etymologies 
of  California  Indian  names  are  so  much  more  often  wrong  than  right, 
that  in  view  of  the  ordinary  word  in  Washo  for  ** water''  being  time 
and  for  ** large,"  tiyeli,  some  doubt  may  not  be  hypercritical.  Five 
minutes'  unprejudiced  inquiry  of  an  intelligent  elderly  Washo  would 
settle  the  point  positively. 

Tahqtdtz,  one  of  the  peaks  of  the  San  Jacinto  Mountains  in  River- 
side County,  also  a  nearby  creek,  is  named  from  Takwish  (or  Dakwish 
^-one  spelling  is  as  correct  as  the  other,  since  the  initial  sound  is  in- 
termediate between  English  **t"  and  **d"),  a  mythological  character 
of  the  Luiseno  and  Cahuilla  Indians,  associated  with  meteors  or  per- 


31  California  Farmer,  October  18,  1861. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  61 

haps  more  exactly  ball-lightning,  usually  pictured  as  a  cannibal,  and 
believed  to  have  had  his  home,  or  still  to  have  it,  on  or  in  Mount  San 
Jacinto. 

Taijiguas,  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  according  to  Alexander  Tay- 
lor, is  named  from  a  Chumash  village.'* 

Tajauta,  a  land  grant  in  Los  Angeles  County,  is  named  from  an 
unknown  source.  If  Indian,  it  would  be  from  the  Qabrielino  dialect ; 
and  its  sound  makes  such  an  origin  possible. 

Tallac,  in  Eldorado  County,  was,  like  Lake  Tahoe,  in  Washo  ter- 
ritory', but  there  is  apparently  no  information  available  to  show 
whether  or  not  the  word  is  Indian. 

Tallowa  Lake,  a  portion  of  Lake  Earl  in  Del  Norte  County,  is 
named  from  Tolo'okw,  the  Yurok  name  of  an  Athabascan  village  in 
the  vicinity,  the  current  ethnological  designation  of  the  tribe,  Tolowa, 
deriving  from  the  same  source:  ni-tolowo,  **I  speak  Tolowa,''  i.e.,  the 
Athabascan  dialect  of  Del  Norte  County. 

Tamalpais  Mountain,  in  Marin  County,  does  not  contain  Spanish 
pais,  ** country.''  It  is  Coast  Miwok  Tamal-pais,  **bay  mountain." 
Barrett,  Porno,  308. 

Tapo  or  Tapu  Canyon,  near  Simi  in  Ventura  County,  is  named 
from  a  Chumash  original  Ta'apu,  ** yucca,"  an  inhabited  site. 

Tecopa,  in  Inyo  County,  is  said  by  Bailey  to  have  been  the  name 
of  an  Indian  chief,  which  may  or  may  not  be  the  case.  There  is  noth- 
ing in  the  sound  of  the  word  to  prevent  its  having  had  a  Shoshonean 
origin. 

Tecuya  or  Tacuya  Creek,  in  Kern  County,  and  Tecuya  Mountain 
at  the  head  of  this  stream,  are  named  after  Tokya,  the  name  applied 
by  the  Yokuts  tribes  to  the  Chumash  Indians,  a  division  of  whom  oc- 
cupied the  region  in  question. 

Tehachapi,  also  Tehichipi,  the  famous  pass,  and  a  town  and  moun- 
tain range,  in  Kern  County.  The  name  is  of  Indian  origin.  The  pass 
was  in  the  territory  of  the  Shoshonean  Kawaisu,  but  it  has  not  been 
ascertained  whether  the  word  occurs  in  their  speech.  The  Yokuts  to 
the  north,  however,  call  the  region,  or  some  spot  in  it,  Tahichipi,  or 
more  usually  Tahichpiu,  -u  being  the  regular  locative  case  ending. 

Tehama  County  is,  as  Maslin  says,  named  from  an  Indian  *  *  tribe, ' ' 
that  is,  Wintun  village,  which  probably  stood  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Sacramento  River  near  or  at  the  present  town  of  Tehama. 


82  California  Farmer,  October  18,  1861. 


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62  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Tehipite  Valley  and  Dome,  on  upper  Kings  River  in  Fresno  Coun- 
ty, appear  to  derive  their  name  from  an  unidentified  word  of  Mono 
origin.  The  location  of  the  places  and  sound  of  the  name  indicate 
this. 

Tejunga  or  Tujunga  River,  in  Los  Angeles  County,  is  evidently  a 
Qabrielino  Shoshonean  place  name,  as  evidenced  by  the  locative  case 
ending  -nga, 

Temecula,  in  Riverside  County,  is  Luiseno  Temeku,  meaning  un- 
known, a  village  of  this  Shoshonean  division.  Kroeber,  Shoshonean, 
147.    Teme-t  is  **sun''  in  Luiseno. 

Tenayay  a  stream  and  lake  draining  into  Yosemite  Valley,  are 
named  after  a  Miwok  chief,  head  of  the  Yosemite  Indians  at  the  time 
of  discovery. 

Tepusquet,  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  is  a  name  that  has  the  ring 
of  a  Chumash  Indian  word,  but  is  of  unknown  origin. 

Tequepis,  a  land  grant  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  is  named  from  a 
Chumash  village  near  San  Marcos.*' 

Terwah  Creek,  a  northerly  aflSuent  of  the  Klamath  River,  in  Del 
Norte  County,  is  named  from  Terwer,  as  the  Yurok  Indians  call  it. 

Tiee  Valley,  in  Contra  Costa  County.    Unidentified. 

Tiltill  Mountain  and  Creek,  in  Tuolumne  County.    Unidentified. 

Tinaquaic,  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  has  a  name  presumably  of 
Chumash  Indian  origin,  but  unidentified. 

Tinemaha,  or  Tinemakar,  in  Inyo  County,  may  be  of  **Paiute" 
origin. 

Tish-Tang-a-Tang  Creek,  in  Humboldt  County,  is  not,  as  given  by 
Gannett  and  repeated  by  Bailey,  a  fanciful  name  indicating  the 
splashing  of  water,  but  the  American  rendering  of  Hupa  Djishtanga- 
ding,'*  the  name  of  a  village  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek. 

Tissaack,  South  Dome  in  Yosemite,  is,  fide  Powers,  364,  367,  South- 
ern Miwok  Tisseyak,  the  name  of  a  woman  who  according  to  tradition 
was  transformed  into  the  mountain.  California  Indian  legendary 
names  of  persons,  however,  almost  always  have  meanings;  and  the 
significance  of  this  word  is  not  yet  known. 

Tocaloma,  in  Marin  County,  is  given  by  Bailey  as  meaning  **the 
hooded  hill''  in  Spanish.  This  is  improbable.  Toca  means  a  **hood" 
or  ** toque,"  but  ** hood-hill"  would  be  Loma  Toca  rather  than  Toca- 
loma.   The  place  is  in  Coast  Miwok  territory,  and  sounds  like  a  Coast 


83  Alexander  Taylor,  California  Farmer,  October  18,  1861 ;  April  24,  1863. 
34Goddard,  present  series,  i,  12,  1903:  Djictafiadifi. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  Calif amia  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  63 

Miwok  word.  The  ending  suggests  -yome,  meaning  ** place"  in  this 
language;  especially  as  1  and  y  interchange  in  some  Miwok  dialects. 
It  may  be  added  that  in  Central  Sierra  Miwok  dialect  tokoloma  means 
'*land  salamander.'* 

Tolay  Creek,  in  Sonoma  County,  appears  to  have  an  unidentified 
Indian  name.  There  was  a  Coast  Miwok  rancheria  Tuli  near  Sonoma 
City.    Barrett,  Porno,  313. 

Tolenas,  or  Tolenos,  in  Solano  County,  is  apparently  named  from  a 
South  Wintun  Indian  village.  Taylor,  quoted  in  Bancroft,  Native 
Races,  i,  452.  Sanchez,  268,  436,  suggests  a  misspelling  of  Yolenos, 
perhaps  Yolenos,  as  the  Spaniards  might  have  called  the  Yolo  Indians. 

Toluca,  **near  Los  Angeles,  is  probably  derived  from  Tolujaa,  or 
Tilijaes,  a  tribe  among  the  original  ones  at  San  Juan  Capistrano,  al- 
though there  is  also  a  place  named  Toluca  in  Mexico."    Sanchez,  439. 

Tomales  Bay,  in  Marin  County,  is  from  Coast  Miwok  tamal,  **bay." 
There  is  no  connection  with  Spanish  tamales.    Barrett,  Porno,  308. 

Toolwass,  in  Kern  County,  is  of  unknown  origin,  but  suggests 
ioloache,  often  vulgarly  pronounced  tuluachy  the  Spanish  name  of  the 
jimson-weed.  Datura  meteloides.    This  derivation,  however,  is  only  a 


Toowa  Range,  in  Tulare  County.  Unknown,  but  a  Shoshonean, 
probably  Mono,  origin  is  indicated. 

Topanga,  one  of  the  three  names  of  the  Topanga-Malibu-Sequit 
land  grant  in  Los  Angeles  County,  also  applied  specifically  to  a  canyon 
four  miles  west  of  Santa  Monica,  is  a  place  designation  taken  from 
the  Qabrielino  Shoshonean  dialect,  as  shown  by  the  locative  ending 
•nga, 

Topa  Topa  or  Topo  Topo  Mountain,  in  Ventura  County,  is  a  Chu- 
mash  place  name.  Taylor  gives  Topotopow,'*^  Henshaw's'*  and  the 
writer's  informants  Si-toptopo;  and  Henshaw  locates  the  rancheria 
at  Nordhoflf.  The  prefix  -si  in  the  Indian  original  means  **his"  or 
'4ts." 

Truckee  City  and  River,  in  Nevada  and  Placer  counties,  are  named 
after  a  Northern  Paiute  chief.  See  Gannett.  The  word  appears  con- 
siderably corrupted,  but  the  exact  original  pronunciation  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  recorded. 

Tulucay,  a  grant  in  Napa  County,  is  named  from  Tulukai  or 
Tuluka,  meaning  **red,"  a  Southern  Wintun  or  Patwin  village  near 
the  State  Hospital  at  Napa.    Barrett,  Porno,  293. 


M  California  Farmer,  May  4,  1860. 

8«Bur.  Am.  Ethn.,  Bull.  30,  ii,  582  (a  =  o). 


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64  University  of  California  Ptiblications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

Tunndbora  Peak,  in  the  crest  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  near  Mount 
Whitney.  Unknown.  Possibly  Shoshonean,  Mono  dialect.  Compare 
Tnnemah  Peak  and  Pass  not  far  to  the  north. 

Tuolumne  County  is  evidently  named  after  the  river.  According 
to  Maslin,  Tuolumne  is  a  ''corruption  of  the  Indian  word  *Talma- 
lamne'  which  signifies  'stone  house  or  cave'  '' — and  which  was  the 
name  of  a  large  tribe  of  Indians  who  lived  on  both  sides  of  the  river. ' ' 
There  was  a  tribe  (Kroeber,  Miwok,  373;  Merriam,  351)  called  Tawa- 
limni,  Towolumne,  or  Tuolumne,  possibly  Miwok  but  more  probably 
Yokuts,  in  the  plains  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
lower  Tuolumne  and  Stanislaus  rivers  up  as  far  as  about  Knights 
Ferry.  The  word  Tawalimni,  which  perhaps  was  really  Tawalamni 
or  Tawalumni,  would  easily  give  rise,  in  either  English  or  Spanish,  to 
Tuolumne.  The  signification  is  unknown,  but  its  ending,  4mn%,  -amni, 
or  -umni,  occurs  in  many  names  of  Yokuts  tribes  and  Miwok  and 
Maidu  villages  in  the  valley  portion  of  the  San  Joaquin-Sacramento 
drainage.  Usually  the  stems  of  such  words  cannot  be  assigned  a  mean- 
ing even  by  Indians.  The  interpretation  "stone  house  or  cave"  is 
very  unlikely,  since  the  California  Indians  never  built  in  stone,  and 
the  term  would  therefore  be  applicable  only  to  dwellers  in  caves  or 
rock  shelters,  which  demand  a  mountain  habitat,  whereas  both  the 
location  of  the  Tawalimni  and  the  distribution  of  nearly  all  Indian 
place  names  ending  in  -imni  seem  to  be  confined  to  the  plains. 

Turup  Creek,  in  Del  Norte  County,  is  named  from  the  Yurok  vil- 
lage Turip,  on  the  south  side  of  the  lower  Klamath  River. 

Tzabaco,  a  land  grant  in  Sonoma  County,  may  bear  an  Indian 
name,  though  it  suggests  Spanish  tabaco. 

Vbe  Hebe,  appearing  on  some  maps  as  northeast  of  Independence, 
Inyo  County,  is  an  unidentified  name. 

Vkidh,  the  county  seat  of  Mendocino  County,  is  named  after  the 
Yokaya  grant  extending  from  about  four  miles  north  of  Hopland  to 
north  of  Calpella,  and  including,  therefore,  Ukiah  Valley.  The  word, 
according  to  Barrett,  Porno,  168,  is  Central  Pomo,  yo,  "south,'*  and 
kcm,  *  *  valley. ' '  Yokaia  is  today  the  Indian  name  of  a  rancheria  south- 
southeast  of  the  city  of  Ukiah.  Dr.  Barrett  says  that  the  inhabitants 
moved  to  the  site  only  since  the  American  occupation,  after  their  re- 
turn from  the  former  Mendocino  reservation  (on  the  coast  between 
Noyo  and  Ten  Mile  rivers).  The  reservation  was  discontinued  in 
1867.  Before  the  coming  of  the  whites,  according  to  the  same  author- 
ity, the  people  of  the  present  Yokaia  rancheria  lived  "chiefiy  at  co'- 


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1916]  Kroeher:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  66 

kadjal  (Shokadjal),  a  short  distance  northwest/'  The  designation 
Yokaia  is,  however,  unquestionably  older  than  the  modern  Indian 
village,  as  shown  by  the  grant  name.  Whether  it  originally  applied  to 
the  entire  valley,  to  a  part  of  it,  or  to  some  native  settlement  in  it,  is 
uncertain,  but  the  interpretation  ** south- valley"  must  be  considered 
the  correct  one.  M.  A.  E.  Sherwood,  cited  by  Barrett,  Porno,  169,  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  definition  **deep  valley,''  repeated  by  Bailey.  Yo, 
it  is  true,  is  **down,"  ** under,"  or  **hole"  in  several  Pomo  dialects, 
but  appears  normally  as  a  suffix,  whereas  yo,  ''south,"  like  other  terms 
of  direction,  is  regularly  first  in  compound  words. 

Ulatus  or  Vlatis  or  Ualtis  Creek,  in  Solano  County,  bears  a  name 
evidently  connected  with  that  of  the  South  Wintun  or  Patwin  Indian 
division  called  Olulato,  Ululato,  or  Ullulata.  Compare,  Powers,  218, 
and  Bancroft,  Native  Races,  i,  452,  453. 

VUstac,  a  land  grant  in  Santa  Clara  County.  The  word  is  obvious- 
ly of  Costanoan  origin,  as  evidenced  by  the  regular  Costanoan  locative 
case  ending  4ak,  frequent  on  village  names ;  but  the  name  is  not  other- 
wise identifiable.  It  suggests  Juristac,  which  see.  L  and  r  alternate 
in  Costanoan  dialects,  and  an  initial  h  would  be  likely  to  be  repre- 
sented by  j  by  one  Spanish  writer,  and  omitted  altogether  by  an- 
other. Ores, '  *  bear, ' '  and  uri,  uli,  *  *  head, "  * '  hair,  "or  *  *  forehead, ' '  are 
the  only  Costanoan  words  known  to  the  author  which  suggest  the  stem. 

Ulpinos — Rancho  de  los  Ulpinos — a  land  grant  in  Solano  County, 
is  evidently  named  after  the  Chulpun  or  Khoulpouni  Indians.  The 
location  of  the  grant,  on  the  west  side  of  the  lower  Sacramento  river, 
would  make  these  Indians  of  Wintun  stock,  according  to  all  ethno- 
logical maps.  Merriam,  348,  however,  declares  the  Hulpoomne  (for 
the  ending  -umni,  see  Tuolumne)  to  have  been  a  Northwestern 
(Plains)  Miwok  tribe  whose  principal  rancheria  was  near  Preeport, 
nine  miles  south  of  Sacramento  City,  and  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river. 

Un  Bully  Mountain,  between  Siskiyou  and  Trinity  counties,  is  in 
Wintun  territory,  and  ** Bully"  is  apparently  Wintun  boli,  literally 
** spirit,"  but  much  used  in  mountain  names:  compare  Yallo  Bally. 
The  meaning  of  Vn  is  not  known. 

Unumkum,  or  Umunhum  Mountain,  in  Santa  Clara  County,  is 
named  from  an  unidentified  source. 

Vsal,  in  Mendocino  County,  pronounced  Yusawl,  was  in  Atha- 
bascan territory  but  appears  to  be  the  Pomo  word  Yoshol,  containing 


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66  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

the  stem  yo,  *' south.*'  Sho  is  **east/'  and  -i-  an  ending  of  terms  of 
direction  in  the  same  language;  but  it  is  not  known  whether  these 
elements  enter  into  the  word. 

Wahtoke,  in  Fresno  County,  appears  to  be  Yokuts  watak,  **  pine- 
nut."  A  ''tribe"  called  Wattokes,  living  **high  up  on  King's  River" 
— and  therefore  presumably  Monos — are  mentioned  in  the  Report  of 
the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  for  1857,  p.  399,'^  and  elsewhere. 
This  tribe  has,  however,  not  been  identified. 

Wanamdna,  in  Shasta  County,  is  unknown  and  may  be  Indian, 
coined,  or  borrowed. 

Wapanse  Creek,  in  Plumas  County.  The  origin  of  the  name  is  un- 
known. 

Wasioja,  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  is  unidentified.  The  combina- 
tion of  Spanish  j  with  w  that  does  not  occur  in  that  language,  suggests 
coinage  or  at  best  corruption. 

Wassama  Creek,  in  Madera  County,  is  named  from  Was-sa'-ma,  a 
Southern  Sierra  Miwok  village  on  the  stream,  near  Ahwahnee.  Mer- 
riam,  346. 

Wauhab  Ridge,  southeast  of  Sunol,  in  Alameda  County.  The  name 
suggests  an  Indian  origin  but  is  unknown. 

Waukell  Creek,  entering  the  Klamath  River  from  the  south  in  Del 
Norte  County,  has  its  name  from  the  Yurok  village  Wohkel,  *  *  pepper- 
woods." 

Wawona,  in  Mariposa  County,  is  of  unknown  origin.  It  does  not 
appear  to  be  Indian. 

Weeyot,  in  Humboldt  County.  Prom  the  current  name  of  the 
Humboldt  Bay  Indians,  Wiyot,  which  occurs  in  several  neighboring 
native  languages  in  this  form  or  the  variants  Weyat  or  Weyet. 

Weitchpec,  in  Humboldt  County,  from  Yurok  Weitspekw,  a  spring 
in  the  Indian  village  of  Weitspus  at  the  confluence  of  the  Klamath  and 
Trinity  rivers,  now  called  Weitchpec  or  Wichpec  by  the  whites.  The 
meaning  of  Weitspekw  is  not  known;  that  of  Weitspus  seems  to  be 
**at  the  forks,"  since  the  Yurok  give  the  same  name  to  the  former 
Hupa  village  situated  at  the  junction  of  Trinity  River  with  its  south 
fork. 

Winum  Bully  Mountain,  between  Shasta  and  Trinity  counties,  is 
from  a  Wintun  original.  ** Winum"  suggests  luin,  the  Central  Win- 
tun  form  corresponding  to  Northern  Wintun  wintim,  **man,"  plus  a 


8'  Quoted  in  Bancroft,  Native  Races,  i,  455. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin  67 

case  ending,  or  the  stem  ivin,  tvini,  **to  see;'*  and  '* Bully"  is  boli, 
** spirit/'  appearing  otherwise  in  names  of  mountains  in  Wintun  ter- 
ritory, as  in  Yallo  Bally,  which  see.  The  meaning  therefore  is  prob- 
ably either  ** person's  spirit*'  or  **sees  spirits." 

Wynola,  in  San  Diego  County.    Unknown. 

Yajome,  a  land  grant  in  Napa  County,  is  unidentified  and  there- 
fore probably  Indian.  The  derivation  from  Yayome,  from  Spanish 
ya  yo  me,  ** already  I  me,"  supposed  to  mean  **now  I  have  arrived," 
is  of  course  nonsense. 

Yallo  Bally  Mountains,  two  peaks  known  as  North  and  South,  be- 
tween Trinity  and  Tehama  counties,  are  named  from  Wintun  yola, 
**snow,"  and  apparently  holiy  ** spirit."  (The  Wintun  o  is  open,  like 
English  a  in  ** all").  The  belief  that  peaks  were  the  abode  of  spirits 
was  common  among  the  Indians  of  California.  The  element  hoU  reap- 
pears, in  the  forms  Bally  and  Bully,  in  Bally,  Bully  Choop,  Winum 
Bully,  and  Un  Bully,  aU  of  them  peaks  in  Wintun  territory. 

Ydalpom,  pronounced  Wydalpom,  in  Shasta  County,  is  from  a 
Northern  Wintun  place  name,  in  which  wai-  is  ** north,"  -daU  possibly 
means  ** lying,"  and  -pom  is  ** place." 

Yokohl,  in  Tulare  County,  is  named  from  a  Yokuts  tribe  called  in 
some  dialects  of  that  speech  Yokol  and  in  others  Yokod.  They  were 
neighbors  of  the  Kawia  where  the  Kaweah  River  emerges  into  the 
plain.  The  name  Yokol  is  not  explained  by  the  Indians,  but  suggests 
a  connection  with  Yokuts,  more  exactly  Yokoch,  meaning  *' person" 
in  that  language. 

Yolo  County  is  named,  as  Maslin  says,  from  Yo-loy,  a  tribal  name. 
The  ** tribe"  was  of  course  a  village,  of  the  Patwin  or  Southern  Win- 
tun, which  stood  at  Knight's  Landing  and  was  called  Yoloi,  or  more 
probably  Yodoi.  Maslin 's  and  Gannett 's  definition,  **a  place  thick 
with  rushes,"  is  at  best  approximate;  if  that  is  what  the  Wintun 
meant,  they  would  have  said  merely  ** rushes,"  or  in  California  par- 
lance **tules."  This  seems  a  reasonable  name,  but  available  Wintun 
vocabularies  show  only  forms  like  hlaka  and  hlop  for  *'tule,"  and 
nothing  resembling  yodoi,  Barrett,  Porno,  294,  quotes  Miss  Kathryu 
Simmons  as  mentioning  a  chief  Yodo  at  Knight's  Landing.  Analogy 
with  other  cases  would  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  this  chief's  name 
had  been  applied  by  the  whites  to  his  people  and  his  village ;  but  Dr. 
Barrett's  Indian  informants,  and  the  author's,  know  of  yodoi  only 
as  a  place  name,  and  one  without  meaning. 


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68  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Yontockett  School  District,  in  Del  Norte  County,  bears  an  unex- 
plained name,  which  seems,  however,  to  go  back  to  the  appellation  of 
an  Athabascan  Tolowa  village. 

Yosemite  is  Southern  Sierra  Miwok  for  ** grizzly  bear,*'  as  usually 
stated,  though  like  English  ''bear"  it  signifies  the  species  in  general 
and  denotes  a  ** fully  grown'*  animal  only  in  distinction  from  words 
perhaps  corresponding  to  **cub/'  The  Indian  pronunciation  is  Uzu- 
mati  or  Uzhumati,  with  the  u  spoken  with  unrounded  lips.  The 
word  seems  to  have  been  applied  to  the  valley  by  Americans  either 
through  a  misunderstanding  or  from  a  desire  to  attach  to  the  spot  a 
name  which  would  be  at  once  Indian  and  appropriate.  The  statement 
that  the  tribe  owning  the  valley  were  known  as  **the  Grizzly  Bears'' 
cannot  be  authenticated  and  is  probably  incorrect.  The  native  name 
of  the  principal  village  in  the  vaUey,  and  by  implication  of  the  valley 
itself,  was  Awani,  surviving  in  Ahwahnee,  which  see.  Barrett,  Miwok, 
343. 

Yreka,  in  Shasta  County,  for  either  the  spelling  or  the  pronuncia- 
tion of  which  every  literate  Californian  must  blush — ^the  word  is 
spoken  **Wyreka" — is  said  by  Powers,  243,  to  be  the  word  meaning 
mountain  and  the  name  of  Mount  Shasta  in  the  Shasta  language: 
wairika,  properly  waiika.  The  last  syllable  looks  like  the  Shasta  sub- 
jective case;  compare  Shastika  and  Shasta.  Wat-  means  ** north" 
among  the  neighboring  Wintun;  but  the  idiom  of  these  Indians  is 
totally  different  from  that  of  the  Shasta,  and  the  resemblance  there- 
fore probably  fortuitous.  Dixon,  in  Bulletin  of  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History,  volume  17,  page  389,  1907,  confirms  Powers. 

Yuba  County  is  said  by  Maslin  to  be  named  from  Yuba  River, 
Spanish  **Rio  de  las  Uvas"  or  wild  grapes.  Uvas  became  Uva,  then 
Uba,  then,  in  American  mouths,  Yuba.  This  is  almost  certainly  an 
imaginary  derivation.  Yupu,  or  Yuba,  or  with  the  nominative  ending 
Yubam,  also  written  in  American  spelling  Yubum,  was  a  Northwestern 
Maidu  village  near  the  mouth  of  the  Yuba  into  the  Feather  River.*' 
The  name  would  apply  also  to  the  river,  as  according  to  Indian  cus- 
tom streams  commonly  bore  no  specific  appelation,  but  were  desig- 
nated, when  necessary,  by  the  names  of  the  places  at  their  mouths. 

Yucaipa,  in  San  Bernardino  County,  takes  its  name  from  Serrano 
Shoshonean  Yukaipa  or  Yukaipat,  a  place.  Kroeber,  Shoshonean,  134, 
Cahuilla,  34,  39. 


88  Handbook  of  American  Indians,  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.  Bull.  30,  part  ii,  1012. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  California  Place  Names  of  Indian  Origin^  69 

Yulupa,  in  Sonoma  County,  near  Santa  Rosa.   Unidentified. 

Yuma  Reservation,  in  Imperial  County,  opposite  the  Arizonan  city 
of  Yuma,  is  named  after  the  Yuma  tribe,  the  occupants,  throughout 
the  historic  period,  of  the  vicinity.  The  origin  of  the  name  Yuma  has 
never  been  satisfactorily  ascertained.  The  Yuma  themselves,  and  the 
allied  Yuman  tribes  such  as  the  Mohave  and  Maricopa,  do  not  accept 
the  word  Yuma  as  native,  but  call  the  tribe  Kwichyana. 


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UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA    PUBLICATIONS 

IN 

AMERICAN    ARCHAEOLOGY   AND    ETHNOLOGY 

Vol.  12,  No.  3,  pp.  7M38  June  28,  1916 


AEAPAHO  DIALECTS 

BY 

A.  L.  KROEBER 


CONTENTS 
PART  I— DIALECTS  OF  THE  ARAPAHO  GROUP 

PAGE 

The  Dialects 73 

Comparative  Vocabulary ~ 75 

Notes  on  Vocabulary 76 

Additional  Words — Arapaho  Proper 76 

External  Phonetic  Correspondences  of  the  Group 77 

Vowels 79 

Internal  Phonetic  Correspondences  of  the  Group 80 

Basa"wunena°  80 

Gros  Ventre - 81 

Na'wa^inahana"  81 

PART  II— SKETCH  OF  ARAPAHO  PROPER 

Phonetic  Elements  83 

Composition  85 

A.  Nouns  Compounded  of  Two  Separate  Words 85 

B.  Nouns  and  Verbs  Formed  with  Prefixes 86 

C.  Nouns  and  Verbs  Formed  with  Suffixes  87 

Verbs - 90 

Word-forming  Prefixes  90 

A.  Prefixes  used  also  as  independent  verbs,  etc 97 

B.  Prefixes  used  also  as  independent  adverbs,  etc 99 

C.  Prefixes  not  yet  found  as  independent  parts  of  speech 103 

1.  Apparently  verbal  103 

2.  Apparently  adverbial,  referring  to  manner  103 

3.  Apparently  adverbial,  referring  to  space  104 

Word-forming  Suffixes a 105 

Grammatical  Prefixes  109 

Grammatical  Suffixes 109 

Pronominal  Endings  110 

Connective  Suffixes  112 

Classified  List  of  Stems 113 

Transitive   113 

Intransitive  115 


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72  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

PAGE 

Nouns   117 

Plural   117 

Cases  118 

Possession 119 

Pronouns    120 

Adverbs   » 121 

Numerals    122 

Texts  123 

Text  I— A  Prayer 124 

Notes 124 

Text  II— An  Adventure  125 

Notes 126 

Text  III— Tangled  Hair 127 

Notes 128 


PART  III— NOTES  ON  GBOS  VENTBE 

Phonetics  131 

Composition  131 

Verbs 133 

Affixes  of  Mode  and  Tense 133 

Pronominal  Endings  and  Connectives  133 

Nouns   135 

Pronouns 136 

Numerals   137 

Text  IV— Tangled  Hair  137 

The  investigations  upon  which  this  essay  is  based  were  carried  on, 
in  1899,  1900,  and  1901,  through  the  generosity  of  Mrs.  Morris  K. 
Jesup,  and  under  the  direction  of  the  Trustees  and  officers  of  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  to  whose  courtesy  the  writer 
expresses  his  indebtedness. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  Arapaho  Dialects  73 


PART  I 
DIALECTS  OP  THE  ARAPAHO  GROUP 

The  Dl\lects 

According  to  the  latest  authority,  Dr.  Truman  MieheLson/  the 
languages  of  the  great  Algonkin  family  fall  into  four  primary,  sub- 
stantially co-ordinate,  but  very  unequal  groups.  Three  of  these  are 
Blackfoot,  Cheyenne,  and  Arapaho.  The  fourth,  or  Eastern-Central, 
comprises  all  the  other  dialects  of  the  family.  The  Blackfoot,  Chey- 
enne, and  Arapaho  were  buflfalo  hunters  in  the  open  plains.  The 
other  tribes  with  scarcely  an  exception  were  timber  people.  It  is 
erroneous,  however,  to  look  for  an  exact  repetition  of  this  primary 
cultural  cleavage  in  the  linguistic  organization  of  the  family.  The 
Blackfoot,  Cheyenne,  and  Arapaho  tongues  are  as  distinct  from  one 
another  as  from  the  remaining  languages.  This  fact  had  indeed  been 
asserted,  in  so  far  as  the  imperfect  evidence  permitted  opinion,  before 
Dr.  Michelson's  exact  comparative  studies,  and  has  long  rendered 
very  improbable,  at  least  as  regards  the  Blackfoot  and  the  Arapaho, 
the  prevailing  assumption,  which  is  still  largely  current,  that  all  the 
Plains  Algonkin  tribes  are  recent  offshoots  from  the  main  body  of  the 
stock  in  the  w^ooded  region.  It  cannot  be  emphasized  too  strongly 
that  wherever  these  tribes  may  originally  have  lived,  they  were  not, 
for  a  long  time  past,  close  relatives  and  perhaps  not  even  neighbors 
of  the  Cree,  Ojibwa,  or  any  other  known  Algonkin  division.  The 
recent  brilliant  discovery  of  Dr.  E.  Sapir  that  the  far-away  Yurok 
and  Wiyot  languages  on  the  Pacific  Coast  of  California  are  Algonkin 
proves  that  the  history  of  this  great  assembly  of  tongues  cannot  be 
deduced  by  any  off-hand  inference  from  recent  habits  of  life  or  dis- 
tribution of  the  Indian  tribes  involved.  The  writer  believes  that  the 
Arapaho  have  been  separated  from  the  Central  and  Eastern  Algonkins 
for  more  than  a  thousand  years. 

The  Arapaho  recognize  five  former  divisions  of  their  people.  As 
placed  by  them  in  order  from  south  to  north,  these  were  the  Na'^waft- 
naha'na"  or  South- ^-people,  the  Ha^anaxawtine'na"  or  Rock-people, 
the  Hinana'e'ina"  or  Arapaho  proper,  the  Basa'^wune'na"  or  Wood- 


1  Science,  xxxv,  675,  1912,  and  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Twenty-eighth 
Annual  Beport,  Washington,  221-290,  1912. 


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74  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

house-people,  and  the  Hitoune'na"  or  Begging-people.  The  last  are 
the  tribe  that  calls  itself  Ha'a'ninin  and  has  long  been  known  as 
Atsina  or  Gros  Ventre  of  the  Prairie.  The  Arapaho  proper  have  for 
a  considerable  time  been  divided  into  a  northern  and  a  southern 
branch.  As  the  language  of  these  two  halves  scarcely  differs  even 
dialectically,  the  distinction,  however  important  historically,  may  be 
disregarded  in  the  present  connection.^  The  three  other  tribes  have 
long  since  coalesced  with  the  Arapaho.  The  Basa^wunena,  whose 
dialect  was  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Hinana'eina**,  are  still  to  be 
found  among  them  in  some  numbers,  though  without  any  identity  €is 
a  separate  group.  A  very  few  people  remembering  something  of  the 
Na°waWnahana"  dialect  were  living  in  1899.  From  one  of  these  was 
obtained  the  brief  vocabulary  given  below.  This  dialect  is  more 
divergent  from  Arapaho  proper  than  either  BSsa^wtinena"  or  Gros 
Ventre,  and,  at  least  superficially,  shows  some  resemblance  to  Chey- 
enne. No  one  was  found  who  remembered  the  speech  of  the  Ha°a- 
naxawunena",  which  is  said  by  the  Arapaho  to  have  been  the  most 
different  from  their  own.  One  of  their  submerged  dialects,  probably 
this  Ha"anaxawunena"  tongue,  some  Arapaho  declare  to  have  been 
intermediate  between  their  own  speech  and  Blackfoot.  The  state- 
ment is  here  made  only  on  Indian  authority.  It  is  not  impossible 
that  some  specimens  of  this  speech  may  yet  be  recoverable  by  careful 
search  among  the  Arapaho. 

A  brief  comparative  vocabulary  of  the  four  dialects  on  which 
material  could  be  obtained  is  appended.  This  is  unfortunately  badly 
selected,  and  the  phonetic  perception  and  rendering  are  no  doubt 
inadequate  even  for  Arapaho  and  Gros  Ventre,  which  the  author  had 
ampler  opportunity  to  hear.  Further,  the  words  in  the  two  other 
dialects  were  obtained  from  people  who  no  longer  habitually  used 
them,  perhaps  had  never  done  so.  Still,  the  lists  contain  new  infor- 
mation, which  may  never  be  duplicated,  and  are  therefore  given  with 
all  their  imperfections. 

2  Mr.  James  Mooney  (Bur.  Am.  Ethn.  Ann.  Rep.,  xrv,  954,  1896,  and  Bur. 
Am.  Ethn.,  Bull.  30,  73,  1907),  gives  the  five  Arapaho  subdivisions  differently, 
apparently  through  identifying  the  Na^wa^inahftna'  with  the  Na"wuinena",  the 
southern  half  of  the  Arapaho  proper.  He  therefore  virtuaUy  omits  the  former 
and  exalts  the  southern  branch  of  the  Arapaho  into  a  distinct  division.  Politi- 
cally this  may  be  correct  for  recent  centuries,  but  the  existence  of  a  markedly 
separate  Na°wa^nah&na°  dialect,  as  discussed  below,  necessitates  the  recognition 
of  this  people,  instead  of  the  southern  Arapaho  proper,  as  one  of  the  five  divi- 
sions, from  the  point  of  view  of  language  and  earlier  history.  The  only  alter- 
native is  to  assume  the  specimens  of  speech  obtained  as  Na°wa^inah&na"  to  be 
not  Na^wa^nahftna",  but  Ha"anaxawunena",  a  proceeding  which  would  reconcile 
all  conflicting  statements,  but  which  would  be  arbitrary. 


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Kroeber:  Arapaho  Dialects 


75 


COMPAEATIVE  VOCABULARY 


Arapaho 

Southern  People^ 

Wood-lodge  People^ 

Gros  Ventre 

English 

Hinana'eina^ 

N&^waBxnah&na^ 

BdsanwUnena^ 

Ha'dninin 

1 

tcftseix 

tca»cilaha'» 

nanlsetci 

tca^eity 

2 

nisi 

nisaha' 

nanisehi ' 

ni^ 

3 

nftsa* 

nahaha' 

nanasei 

na^a' 

4 

yein* 

niabaha ' 

yananei 

yani 

5 

ya^an« 

niotanaha' 

yana^ani ' 

yatani 

6 

nitanax- 

neixMoti 

nitcatax 

neitya"t08 

7 

ni8a»tax" 

niciota" 

nisa^ax 

nitfa"tos 

8 

na8a»tax" 

nexiotahaha- 

nanasa-tax'^eit 

na^^tos 

9 

W 

cioxtahaha- 

ciotaxahei 

a°habetaH08 

10 

batatax" 

maxtoxtahaha* 

batcatoxe 

beta"t08 

man 

hinen* 

hiten 

hini 

hineni 

woman 

hisei 

hihi'i 

hisana" 

hi^a 

child 

tela" 

hakutsa'anaha^ 

teia-nihi' 

teia°na 

white  man 

nih'a-^» 

matsdhuto 

ni  '&"85 

nix'a»t 

father 

neisana" 

hitfextin 

hlsananin* 

ni^na" 

mother 

neina" 

haictin 

neinah* 

neina" 

elder  brother 

nftsaha' 

nixtsia" 

nih'sa* 

na^aha' 

son 

neiha-' 

neicta' 

neiha'* 

neiha' 

daughter 

natane 

naxtanaha 

natana* 

natan 

grandfather 

nabaciba 

(h)amacim 

nabacibaha'* 

nabeseip 

grandmother 

neibaha" 

(h)ihi'im 

neibaha"* 

niip 

grandchild 

neici 

ni'icitaha* 

niisa 

eye 

bacisa 

masixsan 

hicisa 

besS^ 

nose 

beic 

maic 

hitfea 

beica 

mouth 

bati 

matin 

hitcina 

betyi' 

tooth 

beitci^ 

meitcixta 

hiniteie 

bitsit* 

tongoe 

bei^n 

hini^an 

biitani 

ear 

wanatana' 

hinatana ' 

wanotan 

neck 

basona" 

hisa* 

wa^ana 

belly 

wanot 

moxta",  monoxta* 

hinot* 

wanot* 

hand 

batcet 

hitcet 

batyetyi 

foot 

wa'a"^' 

mo  'oxts 

hi'a»c 

wa'a»t8 

house 

nina» 

mi 'in 

nina",  ni  'in* 

nin,  nin" 

house 

ha'a»wu 

ha'axamun^ 

ha'a-wu* 

bow 

bata 

ma  'axta 

bata* 

bat 

arrow 

ho^* 

hot 

hoci* 

hotsi 

sun,  luminary 

hicis 

hieihia" 

hicis* 

hisos 

star 

hatfa'a- 

hatfa'aha'a- 

hatou 

water 

netc* 

netc 

netsi* 

nets,  nits 

river 

nitciye 

titc 

nitciye* 

nitsa- 

stone 

haha'an&*ka> 

haxta* 

haha'ana»ka" 

axa'ana»tya» 

earth 

bita'a»wu 

mixta 'amu 

bita  'awu 

bita  'awu 

fire 

icita" 

ih  'cita» 

hixt,ih'ta»* 

isota" 

wood 

bacS  bax- 

ma' 

baci,*  bax 

bis 

metal 

beltci^ei 

mahi'itsita 

beitcitfei* 

beitsit 

road 

ba'a» 

mihia" 

ba'ah* 

tree,  eottonwood  hahaH* 

hoxtoxt 

hahatci* 

hahanina"  (pl.) 

grass,  me<lieine 

waxu' 

maxsou 

waxu',* 

waxuina"  (pi.) 

wasiina"  (pl.) 

horse 

hiwaxuhft»x-abi 

masoutihem 

hiwaxuahatfa,*  hi- 

hiwas'ha-tf 

(Pl-) 

waxuha»xeb  (pi.) 

dog 

he^  abi  (pi.) 

hatam 

ha^,*  ha^biha- 
(pl.) 

hote 

bnifalo  bull 

hana*tca« 

hita°m6» 

hana»tca* 

hana-tyei 

buffalo  (herd) 

hi^eina" 

hicinan 

hita»nan 

deer 

bihi'i 

mixtihi 

bihi'i* 

bihi'i 

antelope 

nisitca-,  na'sitca' 

»    tcasitca" 

nictea* 

na»8ity 

elk 

hiwax" 

himaxsout 

hiwax-* 

hiwaso» 

mountain  sheei 

0  hota' 

hoxtaha- 

hota'* 

hote 

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76 


University  of  Calif omia  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 


Arapaho 

Southern  People^ 

Wood-lodge  People^ 

Gros  Ventre 

English 

Hinana  *eina« 

NdnwaOiTiahdnan 

Bdsa^wUnena^ 

Ha  *dninin 

beaver 

habac 

hamaha  * 

habac* 

habes 

rabbit 

na-k" 

ma'^kut 

na-k"* 

naHse 

bear 

wox" 

mahom 

wox",*  waxuina" 
(Pl.) 

was 

wolf 

ha^xei 

ha-xe* 

ha°^ei 

skunk 

xouhu 

sao^ 

xouhu* 

^ouu 

eagle,  bird 

ni4hi 

tcasei 

ni'ix 

ni'ihi 

crow 

hou 

hahaha' 

hou 

ouu 

magpie 

wa  'uei 

mouxtia" 

wouxei 

turtle 

ba'ana" 

ma  'ana"ha" 

ba'an* 

ba  'anou 

supernatural 

nanaba  ^ana", 
batana" 

nanamatit 

tananaba  'ana" 

bata- 

large 

ban^sa" 

manacie 

banasa- 

basou 

white 

na°k- 

wanatsia" 

na»k-* 

nana°tsa 

black 

wa  'ota" 

moxtsia" 

wa'ota"* 

wa'ota»ya" 

red 

ba- 

maoxtaheini 

baxa  'a" 

yellow 

niha^ya" 

hitianie 

niha»ya"* 

niha°ya" 

Notes  on  Vocabulary 


1  From  Tall  Bear. 


2  Unmarked  words  from  the  wife  of  Bow-of -Lodges;  starred  words  from 
Tall-Bear. 

3  An  1  was  recorded,  but  seems  doubtful,  as  the  Arapaho  ordinarily  are  un- 
able to  pronounce  this  sound.  The  word  for  *'rain''  in  the  same  dialect  was, 
however,  recorded  both  as  hii"8ivaxta  and  ha'^silaxta. 

***Small."  Evidently  contains  the  diminutive  suffix,  as  does  the  Basa"wu- 
nena"  form. 

5  The  manuscript  record  may  be  read  either  with  final  s  or  B. 


Additional  Words — . 


young  man 
young  woman 
old  woman 
old 

hanaxa'aha 
hiteiya" 
batabi(a) 
baha'ei,  behi'i 

human  being 

ghost 

head 

hinenita" 

^Wk" 

hakuhji" 

hair 

bei^e  'a 

throat 

beita" 

bone 

hixu 

heart 

bata" 

arm 

bJinec 

elbow 

batic 

sinew 

haota" 

milk,  breast- water 

ba^enetc* 

penis 

ha^° 

testicle 

ba^as 

vagina 
tail 

hahatc 
batihi  'i 

rib 

hitca" 

liver 

hie 

kidney 

hitl^^ 

blood 

ba 

excrement 

ba.  bi-hi^ 

shadow 

batata" 

shaman 

batat 

■Arapaho  Proper 

mountain 

ha-^ani' 

night 

Mka» 

moon 

bikosis 

sky,  cloud 

hana" ' 

thunder 

baxa  'a" 

fog 

banana- 

creek 

kaha  'a"wu 

snow 

hi 

tent  pole 

haka"x 

robe 

hou 

awl 

bei 

dress 

bixuti 

bed 

ha" 

boat 

^wu 

meat 

haseinou 

pipe 
tobacco 

=  rib 

cisa^wa" 

corn 

beckatana" 

fruits 

bina" 

bush 

bic 

coyote 

ka»V 

buffalo  cow 

bii 

fly 

nouba» 

louse 

batei 

worm 

bisa",  hisa^na" 

fish 

nawat 

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1916]  Kroeber:  Arapaho  Dialects  77 

Some  of  the  more  readily  noted  correspondences  in  sound  between 
Arapaho  and  the  other  Algonkin  languages,  and  within  the  Arapaho 
dialects,  will  now  be  given.  There  is  no  pretense  that  these  observa- 
tions are  complete.  The  material  used  in  the  comparisons  is  familiar 
to  students  of  the  subject  in  the  works  of  Baraga,  Jones,  Lacombe, 
Hayden,  Rand,  Petter,  besides  many  others  whose  efforts  have  not 
been  drawn  upon.  For  this  reason  the  Indian  forms  of  the  words 
referred  to  in  English  have  not  been  given.  The  few  who  may  follow 
up  the  present  suggestions  can  verify  them  with  ease,  and  will  be  at 
least  as  familiar  with  the  material  as  the  writer.  The  following  ab- 
breviations have  been  used  to  designate  groups,  languages,  and  lialects : 


EC 

Eastern-Central  Algonkin 

Mi 

Micmac 

F 

Fox 

0 

Ojibwa 

Cr 

Cree 

Ch 

Cheyenne 

Bl 

Blackfoot 

A 

Arapaho  group  of  dialects 

Ar 

Arapaho  proper 

GV 

Gros  Ventre 

B 

Basa°wunena" 

N 

Na°waMnahana» 

Of  the  symbols  used,  c  is  s  or  sh  as  customary  in  American  phil- 
ology, $  is  the  same  as  English  surd  th,  x  is  a  surd  fricative  approxi- 
mately in  k  position,  a  is  a  as  of  '*bad"  in  American  English,  a"  and 
a"  are  nasalized  vowels,  o  is  somewhat  as  in  German,  but  probably 
unrounded,  and  '  is  the  glottal  stop. 

External  Phonetic  Correspondences  op  the  Group 

K 

Assuming  the  Eastern-Central  group  of  dialects,  in  which  are 
included  the  great  majority  of  those  belonging  to  the  family,  to  be 
most  representative  of  the  original  or  former  condition  of  Algonkin, 
it  is  clear  that  original  k  is  but  rarely  retained  in  the  Arapaho  division. 
It  appears  most  commonly  as  s  or  h,  or  is  entirely  lost  or  represented 
only  by  a  glottal  stop. 

k>k:  wolf.     Ch,  Bl,  A. 
k>t:  black,  EC,  k;  Ch,  xt;  A,  t. 
k>tc:  metal.    Ch,  k;  Bl,  ks;  A,  to. 

k>8:  neck,  nose,  eye,  woman,  antelope,  one.  Ch  shows  k,  x,  ts.  GV  usually 
has  $  for  s. 

k>h,  x:  beaver,  deer,  bone,  bear,  sun,  skunk.    EC  has  k  or  sk;  Bl,  usually 


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78  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

k;  Ch  is  variable. 

k> ', — :  bow,  turtle,  red,  star,  eagle,  foot,  nine.  E-C  again  shows  sk  as  well 
as  k,  also  kw.  Ch  usually  agrees  with  Arapaho,  while  Bl  oftener  retains  k,  but 
is  variable. 


T 
Algonkin  dental  stops  seem  to  be  of  two  kinds.  One  appears  with 
but  little  variation  as  t  in  all  dialects,  including  Arapaho.  The  other 
varies  between  t,  d,  n,  and  1  in  the  Eastern-Central  group,  is  t  in 
Cheyenne  as  in  Gros  Ventre  and  Na"wa^ahana°,  but  $  in  Arapaho 
proper  and  Basa°wunena". 

t>t:  bow,  heart,  fire,  night,  daughter,  buflPalo  bull,  ten,  reflexive  suffix.  Bl 
has  some  inclination  toward  ts  or  st,  N  toward  xt. 

t,  d,  n,  1>^:  tongue,  tooth,  foot,  star,  metal,  dog,  five.  Mi,  t,  d,  1;  O,  d,  n; 
Bl,  tf,  kf ;  Ch,  Na,  GV,  t;  Ar,  Ba,  0, 

t>tc:  pipe,  mouth,  six.    EC,  t;  Bl,  — ;  Ch,f;  Ba,  GV,  tc;  Ar,  t,  tc. 

P 
Original  labial  stops  begin  to  be  lost  or  altered  as  soon  as  the 
Eastern-Central  division  is  left  behind,  and  seem  to  have  disappeared 
entirely  from  the  Arapaho  group.* 

p,  b>k:  rabbit,  white,  sit,  sleep.  E-C,  p,  b;  Bl,  p,  k;  Ch,  k,  x;  Ar,  Na,  Ba,  k; 
GV,  ts.  These  are  the  principal  occurrences  of  k  in  Arapaho  that  the  author  can 
account  for  by  any  phonetic  rule. 

p,  b>tc:  tooth,  water,  night.    EC,  p,  b;  Bl,  Ch,  p  w;  A,  tc. 

N 

N  usually  recurs  unchanged  in  all  Algonkin  groups,  though  in 
some  stems  the  sound  varies  between  n  and  y.  There  may  be  two 
distinct  original  sounds  involved. 

n>n:  bone,  man,  daughter,  turtle,  one,  two,  three,  six,  sing,  water,  fish,  drink. 
In  the  last  three  stems  m  sporadically  supplants  n. 

n,  y>n,  y:  tongue,  mouth,  neck,  wolf,  four,  five,  sleep.  All  dialects  except 
Mi  and  0  have  y  in  some  of  these  stems.    F  and  Na  show  ny. 

M 

M  of  original  Algonkin  seems  to  be  retained  quite  regularly  in 
Eastern-Central,  in  Blackfoot,  in  Cheyenne,  and  in  the  Na"wa^ina- 
hana"  dialect  of  Arapaho.  In  the  three  other  Arapaho  dialects  it  is 
entirely  lacking,  and  replaced  by  b  and  w.     As  between  these  two 


8  E.  Sapir,  American  Anthropologist,  n.  s.,  xv,  538,  1913. 


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1916]  Kroeber:  Arapaho  Dialects  79 

sounds,  the  rule  is  that  b  occurs  before  the  front  vowels  i,  e,  a,  a",  and 
w  before  the  back  vowels  u,  o,  a,  a°.*  This  is  a  consistent  phonetic 
law  of  Arapaho ;  even  within  the  dialect  the  same  stem  changes  from 
b  to  w  if  the  vowel  becomes  a  back  one.  Compare  Ar  neibaha'^,  my 
grandmother,  and  hiniiwaha**,  his  grandmother.  It  is  also  illustrative 
that  in' trying  to  say  the  English  word  ** buffalo,"  the  Gros  Ventre, 
whose  idiom  follows  the  same  law,  speak  wa^anou  instead  of  ba^anou. 
All  Arapaho  labial  sounds  seem  to  be  derived  from  original  m. 

m>b  (i):  eat,  defecate,  give,  dog,  deer,  earth. 

m>b  (e) :  metal. 

m>b  (a,  a") :  blood,  red,  bow,  wood,  turtle,  beaver,  ten,  drink. 

m>w  (a,  a%  o) :  bear,  fish,  grass,  black. 

In  a  few  words  m  changes  to  n  in  Arapaho.  In  these  Cheyenne 
has  n  also. 

m>n:  eagle,  house. 

W 

A  more  remarkable  change  is  that  of  original  w  to  Arapaho  n. 

This  probably  represents  the  transition  w>m>n. 

w>n:  buffalo  herd,  antelope,  rabbit,  white;  perhaps  also  ear.  Ar,  Ba,  GV, 
regularly  n;  Na,  sometimes  m;  Ch,  Bl,  E-C,  w. 

S 
Eastern-Central  s,  like  t,  sometimes  recurs  in  Arapaho,  sometimes 
becomes  0,    There  is  thus  the  possibility  that  eastern  s,  with  which 
c  (sh)  has  been  included,  represents  two  sounds  originally  distinct. 

8>8:  sun,  fire,  wind,  rain,  tobacco,  two,  three.  Bl,  Ch,  and  Na  show  — ,  h, 
or  X  frequently.    GV  alone  has  $  sometimes:  tobacco,  two,  three. 

s>^:  hair,  nine,  eat,  defecate.    EC,  s,  tc,  dj;  Ch,  Na,  s;  Ar  (and  Bat),  Q. 

8>h:  stone,  yellow.  A  dialects  have  h,  except  Na  t.  Perhaps  allied  to  the 
change  k]>s,  h. 

VOWELS 

The  vowels  of  Arapaho  also  evince  fairly  regular  correspondences 
with  those  of  other  dialects,  though  the  cause  of  their  most  marked 
peculiarity,  the  frequent  nasalization  of  a  and  a,  is  not  clear  to  the 
writer.  Counting  a"^  and  a**  for  the  present  with  a  and  a,  four  prin- 
cipal equivalences  are  noticeable. 


^ba'a",  road,  and  baha'a",  thunder,  are  exceptions  noted  in  simple  stem 
words. 


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80  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Mi  F  Cr,0  Bl  Ch  Na  Ar,Ba,GV 

Type  1               i                 i                  i                 i  i  i                  i 

Type  2            var.  a,  e                i  (i)  (i)  a               a,  e 

Type  3          a,  o,  u            a                 a  a,o  o  a                 a 

Type  4            var.              a                 a  var.  o,  u  o,  u               u 

It  is  evident  that  there  is  a  special  similarity  between  Pox  and  the 
Arapaho  group,  at  least  under  the  orthographies  that  have  been  em- 
ployed ;  that  Na"wa^inahana°  leans  towards  Cheyenne ;  that  the  latter 
favors  a  sound  usually  written  o,**  and  Blackfoot  the  vowel  i. 

Type  1 — i>i:  nose,  eye,  tooth,  sun,  fire,  water,  eat,  defecate,  give,  two,  re- 
flexive suffix.  GV  alone  several  times  has  6,  which  in  most  its  occurrences  in 
that  dialect  seems  to  replace  Ar  i. 

Subtype  la — i,  e>i:  woman,  pipe,  six.  F,  e;  Cr,  O,  Bl,  Ch,  i,  e,  a;  A  i,  some- 
times ei. 

Type  2 — i,  a>a:  heart,  bow,  wood,  dog,  beaver,  turtle,  red,  drink,  two,  three, 
four,  ten.  Mi,  f ;  F,  a;  Cr,  O,  i;  Bl,  Ch,  i  often,  but  not  always;  Na,  a,  oftener 
a;  Ar,  Ba,  GV,  a. 

Subtype  2a — i,  e>e:  hand,  man,  water,  metal.  Mi,f;  F,  e;  Cr,  O,  i;  Bl,  i; 
Ch,  a  back  vowel;  Na,  e,  a;  Ar,  Ba,  GV,  e. 

Type  S — a>a:  daughter,  wolf,  buffalo,  rabbit,  turtle,  fish,  star,  stone,  pipe, 
yellow,  jump,  sleep.  Mi,  back  vowels,  possibly  only  variant  orthographies  for 
a;  F,  Cr,  O,  a;  Bl,  a  or  o;  Ch,  o;  A,  a,  a°.    GV  occasionally  shows  ou. 

Subtype  3a — Same,  except  Bl  i,  A  sometimes  a:  tongue,  neck,  beaver,  dog, 
five,  ten. 

Subtype  36 — Same,  except  Ar,  and  sometimes  other  A  dialects,  open  o  for  a: 
neck,  bear,  black,  sit. 

Type  4 — a>u:  bone,  bear,  skunk,  rabbit,  grass. 


Internal  Phonetic  Correspondences  of  the  Group 

BASA°V^UNENA» 

Within  the  Arapaho  group,  Basa^wunena"  differs  little  from  the 
principal  dialect.  S  or  c  sometimes  appears  for  0,  as  in  tooth,  foot, 
white  man.  This  is  not  a  reversion  to  original  s  which  Arapaho  B  at 
times  represents,  but  a  further  specialization,  since  Arapaho  B  in  these 
words  stands  for  original  t.  On  the  other  hand,  Arapaho  s,  or  e, 
becomes  B  in  Basa^wtinena"  in  the  word  for  nose,  and  x  in  fire  and 
wood.  In  other  stems  Arapaho  ^,  s,  and  c  recur  unchanged  in  Basa"- 
wunena".    T  occasionally  appears  as  tc :  tree,  mouth,  six,  ten. 

All  the  Basa"wunena°  body-part  terms  obtained  from  both  in- 
formants begin  with  the  possessive  prefix  of  the  third  person  hi-, 
instead  of  the  indefinite  wa-,  ba-,  of  Arapaho,  which  elsewhere  in  the 
family  is  represented  by  ma-,  mi. 


5  Fetter,  Mem.  Am.  Anthr.  Ass.,  i,  448,  1907,  denies  that  Cheyenne  properly 
possesses  the  vowels  i  and  u. 


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1916]  Kroeher:  Arapaho  Dialects  81 

GROS  VENTRE 
Groe  Ventre  presents  greater  changes. 

Ar  x>GV  s:  grass,  elk,  bear,  eight,  ten.  GV  evidently  clings  to  the  older 
sound  which  Ar  has  altered. 

Ar  x>GV  $:  wolf,  skunk.    GV  apparently  has  specialized. 

Ar  ^>GV  t:  tongue,  white  man,  dog,  buffalo,  buffalo  herd,  star,  metal,  five, 
** nephew"  (when  not  called  **son"),  father-in-law,  son-in-law,  brother  or  sister- 
in-law  of  opposite  sex.«  Comparison  shows  Gros  Ventre  to  be  the  more  con- 
servative, as  the  Ar  sound  stands  for  original  t. 

Ar  ^>GV  ts,  tc:  foot. 

Ar  t>GV  tc,  ty:  mouth,  hand,  six.  Ba  shows  a  similar  tendency.  In  many 
other  words,  on  the  other  hand,  such  as  ear,  belly,  fire,  mountain  sheep,  black, 
eight,  ten,  both  Ar  and  GV  have  t. 

Ar  s,  c>GV  $:  eye,  neck,  woman,  tobacco,  two,  three,  seven,  eight,  father, 
older  brother,  ** niece''  (when  not  called  ** daughter*'),  daughter-in-law,  wife.« 
In  some  of  these  words  Ar  s  represents  original  s  or  h,  in  others  original  k. 
In  other  instances  Ar  s  of  both  origins  remains  s  in  GV. 

Ar  tc  was  usually  heard  as  either  ts,  or  ty,  nearly  ky,  in  Gros  Ventre. 

Ar  k>GV  ts:  rabbit,  white. 

Ar  i>GV  6:  eye,  sun,  fire. 

NAnWU^INAHANA" 

Na^wu^nahana**  not  only  departs  farthest  from  Arapaho  proper 
but  stands  nearest  of  the  known  Arapaho  dialects  to  Cheyenne  and 
Eastern-Central.  It  presents  enough  peculiarities,  however,  to  be 
more  than  a  mere  transition. 

Na°wu^ahSna°  agrees  with  Cheyenne  in  retaining  m  which  Ara- 
paho has  converted  to  b  and  w;  in  fact  the  dialectic  pronunciation 
of  ** Washington'*  was  given  as  mo^cten.  It  agrees  with  Cheyenne 
and  Ojibwa  in  having  w,  or  b,  in  certain  words  which  possess  n  in 
Arapaho.  Like  these  two  dialects,  it  shows  n  as  the  initial  of  the 
words  for  four  and  five,  where  Arapaho  has  y.  In  all  these  points  it 
departs  from  the  Arapaho  group  of  dialects  in  the  direction  of  the 
Central  and  Cheyenne  groups. 

As  regards  s  and  h  sounds,  correspondences  of  all  three  types,  s>h, 
x>8,  s>8,  are  found  between  Arapaho  and  Na°wuWnahana".  Ara- 
paho X  is  probably  an  h  with  partial  stricture  rather  than  a  true 
palatal  fricative.  In  place  of  it  Na^wu^inahSna**  sometimes  has  s, 
sometimes  a  sound  written  xs.    In  **bear''  h  equals  x. 

Arapaho  0  was  usually  rendered  by  t,  once  or  twice  by  s  and  ts, 
in  the  Na°wu^nahana°  words  obtained.    Three  words  in  this  dialect 


«  Bull.  Am.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  xviii,  9,  1902. 


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82  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

were  recorded  with  $,  but  the  sound  does  not  agree  regularly  with  any 
Arapaho  sound  in  tnese  cases,  and  must  be  considered  doubtful. 

Arapaho  a  was  sometimes  rendered  by  a  in  Na°wuftnahana°,  some- 
times by  a.    Ei  becomes  e. 

The  X  or  h  so  frequently  written  before  t,  ts,  and  s  in  Na°wu^i- 
nahana"  causes  the  suspicion  that  the  informant  was  exaggerating  a 
real  or  imaginary  greater  degree  of  aspiration,  either  of  vowels  or  of 
consonants,  than  he  believed  Arapaho  to  possess.  It  seems  somewhat 
doubtful  whether  full  xt,  xts,  and  xs  were  really  spoken.  Cheyenne, 
however,  shows  a  similar  parasitic  x  or  h  before  t,  as  well  as  before  k. 
Yurok  also  has  xk,  and  Fox  'k. 


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1916 J  Kroeber:  Arapaho  Dialects  83 


PAET  II 
SKETCH  OP  ARAPAHO  PROPER 

Phonetic  Elements 

It  is  fourteen  years  since  the  writer  has  heard  Arapaho  or  Gros 
Ventre.  At  that  time  his  understanding  of  the  nature  and  formation 
of  spoken  sounds  was  vague.  Some  experience  with  and  much  interest 
in  the  two  languages  have,  however,  left  many  distinct  motor  impres- 
sions of  words;  and  a  comparison  of  variant  orthographies  makes 
other  points  clear  which  inability  of  interpretation  rendered  baffling 
at  the  time.    The  following  notes  may  therefore  still  have  some  value. 

Arapaho  vowels  are : 

ti,  u,  open. 

o,  very  open,  often  confused  with  a";  long,  ou. 

a',  a",  nasalized,  possibly  spoken  with  the  tongue  slightly  more  raised  than 
in  the  f  oUowing. 

a,  &. 

A,  less  clear  than  a,  was  often  written,  but  not  regularly,  and  has  been  omitted 
from  the  present  orthography. 

a,  ft,  as  in  American  English  ''bad." 

a°,  ft",  nasalized. 

e,  very  open,  sometimes  resembling  a;  long,  ei. 

i,  i,  open. 

Gros  Ventre  adds  to  these  a  mixed  vowel  o,  sometimes  heard  as 
almost  o,  sometimes  as  ii.  This  is  a  derivative  from  i.  Arapaho  ei 
was  sometimes  heard  with  an  approach  to  the  quality  of  oi. 

The  extreme  openness  of  most  of  these  vowels,  as  well  as  the  pres- 
ence of  a,  are  conspicuous  resemblances  to  the  phonetics  of  Yurok, 
now  that  Dr.  Sapir  has  shown  the  connection. 

Long  vowels  are  more  or  less  doubled.    See  text  m,  note  1. 

Pinal  vowels,  unless  long  or  accented,  are  surd  or  whispered.  The 
nature  of  surd  vowels  was  not  understood  by  the  author  at  the  time 
his  notes  were  recorded ;  they  were  therefore  sometimes  omitted,  some- 
times written  as  sonant,  sometimes  indicated  by  small  superior  char- 
acters. So  far  as  it  could  be  restored  with  what  seemed  reasonable 
safety,  the  latter  orthography  has  been  employed  in  this  paper.  The 
writer  is  strongly  of  the  impression  that  no  word  in  Arapaho  really 
ends  in  a  consonant,  a  final  surd  or  sonant  vowel  being  always  present ; 


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84  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      fVol.  12 

but  proof  or  disproof  of  this  belief  must  be  left  to  future  investigators. 
Gros  Ventre  may  furnish  an  exception  in  the  case  of  final  surd  n; 
but  this  sound  seems  to  owe  its  quality  to  the  surdness  of  the  preceding 
vowel.  In  Gros  Ventre,  also,  the  surdness  of  final  vowels  seems  more 
complete  than  in  Arapaho. 

Vowels  followed  by  a  glottal  stop  ( ')  show  usually,  perhaps  always 
in  distinct  speech,  an  echo.  Naha  and  nahaa,  this,  were  written  indis- 
criminately for  naha 'a,  perhaps  more  exactly  naha'*.  The  orthog- 
raphy naha'  should  be  sufficient. 

Arapaho  consonants : 

k,  t,  and  tc  (English  ch)  are  probably  sonant  during  part  of  the  explosion, 
as  in  so  many  Indian  languages.  The  g  mentioned  by  Dr.  Michelson  was  not 
observed.  When  final,  these  stops  seem  to  be  entirely  surd,  and  their  explosion 
takes  on  a  vowel  color. 

In  Gros  Ventre,  tc  is  replaced  by  two  sounds:  ts,  the  general  equivalent  of 
Arapaho  tc,  and  ty,  which  often  stands  for  Arapaho  t.  The  two  are  however 
not  as  different  in  articulation  and  sound  as  the  orthographies  might  indicate. 
Ty  seems  to  be  a  very  posterior  t;  it  is  sometimes  heard  as  ky,  and  the  Arapaho 
so  render  it  in  trying  to  reproduce  Gros  Ventre. 

b  is  a  full  sonant,  as  would  be  indicated  by  its  origin  from  m,  and  by  its 
alternation,  both  in  Arapaho  and  Gros  Ventre,  with  w. 

w,  y,  and  n  need  no  discussion.  Gros  Ventre  surd  n  has  been  mentioned  in 
connection  with  the  surd  vowels. 

s  and  c  (sh)  are  difficult  to  distinguish.  They  were  very  much  confounded 
by  the  writer,  though  he  is  inclined  to  consider  them  two  sounds. 

X  and  h  were  also  much  confused.  It  seems  that  x  is  really  an  h  with  con- 
siderable stricture,  and  that  h  is  fainter  than  in  English,  so  that  h  and  *  might 
have  been  better  orthographies.  If  this  is  the  case,  the  nature  of  the  two 
sounds  is  the  same  as  in  Yana,  Mohave,  and  other  Californian  languages.^  In 
Gros  Ventre  initial  h  is  particularly  faint,  and  was  often  not  heard.  Final  h 
or  X,  that  is,  h  followed  by  a  surd  vowel,  is  strong  in  both  languages. 

^  is  a  surd  dental  fricative  like  English  th  in  thin. 


Vocalic  changes  are  illustrated  throughout  the  grammatical  and 
textual  material  presented  below,  but  are  very  complex.  Changes 
proceed  from  stem  to  suffix,  from  suffix  to  stem,  and  from  stem  to 
prefix;  they  are  sometimes  in  the  direction  of  assimilation,  at  other 
times  of  contrast.  Consonant  alterations,  especially  between  b  and  w, 
follow  the  vowel  changes.  Here  again  the  similarity  of  process  to 
Yurok  is  marked. 

Consonantal  changes  are  also  somewhat  obscure,  but  it  is  of  note 
that  in  part  at  least  they  follow  the  interdialectic  equivalences  be- 
tween Arapaho  and  Gros  Ventre. 


7  Present  series  of  publications,  x,  62,  1911. 


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1916]  Kroeher:  Arapaho  Dialects  85 

Composition 
The  intricate  subject  of  word  composition  is  too  little  plain  in 
Arapaho  to  allow  of  more  than  a  listing  of  some  of  the  principal 
forms  which  word  compounding  has  been  observed  to  take.  These 
comprise  nouns  containing  two  or  more  elements  used  also  as  inde- 
pendent words,  a  few  words  containing  elements  occurring  only  as 
''prefixes/'  and  a  larger  number  ending  in  elements  which  are  always 
''suffixes."  Verbs  consisting  of  two  verb  stems,  or  of  a  verbal  and 
an  adverbial  stem,  are  more  conveniently  considered  in  connection 
with  the  subsequent  section  treating  of  the  structure  of  the  verb. 

A.  NOUNS  COMPOUNDED  OF  TWO  SEPARATE  WORDS 
Noun  and  noun,  the  first  determining  the  second : 

lia"-n-isei,  *  *  Bed-Woman ' ' 

he^a-bic,  dog  bush 

he^a-w-a"wii,  dog  lodge 

hi-tce 'aox-a^wu,  club  lodge,  club  dance 

bi8a°-n-ox"-ina",  worm  weeds 

waxu-sei-na°,  bear,  women 

nitcihe-hinen,  Kiowa  (nltciye,  river) 

nih 'a"^-ousei,  white-man  woman,  American  woman 

ciciye-n-axu,  snake  weed,  snake  medicine 

Verb  with  a  noun  as  its  object,  which  can  also  be  used  as  a  separate, 
independent  substantive : 

wan-isei-na-hi^,  they  go  after  women,  burrs 

noti-sei-n-a'^t',  looks  for  a  wife 

hi-netci-bi-ni^',  the  giver  of  water,  he  who  owns  the  waters 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  noun  comes  before  as  well  as  after  the 
verbal  element.  It  is  not  certain  how  far  these  examples  are  to  be 
interpreted  as  being  verbs  or  as  being  nouns.  Hence  the  term  *  *  incor- 
poration" is  avoided  for  them. 

Noun  with  following  verb  or  adjective  stem,  the  former  determin- 
ing the  latter,  but  the  entire  word  being  nominal.  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  majority  of  the  forms  are  proper  names.  Compare  the  verbal 
suffix  -ni. 

ha^ati-n-aha^ka",  '*Lime  Crazy*' 
wax-tciyei,  '*Bear  Creeping*'  (cici,  creep) 
wax-kukatani,  *'Bear  Spotted  (Is)*' 
ha»xa-ba'ani,  '^Wolf  Bed  (Is)" 
hisei-waota'ni,  ' '  Woman  Black  (Is)  * ' 
icita°-ku^a",  fire  drill 


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86  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Verb,  adjective,  or  adverb  preceding  and  determining  a  noun : 

h-axa"^-ineiiiiia°,  funny  men,  name  of  a  band  (axaH-^hi,  laughable) 

na"wu-nenit&na°,  south  people 

hawah-a'wu,  many  houses,  town 

ha"w&"-u-n-anaxa 'aha,  praying  young  man 

habat-atf,  large  dog  (he^) 

habat-a*'xe,  large  knife  (wa»xe) 

haba^-inen',  large  man 

habatf-i-waxu,  large  bear  (wox") 

hatcax-a"ze,  small  knife 

hatcac-inen*,  small  man 

kaha'u-cl-nin,  half  a  day 

haseihi-n-axucitana*',  sacrifice  (sun  dance)  paintings 

niha"-n-ouha",  yellow  buffalo  calves  (wou) 

waota»-n-ou,  black  crow  (hou) 

ka'>ku-na''tinei,  "One-eyed  Sioux''  (ka^kou-iya",  patch  on) 

ka"kuiy-a^bi,  scabby  dogs 

haH-etc*,  large  water,  ocean  (netc*,  water) 

citci-na-waxu,  lasting  weed  (cicitci,  stretch) 

tcayataw'-inenita",  untrue  person,  spirit 

^awa^-inenita",  real  person,  human  being 


B.  NOUNS  AND  VERBS  FORMED  WITH  PREFIXES 

wot-i-,  in  fire,  into  fire. 

woti-tan-ehi,  fire-starter 
wot'-tana-tanft-na",  they  burn  it 
ha^ix-woti-^-a",  they  put  him  in  the  fire 
woti-ka*'hu-na',  they  ran  into  the  fire 
woti-tana",  added  wood  to  the  blaze 

sa'a-,  sa'i-,  flat. 

sa'a-baxa*>,  flat  wood,  boards 

sa'ei-tca'a",  "flat"  (straight  tubular)  pipe 

sa'a-hi^,  flat  ones,  bedbugs 

tah'-sa'i-ci,  after  she  lay 

sa'a-beitci^,  flat  metal,  spade 

sa 'i-ce-^na",  roof. 

sa'a-sana^  sliced  meat 

htf^ix-sa 'a-se 'esl,  then  cut  them  into  slices 

sa'i-^-xa-h-u^en*,  I  peg  you  out  flat 

sa'i-^-xa-h-un,  the  crucified  one,  Christ 

sa  'i-ci-w-anaxa  'a,  '  *  Lie-abed-long  Young-man ' ' 

na-,  relating  to  clothing. 

n8,-ta°nei,  take  off  moccasins 
n&-tataha°,  take  off  leggings 
n&-^ibi,  take  off  clothes 
n8,-ya"-un,  dress  t 


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kaka-,  relating  to  mental  action. 

kaka'-u^tca°-na%  thoughts 
kako-xa'anftta**,  think  about  it 


C.  NOUNS  AND  VERBS  FORMED  WITH  SUFFIXES 

-I-n*,  on  measures  of  time.    Compare  the  sufiSx  -in*  on  the  numerals 
11  to  19,  which  is  no  doubt  the  same. 

kahau-ci-ni-n,  half  a  day 

tihi'-8i-ni,  yesterday 

tayu-ni-n',  tatayou-ni-n*,  autumn  (tai,  cold) 

tcatci-n',  winter,  year 

isibi-ta-ni-ni,  bedtime,  time  for  lying  down 

xa"taei-ni-n*,  shortly  after,  sometime  later 

tah*-tcani-bihiya°-ni,  when  it  was  late  in  the  night 

-atit*,  on  names  of  ceremonial  acts.    The  last  part  of  this  suffix  is 
almost  certainly  an  ending  denoting  the  third  person. 

tca'-atit*,  welcoming 

tceita"-h-atit*,  ear  piercing 

tiaxa"-n-atit',  foot  touching,  an  invitation 

tcatceci-n-atit*,  untying,  a  redeeming 

tcaoxu-tcabi-h-atit*,  foe-shooting,  the  settling  of  a  dispute  by  a  game  or  test 

-ah»wa°t*,  dance.    Also  seems  to  contain  the  ending  of  the  third 

person. 

hou-n-ah'wa»t',  crow  dance 
ha8a"-n-ah'wa"t',  rain  dance 
nou-t-ah^waH*,  dancing  out  of  sun  dance 
ka'ei-n-ah'wan*,  round  dance,  ghost  dance 
tawa-n-ah»wa"t*,  cutting  dance 
na^a-n-ah'waH-aniba,  all  of  you  dance  around  me! 

-tana,  bum,  do  to  or  with  fire. 

woti-tana-t*,  he  makes  a  fire 
ha-tana-hei,  put  the  fire  outl 
ha-tana-^-a"t,  he  extinguishes  it 
ha-tana-kana-^ei,  drench  the  fire 
wot*-tana-hokani,  they  burn  it 

-tca-na,  cook ;  probably  from  the  same  radical  as  the  last. 

hi-tcana-at*,  gridiron 

tcabitana-tcana,  fried  bread 

ni-te-teana-^yei-na°,  I  maintain  the  fire  constantly 


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88  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Eihn.      [Vol.  12 

-i-^etca°,  think. 

kaka  '-utfetca"-na",  thoughts 

wax-'^etca",  feel  sad  (wa^sa",  wa^xeit',  bad,  ugly) 

ha'-s-i^etca^-hoku,  she  thought 

bi 'a"h-ou^etca*,  I  truly  thought 

ha"na''-kaxtaw-u^etca''-t*,  then  she  thought  something  was  wrong 

-^bi,  relating  to  clothing.    This  and  the  preceding  three  elements 

seem  verbal  and  could  with  equal  propriety  be  listed  among  the  sufiSxes 

or  stems  of  the  next  section. 

nft-^ibi,  undress 
tci-Wbi-t',  he  dressed 

-a°wu,  water. 

haxeci-n-a''wunetc',  muddy  water 
tcanata"-n-a"wunetc',  blue  or  deep  water 
^■M-a"wu,  high  or  rough  waves 
kaha'-a»wu,  creek 
kakuiy-a^wu,  sticky  liquid,  molasses 

-(i)yei,  tent:  nlna",  nlnan,  tent. 

nayei,  hayei,  hiyei,  my,  your,  her  tent 
yeiyi,  set  up  a  tent 
sis-ayei,  take  down  a  tent 
n-eiha^wu-uyei,  I  have  no  tent 

-akac,  -akay,  tent,  house. 

h&bat-akay',  large  tent 

hatcax-akay',  small  tent 

wa°^ei-n-akay,  wa^^ei-n-akac,  an  old  brown  tent 

waota"na-h-akay-eit',  "Black  Lodge,"  his  tent  is  black 

batabi-h-akac,  old  woman 's  tent 

hi-beitci^ei-n-akay-anit',  who  has  the  metal  tent 

hina-n-akay-a°,  ''main"  pole,  by  which  tent  is  raised 

tcit-akahay-ina"t',  enter-tent-song,  sung  when  water  is  brought  into  the 

peyote  tent 
he^aw-akay-a-ni,  in  the  dog  tent 

'Mh\  fire. 

ban&s-a^a',  a  large  fire 

hlb&xutcHn-a^  when  the  fire  became  low 

kox-k-a^-ya"-na",  kindlings 

-anihi',  pet,  domestic  animal;  perhaps  contains  the  diminutive 

suffix  quoted  below. 

tciy-anehi,  furry,  shaggy  dog 
ta'-anahi-hi',  short -legged  dog 
n-eiha"wu-t-anihi  \  I  have  no  horses 


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-h-a"x^,  plural  -h-a°xabi,  horse,  domestic  animal. 

n-abit-a"xabei-t',  steals  horses  or  cattle 
noti-n-a"xabi,  looks  for  horses 
hiwaxu-ha^xabi,  horses  (hiwax",  elk) 

-a'ei,  head,  hair,  neck.     The   independent  word  for  **hair'*    is 
bei^'a,  for  **his  head"  hakuha". 

ot-a'ei-hi,  comb  hair 

ha"tit-a 'ei-ni^i,  beheaded  ones 

tea  'a  'ei-n-axa  'ana"x",  roundhead-ax 

tcastc-a'ei-niW,  scratched  head 

bab&'-a'ei-n*,  you  are  curly  haired 

na"-ta»-h-icib-a'ei-nei-t',  and  when  he  laid  his  head  down 

ka"k-a'ei-W,  Blackfeet  (with  erect  hair) 

kax-a'ei-sibat',  fractured  his  skull 

ka^-xu-ha^ix-tab-a^ei-ku-^-ana",  then  again  they  cut  off  his  himd 

behic'-tab-a'ei-6^ehi,  all  cut  off  heads 

tab-a'ei-bas-i,  cut-head-wood,  stumps 

tab-a'ei-na",  cut-head,  hornless  saddle 

tcih-tas-a'ei-ci,  lay  your  head  on! 

na"k-a'ei-n,  white-neck,  starched  collar 

tah'-tcih'-ba-tcit-a'ei-xa»-M,  when  they  all  put  their  heads  in 

-i-^,  nose.    The  independent  word  is  beic. 

tab-i^-bic,  cut-nose-bush,  whose  fruit  appears  noseless  like  a  skull 

-ehi,  face. 

kou-ehi,  sweU-face,  mosquito 
kahan-ehi,  hair  burnt  off 
ha*-ni-tabi-eihi-t',  struck  him  in  the  face 

'$s.^6'if  fingers,  hand.    Independent  word,  batcet. 
hahis-^^^-ohu,  wash  hands 

-a"t,  leg.    Independent  word,  wa*a°^. 
hawah-a»t-at',  many  legs,  centipede 

-ixta°,  nail,  claw,  foot. 

was-ixta",  bear  claws,  bear  foot  (wox",  bear) 
ha"8-ixta°-ci8a°,  *  *  Sore-foot-child ' ' 

-ineihi,  tail.    Independent  word,  batihi'i. 

ta"ta"ka-n-ineihi,  raccoon  (twisted,  ringed  tailt) 

taxa^-n -ineihi,  opossum  (smooth  tailf) 

wa^^eini^-ineihi,  bat,  also  Satan  (brown,  or  old,  ugly  tailf) 


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-hi 4,  -ha',  -hahi,  diminutive. 

hanaza'aha,  young  man,  hanaxa'a-hi'l,  boj 
bi&t3&bi(a),  old  woman,  batabi-hahi 
teia%  child,  teia"-n-aba' 
cicitci,  duck,  cicltce-ha" ' 
ta'auahi-hi',  short-legged  dog 


Verbs 

WORD-FORMING  PREFIXES 

Among  the  elements  prefixed  to  verbs,  it  is  clear  that  those  which 
are  essentially  word-forming  come  nearest  the  stem,  while  those  whose 
purpose  is  more  strictly  relational  or  grammatical  on  the  whole  pre- 
cede them.  As  might  be  expected,  no  hard  and  fast  line  can,  however, 
be  drawn  between  the  two  classes. 

Word-forming  prefixes,  in  turn,  are  often  difiicult  to  separate  from 
independent  words.  Thus,  tas-i-  and  tcan-i-  mean  **on"  and  ** under" 
in  verbs;  but  provided  with  the  locative  sufiix  -i-hi*  they  are  adverbs 
which  stand  alone.  Just  so  xou-wu-hu\  ** straight,"  and  xanou,  ** im- 
mediately," are  employed,  in  the  forms  xou-  and  xanou-,  as  prefixes 
to  verbs.  Verbs  themselves,  like  tcasis,  **to  begin,"  and  ^a'^ku-h,  **to 
follow, ' '  are  used  as  prefixes  to  other  verbs. 

Apparently  related  to  this  last  group  are  such  elements  as  ta'-, 
tou-,  **to  stop,"  and  ta,  tou,  *'to  strike,  tie,  or  be  or  come  in  contact 
with";  kax-,  ** through,"  and  kax,  **to  impact  violently";  tca^-i-, 
'*away,  outdoors,"  and  tca^-i,  **to  depart  or  elope";  tcab-i-,  **past, 
alongside,"  and  tcab-i,  **to  travel." 

It  is  true  that  even  when  these  elements  are  themselves  verbs  they 
are  not  used  merely  with  the  personal  suffixes,  but  that  second  elements 
such  as  -hi,  -ni,  -ku,  -xa,  -h  are  added  to  them.  Now  these  added 
elements,  which  are  frequent  on  indubitable  verb  stems,  have  all  been 
listed  as  suffixes.  But  the  possibility  is  by  no  means  precluded  that 
these  ** suffixes,"  whose  significance  usually  is  of  the  vaguest  and  most 
general,  are  themselves  the  real  stem  of  the  verb ;  in  which  case  the 
preceding  element,  which  is  so  much  more  specific  in  meaning  as 
usually  to  carry  the  principal  idea  conveyed  by  the  complete  word, 
would  after  all  be  a  prefix  of  the  adverbial  or  prepositional  type 
familiar  from  so  many  other  languages. 

For  instance,  Oi-  or  ^ei-  occurs  as  the  first  etymological  element  of 
a  considerable  number  of  verbs  or  nouns  in  all  of  which  the  idea  of 
**in"  or  **on"  or  ** projecting  upward"  is  contained.    Thus,  ft-aya". 


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**a  post";  ^ei-ka-h  and  ^ei-wa-n,  **to  carry  on  the  back.''  On  the 
other  hand,  the  frequent  element  -ku  is  ajways  at  the  end  of  words, 
and  often  adds  little  if  anything  to  the  meaning  of  the  stem  to  which 
it  is  attached,  as  in  abita-ku,  *'to  steal,  *^  of  which  the  stem  appears 
without  the  -ku,  but  with  the  same  denotation,  in  abita,  **to  steal,** 
n-abit-Ihi,  ** thief,**  h-abTt-a"xabei-ti,  **he  steals  horses.**  When,  how- 
ever, the  prepositional  ** prefix'*  ^ei-  and  the  vague  ** suffix**  -ku  are 
put  together  they  form  ^ei-ku,  **to  put  in."  In  the  same  manner  the 
combination  of  the  variant  6i-  with  the  suffix  -ok^,  apparently  an 
intransitive  equivalent  of  transitive  -ku,  results  in  Oi-ok^,  **to  sit." 
Which  part  of  ^ei-ku  and  ft-ok^  is  what  in  other  languages  would  be 
called  the  stem?  If  the  first  element  is  a  verb  stem,  then  ^ei-wa-n, 
and  such  parallel  forms  as  tcltt-n-a°ha-b,  **to  enter  in  order  to  see," 
are  clearly  compound  or  double  verbs.  If  the  second  element  is  a 
verb  stem,  then  abita-ku  must  be  a  compound  of  two  verbs. 

That  Arapaho,  like  Shoshonean  and  some  other  American  lan- 
guages, possesses  true  compound  verbs — verbs  functioning  as  such 
and  composed  of  two  verbs — is  thus  probable.  But  either  ^ei-  or  -ku, 
or  both,  and  with  them  a  large  number  of  other  elements,  are  lost 
as  affixes.  And  yet  the  process  involved  in  these  cases  is  not  one  of 
mere  simple  word-compounding,  for  apparently  Oei-  never  occurs  with- 
out a  following  element  and  -ku  never  without  a  preceding  one.  In 
short,  it  would  seem  that  the  Arapaho  verb  is  frequently,  perhaps 
normally,  compounded  of  elements  which  themselves  either  are,  or 
can  become,  verbal  in  force. 

It  is  therefore  possible  that  the  old  terms  **polysyn thesis**  and 
"holophrasis,**  which  in  recent  years  have  been  in  justifiable  disre- 
pute on  account  of  their  vagueness  and  their  implication  of  processes 
totally  foreign  to  other  languages,  may,  when  the  Algonkin,  and  for 
that  matter  the  Iroquoian  and  Caddoan  languages,  are  more  precisely 
understood,  be  rehabilitated  with  a  new  and  exact  meaning.  And 
still  extreme  caution  seems  called  for  in  drawing  any  such  inference. 
** Incorporation**  is  another  linguistic  concept  which  has  been  re- 
established of  late  years ;  and  yet  the  justification  was  brought  about 
only  by  an  abandonmient  of  the  very  traits  which  **  incorporation " 
was  originally  and  long  believed  to  denote.  Bandied  about  without 
standing  for  anything  definite,  the  term  '* incorporation"  was  abused 
until  the  very  existence  of  the  process  was  challenged  and  denied. 
And  when  the  reality  of  the  process  was  finally  demonstrated  the 
proof  resolved  itself  into  the  recognition  of  pronominal  incorporation 


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92  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

as  a  familiar  and  purely  grammatical  method  represented  in  some 
degree  in  most  languages,  and  of  nominal  incorporation  as  a  form 
of  the  equally  familiar  process  of  etymological  word-compounding, 
with  only  the  one  distinctive  feature  that  in  ''incorporating"  lan- 
guages noun  and  verb  can  be  combined  to  form  verbs,  whereas  in 
other  idioms  they  combine  only  into  nouns.  In  short,  the  concept 
of  incorporation  involves  only  a  new  application  of  a  widespread 
and  well  known  linguistic  process,  not  a  new  and  unique  process  itself. 
Or  it  might  be  said  that  incorporating  idioms  differ  from  non-incor- 
porating ones  in  degree,  not  in  kind. 

In  an  analogous  manner  it  seems  possible  that  we  may  ultimately 
be  justified  in  speaking  of  Algonkin  as  truly  ''holophrastic"  or 
''polysynthetic."  But  if  so,  these  terms  will  essentially  be  only  a 
convenient  designation  for  the  linguistic  process  which  allows  two 
verbs  to  consolidate  into  a  single  one. 

In  fine,  the  Algonkin  verb,  so  far  as  Arapaho  is  representative  of 
it,  cannot  in  any  off-hand  manner  be  broken  up  into  the  usual  elements 
of  ** prefix,''  stem,"  and  ** suffix";  and  any  attempt  to  apply  such  a 
procedure  leads  quickly  to  contradictions  and  inconsistencies  that 
reveal  the  arbitrariness  of  the  method. 

The  late  Dr.  William  Jones  reached  exactly  the  same  conclusion 
as  regards  the  Fox  dialect.  He  does  not  separate  ''prefixes"  and 
"suffixes"  from  "stems"  in  the  verb,  but  distinguishes  "initial 
stems,"  "secondary  stems  of  the  first  order,"  and  "secondary  stems 
of  the  second  order,"  making  these  elemiCnts  differ  from  each  other 
not  so  much  in  their  kind  of  meaning  or  in  their  ability  or  inability 
to  appear  as  separate  words,  as  in  their  mere  order  or  position  in  the 
word-compound.  This  classification  is  a  valuable  and  important  de- 
parture from  the  all  too  frequent  method  of  forcing  new  languages 
to  fit  old  schemes  or  the  categories  established  in  other  tongues.  That 
the  principles  of  Algonkin  verb  formation  are  in  some  respects  con- 
spicuously different  from  those  of  Indo-European  Dr.  Jones  has  made 
very  clear ;  and  a  realization  of  this  fact  is  the  first  requisite  to  a  true 
understanding  of  Algonkin  structure. 

At  the  same  time,  while  Dr.  Jones  has  cleared  away  the  brush  and 
brought  us  face  to  face  with  the  trees,  he  has  not  led  us  out  of  the 
forest.  This  task  he  would  no  doubt  have  achieved,  save  for  his 
untimely  death;  but  it  remains  undone.  The  realization  that  the 
Algonkin  foot  does  not  fit  into  the  grammatical  shoe  built  around 
the  Indo-European  last  is,  however  important,  only  a  first  step.    The 


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1916]  Kroeber:  Arapaho  Dialects  93 

next  and  necessary  one  must  be  the  construction  of  a  new  type  of 
shoe  which  upon  suitable  modification  for  individual  cases  will  fit 
both  feet.  Or,  to  drop  the  metaphor,  while  an  application  to  Algonkin 
of  linguistic  categories  derived  from  Indo-European  leads  to  misun- 
derstanding, the  construction  and  use  of  an  entirely  novel  set  of 
categories  for  Algonkin  is  meaningless.  The  types  of  structure  rep- 
resented by  the  two  groups  of  languages  obviously  have  something  in 
common,  however  different  these  common  principles  may  in  reality 
be  from  what  superficial  acquaintance  or  a  one-sided  approach  would 
lead  one  to  suppose.  In  fact,  the  determination  of  what  they  have 
in  common,  involving  as  it  does  the  recognition  of  that  in  which  they 
are  different,  is  an  essential  purpose  of  the  study  of  both ;  for  whether 
our  interest  lies  in  the  problem  of  the  nature  or  that  of  the  origin  of 
human  speech,  a  classification  is  involved.  In  its  widest  ultimate 
aspect  philology  is  concerned  not  with  Algonkin  as  such  nor  with 
Indo-European  as  such  but  with  all  languages.  Only  when  speech 
in  general,  its  scope  and  its  niethods,  are  better  understood  will  both 
Algonkin  and  Indo-European,  or  for  that  matter  any  particular  group 
of  languages,  be  more  truly  understandable.  The  real  aim  of  the 
study  of  any  American  tongue,  as  well  as  the  aim  of  any  deeper 
research  in  Indo-European  philology,  must  therefore  be  the  more 
precise  and  fundamental  determination  of  their  relations  to  all  other 
languages ;  and  this  necessitates  concepts  and  terms  which  are  applic- 
able in  common.  It  is  impossible  to  characterize  the  wolf  in  terms 
of  his  skeleton,  the  elephant  of  his  embryology,  the  whale  of  his  habits, 
and  then  to  construct  a  classification  which  will  help  to  reveal  the 
inherent  nature,  the  development,  or  the  origin  of  the  animal  king- 
dom. True  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Jones's  work  will  be  paid, 
not  by  a  standing  still  where  his  labors  were  unfortunately  broken 
off  when  chiefly  their  negative  or  destructive  side  had  been  completed, 
but  by  carrying  his  efforts  and  formulations  on  through  a  constructive 
phase  to  a  point,  denied  to  him  by  time,  at  which  Algonkin  will  once 
more  appear  in  a  definite  relation  to  human  speech  as  a  whole. 

What  this  relation  will  be  the  writer  does  not  have  knowledge  or 
understanding  enough  of  any  Algonkin  language  to  say.  But  until 
the  science  of  language  is  revolutionized  by  entirely  new  methods  of 
thinking  about  it  there  seem  to  be  only  three  possible  descriptions  of 
the  Algonkin  verb  that  have  a  usable  meaning. 

The  first  interpretation  is  that  of  the  verb  as  the  result  of  a  process 
of  composition  similar  to  that  of  noun  composition,  but  extended  in 


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94  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

Algonkin  also  to  verbs.  This  essentially  is  the  conclusion  of  Dr. 
Jones ;  and  it  is  also  the  inference  of  the  present  writer.  But  it  can- 
not be  too  clearly  recognized  that  even  if  this  explanation  is  in  sub- 
stance the  correct  one  we  do  not  yet  really  know  anything  as  to  the 
rules  and  conditions  and  limitations  of  this  verb-compounding. 

The  second  interpretation  of  the  Algonkin  verb  is  that  of  a  stem 
followed  by  a  greater  or  less  number  of  suflSxes.  In  this  case  the 
'* initial  stem''  of  Dr.  Jones  would  be  the  only  true  stem,  his  ** sec- 
ondary stems"  the  suffixes.  In  support  of  this  explanation  is  the 
fact  that  the  initial  elements  of  verbs  come  nearest  to  having  the 
power  of  forming  words  by  themselves,  in  both  Arapaho  and  Fox: 
and  the  statement  of  Dr.  Jones®  that  on  the  whole  initial  stems  more 
definitely  perform  the  function  of  verbs.  If  this  view  is  correct,  the 
type  of  Arapaho  verb-building  would  be  somewhat  analogous  to  that 
of  Eskimo. 

The  third  possible  interpretation  is  also  that  of  a  verb  stem  with 
affixes,  the  word-forming  ones,  however,  being  chiefly  or  wholly  pre- 
fixes, the  stem  coming  last,  except  for  grammatical  endings. 

In  favor  of  this  last  view  is  the  fact  that  practically  all  the 
** secondary  stems  of  the  second  order''  given  by  Dr.  Jones  are  nat- 
urally translated  by  words  which  in  most  other  languages  are  verbs, 
whereas  substantially  all  his  cited  ** initial  stems"  and  ** secondary 
stems  of  the  first  order"  can  actually  be  rendered,  without  much  dis- 
tortion, as  adverbs,  nouns,  auxiliary  verbs,  or  modal  particles.  It  is 
not  certain  how  far  Dr.  Jones's  examples  of  each  class  are  fully  rep- 
resentative of  that  class,  his  lists  obviously  aiming  at  well  translated 
instances  rather  than  at  fullness ;  but  it  is  clear  that  his  own  presen- 
tation of  evidence  leaves  the  interpretation  of  the  **  secondary  stems 
of  the  second  order"  as  being  true  verb  stems  defined  by  prefixes,  in 
a  position  where  it  cannot  be  summarily  dismissed. 

Thus  the  "secondary  stems  of  the  second  order**  listed  by  Dr.  Jones»  are 
most  simply  rendered  as  follows:  ega,  dance;  tcim  (Arapaho  tcawou),  swim; 
isa,  fly;  isahd,  jump;  ota,  crawl;  usa  (Arapaho  is-a,  us-a),  walk;  gapa  (Arapaho 
M-a"ku),  stand;  paho  (Arapaho  i-ka^-hu),  run;  6,  carry  on  back;  hogo,  swim, 
convey  by  water;  pugo,  float.  Initial  stems  cited^o  are:  ki,  about;  pem(i),  past, 
alongside,  incipiently;  pya,  hither;  pi(t),  into;  cosk,  straightly,  smoothly;  8ag(i), 
projecting,  holding;  mik,  assiduously;  kog,  wetly,  with  water;  kas(i),  by  wiping; 
pa8(i),  suddenly,  hotly;  wi,  with;  ta(wi),  painfully;  nag(i),  stop;  pon(i),  cease; 


8  Some  Principles  of  Algonquian  Word-formation,  American  Anthropologist, 
n.  s.,  VI,  401,  1904. 

9  Op,  cit,,  394. 

10  p.  388. 


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wap(i),  begin;  iLask(i),  can,  be  able;  kic(i),  completely;  nota  (pp.  394,  404), 
be  unable;  pag  (pp.  393,  403,  Arapaho  kax),  by  striking,  with  impact.  Second- 
ary stems  of  the  first  order^^  are  a'kw,  wood,  resisting;  nag,  hole;  tag,  color; 
nagu,  appearance;  ita,  feel;  ane,  think;  kam,  expanse;  and  the  following  body 
part  stems,  used  objectively  or  adverbially  (in  translation)  to  the  verbal  element 
in  the  verb  complex:  ca,  ear;  kum,  nose;  tun,  mouth;  wina,  horn;  <kwa,  head, 
hair,  nape;  tea,  belly. 

Compare  also  wap-usa-w*,  **he  begins  to  walk"  (p.  386)  =*'incipiently  he 
walks"  (or  "he  begins  in  his  walk"f);  wapi-pya-tci-tetep-usa-w*,  he  begins  to 
walk  approaching  in  a  circle  ==** incipiently  hither  circularly  he  walks"  (or 
**he  begins  his  hither  circular  walk"f);  pagi-kuma-cin-w%  '*he  bumped  his 
nose"  (p.  393)=** with  impact  his  nose  he  struck"  (or  **he  struck  his  nose 
against  it"?);  tawi-cin-w*,  **he  fell  and  hurt  himself"  (p.  386)  =* 'painfully 
he  struck"  (or  **he  hurt  himself  against  it,  he  hurt  himself  by  impact"?); 
tiiwe-'kwa-ho-w*,  "he  has  a  headache"  (p.  394)  =  "painfully  as  to  his  head 
he  is"  (or  **he  hurts  as  to  his  head"?);  pag-a'kwi-tuna-cin-w%  "he  bumps  his 
mouth"  (p.  403)=  "with  impact  against  something  resisting  his  mouth  he 
struck"  (or  **he  struck  against  something  resisting  with  his  mouth  so  as  to  be 
stopped"?).  Translating  these  Algonkin  words  as  compound  verbs  gives  a 
third  set  of  renditions,  which  are  perhaps  the  truest,  but,  owing  to  Indo- 
European  idiom,  almost  unintelligible  in  English:  **he  begin -walks, "  **he 
begin-hither-around-walks, "  **he  hit-nose-strikes,"  "he  hurt-strikes,"  "he 
hurts-head,"  "he  hit-hard-mouth-strikes." 

The  posthumous  and  fuller  grammatical  sketch  of  Fox  by  Dr. 
Jones  in  the  Handbook  of  American  Indian  Languages^^  gives  some 
other  forms,  to  which  the  reviser,  Dr.  Michelson,  has  added  a  hundred 
odd  further  initial  stems  taken  from  the  Fox  Texts  of  Dr.  Jones. 
But  this  increased  material  does  not  alter  the  conclusion  which  can 
be  drawn  from  Dr.  Jones's  earlier  work  as  here  summarized.  The 
secondary  stems  of  the  first  order  are  clearly  not  the  principal  stems 
of  the  verb-complexes.  The  ** initial  stems"  may  be  verbs.  If  they 
are,  the  *' secondary  stems  of  the  second  order'*  are  either  suffixes  or 
other  verbs  compounded  with  the  ** initial  stems.''  That  they  are 
suffixes  does  not  seem  likely  from  the  character  of  the  examples  given. 
If  their  number  is  substantially  limited  to  those  quoted,  their  suffix 
nature  might  be  conceived  of;  but  if  their  number  is  indefinitely 
large  they  cannot  well  be  anything  but  true  verb  stems.  The  evidence 
of  quantity,  then,  becomes  as  decisive  on  this  point  as  that  of  quality ; 
and  this  evidence  must  be  awaited  with  interest  from  Dr.  Michelson 
or  some  other  authority  competent  to  carry  on  Dr.  Jones's  analysis. 
Meanwhile  the  strong  probability  is  that  if  the  ** initial  stems"  are 
truly  verbal  in  nature  the  normal  Fox  verb  is  a  compound  binary 


11  P.  391. 

12  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  BulL  40,  735-873,  1911. 


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verb.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  ** initial  stems"  are  essentially  ad- 
verbial, prepositional,  or  modal  in  quality,  they  deserve  only  to  be 
ranked  as  prefixes,  even  if  some  of  them  may  have  reached  this  con- 
dition by  the  way  of  once  having  been  subsidiary  verbs ;  and  in  that 
case  Fox,  and  with  it  no  doubt  Algonkin  in  general,  possesses  verbs 
that  are  built  up  around  a  kernel  of  a  normal  verbal  stem  or  root,  as 
in  most  languages,  and  these  stems  or  roots  are  the  **  secondary  stems 
of  the  second  order." 

The  problem  has  a  somewhat  different  aspect  in  Fox  and  Arapaho 
because  Dr.  Jones  and  Dr.  Michelson  have  started  their  analysis  of 
the  verb  from  the  concept  of  three  kinds  of  stems,  while  the  present 
treatment  proceeds,  though  with  full  realization  of  the  difficulties 
involved,  from  the  more  conservative  premises  of  prefix,  stem,  and 
sufiix.  But  Arapaho  is  so  obviously  Algonkin  in  its  whole  plan  of 
expression  and  word-building  that  the  fundamental  problem  is  un- 
doubtedly identical  in  the  two  languages.^' 

One  suggestion  to  future  laborers  in  this  field  may  not  be  amiss. 
It  is  the  dropping  of  the  term  ** secondary  stems,"  at  least  as  applied 
to  those  **of  the  second  order."  If  these  '* secondary  stems"  are 
suffixes,  nothing  will  be  gained  by  denominating  them  stems.  If  they 
are  stems,  that  is,  true  verbal  elemlents,  they  are  either  the  real  stem 
of  the  entire  verb  or  at  least  one  of  a  pair  of  stems,  and  in  the  latter 
case  probably  the  ruling  and  ** determined"  one  of  the  pair.  In  that 
event  the  designation  ** secondary"  will  be  misleading.  Tentatively 
the  name  ** final  stems,"  which  parallels  that  of  ** initial  stems"  with- 
out any  implication  of  primacy  or  dominance,  is  proposed. 

In  short,  the  undetermined  and,  in  the  writer's  mind,  fundamental 
problem  of  Arapaho,  Fox,  and  Algonkin  in  general  is  whether  these 
languages  say  *  *  he  enter-looks, "  *  *  he  enters  lookingly ,  "or  *  *  enteringly 
he  looks. ' '  The  first  solution  seems  indicated ;  if  it  proves  fallacious, 
the  third  appears  more  likely  to  be  correct  than  the  second.  In  either 
the  probable  first  or  third  event,  however,  it  can  be  said  that  the  last 
element  comes  nearest  to  being  the  principal  verb  stem  of  the  complex 
word. 

The  thorough  difficulty  of  judging  this  case  in  the  present  state 
of  knowledge  may  be  illustrated  by  the  English  words  ** contend," 


13  It  is  a  matter  of  great  satisfaction  to  the  author  that  since  the  preceding 
passages  were  written,  two  statements  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Michelson  (Am. 
Anthrop.,  n.  s.,  xv,  475,  693,  1913)  have  been  published  which  evince  a  very 
similar  realization  of  the  more  important  aspects  of  this  intricate  problem. 
Br.  Michelson 's  knowledge  of  Algonkin  is  much  the  greater;  that  he  should 
have  come  to  nearly  the  same  conclusions  is  therefore  gratifyingly  corroborative. 


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1916]  Kroeher:  Arapaho  Dialects  97 

** contest/'  ** conflict/'  '* combat,"  ** compete."  If  English  were  as 
little  understood  in  its  basic  structure  and  history  as  Algonkin,  it 
would  be  a  fair  inference  that  **con-"  in  these  words  denoted  the 
verbal  idea  of  ** struggle,  oppose,  fight,"  and  that  the  second  syllables 
were  adverbially  modifying  suffixes  of  this  stem.  That  **-flict"  and 
**-pete"  do  not  occur  independently,  and  **tend"  and  **test"  when 
separate  words  have  an  entirely  different  meaning  from  their  com- 
pound forms,  would  only  incline  to  confirm  the  conjecture.  Obviously 
it  would  require  a  wealth  of  accurately  understood  and  exactly  ana- 
lyzable  lexical  material  before  the  true  nature  of  the  elements  of  these 
words  and  their  strict  parallelism  to  the  constituents  of  ** offset," 
** forbid,"  or  ** withdraw"  became  clear.  This  understanding  of 
Algonkin  we  do  not  yet  possess;  and  therefore,  tempting  though  it 
may  seem  to  explain  its  verb  as  compounded  of  two  verbal  elements, 
or  of  a  nominal  or  adverbial  with  a  verbal  element,  it  is  wiser  to 
proceed  with  caution.  Accordingly,  for  purposes  of  presentation,  the 
old  concepts  of  stem,  prefix,  and  suflSx  have  been  retained,  subject  to 
the  qualifications  discussed,  as  the  categories  underlying  the  following 
classification  of  Arapaho  verb  elements. 


A.  Prefixes  Used  Also  as  Independent,  Separate  Words,  or  Made  Into  Verbs 
BY  the  Addition  op  an  XJnspecific,  Merely  Verbifying  Suffix 

tcasis-,  begin. 

tcasis-iDa^ei,  go  off  to  hunt 
tcesis-ta-ka^hu,  begin  to  flee 
tce^^-ouhu,  begin  to  climb 

naye-,  try. 

tah*-ba-nayei-^',  when  all  tried 
nayikaxk-atiwa'ou,  tried  to  roll  through 
naye-tawa-h-un',  try  to  chop  it  down! 

^°k"-,  following,  behind. 

^»ku-h,  tfana^ku-h,  follow 
^"ku-na"-U88,,  come  back 
^"(k)-ka°outa",  follow  making  dust 

ta'-,  tana-',  tou-,  tanou-,  stop,  cease.    The  element  occurs  also  as 
an  independent  verb  or  characteristic  first  part  of  the  verb  in  a 


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98  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

number  of  words  which  denote  contact,  impact,  or  the  meeting  of  an 

obstacle  by  a  motion. 

ta^-usa,  come  and  stop 

tana'-us&,  stop  when  going 

kou-ta'-a"-ba-,  lie  abed  long  (a",  bed) 

ha"tni-taux-tca-i-niM,  stopping  place 

ha-tou-n-a°wu-n-e^,  I  hold  it  for  you 

tanou-ku-hu^,  three  first  poles  erected  to  hold  up  the  remainder  of  the  tent 

ni-tou-na",  I  strike 

tou-ninat*,  coup,  counting  strokes 

tou-ku-hu-ta-ni-na",  they  are  tied  up  for 

tou-ku-hu-i-n-a"wu,  tying-up  house,  jail 

tou-tci-hit',  belt 

ta'a-xa-n-e^en',  I  kick  you 

ta"-ya"-b-e^en',  I  bite  you 

taa-w-a°ti,  taa-b-a",  struck  him 

ta-wa-hei-na",  I  chop  wood 

ha"t-ta-wa-h-at',  he  will  cut  down  the  tree 

nitawu-tou,  ** Striking  First,"  a  name 

kax-  seems  to  imply  violent  impact  or  penetration.     Compare  Fox 

pag-. 

kax -ka 'ana",  it  went  through 

kax-k-oti-wa",  rolled  through 

kah-a'ei-si-ba-t',  fractured  his  skuH 

kax-aei-t*,  striking 

kaxa'-axuxa",  wedge 

kaxa'-atS  there  was  a  fissure 

kax-ouhu,  chipped  off,  shot  off 

kaxa'-a"-hak",  shoots  him 

kox-k"^aha»-na",  ''breastpins'*  of  tent 

kox-k-'^a-ya^-na",  kindlings  (''through  flame  starts'*!) 

kox-ta-wu-h,  touch,  do  to,  copulate 

tcab-i-,  passing,  past,  on,  continuing. 

tcab-i-hi-t',  travels 

tcab-i-sa,  pass  on,  pass  by,  be  on  way,  walk,  go  continually 

tcab-i-ka"hu,  pass,  come  by 

tcab-i-xa"t*,  walks 

tcab-i-xa-h-e^en',  I  carry  you 

tcit-,  tcl^-i-,  in,  into,  entering. 

tcit-ei,  enter,  go  indoors 

tciM-n-a"ha-b,  go  in  to  see 

tciM-x-tca-hi,  run  inside,  go  into 

tcit-a-n-a",  takes  him  in 

tcit-awa°t',  dancing  in 

tcit-a"-bixut*,  undershirt,  inner  garment 

tcit-a°wu,  indoors 


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1916]  Kroeher:  Arapaho  Dialects  99 


B.  Prefixes  Used  Also  as  Independent,  Separate  Adverbs,  or  Similar  Parts 

OP  Speech 

h-ixtc-i-,  up. 

hixtc-aba,  up,  above 

he-tci '-ixtci-ku-8-i-ba,  throw  me  up 

h-ixte-is,  go  up 

ha°^ab-i-,  to,  reaching  to,  before,  ahead. 

ha"tf&b*,  toward 
ha°^b-i-nou-isa,  go  there 
ha"^b-i-na-sa,  arrive 
t-a"^b-i-na-u8Ji,  when  arrives 
ha"tf&'-ei-8a"-t',  before  him 
ha»^*-ei-ta",  in  front 
ha^aw-unena",  head  men 
ha^b-asei,  chief  woman 
hatowa-n-axu,  **  chief -medicine, "  a  root 

tean-i-,  far,  downj  headlong. 

tcan-ihi',  under 

tcan-isei,  give  birth  to,  "drop*' 

tcan-isi-b-eit',  threw  hira  off 

tcan-isa,  fall  off,  go  down,  go  far 

tcan-i-xouka",  flew  down 

tcen-i-ta-ka»hu,  flee  far 

tah*-tcani-bihi 'iya"-ni,  when  it  was  far  into  the  night 

tcen-anaba'a-t',  plunged  headlong 


tas-,  tax-,  on,  at  the  top. 

tas-ihi',  on  top  of,  on,  at  the  top 
ha"i-tas-a-n-a",  then  he  put  it  on 
ta"s-isa"-M,  mounted  (horse) 
tax-oha^,  put  hands  on 
hih'-ta"x-oku-ta-n',  which  he  rode 
t&si  ninana,  top  of  a  tent 
tasiha"  tea  ^ota^ya",  on  top  of  the  hill 
tasihi'  a"bil,  on  the  bed 


a°xu-,  across. 

h-a*x-ana",  across  the  stream 
a"xu-n-oti-wa",  rolled  across 
h-a»xu-x-a»t*,  the  crossing 
h-i"xu-iy-ei-n,  sew 
tcih*-a"xu-s,  come  across! 


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100  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

^i-,  ^ei-,  on,  upon.    Perhaps  more  properly  ^i'-,  ^ei'-. 
M-ok",  sit,  live 
M-a°k",  stand 
^i-ana,  put,  place 
^i-a-ya°,  post,  monument 
^ei-ku-^,  put  in 

^ei-ka-h-a",  carries  on  the  back 
^ei-wa-n-6hu,  carrying  on  the  back 

has-,  ha°s-i-,  hard,  very,  fast,  violently. 

hana",  hanou,  hard 

ha'na'ei,  ha'na'ou,  fast,  very  fast 

hasei-yei-hi^e-t',  very  good 

ha°8i-i-ka"hu,  run  hard,  swiftly 

ha8a*a°-t',  anesa'a",  swift 

hasa  V-n-oti',  '*  fast-wheel, '  *  train 

haseisen',  wind 

hasa°-netc',  rain 

has-a"ha-b-eti-t',  looking  at  oneself 

ha8-a"ha-^ana",  sights 

(h)a8i-ba",  a  sore 

ha"s-ixta"-cisa°,  **  Sore-foot-child, "  a  name 

asi-na-ta,  hungers  for  it 

asi-na-n-at',  anger 

asi-ni-h,  to  make  angry 

t-as-owa-bi-x-t',  when  he  became  sick 

nou-,  na"a-,  naha-,  out,  around,  down. 
na"u-hu',  down 
na°a-hi,  go  out,  come  out 
na"a-sa,  walk  about 
na"a-ka"hu,  run  around 
nou-ta-n-in,  bring  her  out! 
nou-san,  drive  out 

nou-t-ahawa"t',  dancing  out,  a  ceremony 
nou-^ta"a",  went  out  in  file 
nohu-ku-^,  lift  up,  carry 
na"a-n-ahawa"t-ani-ba,  dance  around  me  I 

a"wu-,  !na"wu-,  hani-,  down,  falling, 
ha^wu*,  hanawu',  down 
n-a-^wu-hu  \  south 
n-a^wu-ba 'ei,  southern  berries 
tcih'-a"wu-ina»,  let  it  come  down! 

tah'-na^sou-n-a^wn'-nihi-sa-t*,  while  he  traveled  down -stream 
h-a^wui-nihihi,  down-stream 
t-a"wu-n-iho-a",  floating  down-stream 
ina"wu-8a"-hak",  dived,  went  under  water 
h-ina°wu-a",  it  sank 
hani-naa",  fall 
hani-ku-^a°,  throw  down 


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1916]  Kroeher:  Arapaho  Dialects  101 

kou-,  kanou-,  long,  far. 

kana"-a"ya",  ** oblong,"  extended 
ka"a°n-ihi',  slowly 

kanou-ci-bI-tfi-hi-na°,  I  eat  a  long  time 
kou-^-inat-it',  long  life 
kou-ta '-a"-ba-,  lie  abed  long 
kou-^hi',  some  time  later 
kanou-ta'ta",  long 

XOU-,  xanou-,  straight. 

xanou,  xaxanou,  straightway,  immediately 

xouwu,  xouw-uhu',  straight,  straight  in 

xoub-a",  straight 

xanoub-i-x-t',  straight 

tani-xoub-ei,  a  very  straight  one 

xoawu-xati,  take  this  straight 

xana^-ku-ba,  ''straight  (across)  red,"  name  of  a  design 

xouw-usS,  go  straight 

tceib-i,  aside,  crookedly. 

tceib',  crooked 

tceib-a",  crooked  (cf.  xouba",  straight) 

tceib-i-s,  step  aside  t 

tceib-i-sa-na",  I  get  out  of  the  way 

tceib-i-tcena 'a",  jumped  aside 

tca^-i-,  away,  off. 

tc&W,  outdoors 
tca^-i-a°t*,  he  elopes 
tce^-i-ka"hu,  escape,  start  off,  leave 
tce^-eia"t',  goes,  departs 
tcetf-akouuhu,  go  farther  up 
tca^-i-^"ci-b-eit*,  blew  him  away 

wata°-,  into  the  camp  circle. 

wata"-ni',  into  a  camp 

wata^-s",  go  into  the  camp  circle 

wata»-ka"hu,  go  (run?)  to  camp 

ci-,  cix-,  seci^-,  senix-,  into  water,  in  the  water. 

sec'^-a'wu,  at  the  bank,  near  the  river 

hit*  tcih-cTh-ku-^-i,  throw  me  into  the  water  here! 

hana»-cih-ku-^-a"t',  then  he  threw  him  into  the  water 

seniex-tcahit',  jumps  in  the  water 

na'-tci-ci-eisa",  come  right  into  the  water! 

hana»-ni8a»-ci-eisa°-^,  then  both  entered  the  water 

wa"-ci-e-b,  take  into  the  water 


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102  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

nanab-,  north. 

nanaba'y  nanabP,  north 
nanab -isft-t',  goes  north 

nis-bis-,  east ;  nis-na-,  west, 
nis-bis-isft,  go  east 
nis-na-isft,  go  west 

naxk"-n-,  with,  also. 

naxku-hu*,  with,  together,  including,  also 
ha^-ba-naxku-ha",  you  might  be  included 
nanaxku-ni-hi-tawa,  I  include  it 
naxku-n-isa,  travel  with 
haH-naxk-a-tce^ei-aH',  he  will  go  away  with  him 

nas-,  hanas-,  thus;  compare  the  demonstratives  na-ha',  hi-na. 
n&s-inat-it',  thus  lived  again 
nfts-it-a^t',  did  accordingly 
hanfts-i^etca^-tana-hok",  thought  of  him  thus 

taba-,  just  then,  begin  to. 

t&ba,  then!  lo!  just  then!  being  about  to,  when 
t&ba-ban&,  begin  to  drink 
tS.ba-tawa-h-&t',  begins  to  chop  down 

ka"x"-,  ka"xa"-,  again,  once  more. 

ka"x",  ka"xu,  ka"xa"i,  again,  another  time,  then  at  last 

ka"xa"ika^e-n-a,  again  lost  him 

ka'*xa'>i-naxaw°,  again  was  near 

ka°-xa°i-ane^eia-n-a,  once  more  he  struck  one  down  by  kicking 

hana'ut*-,  hana'a-,  all,  completely,  enough,  suflSciently,  until, 
hanaut'  bitcixa"  tcan-isei,  all  leaves  are  falling 
ha"ix-hana 'uta-ya",  now  was  complete 
hana'ut'-ha'>ix-ya(?ani-sibihei,  until  he  had  killed  (all)  five 
hana'ut'-haH-icite-n-a",  indeed  I  will  catch  it 
hana'ut'-hah'-naha-'ou,  until  I  killed  them  all 

ba-,  behi-,  behic-,  babanei-,  all. 

bahihi',  all,  everyone,  anybody,  completely 
bft-hi-nihani-x-t',  the  owner  of  all 
b&-tani-ci-ni^,  all  have  a  hole  cut 
ba-hi-niha"-you,  all  are  yellow 
ba-hi-yeiya"-una"-^i,  all  have  four  arrows 
ba-h-axa°-at',  shot  all 

ha°^ei-,  all,  all  who. 

ha"^ei,  all.    See  Text  i,  note  5 
ha^^ei-hi^eti-ni,  all  that  were  good 
ha°^ei-wana-uneiti-niW,  all  who  still  lived 


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1916]  Kroeber:  Arapaho  Dialects  103 

C.  Prefixes  Not  Yet  Found  as  Independent  Parts  of  Speech 

1.  Apparently  Verbal — 

wan-,  go  to,  go  for,  go  after. 

hana"-wan-bi-n-aH*,  then  he  went  to  give  it  to  him 
wan-i-bi,  go  to  eat 
ni-wa"-ka"huwa,  I  went  and  cut 
wan-ote-n,  go  and  gather 
wan-i-tcena'a»,  go  in  order  to  jump 
wan-isei-na-hitfi,  burrs,  *  *  they  who  go  after  women '  * 

nabi-,  nawu-,  make  a  motion  to,  move  forward, 
nabi-x-tea-hi^,  made  a  motion  forward 
tcena-naba'-a-t^  plunged  headlong 

nis-,  to,  tied  to. 

nis-axaya*,  wire  fence 

nls-i-a^eiyo,  trousers,  "tied  leggings" 

na-nis-a^ku-hu-ni^,  the  tied  ones 

na'-,  to,  arriving. 

na'-usSl,  na"-u8,  arrive,  come  to 

cit-,  continue. 

cit-is&,  journey,  go  on,  keep  going 

ha^a'a"-,  truly,  surely,  indeed,  necessarUy. 

ha^'a"-biti,  indeed  I  shall  be  revenged 
ha^'a°-h'a"-t-icite-n-a»,  surely  I  shall  catch  him 
ha^a  V-ha^ni 'itcei,  it  must  be  eatable 

2.  Apparently  Adverbial,  Referring  to  Manner — 

hinix-,  hanux-,  very. 

hinix-itfeti,  very  good 

hanux-utfeti-n,  very  good 

hin-tca-b-it',  water-monster  ('*  very-shooter "f) 

hinix-hanixt*,  very  tall 

ni'-,  good,  well, 
ni  '-bi-ni,  good  to  eat 
ni'-ina"ei,  good  hunting 
ni'-bfiha",  smell  good 
ni*-teei,  eatable 
ni*-tci"-t',  is  sweet 
ni '-owa-be-hi-na",  I  feel  well 
ni-eh-t*,  is  fine-looking 


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104  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Elhn.      \  Vol   I 'J 

tani-,  indeed,  very,  skillfully. 

tani-xoub-ei,  very  straight  one 
nlh'-tani-tca-inati-hok",  skillfully  he  lived  again 

ina-,  fast,  more  swiftly. 

nih'-in&-8a-t',  quickened  his  pace 
h-in&-nawa,  without  delay 

nani-,  nani-,  constantly. 

nani-bani,  drink  frequently 

neni-nfi"ku-t*,  blind 

ni-neni-s-ei-ka»hu-t*,  mole  (**who  constantly  runs**f) 

in-i-,  aimlessly,  randomly,  about. 

in-i-sa,  wander,  go  aimlessly,  **bum  around" 
in-i-kuhi,  was  chased  about 
in-i^-i-ka"hu,  went  around 
in-i-ta^-ka"hu-h-eit',  dragged  him  along 


3.  Apparently  Adverbialf  Referring  to  Space — 

tea-,  tci-,  back,  again,  retumiug. 

tca'-isft,  tci'-isft,  tci-8&,  go  back 
tca-yi-ka"hu,  run  back 
tca"-w-oti-wa»,  roUed  back 
tca-naih-a»-t*,  "again  kiUing,"  a  place 

ly-i-,  near. 

h-iy-i-sft,  come  near,  approach 
i-ha"-n,  iyi-ha*»-n,  go  after,  pursue 

a"y-,  in  front. 

a°y-ei-ka"hu,  go  ahead 

tci-bixa°-,  out  of  the  woods,  into  the  open. 
tci-bixfi»-u-ka%  came  running  out  of  the  timber 

bis*-,  up,  out. 

ha"ix-bi8*-tcena'a»,  sprang  up 


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1916]  Kroeher:  Arapaho  Dialects  105 


WORD-FORMING  SUFFIXES 

The  etymological  ** suffixes"  of  Arapaho  verbs  are  not  only  less 
numerous  than  the  ** prefixes'*  but  far  less  concrete  and  specific,  to 
the  degree  of  being  almost  grammatical.  They  comprise  transitives, 
intransitives,  causatives  and  similar  derivatives  of  wide  applicability 
but  general  meaning. 

-ni,  to  be,  to  have ;  verb- forming. 

hiha^w-aha 'aiiaka"-ni-n,  there  are  no  stones 
hit-aka^xu-i-ni-t',  he  who  has  tentpoles 
n-eiha»wu-uta-ni-hi,  I  have  no  horses 
n-itfe-ti-ni-n,  that  which  is  good 
hinana 'ei-ni-na",  I  am  an  Arapaho 
inenita-ni-n*,  you  would  be  weU,  living 
bahaei-ahe-ni-t',  becomes  an  old  man 
ni'-bi-ni,  good  to  eat 
natci-ni,  wet  (netc*,  water) 

hi-netci-bi-ni-^',  the  water-giver,  owner  of  waters 
niha"-ni-x-t*,  is  yellow  (niha"-ya'*) 
tea  'otaya-ni-na",  I  am  hump  backed 
nana-ni-na°,  I,  it  is  I 

-Oiy  intransitive. 

n&'a-tfi-x-t,  resembled  (n&'a-si,  thus) 
bi-^-,  eat  (bin,  eat  something,  bi-tf',  food) 
ana"-^-,  be  different  in  appearance 

-hi,  intransitive. 

h-i^ei-hi-naxk",  if  you  are  good 
bihi'i-hi-n,  be  a  deer 
bani-^-hi-na»,  I  eat 
kanane-hi-na",  I  am  a  coward 
nanaba-hi-t*,  what  is  sacred 
hi^"wu-tai-hi-na»,  truly  I  am  cold 

-hu,  intransitive 

i-ka"-hu,  run 
ta-ka"-hu,  flee 
na-ka"-hu,  come,  bring 
ni-8a"ku-hu-^,  were  tied 
nitou-hu-t*,  shouts 
teabixa»-hu-t*,  flies 
yana-hu-t*,  pledger,  he  who  vows 
tca'otaya-hu-t*,  hump  backed 


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106  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

-awui-ni,  become,  begin,  be. 

t-intcabit-awui-ni-t',  he  became  a  water-monster 
ka"na"-n-awui-ni-M,  they  opened  it 
bani-awui-n*,  spring  (bani-tce,  summer) 

-owa,  feel ;  bodily  condition. 

ni '-owa-be-hi-na",  I  feel  sick 
has-owa-,  sick 

-si,  be  in  the  condition  of. 

isi-si,  be  lying 

ba-tani-si-ni-^,  all  have  a  hole  cut 
n&'a-si,  n&'ei-si,  thus,  thus  it  is 
kah-a'ei-si-ba-t',  fractured  his  head 

-ba-n,  -wa-n,  cause,  make,  bring  about. 

t-aseinou-ba-na",  I  get  meat 

axa"-ba,  made  laugh 

axa-ba",  axa-wu,  fed  them,  give  me  food! 

wazu-ba-,  to  have  medicine 

oti-wa",  roll  (hoti',  wheel) 

-h,  causative.  See  the  starred  forms  under  the  ** connective" 
suflSx  -h. 

-ei,  causative. 

haka"x-ei,  make  tentpoles 
h-a»xu-iy-ei-n,  sew  (§"xu-,  across) 
tcft-tcab-ei-^i,  making  pemmican  (tceb*) 
tic-tcib&t-ei-t',  after  he  made  a  sweat-house 

-xa-h,  cause  to  be  in  condition  of. 

tcabi-xa-h,  make  travel;  transport  (tcab-i-,  passing) 
na"a-xa-h,  bring  in  (nou-,  na'a-,  out) 
tca'e-xa-h,  take  back  (tea-,  back) 
sa'i^-xa-h,  peg  out  flat  (sa'a-,  flat) 
xouwu-xa-ti,  takes  it  straight  (xou-,  straight) 
tca-bi-xa"-hu-t',  flies  (tca-b,  shoot) 
ni-tana-xa-hei-na",  I  dig  a  hole  (tana-t*,  hole) 
ba-xa-h,  strike 

What  at  first  appears  to  be  the  stem  preceding  this  suffix  is  in 
most  cases  an  element  which  itself  is  normally  a  prefix.  Whether 
the  ** prefix''  tcabi-  or  the  ** suffix"  -xa  is  the  true  verbal  **8tem" 
remains  to  be  determined,  as  in  so  many  other  cases. 


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-ku-^,  to  make  a  motion  leading  to  the  condition  or  position  de- 
scribed in  the  **stem."  This  **stem''  in  turn  is  often  a  ** prefix''  in 
other  words. 

^ei-ku-^,  put  in  (tciM-,  ^ei-,  in,  on) 

nohu-ku-tf,  lift,  carry  (nou-,  out) 

tcei-ku-^,  release,  let  go  (tea-,  tci-,  back;  tca^-i-,  away) 

ha»ix-ixtci-ku-^-a»,  threw  him  up  (hixtc-,  hixtcaba,  up) 

tou-ku-tf,  bind 

ka^ka^ni-ku-^-a",  he  uncovered  him 

i^i-ku-^,  seize 

abita-ku-tf,  steal 

ba-ku-ta",  *  *  red  stand, ' '  a  head-dress 

Probably  the  same  in  origin  as  -ku-^  is  an  intransitive  ending  -ok". 

W-a'k",  stand  (M-,  on,  projecting) 

^-ok",  sit,  be  sitting 

tcan-ok**,  sit  down,  seat  oneself  (tcan-i-,  down) 

ta'x-ok",  ride  (tax-,  tas-,  on) 

-a,  to  make,  bring,  cause  to  be. 

bas-R-,  carry,  bring  wood  (bas') 
tcit-a-n-a",  takes  him  in 

-ta-n,  -ta-na,  for,  to,  of,  about. 

ci-ta-n,  capture  for 

ic-ta-n,  ici-ta-n,  make 

kousa 'a''-ta-n,  attack 

^■wa-ta-n,  believe 

ciyi-ta-^,  make  disappear  for 

a"W-ta-n-a"t',  tells  it  to  him 

axa»-tana-w-a"t',  makes  fun  of  him 

aheisi-ta-ni,  gave  to  be  washed  (aheisi-ou,  wash  one's  self) 

hanas-itfetca^-tana-hok**,  thought  of  him  thus 

h-iW-ku-ta-n-a"M,  when  they  seized  them 

isi-bi-ta-ni-ni,  bedtime,  time  for  lying 

^aha'i-ta-n,  be  agreeable  (tot) 

kaha^u-sa^-ta-b-a",  took  half  of  her 

tou-ku-ta-n-a",  tied  to  him 

tou-ku-hu-ta-ni-na",  they  are  tied  up  for 

na-na(h)a-ta-n-eina",  he  killed  them  for  us 

-wu-n,  to,  for,  with. 

wa^anaha-wu-n,  write  to 
ata-wu-n,  eat  up  for 
neiana"-wu-n-a",  holds  it  tight  for  him 
ni-tana-wu-hei-na»,  I  dig  a  hole 
kox-ta-wu-h,  do  to,  meddle  with 


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108  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

-t*  (-i-tS  -a°-tO,  forms  abstract  nouns.     This  ending  seems  to  be 

that  of  the  third  person  subjective. 

bixa"-^-et-it*,  love 

bi-^-h-it*,  food,  eating 

ba8a-iha"t-it*  (ceremonial)  touching  (by  old  men) 

hina-t  it*,  life 

hinen-tan-it',  tribe 

tceita"-h-at-it',  **  ear-piercing  "  ceremony 

tce*-at-it*,  ** welcoming"  ceremony 

has-owa-be-h-it*,  sickness 

anet-it',  speech,  voice 

waxu-c-it',  paint,  the  painting 

ka'ue-h-it*,  a  bleeding 

tou-tci-h-it*,  belt 

bat-a"t*,  a  dance 

a8ina-n-a»t',  anger 

h-a'xu-a't*,  a  crossing 

-ehi,  ohu,  agent,  action,  instrument,  thing  for. 

h-abit-ihi,  thief 

aneti-b-ehi,  speaker 

habatf-ehi,  a  large  one 

kata-dhu,  bead  work  (kata-,  cover,  hide) 

tcawouw-uhu,  swimmer 

-a°,  -y-a°,  that  which. 

$i  'a-ya",  post,  monument,  goal 

hasei-ya",  an  offering 

ba-tfa'to-^",  hemorrhage 

baM-ya°,  property,  clothing 

bani-ya",  night,  darkness 

bihi'i-yi»,  at  night 

kana" 'a"-ya",  long,  oblong 

niha"-ya°,  yellow  (niha"-ni-x-t*,  is  yellow) 

niha-ya",  self  (niha-ni-,  to  own) 


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109 


GRAMMATICAL  PREFIXES 

Orammatical  affixes  of  verbs  are  prevailingly  prefixes,  except  for 
most  of  the  pronominal  and  a  few  other  elements. 


k- 

interrogative 

k-ih'- 

k-a-- 

k-a-hei- 

k-a-ha- 

k-a-hn- 

i-ha»wn- 

negative 

tci-,  tcih- 

negative 

tci-b&'-,tci-bah- 

negative  imperative 

tci- 

sometimes  positive  imperative 

iii-,nih»- 

incompleted  action 

-isi- 

completed  action 

nih-isi- 

ha-nifli- 

■- 

ha»t- 

future,  probably  of  purpose  or  intent 

ha»t-i- 

ha-t-a"!!-!- 

t- 

when,  after,  because 

ti-,tih»- 

action  incomplete 

ta»-,  tah*- 

tiai- 

action  complete 

tisini- 

ta»hi8i-,  ta»hu8i- 

ta"hu8iiii- 

ha»-ti- 

optative,  **let  me'' 

ha--tih». 

hih'. 

'* would  that!'' 

0i- 

optative,  'Met  me,"  'Met  us" 

iW- 

ha-- 

meaning  not  determined 

ha-ih-,  ha"-ix- 

'then  "14 

ha»-na"- 

'then"i* 

ni- 

relatively  subordinating  or  noun -making 

who,  which,  where" 

nih- 

hi- 

nihi- 

hini- 

ha»-ta»- 

where 

ha». 

while;  continuing;  " — ing" 

ha-tcis- 

na"80n- 

the  same  meaning  as  the  last 

ti-na'son- 

hawa-tih*- 

although 

GRAMMATICAL  SUFFIXES 

-eti 

reflexive 

-uti 

-hok- 

"it  is  said,"  quotative 

-axk- 

conditional,  subordinating       \ 

-haxk" 

-naxk" 

'he 


14  These  two  frequent  prefixes,  whose  exact  force  is  not  clear,  are  evidently 
introductory  and  appear  to  contrast  with  pach  other.    See  text  m,  notes  4,  29. 


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110  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

PRONOMINAL  ENDINGS 

The  pronominal  endings  of  intransitive  verbs,  including  numerals, 

adjectives,  and  independent  pronouns,  are: 

I  -na" 

you  -n* 

he  -t',  or  a  vowel 

we  -na" 

you  -na° 

they  '6if  or  a  vowel 

These  endings  are  usually  added  directly  to  intransitive  stems. 

bana-na"  I  drink 

n-aneti-na*  I  speak 

^oku-t*  he  sits 

^ai^ku-t*  he  stands 

The  intransitive  imperative  is  the  stem. 

The  intransitive  negative  with  the  prefix  Iha°wu-  is  formed  with 
prefixed  pronominal  elements. 

I  n-eiha°wu — 

you  h-eiha"wu — 

he  h-iha"wu — 

we  n-eiha^wu — ba  (or  -hi-ba) 

you  h-eiha"wu — ^ba  (or  -hi-ba) 

they  h-iha"-wu — na»  (or  -hi-na") 

In  these  forms  -na"  recalls  the  commonest  plural  suffix  of  nouns, 
-ba  is  probably  the  stem  for  **all,"  and  the  vowel  change  in  the  third 
person,  as  well  as  the  initial  prefixes,  are  suggestive  of  the  posses- 
sive prefixes.  Perhaps  the  division  should  be  nei-ha"wu  instead  of 
n-eiha°wu. 

The  transitive  conjugation  is  formed  by  suffixes.    These  are : 


Me 

You 

Eim 

Vs 

You 

Them 

It 

7 



e^en' 

-a"' 



-e«ena» 

-ou 

-awa" 

You 

un' 

— 

-an' 

-eia» 

— 

-a"tei 

-aw" 

He 

-eina" 

-ein* 

-a-t'iB 

-ina" 

-eina" 

-a"t' 

-a' 

We 

— 

-an' 

-at' 

— 

-ana" 

at' 

-awina* 

You 

-eiana" 

— 

-ana" 

-eiana" 

— 

-ana" 

■a  win  a" 

They 

-i^i 

-einanl 

-a-MKJ 

-eina" 

-eina" 

-a"W 

-ou 

The  above  forms  have  been  found  on  most  stems.  Some  verbs, 
including  tca-b-  and  ka"u-s,  replace  the  first  vowel  of  the  suffix,  be  it 
e,  ei,  a,  or  u,  by  i,  except  for  the  inanimate  object,  the  **I-them"  form 
-ou,  and  perhaps  certain  other  forms  of  the  third  person  object. 
Thus,  tca-b-I-na",  ka"u-s-i^en*.  Some  other  verbs,  including  baxa-h- 
and  sa'i^xa-h-,  substitute  u  for  e,  ei,  a  as  the  first  vowel  of  the  suffix 


15  Second  form:  he  (B)  to  him  (A):  -eit'. 
10 Second  form:  they  (B)  to  him  (A):  ei^'. 


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in  the  first  and  second  persons  object,  but  contrariwise  in  the  third 
person  object  change  a  to  a,  and  ou  to  ei.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
stem  vowels  change  according  to  the  suflSx  in  some  verbs:  na-naha\ 
kill,  occurs  before  all  persons  of  the  object,  animate  and  inanimate, 
except  the  **A''  form  of  the  third  person:  nanaha'-eina",  nanaha-ein^, 
nanaha'-eit*,  but  nanaha'-a°t^ 

The  endings  themselves  cannot  be  analyzed  in  all  cases  into  regu- 
larly recurring  subjective  and  objective  constituents,  although  -n*  for 
the  second  person  singular  object,  -na"*  second  plural  subject  and 
object,  -ei  first  plural  object,  are  clear.  The  impression  given  by  the 
endings  is  that  the  two  elements  of  each  occur  in  a  fixed  order  not 
so  much  according  as  they  represent  the  subject  and  the  object  as 
according  to  the  person  denoted.  The  second  person  comes  last, 
whether  subject  or  object ;  between  the  first  and  third  persons  prece- 
dence is  not  so  clear. 

This  is  confirmed  by  the  transitive  negative  conjugation  with  the 
prefix  -i-ha'^wu-.  In  this  the  second  person  is  always  prefixed;  the 
first  is  suffixed  as  against  the  second,  but  prefixed  as  against  the  third, 
while  the  third  is  prefixed  only  when  there  are  two  elements  of  this 
person.  Such  a  form  as  hei-ha°wu-bixa'*-^-e^  also  corroborates  the 
inference  that  -e^  in  bixa"-^-e^-en»  is  the  part  that  means  *  *  I ". 

Me  You  Him  Us  You  Them  It 

I  hei— e^  nei — a"  hei — e^eba  nei — a°na*  nei — it 

Tou  hei — *  hei — a"  hei — eia°  hei — a"na'  hei — it 

He  nei — e  hei — e  hi — 8.  hei — ein        hei — eiba    hi — ^a  hii — it 

We  hei — 3,  nei — ^aba  hei — Hba      nei — ^aba      nei — awuba 

Tou  hei — uba  hei — ^a°ba  hei — eia»ba  hei — a^ba    hei — awuba 

They  nei — ei  hei — ei  hi — 8.na"  hei — ein        hei — eiba     hi — 8.na°      hi — awu 

The  transitive  imperative  forms  differ  somewhat  from  the  indic- 
ative: -un,  -in,  implies  the  object  of  the  third  instead  of  the  first 
person.    Probably  it  expresses  only  the  subject  of  the  second  person. 


bixa°-x-u 

like  me! 

bixa"-x-un' 

like  him !  like  them ! 

hi-8-in' 

fear  him! 

haseina-b-in' 

hate  him! 

bixa-t-a" 

like  it! 

bixa»-«-eia» 

like  us! 

bixa"-«-a 

do  you  (pi.)  like  him! 

The  negative  imperative,  with  prefixed  tci-ba-,  has  the  same  sufl&xes. 
The  forms  referring  to  an  animate  object  of  the  third  person  are 
preceded  by  connective  consonants  which  in  the  indicative  of  the 
same  verbs  occur  before  the  first  and  second  persons  objective. 


r  Possibly  a  final  surd  *  has  escaped  notice  in  these  forms. 


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112  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

CONNECTIVE  SUFFIXES 

The  transitive  pronominal  endings  are  not  added  directly  to  the 
stem,  but  are  invariably  preceded  by  one  of  five  consonants:  b,  n,  s, 
Of  h.  At  first  regarded  as  part  of  the  pronominal  suflSx,  later  as  a 
connective  characteristic  of  each  verb,  these  consonants  were  later  seen 
to  correspond  to  the  **instrumentals''  of  Dr.  Jones."  Before  this, 
in  fact,  -h  had  been  recognized  as  a  causative.  The  four  other  con- 
sonants, on  the  other  hand,  do  not  appear  to  be  significantly  instru- 
mental in  Arapaho,  except  in  so  far  as  they  all  occur  only  on  transitive 
verbs.  They  certainly  do  not  in  most  cases  refer,  except  by  the  re- 
motest implication,  to  a  part  of  the  body  or  a  type  or  shape  of  instru- 
ment. There  are  also  scarcely  any  observed  instances  of  one  stem 
appearing,  under  the  same  or  an  altered  meaning,  with  any  other  than 
its  characteristic  consonant."  The  designation  *  *  instrumentals ' '  there- 
fore seems  of  dubious  applicability  in  Arapaho.^** 

It  may  be  added  that  a  search  for  a  possible  phonetic  relation 
between  stem  and  connective  consonant  gave  no  results. 


Meaning 

Verb 

Me 

You 

Him 

Us 

Fou 

Them 

It 

see 

a"ha 

b2i 

b 

w 

b 

b 

w 

t 

strike 

ta» 

b2i 

b 

w 

b 

b 

w 

t 

hate 

aseioa 

b21 

b 

w 

b 

b 

w 

[t] 

shoot 

tc& 

b 

b 

b 

b 

b 

b 

t 

tell 

itawu 

n 

D 

n 

[n] 

[n] 

n 

t 

eat 

bi 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

w 

reach 

oux&*-ta 

n 

n 

n 

w 

[n] 

n 

w 

fear 

i 

s 

8 

X 

8 

s 

w 

t 

cut 

k&»u 

s 

8 

s 

s 

s 

s 

X 

like 

bixa" 

^2 

e 

e 

$ 

$ 

$ 

t 

peg  flat 

sa'i^-xa 

h 

h 

h 

h 

W 

h 

h 

strike 

baza 

h28 

h 

h 

h 

h 

h 

h 

kill 

na-naha 

t 

f 

f 

> 

> 

f 

t 

These  connectives  or  instrumentals  change  somewhat  according  to 
the  person  of  the  animate  object  expressed  in  the  pronominal  endings 
which  follow  them,  and  in  part  according  to  the  stem.  Such  varia- 
tions, which  are  illustrated  in  the  following  table,  are  clearly  of  a 
phonetic  origin.    But  a  radical  change  undergone  by  the  consonant 


18  Am.  Anthrop.,  n.  s.,  vi,  403,  1904;  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.,  Bull.  40,  807,  1911. 
i»  Except  bii,  find,  which  occurs  both  as  bii-n  and  bii-h;  anS"ka-b,  ana^ka-n, 
loosen;  and  ci-n,  ci-h,  capture. 

20  Compare  Michelson,  Am.  Anthrop.,  n.  s.,  xv,  476,  693,  where  substantially 
the  same  contention  is  advanced  as  regards  Fox. 

21  w  with  subject  of  second  person  singular  and  third  plural. 

22  X  with  subject  of  second  person  singular  and  third  plural. 
28  This  is  the  only  stem  found  with  the  glottal  stop. 


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when  the  object  denoted  by  the  pronominal  sufSx  is  inanimate,  especi- 
ally from  -w  to  -t,  can  scarcely  be  due  to  any  merely  phonetic  laws. 
The  author  sees  in  this  thorough  difference  of  form  when  the  object 
is  inanimate  a  further  argument  against  the  instrumental  nature  of 
these  connectives. 

CLASSIFIED  LIST  OF  STEMS 
A  number  of  transitive  verb  ** stems"  follow,  arranged  according 
to  their  ** connective"  suiBxes.    This  list  is  followed  by  one  giving  the 
principal  ascertained  intransitive  verbs,  which  lack  connectives. 


Transitive 

-b,  -w 

a»ha-b 

see 

ana-ka-b 

loosen  (also  with  -n) 

a"tana°ta-b 

buy 

abita-b 

steal 

aseina-b 

hate 

ayiata-b 
b&s-ana-b 

pursue  closely 

think  of  highly 

kaV-b 

bite 

nib 

marry 

tousa-b 

bathe 

tab 

strike 

ta»ya-b 

bite 

tahi-b 

help 

tab 

cut,  break  off 

tca-b 

shoot 

wa°-ci-e-b 

take  into  water 

outayft"-!! 

-n 
hang  up  to  dry 

awuna-n 

pity 

a"ina-n 

mow 

iyiha-n,  yiha»-n 

go  to,  go  after,  pursue 

isa-n 

alarm,  scare  up 

icitan,  ite-n,  ata-n, 

tan   take,  catch,  seize 

nou-ta-n 

bring  out 

tci-ta-n 

take  in,  bring 

basa-n 

touch 

bin 

eat 

bi-n 

give 

bun,  bn-h 

find 

koutesa  'a-n 

chase,  drive  off 

ka"a^ei-n 

cut  open  belly 

ka^e-n 

lose  grip  on 

ka"koua-n 

envy 

ka»ne-n 

open  (ka^u-s,  cut) 

kayei-n 

pull  out,  pull  off 

nouxa-n 

meet 

non-sa-n 

drive  out 

nota-n 

ask,  question  (notl-h,  seek) 

n-!^-n 

go  with,  come  with  . 

nitou-n 

breathe  in,  suck  in 

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ci-n,  ci-h 

take,  capture 

cinouhu-n 

resemble 

tou-n,  tanou-n 

hold 

tan 

pour 

ta'xa-n 

kick 

wa'awa'a-n 

go  in,  draw  in,  8uck  in 

With  suffix  -ta: 

ouxa"-ta-n 

reach 

ici-ta-n,  ic-ta-n 

make  (n  ici-h,  make) 

^a»wa-ta-n 

believe 

kousa  'a"-ta-n 

attack 

na-naha-ta-n 

kill  for 

ci-ta-n 

capture  for 

touku-ta-n 

tie  to 

tca'a-ta-n 

perceive,  notice 

tcei-ta-n 

visit 

With  suffixes  -wu,  -ha: 

ata-wu-n 

eat  up  for 

isi-ba-n 

lay  down,  go  to  bed  with 

^ei-wa-n,  ^ei-ka-h 

carry  on  back 

tawaha-wou-n 

cut  tree  down  for 

wa^anaha-wu-n 

write  to 

waxu-ba-n 

imitate  a  bear 

-S, -X 

(ii-)i-8 

fear 

ita-8,  ita-8 

meet,  reach,  arrive  at,  come  to 

ba-8 

touch 

ka»u-8 

cut  (ct.  ka"ne-n,  open) 

nou-ta"-8 

carry  out 

tana-8 

pierce,  make  hole  in 

tcei-8 

give  here 

wahani-8 

unite 

waxu-8 

paint 

a»(?a»-(? 

'0 
rub 

B,^eie 

narrate 

a-ka"-^ 

take  home 

aneti-^ 

speak  to 

bixa»-^ 

like,  love 

ka»koutci-^ 

scratch 

sixaha"-^ 

do  thus,  show 

ciyi-ta-^ 

make  disappear  for 

With  suffix  -ku: 

(i-)tou-ku-^ 

bind,  tie  to 

dei-ku-tf 

put  in 

ka-ka^ni-ku-^ 

uncover 

nohu-ku-^ 

lift  up,  carry 

ni8a»-ku-d 

bind 

tcei-ku-d 

release 

-h^* 

ata-h 

give 

-axa-h,  -axa-h 

bring,  take,  carry  (in,  back,  etc.) 

*a8ini-h 

anger,  be  angry  at  (asina-na-t*,  anger) 

-i-^etca»-h 

think 

2«  Starred  forms  show  this  suffix  with  an  indisputable  causative  force. 


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•h-itca--h 

give  pipe  to,  cause  to  smoke 

iya-h 

ignore,  not  know 

ba-zo-h,  ba-za-h 

strike 

•bata-h 

give  medicine  to,  doctor 

bu-h,  bii-n 

find 

tfouu-h,  ^»a-h 

crush,  grind,  chew  (^azan,  forcibly) 

fe«ku-h 

follow 

^i-ka-h,  ^ei-wa-n 

carry  on  back 

•Wa-kuh 

make  stand 

koztawu-h 

do  to,  meddle  with,  copulate  with 

ka"kaz°ka-h 

stab,  pierce,  sting 

kataja-h 

cover  up 

search  for,  seek  (nota-n,  ask) 

*noti-h 

natani-h 

deceive,  trick 

n-ici-h,  ici-ta-n 

make 

nicka-h 

whip 

sa'i^-za-h 

peg  out  flat 

ci-h,  cin 

capture,  take 

•tcabi-za-h 

carry,  transport,  cause  to  travel 

•teitei-h 

cause  to  enter,  let  in 

wawah 

throw  over,  scatter 

Intransitive 

ouhu 

climb 

on$ 

hang 

ot 

comb 

a"ku-ft» 

thaw,  be  warm 

an-a» 

stand 

awuna" 

be  closed 

a^xtce-hi 

shove 

ana-W 

be  different 

atei-ni 

make  camp,  stay  over  night 

atei-jaka-ni 

come  to  a  camp 

hi^"bei 

be  true,  right,  so 

ixanehi 

provide  for,  favor 
lunt 

ina--ei 

inenita-ni 

be  well,  live 

inikati 

play 

isi-bi 

lie  down,  go  to  bed 

isi-si 

be  lying 

itou,  aton,  atei-a» 

shout,  make  noise,  roar  (cf.  n-itou-hu) 

h-iton 

beg 

ita»-ei 

take  arms 

b&i-ni 

be  bloody,  bleed 

b«i-tcizti 

be  red  hot 

babaa'ei 

be  curly  haired 

bana,beni 

drink 

bana»^ei 

smell 

basayei 

touch 

bixou 

emerge,  rise  to  surface  of  water 

biwa-hu 

weep,  cry 

hahisi 

wash 

«a»ba 

snore 

Wbi 

have  to  do  with  clothing 

^ya-hu 

cut  hair 

kozuna 

hide,  enter  a  hole 

kozahei 

dig 

ka'-u8 

drop,  fall 

ka'uye- 

pick  fruit 

ka'out- 

make  dust 

ha»hei,  kohajei 

get  up,  rise,  ride 

ka"kou 

patch  on 

kaxou-hu 

chip  off 

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kaxa'a 

crack,  fissure,  dent 

kanane-hi 

be  a  coward 

ka°a»ni,  kana-a-ni 

be  slow 

kou,  kanou,  kana" 

swell  (kou-,  kanou-,  long,  far) 

kaya'a-hu 

fly  away 

na-,  naya" 

take  off  (clothing),  dress 

na-(?a» 

stay 

na^ku^ei 

push 

na'nou 

get  ready 

nani^e 

menstruate 

natca,  netce 

die,  be  dead 

iienina»k" 

be  blind 

niha-ni 

own 

mh'a»,nih*aa 

sting,  hurt,  irritate 

nibou-ha 

use  perfume 

n-itou-hu 

shout,  whistle,  breathe  (cf.  ito 

Base-hi 

play,  trouble,  make  noise 

saya 

chew 

cicitci 

stretch 

ciyiha»ti 

disappear 

tou 

strike  (tou-ku,  bind) 

tai 

be  cold 

taye-hi 

be  ashamed 

tcena  'a° 

jump 

tcani 

skin,  flay 

tcastc 

scratch 

tcatecti 

cut,  hurt 

tcin 

plant,  bury 

wua° 

rest  in  water 

wa»^»,  waDa»^° 

abound 

waxusi 

paint 

yana-hu 

pledge,  vow 

In  general,  transitive  stems  are  used  intransitively,  or  vice  versa, 
so  far  as  their  meanings  permit,  without  further  change  than  that 
produced  by  the  loss  or  insertion  of  an  ** instrumental''  connective. 
The  following  are  the  principal  observed  cases  of  a  more  extensive 
modification. 


Transitive 
aku-hu-,  cook 
a°ina-n,  know 
hinita-(t),  inhabit 
isi-ba-n,  lay  down 
ici-ta-n,  n-ici-h,  do,  make 
basa-n,  touch 
bii-n,  bii-h,  find 
bi-n,  eat 

noti-h,  seek,  nota-n,  ask 
naha',  naha',  kill 
ni-b,  marry 
tca-b-,  shoot 
8a°ku-^,  bind 


Intransitive 
a"ku-,  thaw,  be  warm 
a"in-,  know 
hanita-,  live,  stay 
isi-bi-,  lie  down;  isi-si,  be  lying 
ici-hi-,  n-ici-ti-,  aci-ta-,  do,  make 
basa-yei-,  touch 
bii-ti-,  bii-ha-,  find 
bi-^-,  eat 

noti-hi-,  look,  search 
na'ihei-,  naiha"-,  kill 
ni-ni-,  marry 
tca-ba"-,  shoot 
sa^^ku-hu-,  be  tied 


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Nouns 

PLURAL 

Arapaho  nouns  take  a  plural  sufSx  whether  animate  or  inanimate, 
this  distinction  of  gender  being  expressed  by  the  verbs,  adjectives,  or 
numerals  referring  to  them  and  not  in  the  nouns  themselves. 

The  most  common  plural  sufiix  is  -na".  This  has  been  observed  on 
hic(*),  liver;  baseit*,  urine;  ha^xei,  wolf;  hou,  raven;  bitei'i,  dove; 
haha^t*,  cottonwood,  tree;  kaka°x(»),  tent  pole;  haha'ukta",  hair 
braid;  haxa'ana"ka",  stone;  ha^a°,  penis;  ha^kuhS",  head;  na^tca", 
chief ;  hana"tca°,  buffalo  bull ;  hinen»,  man ;  hisei,  woman ;  wa'a,  wa'aha, 
moccasin ;  kakuiy,  tube,  gun,  whistle ;  cisa'^wa",  tobacco ;  tcibat*,  sweat- 
house;  wana',  wrist;  hi^eina",  buffalo;  blsa",  worm. 

With  some  slight  or  apparent  change  of  final  vowel,  this  ending 
occurs  also  in  the  following  words : 

wax",  grass,  herbage,  waxuina"  (contrast  waxu',  medicine,  below) 

waxucit*,  painting,  waxucitana" 

ha^ka^x",  saddle,  ha»ka»xuina" 

nic'tceinan*,  buckskin  (probably  antelope  skin),  nic'tceinana"  (for  nic'- 

tceinan'na"!) 
batceot('),  watceot(*),  stomach,  batceotana" 
0ik?y  ghost,  tfeikana" 
^w",  bridge,  boat,  Wwana" 

-a°,  -ha"  (probably  really  -a"',  -ha"')  is  also  common.  Before  it 
-a,  -e,  change  to  a ;  and  -x  becomes  -6,  -c  becomes  -0  or  -x,  6  becomes  -t. 

bata",  heart,  bata"ha" 

nicitca",  antelope,  nicitcaha" 

ni'ihi,  eagle,  bird,  ni'ahiha" 

nitciye,  river,  nitcihaha" 

hou,  robe,  houwa"  (ct.  hou,  raven,  above) 

ha"kuhu',  mouse,  ha^kuhuha* 

h&ni%  ant,  h&ni'iha" 

hanaxa'ahiH,  boy,  hanaxa'ahiha" 

hata»,  sinew,  hataha" 

waxu',  medicine,  waxuwa"  (ct.  wax",  above) 

wou,  buffalo  calf,  wouha" 

tca'einox,  bag,  tca'eina^a" 

ha'uwanux,  parfleche  case,  ha'uwana^" 

beic(*),  nose,  beitfa" 

benec,  arm,  banoxa*' 

bas',  wood,  baxa" 

waV^*,  leg,  wa'a»ta° 

beitci^,  tooth,  beitcita" 

tcaox",  foe,  Comanche,  tcao^a" 


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tce'ft"ox",  club,  tomahawk,  tce'ft"o^" 
bitcic,  leaf,  bitcixa" 
tcicihi,  night  hawk,  tciciha"  (sic) 
hiti^^,  kidney,  hiti^^a"  (sic) 

Lengthening  or  vocalization  of  the  final  vowel  is  fairly  frequent : 

i>T;  u>fl;  a>ei;  a,  a">ou,  au. 

ho^*,  arrow,  hoOi 

bihi'i,  deer,  bihi'i 

tca^^ni'i,  prairie  dog,  tca"^ani'i 

wox",  bear,  woxfl 

wa'az",  nail,  wa'azii 

netc',  water,  netci 

ni'etc*,  lake,  ni'etci 

hftHetc*,  ocean,  haHetci 

w&8&"^(*),  arrowpoint,  wft8&»W 

hab&8(*),  beaver,  hUbas! 

hi^"zu,  guts,  hi^a"xu 

kahaVwu,  creok,  kaha'a"wu 

hoseina",  meat,  hoseinou 

wa"ketc('),  cattle,  wa^ketci 

hota^  mountain  sheep,  hotel 

b&°clBa^  eye,  ba'cisei 

hft"w",  house,  h&»wii 

ha^a"',  star,  ha^a'Q  (ct.  ha^%  penis,  above) 

wanatana^  ear,  wanatana'u 

Apparently  formed  by  a  special  suffix : 

he^,  dog,  he^bi 
ka'a",  coyote,  kazawii 
hiwazuhfi'x,  horse,  hiwazuh&*zabi 


CASES 

An  oblique  case,  usually  an  objective,  was  observed  on  a  few  nouns. 
It  seems  to  be  formed  by  -n*. 

hisei,  woman,  objective  hisei-n^),  compare  text  m,  note  28. 

wot    n&ha'    nitcihe*hinen*    ni 'babanihaxk",    this    Kiowa    was    handsome; 
h&*iznouzan$  nitcihe-hineni-n*,  he  met  a  Kiowa. 

tuxkanii*  bfinin&*t*   nitca-ou<n*   bitcineni-n*,  Tuxkana'  gives  a  blanket  to 
Bltcinen^ 

n&h&*  hinen'  tawin*  hi'ihi'  haza'ani>ka"  hinii'  hineni-n*,  this  man  struck 
with  a  stone  that  man. 


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A  general  locative,  also  serving  as  an  instrumental,  is  more  fre- 
quent. It  takes  the  forms  -ha',  -na',  -ba*;  also  -i^  n\  -i,  -ii,  recalling 
both  one  type  of  plural  and  the  objective. 

nayei,  my  tent,  najeiM' 

hi'a»tf*,  his  leg,  hi'a^ta',  hi'a»^n*  (plural) 

bei,  awl,  beiha' 

nitciye,  river,  nitciha' 

haxa'ana"z,  ax,  haxa'ana^'^a' 

nina",  tent,  nina°na' 

ha"xeb',  spring,  ha^'xebina' 

ba  V,  road,  baVna' 

ha°kuha»,  head,  ha^kuha^na ' 

haka'x,  tent  pole,  haka''x*'ina ' 

kakuic,  kakuiy,  gun,  kakuiyana' 

tetcena",  door,  tetcena^na* 

tcEseix,  one,  tca8eiya°na ',  in  one  spot 

wax",  gra^s,  waxu'una' 

h-a",  bed,  h-a^ba' 

hoti',  wheel,  hotiba' 

netc',  water,  netci 

tca'ota"ya",  hill,  tca'ota°ni 

haha°t*,  cottonwood  tree,  haha°ti',  hahS-Hi-n* 

bita'a»wu,  earth,  bita'a"wu 

waw",  ice,  wa'awu 

he^-aw-akay-a-ni,  in  the  doghouse 


POSSESSION 

The  personal  possessive  aflSxes  of  nouns  are  illustrated  by  the 
following  examples : 


Word 

Father 

Mother 

Older  brother 

Daughter 

Vocative 

neixa° 

naV 

nata 

My 

neisana" 

neina'* 

n&saha'a 

natane 

Your  (s.) 

heisana" 

heiha" 

hasaha'a 

hatane 

His 

hinisana"(n*) 

hinan' 

hisahaV 

hitana" 

Our  (incl.) 

heisananin' 

heinanin' 

hasaha'ehin' 

hatanihin* 

Our  (excl.) 

neinanina" 

n&saha'ahina- 

Your  (pi.) 

heinanina" 

Their 

hinlsananina" 

hinaninina" 

hitanehina* 

Somebody's 

beisana" 

beina" 

b&saha'a 

Word 

Grandfather 

Son 

Sons 

Bobe 

Vocative 

nabaciwa" 

ne'i 

(hou) 

My 

nabacibaha 

neih  »a» 

neih  'a»ha» 

natou 

Your  (8.) 

habacibaha 

heih'a- 

heih  Vha" 

hatou 

His 

hibaciwaha" 

hiV 

hiVha" 

hitouwu 

Our  (incl.) 

habacibei-hin* 

heih'ehin' 

Our  (excl.) 

Your  (pi.) 

Their 

hibacibahaina" 

Somebody 's 

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Word 

Bobes 

Penis 

Dog 

Tent 

Vocative 

(houwa") 

(ha^a-) 

(hee) 

(nina") 

My 

natouwa" 

nei^a" 

neta^bibi 

nayei 

Your  (8.) 

hatouwa" 

hei^a" 

hetatfabibi 

hayei 

His 

hini^a» 

hita^abiwu 

hiyei 

Our  (incl.) 

hatouwun»» 

heta^abibin' 

hayeihin' 

Our  (excl.) 

nayeihina" 

Your  (pi.) 

hayeihina" 

Their 

hitouwuna" 

hita^abibina" 

hiyeihina" 

Somebody  *8 

ba^a° 

Some  of  the  above  forms  under  **our,"  **your/'  and  ** their"  may 
really  denote  plural  instead  of  singular  nouns.  The  ** vocative"  in 
the  terms  of  relationship  is  the  term  of  direct  address:  ** father!" 
In  the  other  words  given,  the  corresponding  form  in  parentheses  is 
the  nominative. 

Several  nouns  show  a  sufiix  with  labial  consonant  in  all  three 
persons.    This  perhaps  denotes  acquirement  of  possession. 

nat-aha"ti-bi,  my  tree 
hit-aha"ti-wu,  his  tree 
net-a^bi-bi,  my  dog 
na-nouhuha-bi,  my  kit-fox 
na-na"tc8."-wa»,  ray  chiefs 
na-teia"ni-wa",  my  children 


Pronouns 
The  demonstratives,  which  are  alike  for  singular  and  plural,  ani- 
mate and  inanimate,  are : 


naha ',  nuhu ' 

hina' 

hini 


this 

that,  visible,  or  near  the  person  spoken  to 

that,  invisible,  or  of  reference  only 


Compare:  na'asi,  thus,  na'eisi,  na'asa",  it  is  thus,  resembles,  nana- 
hisou,  alike,  na^a^xt*,  he  resembles. 


Interrogatives : 

ha"na ' 

ha"you 

hSHa",  ta»ti,  ta^teiha" 

ha^tax" 

tou 

tousa" 

tahou, tahoutax" 

tou^ouhu  * 


who 

what 

where 

whenever 

when 

why,  what  kind 

how  many 

for  how  much,  at  what  price 


A  real  personal  pronoun  does  not  exist.    Independent  words  trans- 
latable by  English  pronouns  occur  only  in  answer  to  questions,  or 


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1916]  Kroeber:  Arapaho  Dialects  121 

occasionally  for  tautological  emphasis.    They  are  verbs  formed  from 
a  demonstrative  stem. 

nanil-ni-na"  it  is  I,  **I" 

nana-ni-t'  it  is  he,  *he" 

nana-hazk"  it  must  be  he,  "he** 

Compare : 

hineni-ni-na"  it  is  a  man  that  I  am,  **I  am  a  man'* 

hisei-ni-na"  I  am  a  woman 

haha°ka°-ni-na"  I  am  a  fool,  I  am  crazy 

The  ** independent  possessive  pronouns*'  are  also  verbal  sentences, 

with  a  possessive  prefix  and  a  subjective  suflSx  of  the  third  person. 

mine  neinis*ta»t'  (**he  is  mine*') 

yours  heinis^taHi 

his  hinis^ta^t' 

ours  neini8*ta"tibina» 

yours  heinis'taHinina" 

theirs  hinis^taHinina" 

Adverbs 

-ihi',  -uhu',  is  the  commonest  ending  of  independent  words  of 

adverbial  or  prepositional  force.    Without  the  suflBx,  several  of  the 

stems  occur  as  prefixes  of  verbs. 

tcan-ihi ',  under  (tcan-i-) 

tas-ihi',  on  (tas-i-,  tax-) 

ka°a'»-n-ihi ',  slowly  (kou-) 

xou-w-uhu',  straight  (xou-) 

ba-h-ihi',  aU  (ba-) 

na"-uhu',  out  from  the  river  or  valley  (nou-) 

hanawu-n-ihi ',  ha"wui-nih-ihi',  down-stream 

n-a"wu-hu',  south 

hawaho-uhu',  many  times 

hi'-ihi',  hu'-uhu',  with,  on  account  of 

hi^a"w-uhu',  really,  truly  (hi^a"bei-,  to  be  so) 

^ei-n-ihi',  ^einei-si,  inside 

kou^-ihi',  some  time  later 

kox-tf-ihi',  over,  beyond  (kax-,  violently,  through) 

ka°-kaxu^-ihi ',  over  a  hill 

kanaw-uhu ',  meanwhile,  at  the  same  time 

kanax-uhu',  obstinately,  unduly 

nih-ihi',  along,  during 

tou-^o-uhu',  at  what  price  (tou,  what) 

ka^ka^tf-ihi ',  homeward 

-ba,  -hi,  -wu,  is  another  ending  of  adverbs,  whose  stems  in  some 
cases  also  serve  as  prefixes  of  verbs, 
hixtc-a-ba,  up,  above  (hixtc-i-) 
ha»^-b*,  toward  (ha»^-,  ha°^-bi-) 
nana-ba,  nana-bi,  north 
na"ta-ba,  at  the  rear  of  the  tent,  opposite  the  door 


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-a"wu  refers  to  the  ground : 

bita'a»wii,  earth 
hi^"wu,  on  the  prairie 
hi^awa"wu,  under  ground 
naxuta"wu,  above  ground 

-OU: 

han-a",  hard,  han-ou,  very  hard 
ha'na'-ei,  fast,  ha'na'ou,  very  fast 
n8.'asi,  thus,  nanahis-ou,  alike 
ha-na',  who,  hft»-y-ou,  what 


Numerals 

The  Arapaho  numerals  given  in  the  vocabulary  are  those  used  in 
counting,  and  mean  ** —  times/'  The  cardinals  used  in  sentences  are 
formed  like  verbs  with  the  prononinal  endings  -i-^,  animate,  and  -ei, 
-i-i,  inanimate.  They  occur  either  with  a  prefix  ha-  or  with  prefixed 
reduplication.  In  this  reduplication  initial  y  of  the  stem  turns  to  n. 
The  relationship  of  these  two  sounds  has  been  mentioned  before.  The 
stem  of  the  cardinal  numeral  **one''  is  the  same  as  that  of  **two," 
nis,  but  has  the  corresponding  singular  suffixes  -ix-t»  and  -e-t*.  In 
the  ordinal  and  the  forms  for  **six,''  the  stem  for  *'one"  appears  in 
what  may  be  its  original  form,  nit.  The  stems  for  **nine''  and  **ten" 
are  used  without  reduplication  or  the  prefix  ha-.  The  ordinals  are 
formed,  with  reduplication,  by  the  suffix  -awa.  This  is  sometimes 
further  enlarged  by  the  ending  -na'  when  inanimate,  and  when  ani- 
mate has  the  ending  -t».  Numeral  classifiers  have  not  yet  been  ob- 
served, except  -a°na,  which  is  employed  when  camps,  towns,  herds,  or 
portions  are  referred  to,  and  which  may  be  a  locative  or  collective: 
yaneiy-a"na"-na",  four  bands. 


Counting 

Cardinal 

Cardinal 

Ordinal 

1 

tcftseix 

ha-nisi-xt'  (an.) 

na-nisi-xt' 

na-nit-awft-t* 

ha-nis-et*  (inan.) 

na-nis-et' 

na-nit-awa-(naO 

2 

nis' 

ha-nisi-^'  (an.) 

na-nisi-^' 

na-nisi-awa-t* 

ha-nis-ei  (inan.) 

na-nis-ei 

na-ni8i-awa-(na') 

3 

n&sa",  n&sax 

ha-nai-(?» 

na-nai-^» 

na-nftsi-awa-t' 

4 

yein« 

ha-yeini-^' 

ya-neini-^' 

ya-neini-awa-t* 

5 

ya^an* 

ha-ya^ani-tf* 

ya-na^ani-^* 

ya-na^ani-awa-t' 

6 

nit-a»-tax« 

ha-nit-a»-taxu-^* 

na-nit-a»-taxu-^' 

na-nit-a°-taxu-awat* 

7 

ni8-a"-tax" 

ha-nl8-a»-taxu-^' 

na-nis-a'taxu-tf' 

na-ni8-a"-taxu-awa-t* 

8 

nas-a-tax" 

ha-nas-a"-taxu-^» 

na-nas-a''-taxu-^' 

na-nas-a"-taxu-awa-t* 

9 

^'* 

M'a-taxu-^' 

^'a-taxu-awa-t' 

10 

bata-tax- 

bata-taxu-^* 

bata-taxu-awa-t* 

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1916]  Kroeher:  Arapaho  Dialects  123 

The  numerals  from  11  to  19  are  formed  from  those  for  1  to  9  by 
the  suflSx  -ini,  which  occurs  also  on  words  denoting  measures  of  time ; 
the  tens  by  the  ending  -a"',  -a',  or  u',  with  change  of  preceding  con- 
sonant. 


1 

tcftseix 

11 

tc&seini 

4 
5 

7 

yein* 

ya^an* 

nisaHax" 

14 
15 
17 

yeinini 

yatfanini 

ni8a°tax"ini 

40 
50 
70 

yeiyu' 
ya^aya ' 

8 

nftsa-tax" 

18 

n8.8a°tax*'iiii 

80 

nasaHasa 

Other  forms:  nita°,  first,  before;  nisa^ouhu*,  nisaha'a,  both; 
tca"xa°,  another  one;  tcaseix,  one,  inanimate;  tcasa',  one,  animate. 

The  suffix  -tax'*,  in  6  to  10,  appears  to  be  found  also  in  tahoutax^, 
how  many,  and  h&°tax^,  whenever. 


TEXTS 

Only  enough  textual  material  is  presented  here  to  illustrate  some 
of  the  leading  structural  and  phonetic  features  that  have  been  out- 
lined. Several  hundred  pages  of  Arapaho  texts  were  secured  by  the 
writer.  But  the  foregoing  description  is,  after  all,  not  more  than  a 
sketch  of  part  of  the  salient  traits  of  the  language ;  and  any  analysis 
making  a  pretense  at  even  approximate  completeness  was  impossible, 
without  a  study  so  thorough-going  that  it  would  have  crowded  into 
the  background  indefinitely  other  work  which  was  a  nearer  duty. 
With  the  possible  exception  of  Eskimo,  AlgonMn,  as  represented  by 
Arapaho  and  Yurok,  is  far  the  most  difficult  form  of  speech  encoun- 
tered by  the  writer  at  first  hand.  How  much  remains  to  be  done  in 
Arapaho  before  the  language  is  really  understood  is  revealed  by  the 
notes  that  have  been  added  to  the  appended  texts.  The  purpose  of 
these  notes  is  elucidation;  but  whoever  consults  them  will  not  need 
the  advice  that  for  nearly  every  point  explained  there  is  a  problem 
raised,  and  several  that  are  not  even  touched  on.  For  these  reasons 
the  entire  body  of  texts  recorded  has  been  put  in  the  possession  of  the 
Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  in  the  hope  that  under  the  hand  of 
Dr.  Michelson  or  some  other  investigator  better  fitted  by  capacity  or 
long  occupation  with  Algonkin  than  the  writer,  their  publication  will 
ultimately  result  in  greater  usefulness  than  could  be  attained  now. 


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124  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

TEXT  I— A  PRAYERi 
ha°-heisana'nin»^        nanitane'ina"*        na-h*bacibe'hin^*        ha^e'i' 

Ha!  our  father,  hearns,  and  grandfather.  All 

naha'a^se'hi'it  nanaxkunihi'ita'wa"*  hici'^  m'ha"ya" 

the  shining  ones  I  also  mention,  day  yellow, 

hase'isen>®       hVVOeti      na'yeitci       i'i'^etin*^       bitaVwu       u'^etin® 

wind  good,  timber  good,  earth  good. 

tcasae'hi  ha°^tca'^in*^®  hi^a**'wa"wu^^  naxuta^'wu" 

Animal  listen  under  the  ground !  above  the  ground 

tcasae'ihi  natci^^  tcesaehe'iha****  tcibah 'tcaha'^I** 

animal,  in  water  animals,  all  listen ! 

hatciyawa^ni'na""  haHwani'bim^*  ha°tihi  'We'hi" 

Your  food-remnants  we  will  go  to  eat.  May  they  be  good! 

ha"tihitcihika'*'ta"^®       ha^wa^a'w'*       hmaiti't*®       ha°tihiawa°ho'ua° 

May  there  be  long  breath  life!  May  increase 

hina'^tani't'^  teia°na'  '^^  hanatciha"ye'it"  hise'hihi" 

the  people,  children  of  all  ages,  girl 

naha-hana'xa'ahixi^^  nax'-hine'n  hanatcixa"ye'it  hi'sei 

and  boy  and  man  of  all  ages.  woman, 

bah*e'ihahin^*       hanatcixa^ye'in       batabi'        ha"tninioxane'ia"nou^* 

old  man,  of  all  ages,  old  woman.  It  shall  give  us  strength 

bi'ciwa"^'^  ha'^neika^'hu^i^'  hici'c  ha"'^a°  neixa°'" 

the  food  while  runs  the  sun.  Oh  that!  my  father! 

tcixtca  'a'^i"  naba'elwa""  na^nihi  *i^a'  'a""*       kakau'^etca"*^ 

listen,  my  grandfather!  for  what  I  ask,  thoughts. 

bata°'"        bixa"^eti't»2       hanaw^»nati't       ha"tninl^xanabe^en'« 

heart,  love,  happiness!  We  will  eat  you. 

Notes 

1  Bull.  Am.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  xviii,  315,  1907. 

2  Ist  pers.  pi.  inclusive:  neisana",  my  father. 

8  -n-,  connective;  -eina",  he — me  or  they — us:  thou — us  is  -eia". 

*  na" '  or  nah»  is  ' '  and ' ' ;  the  -h»-  may  be  part  of  this  or  part  of  the  possessive 
elements  ha — h-in',  our;  nabaciba,  my  grandfather. 

5  Also  a  prefix  of  verbs. 

«  na-,  for  na"'  or  nah*,  and;  -naxku-n-,  with,  a  prefix  of  verbs;  nih*-,  incom- 
plete action;  ita,  stem;  -w-,  connective;  -a",  I — him. 

7  Cf .  hicic,  sun,  below. 

8  Cf .  hasa*a"t',  swift,  and  the  prefix  of  verbs  has-,  swiftly,  violently,  very, 
hard. 

9  These  two  words  were  heard  as  parts  of  the  preceding  ones,  to  the  final 
vowels  of  which  their  initial  vowels  are  assimilated. 

10  ha"^i-  apparently  equals  ha°ti-,  optative;  -in*,  transitive  imperative. 

11  -a"wu,  an  ending  of  adverbs  referring  to  the  ground. 

12  Locative  of  netc',  water. 

18  -ha",  plural;  -ehi,  -ehei,  may  be  -ehi,  denoting  the  agent,  -ehi,  face,  or  -hi'i, 
-hahi,  diminutive. 


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1916]  Kroeher:  Arapaho  Dialects  125 

i*tci-,  imperative,  regular  in  the  negative,  occasional  in  the  positive;  -bah'-, 
all;  tcaha^-t-i,  compare  tcS,^-t-,  note  10,  is  or  contains  the  stem. 

15  *  *  Crumbs. ' '    Plural,  with  2nd  pers.  possessive. 

i«ha"t-,  purposive  future;  wan-i-,  go  to  do;  bi,  eat;  -n-,  connective. 

IT  ha"tih*-,  optative  or  precative  (cf.  note  10),  -ih*  probably  denoting  incom- 
pletion  of  action;  i^e  appears  to  be  the  stem  meaning  good,  cf.  above,  note  9; 
-hi,  intransitive. 

i8ha"tih*-,  as  in  last  word;  -tcihi-,  possibly  tci-,  imperative,  and  n-ih*-,  in- 
complete action ;  ka"-t-a°  suggests  the  * '  prefix ' '  kou-,  kanou-,  long,  far. 

Id  Cf .  hinen*,  man,  hinenita",  person,  hinana'ei,  Arapaho,  hiteni,  life  symbol; 
-it*,  no  doubt  containing  the  pronominal  ending  of  the  3rd  pers.,  recurs  below 
on  abstract  nouns. 

20  Plural  (t)  of  teia",  child.    The  form  has  the  appearance  of  a  locative. 

21  Unanalyzed,  except  for  the  abstract  ending,  cf.  note  19. 

22hisei,  woman;  -hi'i,  -ha',  -hahi,  etc.,  diminutive;  hanaxa'aha,  young  man. 

28  baha  'ei,  behi  'i,  old,  with  perhaps  the  diminutive  suffix.  Compare  the  stems 
for  old  woman,  in  the  second  word  following,  and  for  grandfather,  as  in  note  4. 
The  ending  of  the  next  word  changes  from  -t  to  -n,  evidently  to  agree  with  the 
unexplained  -n  of  the  present  noun. 

2*ha"tni-,  or  ha°t-,  ha"ta°ni-,  purposive  future;  -ni-,  perhaps  ni'-,  good;  -oxa-, 
the  stem,  cf.  axa-wu,  give  me  food,  -axa-h-,  to  bring,  take,  carry;  -n-  appears  to 
be  the  connective,  in  spite  of  the  -h-  of  -axa-h;  -eia°nou  then  would  be  the  pro- 
nominal ending,  not  fully  clear,  though  -eia"  is  thou — us. 

2»  Unknown  derivation  from  bi-,  eat. 

2«ha'*-,  while,  continuing;  -ne-,  for  ni-,  nih*-,  incomplete  action;  i-ka",  stem, 
to  move,  especially  to  run,  usually  with  the  intransitive  suffix  -hu. 

27 '  <  Vocative, '  *  Ist  pers.  possessive,  regularly  a  shortened  form  in  terms  of 
relationship. 

28  Imperative:  cf.  notes  10  and  14. 

2»na"-,  perhaps  my;  nih-,  nihi-,  ni-,  hi-,  that  which,  he  who,  where. 

so  .i^etca°-h-,  to  think;  kaka-xa 'anata",  thought,  think. 

81  Indefinitive  possessive  prefix  b-a-,  b-ei-,  w-a-. 

82  bixa"-^-e^en*,  I  love  you;  for  -it  see  note  19. 

88ha"tni-,  one  form  of  future  of  intent;  -ni^xana-,  unanalyzed;  -b-,  connec- 
tive; -e^en,  I — you. 

TEXT  II— AN  ADVENTUEEi 
bihi'i  ha°ixina"eP  hitaxa^hok'  wotix  touciniehin 

"Deer'  now  went  huntins.  Heeameto  accidentally    one  who  was  pretty 

hisein*  behic^nicHca"^  hinaninouyuyaxkan  xanou* 

woman.  All  antelope  was  her  clothing.  Straightway 

ha^ixtcetci^ana"*     tah*nahawa"t^   hisein*  ha^ixSneitaxawuina"*® 

then  he  wanted  to  court  her      when  he  saw         the  woman .    Then  she  motioned  for  him  to  approach. 

wa°hei  ha"tibia°^e^en  ha^^a'^hok'  bihi4  nah'nihaya" 

"Well,  let  me  love  you,"  said  to  her  "Deer."  "And  yourself 

hacita°nani  ha"^eihok*  hanaiyiha"t^°  ta"ba^^ 

please."  she  said  to  him.  Then  he  went  to  her.  Just 

ha'»tnitena'*hok"      hina°nanax      ha^ixwosatouhin^'      tcestcatcena  *a^ 

he  will  he  about  to  touch  her,  to  his  surprise       then  she  cried  (like  a  deer) ,  suddenly  Jumped, 

tcatcebita'eixa**^'       ha°i'biniha°haba^*       bihi'i       bihi'i       ha^ixtaye 

ran  off  looking  back.  Then  he  saw  she  was  a  deer.  "Deer"  then  was  ashamed 

ha°wo-nih'ot-bia  'a"t"  ha°natcatcka°hut^*  taxtayehit^® 

at  being  deceived  in  loving.  Then  he  returned  ashamed. 


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126 


University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 


ha°ixxa°ta'einm 

Now  later 

bihi'i 

"Deer" 

ta'bihi'ihinanin*^ 

became  like  a  deer. 

naye^a°na" 

In  the  camp-cirele 

ha"ixinikuhina"^* 

then  was  ehased 

bihil 

"Deer" 

wa«^ti         bihi'i 

like                 a  deer. 

wa"ti 

Like 

bihi'i 

a  deer 

niMouhak22         wa^ti 

he  cried.                        like 

i        bihi'i 

a  deer 

tcatcena'a"" 

he  Jamped. 

wa°ti 

like 

bihi'i 

a  deer 

hahna^kuhnahak" 

he  lied  on  the  prairie; 

ha"ixnana°ni^a°kua" 

then  his  eyes  looked  different. 

ha°ni        ha°ixtcmin^ 

At  last  then  he  ceased 


habahiyeihana"tak°^' 

all  pursued. 


bihi'i         ha^^ixtatina" 

"Deer"      now  had  his  month  open. 

bihi'ihin^^       na'a^clhit* 

being  a  deer.  For  this  he  is  named 


ticitanat'* 

When  he  was  eanght, 

ha^ixbahaneiana"^'* 

Then  all  held  him. 


bihi'i 

"Deer." 


Notes 

1  BulL  Am.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  xvm,  20,  1902. 

2  For  ha"ix-,  see  note  29  to  following  text;  ina",  hunt;  -ei,  causative,  here: 
go  to. 

3  -hok",  it  is  said,  they  say.  Cf.  Michelson,  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.  Ann.  Bept.,  xxviii, 
237,  1912. 

4  An  apparent  instance  of  the  objective  or  oblique  case:  hisei,  woman, 
^ba-,  behi'i-,  behici-,  babanei-,  all,  completely;  na^sitca",  nisitca",  antelope. 
«  Also  a  *  *  prefix ' '  of  verbs. 

7  tah*-,  when;  n-a"ha-w,  see;  -aH',  he — him. 

8  Cf .  h-itaxa"  in  the  third  word  of  this  text ;  with  this  *  *  stem ' '  compare  ita-s, 
ita-s,  reach,  meet.  For  ha"ix-,  see  note  2 :  -wuina",  from  -wu-n,  to,  for,  with,  or  more 
probably  from  -awui-ni,  become,  begin,  and  -n-,  connective,  -a",  -a",  he — ^him 
(a  form  different  from  those  given  above  in  the  table  of  transitive  pronominal 
endings,  and  no  less  common;  but  their  relation  is  not  yet  clear). 

»  For  ha"t-i-bixa°-^-etfen',  I  will  love  you. 

10  hana- =  ha°na"-,  which  see  in  note  29  to  next  text;  iyihaH  suggests  the 
analysis  iyi-h-a"t*,  but  the  form  otherwise  found  is  stem  iyiha"  with  connec- 
tive -n-. 

11  Also  a  prefix,  but  here  heard  as  a  separate  word. 
i2ha"t-ni-;  ite-n,  take;  -hok",  see  note  3. 

i8ha"ix-;  wos-,f;  atou,  itou,  cry,  make  a  noise,  shout;  -hi,  intransitive;  -n,f 

1*  Cf.  tcesis-,  begin;  tea-,  again,  back,  or  perhaps  reduplication  here,  *' jumped 
about";  tcena'a",  jump. 

15  Cf.  tea-,  backward,  again;  tceib-i-,  aside,  crooked;  the  stem  seems  to  be 
the  same  verb  of  motion  as  in  the  word  referred  to  in  note  8. 

i«ha°ix-,  as  ante;  bini-h-,  possibly  from  bii-n,  bii-h,  find;  a"ha-b-a°,  he  sees 
him. 

•  17  Perhaps  from  bixa"-^,  to  love. 

i8ha"na"-,  as  above;  tea-,  back,  again;  -tc-,f;  i-ka"-hu,  run,  travel;  -t*,  he. 

i»tah»-,  when,  because;  taye,  be  ashamed,  as  in  the  preceding  sentence;  -hi, 
intransitive;  -t*,  he. 

20  ta'-,  for  tah"-  (f);  bihi'i,  deer;  -hi-na"ti-n,  compare  ni-waxu-na»t*,  she  who 
turned  into  a  bear,  and  the  independent  word  wa"ti  in  the  next  sentence. 

21  ha»ix-;  in-i-,  about,  aimlessly,  at  random;  -ku-hi-na°,  possibly  from  -ku-tf, 
make  a  motion  to,  transitive,  and  -hi,  intransitive. 

22ni-^-,f;  etou,  for  itou  or  atou,  shout;  -hak,  for  -haxk",  conditional,  subor- 
dinating. 

28ha-,(f);  bah-,  all,  as  in  note  5;  iyeiha-n-,  for  iyiha"-n,  pursue;  &"tak",  un- 
certain, but  evidently  contains  the  *  *  conditional, ' '  as  the  word  in  note  22. 

24tic-i-,  when;  ite-n,  catch;  -ftt,  for  -a"t*,  equals  -a°t*,  he — ^him. 

2s  Again  the  prefix  *  *  all, "  as  in  notes  5  and  23. 

20  Perhaps  the  intransitive  verbifying  suffix  -hi. 


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TEXT  in— TANGLED  HAIRi 
hinen      ha^nixaHihok'*^      na°ha°ina'*eihok'»'      ha°eita"wuna*^hok'* 

A  mMi  lived  alone.  He  went  to  hant.  He  told  her 

hinini  ha'^ta"nina'*eiti*  ha°na"ya"  tciba"ta"ka'*ha'*wuna*** 

hit  wife,    when  he  was  ahont  to  go  to  hunt:  '*Mind !  do  not  look  at  him 

ha"tanita°8eiiii'       na"na°teiti*       hlna°ha"temeiti*       hiha^wiixHwa**^ 

when  he  eomes  to  yon  a  powerful  one  with  tangled  hair      who  is  hard  to  satisfy  aboa^ 

a^titci         ha'^Ina^^ya"         ha°ta'*nita°8a'*         na**         tciba°yei^a**eini 

Itlates.  He  will  make  a  noise        when  he  will  come  and  do  not  look  there 

hita'^seinihina^ku*       ha^ina'^ya"       hota"nitoutca°na"W®       ha^^na^ya** 

where  he  comes.  He  will  make  a  noise;  hewillshont;  mind! 

tciba"neia'*ha'*wuiia'**      na°na°teiti      ha'*ba°tcitcitei*®      ha"yeia"  'a**^^ 

do  not  look  at  him  the  powerful  one,  he  might  enter  your  tent/' 

ha^^a'^hoku"      hininin"      ta^tca'^^eia"!*^*      na"na"tca°Wcina'*eihoku" 

he  said  to  her  his  wife  when  he  went  away.  And  he  went  to  hunt 

ticmihife°ti**  hinlni  na°na'*na°^a°hoku  tlna"eiti*^ 

after  he  had  told  his  wife;  he  left  her  to  hunt. 

iia"ha°na"eita"seiiiitt*  hinini  hina°ha°teineinitt** 

And  then  he  came  to  his  wife.  he  whose  hair  was  tangled. 

na'*ha°tcita"ka'*ha'*wa'*hoku*  na°na"tci'*IsaVa°ka'^nei*® 

And  she  did  not  look  at  him.  And  he  went  back 

ta"tcineia°ha"wa°ti*       ha"tca'*i8a'*ya°ka"*P®        ha^tisa'^niW*®        nuhu 

when  she  did  not  look  at  him.  he  went  back  to  where  he  had  come  from,         that 

hina"ha"teinihiniW*®  ta"^a"niheiti  nuhu  ta'^bS^tlta^seiti' 

one  with  the  tangled  hair.  he  failed  that  one  on  first  coming 

nun      a°ha°ka"neineiW^^      ha°yawuta"sei^*      nItcita"ka"ha°wa°hoku* 

that  demented  one,  whenever  he  came  to  her  who  did  not  look  at  him. 

na"ya'^neinia"wa°m**        ha'^ta^na^hoku^'        ha°tca"ci        beiha"  *a"" 

Bnt  the  fourth  time  she  made  a  hole  by  means  of  an  awl 

ha^xuti  nina°na"     ta'^hma^tca^^eia^ni^**     hi'ihi'     beiha'a" 

at  the  left  of  the  door    in  the  tent,  when  he  turned  back,  with  an  awl, 

ta'*huhiftwa°ha"wa"ti*» "  ^a^i^a^hift^'*  ha^haku 

as  she  looked  through,  ' ' Let  me  see  him !  *'  Ae  said. 

ha°na'*eiwa°ha"wa"ti*     hihi^'i     nuu     a"ta°na°tihTni  ha"xuti 

Then  she  looked  out  through  that  hole  at  the  left  of  the  door 

hitt  'i  ha  Tieitc  ha°tfeihoku*  ^  na°ina°sa°y  a"kani 

through.  "Here!"  he  said  to  her  as  he  turned  back. 

ta°tciteia"neiti^®      ha^^eihoku       ta"nia"cina°na°**       na'^tcia^xa^^wu*^ 

When  he  came  in  he  said  to  her:  "I  am  hungry,  give  me  to  eat, 


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128  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

ha°^a°hoku"       nuhu'       hiseini^*       hana°a°tltciheiti^®       ha°eina°^® 

he  said  to  her  that  woman.  Then  she  gave  him  for  a  plate         a  clay  one. 

hiha^^wnanisou  'u'*^  na°tltcita°na"*^  hana°a°titciheiti^* 

"It  is  not  the  kind  I  nse  for  plates."  Then  she  cave  him  for  a  plate 

bacina"'®  hiha°wna"isou'u  na'*titcita°na'*  haha°ku 

a  wooden  one.  "It  is  not  the  kind  I  use  for  plates,"  he  said. 

ha°na°a'*titciheiti  ka'^ka^ha^wa^ti  ka°xu  ha°ma°eihiti 

Then  she  gave  him  for  a  plate  a  war-bonnet.  Again  he  said  the  same. 

ha'^na^^a'^titciheiti  hibixuta°nini*'  ta'^na^na" '  ha"fe°hoku 

Then  she  gave  him  for  a  plate  her  dress.  "Very  nearly ! "  he  said  to  her. 

na°h&°na°a°titclheiti         hiwa**nina°'*         ta"na°na° '         ha°^a"hoku 

And  then  she  gave  him  for  a  plate      her  moccasins.  "Very  nearly! "  he  said  to  her. 

ka"xu       ha^n&'^icibinifti^*       ha°^Weineihi'i'*       na'^na^'       ha°^a°hoku 

Again  then  she  lay  down  flat  on  her  back.  "That  is  iti "         he  said  to  her. 

na"ta"ha"ta"wa"niW^  ha°na°ika°^eineit*^®  wa"ha°inisei^* 

And  when  he  had  eaten  then  he  slit  her  open.  She  was  pregnait  with  twins, 

nTsa°u'^^  ha"na" 'a"hia"*°  nlsa°na"*®  ha°na°rita°na"ti*^ 

both  were  boys,  the  twins.  Then  he  took  them ; 

tca°xa°"  nuu  ha'*na'»'a"hia°*®  ha°na°iwa"cieiwa°ti*' 

one  that  boy  then  he  pat  in  the  water 

ha^xabeina*^^        na"        tca°xa"        a^ha'^i^eiku^a****        ^a°ya"ka"xu' 

in  the  spring.  and  one  he  threw  nnder  the  right  side  of  the  door 

nina°na°^^        ha"na"na'^^itca°ftia'^ti*'        tlc^eiku^a°ti**        teliyana" ' 

at  the  tent.  Then  he  went  away  after  he  had  placed  the  children. 

ha°ma°kei  na-hlna"ni**  ha°einici'ia*®  hinini 

He  returned,  this  man.  he  called  his  wife. 

ha**itca"ti^ni  ta"nicia"ti*'  hinini  na"  xa°xa°n6u*® 

she  did  not  answer.  when  he  called  her,  his  wife.  And  straightway 

ha°ia"ini"  ta"na"eineiW"  ta^tca'^ti^einiW* 

he  knew  that  she  was  dead  when  she  did  not  answer. 

ha"na°tci^na°ha°wa°ti'**        ha'^ha'^eik&'^^eini'*        neitcInihi^a"na'*ou** 

Then  he  went  in  to  see.  She  was  slit  open.  "I  told  yon." 

ha°^a"hoku        ha°na'*iblwa"huti'^*        ha°na"na"^ina°hit* 

he  said  to  her.  Then  he  cried.  Then  he  went  off. 

Notes 

1  Field  Columbian  Museum  Publications,  Anthrop.  Series,  v,  378,  1903.  The 
informant  spoke  with  elaborate  slowness  and  distinct  syllabification.  To  this 
are  due  the  numerous  nasalized  vowels,  which,  as  Dr.  Michelson  says,  tend  to 
disappear  in  rapid  speech.  The  slow  utterance  of  the  present  informant  may 
have  caused  nasalization  to  be  heard  where  it  was  not  organic.  Dr.  Michelson 
nasalizes  o  and  perhaps  other  vowels;  the  author  noted  only  a*^  and  a",  though 
a"  was  sometimes  confused  with  o.    Arapaho  long  vowels  were  usually  heard 


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1916]  Kroeber:  Arapaho  Dialects  129 

and  written  as  geminated  or  doubled,  particularly  from  this  informant.  As 
the  writer  in  studying  other  languages  has,  however,  found  this  apperception 
to  be  largely  an  individual  pecuUarity,  such  double  vowels  have  in  this  paper 
been  represented  by  single  letters  with  the  macron,  except  long  e  and  o,  which 
are  represented,  as  heard,  by  ei  and  ou.  The  tendency  to  double  crest  long 
vowels  seems  nevertheless  actually  to  be  fairly  marked  in  Arapaho,  although 
the  slight  importance  of  the  trait  at  best,  and  the  cumbersomeness  of  its  ap- 
pearance in  print,  probably  make  its  orthographical  neglect  preferable. 

2  The  ending  -hok",  given  by  Dr.  Michelson  as  a  stem  meaning  *  *  say, ' '  is 
common  as  a  quotative.    Text  ii,  note  3. 

sna"-,t;  ina"-ei,  hunt,  go  to  hunt,  probably  containing  -ei,  causative;  -hok", 
*' quotative";  ha"ta"ni-,,ha"ti-,  ha°t-,  purposive  future,  as  in  the  preceding  text; 
-ti,  for  -t*,  he,  intransitive. 

•*tci-,  negative,  tci-ba-,  negative  imperative;  ta"k-,  nei-,  not  determined; 
ta"-,  when;  na"-,  nah*-  (also  independent,  perhaps  regularly  loosely  proclitic 
rather  than  prefixed),  and;  ha°-,  probably  related  to  ha"ix-,  ha"na"-,  see  note  29; 
a*ha-w,  stem,  to  see;  -hok",  ** quotative";  -ti,  -a"-ti,  ei-ti,  3rd  pers.;  -na",  not 
clear,  but  evidently  pronominal,  -na  occurring  quite  regularly  as  the  subjective 
and  objective  element  of  the  2nd  pers.  plural. 

5  haHani-,  future;  na»-,  and;  ha"na-,  **then";  ta"ba-,  just,  only,  first  begin  to; 
ha"yaw-,  if  the  translation  obtained  is  literal,  would  mean  ** whenever"  (inde- 
pendent, ha"-tax",  whenever,  ha*-you,  what);  ita"-s,  to  come  to;  -ni,  -niW,  -Biy 
modal-pronominal;  -ti,  see  note  6. 

«  These  two  words  contain  the  3rd  pers.  ending  -(ei)-t*,  and  are  to  all  ap- 
pearances verbs. 

7  iha"wu-,  with  pronominal  prefix,  a  frequent  form  of  the  negative  in  verbs.* 

8  Cf .  note  5. 

^  hota"ni-  for  ha"ta"ni-,  cf .  note  1 ;  itou,  stem. 

10  tcitei,  enter;  cf.  tcit-,  tci^-i-,  in,  entering. 

11  These  words  all  contain  a  locative  suffix. 

12  ha^-^^-hok",  he  (A)  said  to  him  (B) ;  ha»-^i-hok»,  he  (B)  said  to  him  (A). 
Cf.  Michelson,  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.,  Ann.  Eep.,  xxviii,  237,  1912.  It  appears  that  a 
similar  distinction  is  made  in  other  verbs  in  the  transitive  pronominal  endings. 
The  two  contrasting  forms  are  probably  related  to  the  two  forms  of  the  third 
person  in  Central  Algonkin;  but  the  writer  is  under  the  impression  that,  in 
Arapaho  at  least,  the  **suus-ejus"  distinction  has  been  far  transcended,  the 
two  forms  serving  rather  as  a  convenient  and  valuable  means  of  expressing 
over  considerable  passages  the  ideas  which  in  our  legal  documents  are  ren- 
dered by  *'the  party  of  the  first  part"  and  **the  party  of  the  second  part." 
If  this  view  proves  correct,  the  force  of  the  paired  Arahapo  forms  would  be 
somewhat  similar  to  the  contrasting  Yuki  particles  sa"'  and  si',  of  which  one 
indicates  the  continuance  and  the  other  a  change  of  grammatical  subject  or 
agent  in  the  sentences  which  they  open. 

18  Without  the  final  -n  in  other  occurrences  in  this  text,  as  ante. 
i^ta"-,  when;  tca"^-ei-,  tca^-i-,  off,  away. 

15  na"-,  and;  tca"^-i-,  away;  ina"-ei,  go  to  hunt;  -hoku,  quotative. 
i«tic-,  ticini-,  when,  after,  with  implication  of  completed  action;  hi-,f;  -^a"-, 
cf.  ha»-tfa"-hoku,  note  12;  -ti,  he. 

17  t-,  ti-,  tih'-,  ta"-,  tah»-,  when,  after,  to,  because. 

18  Compare  the  corresponding  form  in  note  6. 
i»na"-,  and;  tcR"-,  back;  i-sa",  go,  come. 

20  ha"t-,  ha"t-a"-,  where;  i-sa",  go,  come. 

21  hah&"ka%  crazy. 

22  ya-neini-awa-t*,  the  fourth,  animate,  ya-neini-awa-na',  inanimate.  The 
ending  -ni  is  evidently  the  same  as  is  found  on  the  cardinal  numbers  from  11 
to  19,  and  on  words  denoting  measures  of  time. 

2stana-s,  pierce,  make  hole  in.  Cf.  ta'-,  tana'-,  tou-,  tanou-,  to  stop,  or  by 
stopping;  also  the  fourteenth  word  below  in  the  text. 

2*ta*-,  when,  as;  a"ha-w,  a"ha-b,  see;  huhi^-w-  is  evidently  a  form  of  the 
independent  word  hihi^'-i  or  hi^'i  (as  below),  probably  for  hihi^-ihi*. 

25  W-,  i^-,  let  me. 

2«a8ini-h,  to  anger;  asina-na-t',  anger;  the  same  stem  seems  to  be  used  to 
express  the  meanings  of  anger  and  hunger,  which  both  imply  stirring  emotion; 
or  has  the  similar  sound  of  the  English  words  led  to  confusion  in  translation? 
The  ending  -na"  is  the  regular  intransitive  of  the  Ist  pers. 


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130  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

27  tci-,  positive  or  negative  imperative;  a"xa"-wu,  aza-wu,  give  to  eat! 

28  Objective  of  hisei. 

2»a"titci,  plates,  ante;  -h-ei,  causative;  hana"-,  ha"na°-,  correlative  with 
ha"ix-,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  text.  The  force  of  these  two  common  pre- 
fixes is  not  clear.  Informants  left  them  untranslated  or  rendered  them  by 
*  *  then. '  *  They  appear  to  be  relational  to  the  discourse  as  a  whole  rather  than 
syntactical  or  grammatical.    For  ha"-  alone  see  note  4. 

80  Compare  Gros  Ventre  ha'a»ty*,  lime,  white  earth;  and  haaninin,  better 
ha'aninin,  the  Gros  Ventre  name  for  themselves,  translated,  perhaps  in  false 
etymology,  as  ** lime-men."  The  myth  refers  to  a  time  when  the  Arapaho  at 
least  .knew  pottery.  For  the  ending  -i-na"  compare  bacina",  a  wooden  one,  just 
below,  from  bac*,  wood. 

81  i-ha"wu-,  negative  of  verbs. 

82  a'titci,  plates,  as  in  note  29;  -ta-n,  -ta-na,  to,  for,  of;  either  the  initial  n- 
or  the  final  -na"  denotes  the  first  person. 

83  hi-,  her;  bixut',  dress;  wa'a,  wa'aha,  moccasin,  plural  -na". 
84ici-bi,  isi-bi,  lie  down. 

8B  -ihi  'i,  -ihi ',  the  commonest  su£^  of  adverbs. 

88  Compare  naha',  nuhu',  this;  hina',  that,  visible;  nan&-ni-na°,  I,  it  is  I; 
nana-haxk**,  he,  it  must  be  he. 

8T  na"-,  and;  ta"-,  when;  ha"t-,  future  intent,  and  a'wa",  eat;  or  h-a"ta"-,  eat 
(cf.  ata-wu,  eat  up  for),  and  -wa,  -ba,  cause. 

88  i-ka"^ei-n,  cf .  ka"aiei-n,  cut  open  belly  (ka  'a"-b,  bite,  ka^ne-n,  open,  ka"u-s, 
cut  off);  -eit*,  he  (B) — him  (A). 

80  nis',  two  (counting),  ha-nis-ei,  two,  inanimate;  -na°,  plural. 
I        40  hanaxa 'aha,  young  man;  -hi'i,  -ha',  -hahi,  diminutive;  -a",  for  -a"',  -ha", 
plural.    For:  hanaxa 'ahiha" '. 

*i  ite-n,  take,  catch. 

*2  Compare  tc&seix,  one,  in  counting. 

*8  i-wa"ciei-w  for  wa"cie-w,  wa"cie-b,  take  into  water. 

**  i-^ei-kti-^  for  Bei-ku-B,  put  in ;  -a",  he — him. 

«na"^-,f;  tca"tfi,  for  tca^-i-,  away,  usually  a  "prefix,"  here  obviously  the 
' '  stem, '  *  since  it  is  followed  directly  by  the  pronominal  ending. 

*8  tic,  or  tisi-,  when,  after,  completed  action. 

*7  teia",  child;  -na",  plural. 

*8For:  naha'  hinen'. 

*»  This  transitive  stem  seemingly  is  used  without  the  usual  connective  con- 
sonant. Compare  the  endings  of  the  two  occurrences  of  the  stem:  -a"t*  and  eit', 
the  A  and  B  forms  according  to  the  table  of  pronominal  endings,  occur,  here 
and  elsewhere  in  the  text,  in  subordinate  verbs;  -a",  as  in  note  44,  and  notes  8 
and  16  of  Text  ii,  is  found  on  independent  verbs. 

80  Or  xanou ;  also  a  prefix. 

81  Transitive  a"ina-n.  This  form  seems  to  be  intransitive  and  without  pro- 
nominal suffix. 

62  ta"-  once  means  that,  once  when. 

88tci^-i-,  in,  entering,  to  enter;  a"ha-b,  a"ha-w,  to  see.  Perhaps  best:  he 
entering  saw,  he  enter-saw.  This  word  illustrates  excellently  the  difficulty  in 
distinguishing  in  Arapaho  between  verb  stems  with  adverbial  prefixes  and 
binary  compound  verbs,  as  discussed  above  in  the  first  part  of  the  section 
dealing  with  verbs. 

84  See  note  38. 

88  The  expected  ending  -e^en',  I — you,  is  lacking;  n-ei-  seems  to  be  the  part 
of  the  word  meaning  I. 
8«biwa"-hu,  to  cry. 


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PAET  III 
NOTES  ON  QROS  VENTRE 

Phonetics 

The  sounds  of  Gros  Ventre  have  been  discussed  in  connection  with 
those  of  Arapaho  proper.  Certain  dound  correspondences  between 
the  two  languages  have  been  pointed  out  in  Part  I. 

Vocalic  changes,  consonantal  substitutions,  increments,  and  redu- 
plications or  similar  expansions,  are  frequent,  but  the  laws  by  which 
they  are  governed  are  not  often  clear. 

W08,  bear;  waota^-n-os,  black  bear. 

liit&na"(ii)-i-bi,  buffalo  cow. 

nixaH-ou-i^,  white-man  woman. 

na»t8*,  rabbit;  na"k-a"t8,  "white  rabbit,"  jackrabbit;  nawat-a°ts,  'Meft-hand 
rabbit,"  cottontail  rabbit. 

na'*ts-ou-hit&na°,  white  buffalo. 

na"k"-tf-otei,  ''white  belly,"  donkey;  wanot*,  some  one's  belly;  na-na"ty-ix-ty*, 
he  is  white. 

ha'a"-ty',  white  clay,  lime;  ha'a-n-inin,  Gros  Ventre;  ha'a-n-i^,  Gros  Ventre 
woman. 

b*-teibyi,  louse,  '*some  one's  louse";  bei-teibyi,  "red  louse,"  flea;  ^ei-teibyi, 
"flat  louse,"  bedbug;  baxa 'aMeibyi,  "thunder  louse,"  butterfly. 

a^wu,  down;  a^wu-nihi 'i,  down  along  a  stream;  n-a"w'-na"tyinei,  "lower- 
Assiniboines, "  Sioux. 

kaka-ya",  flat,  it  is  flat;  kaka-tyi,  he  is  flat;  kak-ou-bi^,  "flat  wood,"  cut 
Inmber,  planks. 

b&^-ani'i,  "large  gopher,"  prairie-dog;  bft^-a^tsu,  "large  mouse,"  rat;  bfts-ou, 
bl^-ei-(y)a",  bana^-ei-(y)-a",  large  (inanimate),  it  is  large,  a  large  thing; 
banatf-ei-tyi,  he  is  large,  a  large  one;  b&s-inita",  "large  person,"  a  giant; 
habaty-inita*  (haba-ty'-inita"?),  a  large  person. 

baxa-a°,  red,  inanimate;  bei-x-ty',  he  is  red,  red  (animate);  ban&ty',  he  is 
red;  ba»a''  bis,  red  wood;  bax-ou,  "red  porcupine(t),"  badger;  nix-b&a '&-na", 
I  was  red  headed;  ban&ba- 'ta-na",  I  have  red  ears;  bana"b(a")-a"t8o-na",  I  have 
red  eyes. 

Composition 
Some  body  part  stems  when  in  composition  are  dissimilar  to  the 
independent  stems  of  the  same  meaning ;  others  are  the  same. 

Distinct: 

-ib&-,  nose ;  be-ic',  nose.    Arapaho :  -i-^a-,  b-eic. 

W-n-ibft-ty*,  "flat  nose  he  is,"  pig 

ta-n-ibS-ts,  ' '  pierced  nose  they  are,  * '  Nez  Perc4  Indians 

ba^&s-Sbft'-na",  *  *  large  nose  I  am, ' '  I  have  a  large  nose 


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132  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

-a  'a-,  head ;  bi-t*  '*°  ( or  bit-*  '*"?),  head.  Arapaho :  a  'ei- ;  ha-kuha**, 
head;  bei-^e'a,  hair. 

ban&^-a '^-na",  I  am  large  headed 

kaka-a 'R-nin,  "flat  head  men(f),"  Flat-head  Indians 

-taxa-,  belly;  wa-n-ot®,  belly.    Arapaho:  wa-not. 
ha^tyis-taxa-na",  I  am  small-bellied 

-a°tso-,  eye ;  be-so^,  eye.    Arapaho :  ba-elsa. 
wana"wa"^-a"t86-na",  I  have  ugly  eyes 

Identical: 

ityi-,  mouth;  be-tyi',  mouth.    Arapaho:  ba-ti. 
wana*»^-ityi-na",  I  am  ugly  mouthed 

-*tan-,  ear;  wa-n-otan,  ear.    Arapaho:  wa-natana*. 
banaba^-*tan-(n)a",  I  have  large  ears 

-a'^tsota-,  tooth ;  bi-tsit*,  tooth.    Arapaho :  bei-tcW. 
ninan*-a"t8ota-na",  I  have  pretty  teeth 

-ofena-,  neck ;  wa-^ana,  neck.    Arapaho :  ba-sona"^. 
banRs-d^ana-ni-na",  I  have  a  large  neck 

-tina,  mammae ;  be-ten,  breast.  Arapaho :  ba-^en-etc^  breast- water, 
milk. 

ban&b&s-tina-na",  I  have  large  breasts 

Several  other  nouns  occur  in  two  forms : 

-okay-,  house,  in  composition  only;  -yei,  house,  independent  word 
with  possessive  pronoun ;  nln*"*,  house,  independent  word  without  pos- 
sessive.   Arapaho :  -akac  or  -akay,  -i-yei,  nlna"*. 

wux-n-okay-an,  *' (f)-house8,''  the  Minitari 

wasoin-hiyei-hi-ts,  "grass  their  houses,''  "they  have  grass  houses,"  a 
Shoshonean  tribe 

-a°w"-,  water,  in  composition  only;  nets*,  water.    Arapaho:  -a"wu, 

netc*. 

ba°-a"w''ha"^a°-nets*,  red  rain 
nana»k-a"w"  nets',  white  water 
tsok-a^w",  clear  water 
hou-n-a"w",  muddy  water 
waota"-n-a»w",  black  water 
waota"-nots*,  "black  water,"  coffee 
nixa"t-ou-nets*,  * '  white  man 's  water, ' '  whisky 
bete (n) -nits*,  "breast  water,"  milk 
be^*-nits*,  "wood-water,"  sap. 


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Verbs 

ArriXES  OF  MODE  AND  TENSE 

The  tense  and  mode  affixes  observed  are  substantially  the  same  as 
in  Arapaho. 

Prefixes 
n-,  ni-,  na"-,  incomplete  action,  present;  Arapaho:  ni- 
nih*-,  ninih*-,  incomplete  action,  past;  Arapaho:  nih'- 
nih-ise-n-,  completed  action,  past;  perhaps:   once  continued  action  now 

completed;  Arapaho:  nih-isi- 
ha»ta"-,   ha"ta"ni-,   future,   probably   of  intent;   Arapaho:    ha"t-,   ha't-i-, 

ha"ta"ni 
nih'-aHa"-,  **wa8  about  to";  nih*-  and  ha"ta"- 

ha"-e-,  interrogative,  present;  Arapaho:  kih*-,  ka»-,  ka"hei-,  ka°ha-,  ka"hu- 
ha^-ex-,  interrogative,  past 
ha"'aHa"-,  interrogative,  future 
ts6-,  tsu-,  tsa-,  tse-,  negative;  Arapaho:  tci-,  tcih- 
ha^-Cn),  optative,  "let  me";  Arapaho:  ha»-ti-,  ha"-tih* 
hax-,  that,  when,  subordinating;  Arapaho:  ta"-,  tah*- 
ihi-,  if,  past  unreal  supposition 
na°^ei-,  perhaps;  Arapaho:  na°xei- 

A  few  etymological  affixes  have  also  been  distinguished : 

naye-x-tso-,  niya-x-tso-,  try  to;  Arapaho:  naye- 

tca'^-so-,  begin  to;  Arapaho:  tcasis- 

na"wa-,  na°bi-,  make  a  motion  to;  Arapaho:  nawu-,  nabi- 

Suffixes 
-etyi,  reflexive;  Arapaho:  -eti,  -uti 
-ehi,  -ohu,  agent;  Arapaho:  -ehi,  -ohu 

-n-axku,  added  to  personal  ending,  conditional;  Arapaho:  -h-axk",  n-axk" 
-ya",  ending  of  many  adjectives  in  the  absolute  or  inanimate  form;  Arapaho: 
-a»,  -ya" 

PRONOMINAL  ENDINGS  AND  CONNECTIVES 
The  intransitive  endings  are : 


Gros  Venire 

Arapa) 

I 

-na» 

-na" 

You 

•n«n 

-n» 

He 

-ty» 

•t' 

We 

-nin 

-na° 

You 

-na» 

-na" 

They 

-tsC) 

-$i 

The  intransitive  imperative  is  expressed  by  -ts;  anity-i-ts,  talk! 
This  ending  has  not  been  observed  in  Arapaho. 


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134  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

The  transitive  conjugation  is  substantially  the  same  as  in  Arapaho. 


Gros  Ventre 

Arapaho 

I — you 

-etin 

-etfen* 

I — him 

-o    -I 

-a»' 

I— you  (pi.) 

-etina" 

-e^ena" 

I — them 

-ou 

-ou 

I— it 

-awa" 

-awa" 

you — ^him 

-ots* 

-aH' 

he — me 

-ein»» 

-eina" 

he — you 

-ein* 

-ein* 

he — him 

-aty' 

-an* 

they — ^you 

-ein'nC) 

-einani 

they — him 

-ots* 

-a»W 

The  preceding  consonant  or  connective  also  undergoes  change  much 

as  in  Arapaho. 

Meaning        Verb  Me           You  Him          You          Them       It 

see             a^ha  b  kw2»            b                w          t 

strike         ta"  b               b  w 

shoot          tci  by             by  by                                             bit2« 

kick            ta^a  n  n 

tell             n-i  t27  t27                                 t27 

kill  naha  ' 


The  transitive  imperative  is  -in ;  Arapaho,  -in*,  un*. 

tci-by-in  shoot  him! 

nihi'-in  kill  him! 

The  transitive  endings  occurring  with  the  interrogative  prefix 
ha'^ex-  are  evidently  the  same  as  the  Arapaho  personal  suflSxes  used 
in  the  negative  formed  by  -i-ha°wu-. 


Gros  Ventre 

Arapaho 

I — you 

-eta 

-ee 

I — him 

-a" 

-a" 

you — him,  them 

-a- 

-a»,  -a"na ' 

he — me 

_  J 

-e 

he — him,  them 

■',&' 

-a 

they — me 

-ei 

-ei 

they — him,  them 

-',-a» 

-ana" 

One  of  the  two  personal  elements  seems  to  be  expressed,  the  other 
understood. 

The  negative  conjugation  appears  to  be  based  on  the  use  of  the 
prefix  tso-  (and  its  phonetic  modifications),  corresponding  to  Arapaho 
tcT-.  The  equivalent  of  the  Arapaho  negative  in  i-ha°wu-  has  not  been 
observed. 

ne-tsa-asa",  I  am  not  swift 
na-tsa-atcesou-hi,  I  am  not  small 
he-t8u-na"ha-b-et*,  I  do  not  see  you 


25  Unparalleled  in  Arapaho. 

2«  As  in  Arapaho. 

27  Corresponds  to  Arapaho  s. 


i 


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135 


Nouns 

The  plural  of  nouns  shows  the  same  types  as  in  Arapaho. 
-n,  -in,  -an,  corresponding  to  Arapaho  -na"*,  -i-na°. 


bear 

wos(5) 

W086*» 

elk 

(h)iwa86» 

(h)iwas6hin 

wildcat 

be^a»ty» 

be^a»tyan 

crow 

(h)ouu 

(h)oun 

fly 

noubft" 

noub&n 

feather 

bii 

biin 

bone 

hi^» 

hitfan 

tent 

nin" 

ninan 

stone 

(h)axa'anaHya» 

(h)axa'ana"tyan 

L°,  -ha",  as  in 

Arapaho. 

mouse 

a»tsu 

a»tsuhih"n 

antelope 

na°sity 

na"sitya» 

rabbit 

na"ts* 

naHs'ha* 

gopher 

(h)ani'i 

(h)ani'iha» 

muskrat 

l9os 

i^osa" 

otter 

nei 

neih*» 

squirrel 

^a^a^ya  'ei 

^a^»ya'eiha» 

cat,  puss 

wus 

wusha" 

donkey 

na«k-^otei 

na»k"^oteihiha" 

bald  eagle 

na»k°tiyghi 

na"k°tiyehi« 

turtle 

ba  'anou 

ba'anouha» 

fish 

na-w" 

na»wuh»» 

butterfly 

baxa  V-teibyi 

baxa'a-teibyihiha»«8 

river 

nitsft 

nitsaha" 

Lengthening  of  the  final,  often  surd  or  inaudible,  vowel  to  -i,  -u, 
or  a  phonetic  equivalent,  as  in  Arapaho. 


deer 

bihi'i 

bihi'ihi 

beaver 

(h)abes 

(h)abes6i 

skunk 

^ou 

^oue 

cattle 

wa°kety« 

wa»ketyi 

mountain  sheep 

(h)ot<«> 

(h)otei 

wooden  house 

batyi^ou 

batyi^ou  *u 

ear 

wanatan 

wanatanou 

water 

nets*,  nots 

notsa" 

louse 

b'teibyi 

b'teiwuh28 

Words  for  ** domestic  animal,"  or  compounded  with  it,  take  -ibl, 

Arapaho  -abi. 

dog  (h)of  (h)otibi 

horse,  * '  elk-dog ' '  hiwas  'ha"^  hiwas  'ha»^ebi 

dragon-fly,  *  *  insect  dog ' '        bi^a"ha»^  bi^a"ha"^bi 


A  few  words  change  final  -s  or  -ts  to  -t. 


tooth 
horn 
parfleche  bag 


bitsits 

ninis 

houwanos 


bitsit 
ninit 
houwanot 


28  Apparently  different  plurals  on  the  same  stem. 


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Animateness  or  inanimateness  of  nouns  is  indicated  in  the  con- 
joined verb,  adjective,  or  numeral;  or,  as  they  should  collectively  be 
called,  the  verb.  The  ** animate"  gender,  however,  includes  many 
names  of  lifeless  things.  Such  are :  sun,  moon,  stars,  thunder,  wagon, 
mowing-machine,  which  travel ;  and  snow,  stone,  tree,  log,  cedar,  pine, 
pipe,  and  money,  which  do  not  move.  Inanimate  are  the  nouns  for 
sky  or  clouds,  lightning,  rainbow,  rain,  water,  river,  spring,  earth, 
iron,  willow,  sage,  grass,  mountain,  gun,  bow,  arrow,  and  wind,  several 
of  which  denote  moving  objects. 

A  locative  is  formed  by  a  vocalic  suiBx,  as  at  times  in  Arapaho. 


earth 

bita'aw- 

bita'awu 

stone 

(h)axa'ana'>tya" 

(h)axa'ananyei 

jarfleche  bags 
>ed 

houwanot 

houwanote 

(h)a"w" 

(h)a»ba' 

The  types  of  possessive  pronominal  prefixes  are  those  occurring 
in  Arapaho.  The  third  person  frequently  shows  a  vocalic  suflBx 
increment. 


Word 

Father 

Mother 

Son 

Grandmother 

vocative 

ni^a» 

na'a» 

neihe ' 

nip 

my 

ni^na" 

neina" 

eihe' 

eip 

your 

i^ina" 

eina" 

iha'aha» 

iniwaha 

his 

iniMna° 

inan* 

our  (incl.) 

i^inan 

our  (excl.) 

ani^inan'n 

your 

i^nanina" 

Word 

Grandchild 

Mother's  brother 

Hair 

Mouth 

vocative 

11186 

nis  'ha" 

my 

nTs& 

nis' 

nanif- 

netyi ' 

your 

1S& 

as' 

anif" 

etyi; 

his 

inisaha" 

isa'*" 

init" 

ityi' 

somebody's 

bif» 

betyi' 

It  is  probable  that  an  h-,  which  is  fainter  in  Gros  Ventre  than  in 
Arapaho,  occurs  before  all  the  above  words  written  as  commencing 
with  a  vowel. 


Pronouns 
As  in  Arapaho,  the  so-called  ''pronoun''  is  a  verbal  sertence. 


ni-na 

ni-na-ni-na" 

nih-na-ni-na" 

haHa'-na-ni-na" 

ni-nani-ts 


it  is  it,  that  is  it 
'*!,"  literally,  it  is  I 
it  was  I 
it  will  be  I 
*'they,''  it  is  they 


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137 


Numerals 

Counting 

Cardinal 

Ordinal 

1 

tya^ei 

ah-niW-ty*  (an.) 
ah-nW-*  (inan.) 

ni-nit-awa»-ty* 

2 

ni^ 

ah-nisi-t8  (an.) 
ah-ni^-ei  (inan.) 

ni-ni8a-uwa»-ty* 

3 

n&^ 

ah-nixi-t8  (an.) 
ah-na^  i  (inan.) 

ni-na8a-uwa"-ty* 

4 

yftn* 

ah-yftni-ts  (an.) 
ah-yftn-ei  (inan.) 

ye-nana-uwa»-ty* 

5 

yatan* 

ah-yatani-ts  (an.)2» 

yenatana-uwa»-ty* 

6 

neitya"t08 

ni-neityano8-awa»-ty* 

7 

ni^»t08 

8 

n&^Hos 

9 

anhabeta"t08 

0 

beta»t08 

ah-beta»t8i-t8  (an.) 

bata»t08-awa°-tv* 

The  above  ordinals  are  animate.  The  inanimate  forms  lack  the 
animate  intransitive  ending  -ty*.  The  form  for  ** second"  was  ob- 
tained without  the  prefixed  reduplication.  ''First'*  is  nltawu.  The 
difference  of  consonant  in  the  animate  cardinals  for  **one"  and  **two" 
follows  that  in  Arapaho. 

Eleven  to  19  are  formed  from  1  to  9  by  -in,  -oin,  Arapaho  -ini: 
tya^ein,  nisoin,  nasoin,  yanln,  yatanin,  neitya^tosoin,  ni^a°tosoin, 
nada"tosoin,  anhabeta°tos8in  or  anhani^5u.  Here  the  0  of  **two*'  and 
*' three"  reverts  to  its  Arapaho  form,  s.  Twenty  to  100  are  made  by 
-6u;  Arapaho,  -a°',  -a',  -u^  nl^ou,  na^ou,  ySnou,  yatanou,  neitya**- 
ta^ou,  nl^a^^ta^ou,  na^a°ta^ou,  anhabeta^ta^ou,  beta^ta^ou.  Here  s 
becomes  6.  Twenty-two  is  nl^ou  nisoin,  39  anhayanou,  200  nl^  beta"- 
ta^ou,  1000  bas  beta"ta^ou,  *' great  hundred." 

The  only  appearance  of  a  ''classifier"  noted  is  -an-,  corresponding 
to  Arapaho  -a"na,  a  collective. 

tya" 'a"ya"tei  bi^  yatan-an-ei,  ''heaps  wood  five,*'  five  piles  of  sticks 


min 

A  mmi 


TEXT  IV— TANGLED  HAIR 
h6uxnl^a"tciba'  *a"  a"'tasna"ka'ni  hou'xa  'atso'u 

was  living  alone.  In  the  moming  he  went  hunting, 

hito'uani     wa"tyinana°'niia"tye'ity*    nohuutc'ha'ntinan     nohuti'^a^ts 

in  the  evening  he  returned.  "When  I  am  away,  when  comes 

ini'ta"       tsab^he'i       tso'tits^ne'hin       wa"tyl'ta°tyi       ini'n**       ta'ta" 

a  person,  do  not  invite  h^m!"  he  told  her  his  wife.  "£ven 

hana'yeiso"        tso'tya^ts        tso'tya"ts        tsab'hi'isiin        a"hi'ta"wu' 

if  he  is  about  to 

a"'t'a8oj'ha'*'te'i 

when  he  was  away  this  man.  surely 


enter.  enter  do  not  let  him."  And  indeed 

i'n-ini'n  houu'ta"wu  nounenta'^te'ihini 


some  one  came. 


29 Or:  ha^-yatanits,  animate;  ha"-yatanei,  inanimate. 


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ininin 

His  wife 

ka^ka"' 

Just 

hi'ni^an 


naxka^'ka"        hitso'watcatcini 

Just  would  not  say  anything. 

h5uxiia"a'*^°'t*  hini'n  'a" 

walked  about.  Hit  wife 


tso'tsodja'* 

enter, 

hi'n-inm 

this  man. 

hini'ii 

his  wife. 


hou'xtam  i'^awu 

He  made  as  if  to  in 

itsowatyl-istso'd  ja**       nah  'nou  'u^a'nts 

not  enter.  Returned 

ha°axtso-n6une'nita°t  ni'watylta^t 

"Has  some  one  come?"  he  said  to  her 

niwatci'teity*  hih*  'a"'  ni'watcita" 

she  said  to  him.  "Is  that  sot"  he  said  to  her. 

hana'yeisd      hi^awu'      tixil'       ts6tya°ts» 

if  he  is  about  to  in  enter, 

wa°tyi'ta°tyi  ini'n  naxta'^  ho'uxats'ou 

he  said  to  her 

haxkouta'nixty* 


a"h        no'hu        ini'ta" 

And  that  person 

ha"hitso'watyatyin 

would  not  ssy  anything. 

ha^hu'ityina- 

but  he  did 

hou'xna'^tcitana 

asked  her: 

wa'e'idy^ya^ts 

"Indeed  he  did!" 

ta'ta" 

even 

tsa'bh^'isi'n 

do  not  let  him!" 

nu'hu-inen 


hana°'dya" 

"Now 

tsotya"ts 

enter 


his  wife.  And  again  went  hunting  tliat  man. 

houxtci'        noune'nita^teTiinin        nu'hu        ini'n 

When  he  was  away  long,  again  some  one  came  that  man. 


wa'^tyina'xni'i' 

He  was  about  to 


tayani'        tilso'        tsotyanits       nu'hu 

but  did  not  enter,  that 

nuhuu'       inounenita^te'itan       hdti'xka^kanitako'utyin 

who  came.  Then  he  flapped 

wa^tylnehi  'i'tsa^nine'ixty*        ts8dja°ts        wa'^tyita^^'ty* 

She  began  to  restrain  herself  no  longer.  "Enter! "  she  said  to  him. 

ouxtsS'djSni  wa°tylnehi 'i'  byltsiwa^na** 

it  was  who  entered.  She  began  to  cook  for  him. 

byitsi'wa°na        wa°tyinehi  'i'         ha^a'wa^ty* 

cooked,  she  went  to  give  him  food. 

na°tyi'tsota" 

I  use  as  plates," 

anyi'tsha^'tyi      aJ^'hWO 


itsunani"W6u 

"That  is  not  the  kind 

a'natetyin 

change 

wa°tyi'teity* 

he  said  to  her. 

nite'idj* 


ini'tan 

person 

hitidje'na"^ 

the  door. 

a"h'ine'n 

An^*^  man 

ho'huso"' 

When  she  had 

a"hTy6'u-wa°tyi'nit8 

And  he  snid: 

wa"tyi'teity* 

he  said  to  her. 

itsonanl'^ou 


wa°tyinehi  *!' 

She  went  to 


his  plate.  And  again,      "That  is  not  the  kind 

ni'watci-ka'so       anatyi'tsaha'a"       a°h 

his  plates  and 

bihi  hatyi'tsaha' 


he  said. 

wa°tylna"'ni  *i 

Then  she  began 

notyanSna"^ 

to  think 

axni'^etyin 

one  of 

tana'n^na" 

that  is  very  near,' 


Constantly  she  ehanged 

wa^tyine'hi'i 

Then  she  began 

ityho'uwin 

not  to  know 

otna°dji'ts*ha°tyi 

what  to  use  as  a  plate. 

hiw*a'xa' 

her  moccasins. 


naHyitso'tan 

I  use  as  plates," 

hou'uxni'^ 

the  same 


all 


to  use  her  plates, 


a°tyi'tsha°tyi 

what  to  use  as  a  plate. 

wa^tyine'hn 

Then  she  went  and 


1  nan 

every  kind. 


wa°tyina  nil 

Then  she  began 

nat'a'hnri 

drew  off 


wa^tyinan 

And  she  went  nnd 


a°tyitsha"ty» 

used  it  as  a  plate. 


WUUU 
"Ha, 


wa"tyite'ity» 

he  said  to  her. 


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UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA    PUBLICATIONS 

IN 

AMERICAN   ARCHAEOLOGY  AND   ETHNOLOGY 

Vol.  12,  No.  4,  pp.  139-194  June  24,  1916 


MIWOK  MOIETIES 

BY 

EDWARD  WIN8L0W  GITFORD 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction   139 

Moieties  ., 140 

Exogamy   141 

Totemism  142 

Ceremonies 145 

Personal  Names  146 

Marriages 161 

Genealogies  165 

Terms  of  Relationship  170 

Terminology  and  Social  Customs  ^ 181 

Cross-cousin  Marriage 189 

Conclusion  193 

INTRODUCTION 

The  Miwok  Indians  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  of  California  are  divided 
by  anthropologists  into  three  dialectic  groups,  termed  Northern  or 
Amador,  Central  or  Tuolumne,  and  Southern  or  Mariposa.  These 
three  groups  occupy  the  western  slope  of  tlje  mountains  from  El 
Dorado  County  in  the  north  to  Madera  Cotmty  in  the  south.^  Their 
social  organization  takes  the  form  of  totemic  exogamic  moieties  with 
paternal  descent. 

To  Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam  and  to  Dr.  S.  A.  Barrett  belongs  the  credit 
of  calling  attention  to  the  Miwok  moieties.^    The  present  contribution, 


1  For  geographical  information  see  C.  Hart  Merriam,  Distribution  and  Classi- 
fication of  the  Mewan  Stock  of  California,  Am.  Anthr.,  n.  s.,  ix,  338-357,  1907; 
and  S.  A.  Barrett,  The  Geography  and  Dialects  of  the  Miwok  Indians,  Univ. 
Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  vi,  333-368,  1908. 

2  C.  Hart  Merriam,  Totemism  in  California,  Am.  Anthr.,  n.  s.,  x,  558-562, 
1908;  S.  A.  Barrett,  Totemism  Among  the  Miwok  Indians,  Journ.  Am.  Folk-Lore, 
XVII,  237,  1908. 


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140  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

while  treating  of  the  moieties  in  a  general  way,  deals  especially  with 
two  subjects  with  which  they  are  closely  interlocked,  viz.,  personal 
names  and  terms  of  relationship.  The  former  are  connected  with  the 
totemic  features  of  the  moieties,  the  latter  with  the  exogamic  features. 

The  writer  has  recently  found  an  organization,  bearing  a  resem- 
blance to  that  of  the  Miwok,  among  the  Shoshonean  Mono  on  the 
western  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  in  Madera  County,  and  among  the 
Chukchansi,  Qashowu,  and  Tachi,  which  are  Yokuts  tribes.  The 
Chukchansi  inhabit  Madera  County  north  of  the  San  Joaquin  River ; 
the  Qashowu  inhabit  Fresno  County  south  of  the  San  Joaquin  River ; 
and  the  Tachi  inhabit  the  plains  north  of  Tulare  Lake.  These  discov- 
eries, which  will  be  treated  in  a  forthcoming  paper,  indicate  that  social 
organization  on  a  dual  basis  was  common  to  a  large  part  of  south 
central  California.' 

The  data  here  recorded  refer,  except  where  otherwise  noted,  to  the 
Central  Sierra  Miwok,  and  were  obtained  during  three  visits  to  their 
territory  in  Tuolumne  County.  These  visits  were  made  in  1913,  1914, 
and  1915.  Information  was  also  obtained  from  people  who  spoke  the 
Northern  Sierra  dialect  and  who  were  employed  on  ranches  in  the 
vicinity  of  Elk  Grove,  Sacramento  County.  These  people  had  come 
down  from  their  homes  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  foothills  of  Amador 
County.  A  brief  visit  was  also  paid  to  the  Southern  Sierra  Miwok 
of  Madera  County. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  paper  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  A.  L. 
Kroeber,  who  has  unstintingly  given  me  the  benefit  of  his  knowledge 
of  Californian  ethnology. 

MOIETIES 

As  already  related,  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok  are  divided  into  ex- 
ogamic moieties  with  paternal  descent,  usually  spoken  of  as  kikua 
(water  side)  and  tunuka  (land,  or  dry,  side).  Frequently  the  former 
are  referred  to  as  **  bullfrog  people '*  (lotasuna)  and  the  latter  as 
**  blue  jay  people''  (kosituna).  The  presence  of  two  exogamic  divisions 
with  animal  nicknames  has  at  least  a  superficial  analogy  to  a  case 
mentioned  by  Dr.  W.  H.  R.  Rivers  as  occurring  on  the  island  of  Raga 
or  Pentecost  in  the  northern  New  Hebrides.* 


8  For  a  preliminary  notice  see  Dichotomous  Social  Organization  in  South 
Central  California,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  xi,  291-296,  1916. 

*  Totemism  in  Polynesia  and  Melanesia,  Joum.  Roy.  Anthr.  Inst.,  xxxix,  172, 
1909. 


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1916]  Gifford:  Miwok  Moieties  141 

With  the  Miwok  the  moiety  has  no  subdivisions.  At  first  glance 
the  fact  that  16  per  cent  of  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok  are  named  after 
bears,  and  the  remainder  after  numerous  other  animate  and  inanimate 
objects  and  phenomena,  would  seem  to  suggest  a  phratral  system,  with 
numerous  totemic  gentes,  gone  into  decay.  The  Indians,  nevertheless, 
positively  deny  the  existence  of  smaller  divisions.  They  in  no  way 
regard  the  people  with  bear  names,  for  example,  as  forming  a  special 
group.  Nothing  in  the  information  obtained  points  to  a  phratral 
system  ever  having  been  in  operation. 

Individuals  from  the  Northern  Sierra  division  of  the  Miwok  were 
found  to  disagree  as  to  the  occurrence  of  the  moiety  system  among 
their  people.  An  informant  from  West  Point  in  Calaveras  County 
and  one  from  Jackson  in  Amador  County  stated  that  the  dual  divisions 
were  in  force  in  those  places.  Two  other  informants,  one  thirty  and 
the  other  about  forty  years  of  age,  from  Plymouth,  in  Amador  County, 
knew  nothing  about  the  moieties. 

Exogamy 

The  exogamic  rules  of  the  moieties  were  not  rigidly  adhered  to 
even  before  the  coming  of  the  whites.  Out  of  a  series  of  four  hundred 
and  thirteen  individuals,  whose  names  were  obtained,  one  hundred 
and  eighty-four,  or  45  per  cent,  belonged  to  the  water  moiety,  and 
two  hundred  and  twenty-nine,  or  55  per  cent,  to  the  land  moiety.  The 
greater  number  of  these  four  hundred  and  thirteen  individuals  were 
either  of  the  generation  of  the  oldest  Indians  of  today  or  of  the  pre- 
ceding generation.  Had  the  exogamic  rules  been  strictly  enforced  it 
would  have  meant  that  ten  people  out  of  every  hundred  went  un- 
married or  else  married  late  in  life.  The  natural  result  of  this  pre- 
ponderance of  one  moiety  over  the  other  would  be  the  breaking  down 
of  strict  exogamy  in  actual  practice,  especially  in  a  case  like  the 
present,  where  the  system  lacks  the  rigidity  of  the  Australian  marriage- 
class  system.  Informants  stated  that  strenuous  efforts  were  never 
made  to  prevent  improper  marriages.  The  relatives  merely  objected 
and  pointed  out  the  impropriety  of  such  marriages.  Under  the  head- 
ing ** Marriages'*  are  listed  the  recorded  Miwok  marriages,  of  which 
actually  25  per  cent  are  improper. 

The  figures  in  the  last  paragraph  show  the  division  into  moieties 
of  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok  as  a  whole,  at  least  so  far  as  the  data  go. 
A  list  of  the  inhabitants  of  only  one  village  was  obtained.    This  village 


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142  University  of  California  Publicatio7is  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

was  located  on  Big  Creek  near  Groveland.  The  total  number  of  indi- 
viduals listed  is  one  hundred  and  two  and  includes  people  of  all 
generations  within  the  knowledge  of  the  informant.  Out  of  this  total, 
56  per  cent  belonged  to  the  water  moiety  and  44  per  cent  to  the  land 
moiety.  This  is  the  reverse  of  the  situation  among  the  Central  Sien-a 
Miwok  exclusive  of  the  Big  Creek  people.  A  table  will  perhaps  make 
the  situation  clearer. 

Percentage  Percentage 

of  water  of  land 

moiety  moiety 

Central  Sierra  Miwok  in  general 45  55 

Village  at  Big  Creek 56  44 

Central  Sierra  Miwok,  except  Big  Creek  people 41  59 

Unfortunately  no  other  village  censuses  have  been  taken,  so  that 
in  comparing  the  Big  Creek  people  with  the  remainder  of  the  Central 
Sierra  Miwok  we  are  comparing  with  a  very  miscellaneous  and  scat- 
tered lot  of  individuals.  Roughly  stated,  however,  they  may  be  said 
to  be  mainly  Jamestown  and  Knights  Ferry  people.  At  Big  Creek 
twelve  people  out  of  a  hundred  were  ineligible  for  monogamic  mar- 
riage within  the  village,  if  strict  exogamy  were  enforced.  In  the 
region  outside  of  Big  Creek,  however,  eighteen  people  out  of  a  hun- 
dred were  ineligible. 

Totem  ISM 

That  totemic  symptoms  of  one  sort  or  another  are  present  in  the 
Miwok  organization  cannot  be  denied ;  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  must 
be  acknowledged  that  the  classing  of  the  Miwok  with  totemic  peoples 
is  based  on  a  rather  weak  foundation.  The  claims  for  such  classifi- 
cation rest  on  three  well  established  facts. 

First,  all  nature  is  divided  between  land  and  water,  in  a  more  or 
less  arbitrary  manner,  to  be  sure,  as  shown  by  the  classing  of  such 
animals  as  the  coyote,  deer,  and  quail  on  the  ** water''  side. 

Second,  the  exogamic  moieties  are  identified  respectively  with  land 
and  water. 

Third,  an  intimate  connection  exists  between  the  land  and  water 
divisions  of  nature  and  the  land  and  water  moieties.  This  connection 
is  through  personal  names,  which  usually  have  an  implied  reference 
to  animate  or  inanimate  natural  objects  or  phenomena,  although  not 
infrequently  to  manufactured  objects  instead.  The  objects  or  phe- 
nomena referred  to  in  personal  names  belong,  as  a  rule,  either  to  the 
water  or  to  the  land  side  of  nature.    The  names  are  applied  according 


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as  the  individual  is  of  the  water  or  of  the  land  moiety.  Hence,  it 
may  be  said  that  each  moiety  is  connected  through  the  personal  names 
of  its  members  with  a  more  or  less  definite  group  of  objects  and 
phenomena. 

The  ensuing  very  incomplete  lists,  the  contents  of  which  were 
spontaneous  on  the  part  of  informants,  give  some  idea  of  the  dual 
classification  of  nature.  The  reason  for  placing  on  the  ** water''  side 
certain  creatures  which  are  actually  land  animals  is  hard  to  under- 
stand. An  informant  explained  two  of  the  cases  to  me  as  follows: 
The  quail  is  placed  on  the  water  side  because  a  turtle  once  turned  into 
a  quail;  while  the  coyote  is  placed  on  the  water  side  because  Coyote 
won  a  bet  with  the  creator  and  the  latter  had  to  go  to  the  sky  and  take 
a  land-side  name,  while  Coyote  remained  on  earth  and  took  a  water- 
side name, 

On  the  water  side  are  coyote,  deer,  antelope,  beaver,  otter,  quail, 
dove,  kingbird,  bluebird,  turkey  vulture,  killdeer,  jacksnipe,  goose, 
crane,  kingfisher,  swan,  land  salamander,  water  snake,  eel,  whitefish, 
minnow,  katydid,  butterfly,  clouds,  and  rainy  weather. 

On  the  land  side*  are  tree  squirrel,  dog,  mountain  lion,  wildcat, 
raccoon,  jay,  hawk,  condor,  raven,  California  woodpecker,  flicker, 
salmon-berry,  ** Indian  potato,''  sky,  and  clear  weather. 

Another,  though  slender,  bit  of  evidence  in  favor  of  totemism  is  a 
fragment  of  a  myth  recounting  the  origin  of  the  moieties.  It  was 
obtained  from  a  woman  of  the  water  moiety,  Mrs.  Sophie  Thompson, 
formerly  chieftainess  at  Big  Creek,  near  Groveland.  She  stated  that 
her  father,  Nomasu,  told  her  the  story.  In  this  myth  it  is  interesting 
to  note  that,  although  an  animal  of  each  side  is  concerned,  it  is  the 
coyote,  usually  classified  by  the  Miwok  as  a  water  animal,  which 
actually  gives  birth  to  the  four  founders  of  the  moieties.  However, 
the  part  the  coyote  plays  may  perhaps  be  as  much  that  of  culture  hero 
as  of  water  totem.  The  myth,  the  scene  of  which  is  laid  in  Hetch- 
Hetchy  Valley,  runs  as  follows  : 

Coyote  said  to  his  wife.  Bear,  as  he  was  about  to  cohabit  with  her:  "We 
will  have  a  boy  and  a  girl. '  *  His  wife  gave  birth  to  twins,  a  coyote-boy  and  a 
coyote-girl,  who  grew  up. 

Coyote  girl  married  a  bear.  Coyote  himself  dreamed  and  **made  the  first 
four  people  when  he  was  dreaming.  He  dreamed  how  he  was  going  to  make  two 
kinds  and  how  he  was  going  to  call  them.  * '  Coyote-girl  and  her  husband  told 
each  other  they  would  have  four  children,  two  girls  and  two  boys.  Coyote- 
girl  gave  birth  to  them  and  they  were  the  first  four  people  about  whom  Coyote 
dreamed. 


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144  University  of  California  ruhlications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Coyote  named  one  of  the  male  children  Tunuka  and  one  of  the  female 
children  Eikua.  The  other  male  child  he  named  Eikua  and  the  other  female 
Tunuka.    Coyote  thus  made  the  moieties  and  gave  people  their  first  names. 

The  new  couples,  although  brothers  and  sisters,  married  and  had  children. 
The  gopher  acted  as  messenger  and  told  Tunuka  (woman)  to  come  and  help 
Kikua  (woman)  give  birth  to  her  child.  After  his  wife  Kikua  had  given  birth, 
Tunuka  (man)  went  out  and  killed  a  turkey  vulture  so  as  to  wrap  his  baby  in 
the  feathers.  Next  Tunuka  (woman)  had  a  baby  and  gopher  went  to  Kikua 
(woman)  and  a«ked  her  to  come  and  assist  at  the  delivery.  Then  Kikua  (the 
husband  of  Tunuka)  went  out  and  killed  an  eagle  to  wrap  his  baby  in.  He 
also  killed  a  deer  and  tanned  the  hide  to  make  a  cradle-board  of  it  for  the  baby. 

Coyote-boy  also  married  his  sister 's  daughter  Tunuka,  the  wife  of  Kikua. 

The  above  myth  is  the  only  one  obtained  which  points  to  a  belief 
in  actual  descent  from  anim£ils.  When  applied  to  people  with  bear 
names  it  looks  very  much  like  a  myth  of  descent  from  the  totem,  or 
at  least  from  the  animal  after  which  these  people  are  named.  Especi- 
ally is  this  true  if  a  genealogy  shows  bear  names  continuously  on  the 
male  side  of  the  family.  Such  was  very  nearly  the  case  with  the  family 
of  the  informant's  husband  (see  genealogy  III).  With  one  exception, 
all  possessed  bear  names,  at  least  during  the  four  generations  shown 
in  the  genealogy  just  mentioned.  When  asked  if  her  husband  be- 
lieved his  paternal  ancestors  to  be  descended  from  a  bear,  Mrs.  Thomp- 
son replied  in  the  aflBrmative ;  but  the  bear  she  referred  to  was  Coyote- 
girl's  husband,  who,  according  to  the  myth,  was  the  paternal  ancestor 
of  all  the  Miwok  regardless  of  moiety  or  personal  name,  and  not  merely 
the  paternal  ancestor  of  the  Miwok  with  bear  names.  Negative  an- 
swers were  received  from  all  other  informants  when  similar  questions 
were  propounded  to  them.  They  were  usually  amused  at  the  idea  of 
one  of  their  ancestors  being  a  bear,  the  sun,  a  dance-pole,  or  some  other 
object.  In  short,  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok  as  a  whole  do  not  believe 
that  they  are  descended  from  animals.  They  do  believe,  however,  that 
they  succeeded  the  animals  on  earth,  which  is  the  belief  common  to 
the  typical  central  Californian  stocks.  This  belief,  that  before  the 
coming  of  the  Indians  animals  possessed  the  world,  is  very  diflFerent 
from  the  idea  of  descent  from  the  totem. 

Informants  stated  that  in  former  days  it  was  customary  for  people 
to  **show  respect"  to  tlie  bear,  the  eagle,  and  the  falcon  after  any  of 
these  had  been  killed.  This  was  done  by  laying  the  body  of  the  slain 
creature  on  a  blanket  and  having  a  little  feast  in  honor  of  it  when  it 
was  brought  to  the  hunter's  home.  So  far  as  I  could  ascertain,  this 
was  not  a  ceremony  connected  with  moieties  or  with  totemism.  It 
was  no  different  in  import  from  the  offerings  made  by  the  Miwok  when 


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1916]  Gifford:  Miwok  Moieties  145 

a  condor  was  killed  or  when  the  young  of  a  certain  hawk  were  taken 
from  the  nest.*  This  type  of  ceremony  was  common  to  a  large  part  of 
California.  The  purpose  was  to  appease  the  animal  or  its  spirit.  The 
ceremony  was  based  on  the  belief  that  the  animals  possessed  dangerous 
supernatural  power.  Obviously  the  three  cases  in  question  are  no 
different  in  motive  from  the  above,  or  from  the  practices  of  other 
stocks,  of  which  a  notable  example  is  the  Maidu  treatment  of  bears.* 

The  supernatural  powers  obtained  by  shamans  from  animals  were 
not  received,  except  by  coincidence,  from  the  animal  after  which  the 
shaman  was  named.  A  man  of  the  water  moiety  might  become  a  bear 
shaman  just  as  readily  as  a  man  of  the  land  moiety,  even  though  bears 
and  bear  names  are  associated  only  with  the  latter  moiety.  Appar- 
ently a  man's  moiety  and  his  personal  name  had  no  influence  on  his 
acquisition  of  supernatural  power.  The  animal  he  was  named  after 
did  not  become  his  familiar  or  guardian  spirit,  except,  as  I  have  said, 
by  coincidence. 

Ceremonies 

The  participation  of  the  moieties  as  such  in  games  and  cere- 
monies was  unimportant.  Out  of  forty-four  known  ceremonies,  the 
moieties  took  part  as  such  in  only  four — the  funeral,  the  mourning 
ceremony,  the  girl's  puberty  ceremony,  and  a  dance  known  as  the 
ahana.  At  least  at  Big  Creek  the  moieties  had  reciprocal  funerary 
functions,  it  being  the  duty  of  one  moiety  to  care  for  the  dead  of  the 
other.  In  the  washing  of  the  people  which  terminated  the  mourning 
ceremony  washers  of  the  water  moiety  tended  one  basket  and  washed 
people  of  the  land  moiety,  while  washers  of  the  land  moiety  tended 
another  basket  and  washed  people  of  the  water  moiety.  This  custom, 
together  with  that  of  the  moieties  taking  sides  in  games,  obtained  regu- 
larly at  Big  Creek,  but  not  to  such  an  extent  elsewhere.  This  perhaps 
points  to  Big  Creek  as  a  place  in  which  the  moiety  system  was  more 
firmly  established. 

In  the  girl's  puberty  ceremony  it  was  customary  for  some  girl, 
for  whom  the  rites  had  previously  been  performed,  to  exchange  dresses 
with  the  initiate.  In  all  cases  the  two  girls  belonged  to  opposite  moie- 
ties; if  the  initiate  was  of  the  water  moiety,  the  girl  who  exchanged 
dresses  with  her  must  be  of  the  land  moiety.    In  the  ahana  dance  the 


5  See  the  meaning  of  Tcuke  in  the  list  of  personal  names,  p.  157. 
«  Roland  B.  Dixon,  The  Northern  Maidu,  Bull.  Am.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  xvii,  194, 
1905. 


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146  University  of  Calif omia  Puhlications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

spectators,  who  made  gifts  to  the  dancers,  were  always  of  the  opposite 
moiety  but  of  the  same  sex  as  the  dancers  to  whom  they  gave  presents. 
Among  the  Southern  Sierra  Miwok  of  Madera  County  dancers 
indicate  their  moiety  by  means  of  paint,  especially  on  the  face.  The 
land  moiety  is  indicated  by  stripes,  usually  horizontal;  the  water 
moiety  by  spots.  The  latter  are  said  to  represent  the  spots  of  fawns, 
which  are  water  moiety  animals.  Informants  did  not  know  what  the 
land  moiety  stripes  represented. 

PERSONAL  NAMES 

A  child  was  named  shortly  after  birth,  preferably  by  a  grand- 
father, but  not  infrequently  by  any  one  of  the  near  relatives.  The 
name  received  at  that  time  was  kept  throughout  life.  Names  of  men 
and  women  did  not  diflFer.  Occasionally  a  person  received  a  nickname 
later  in  life. 

The  literal  meanings  or  derivations,  in  part  at  least,  as  well  as 
the  connotations,  of  one  hundred  and  forty-four  personal  names  were 
obtained.  Thirty-four  of  these  names  prove  to  be  nouns  or  deriva- 
tives of  nouns,  and  one  hundred  and  two  verbs  or  derivatives  of  verbs. 
Of  the  remaining  eight  names,  three  are  adverbial,  while  five  may  be 
either  nouns  or  verbs.  It  is  likely  that  a  similar  proportion  will  be 
found  throughout  the  remaining  two  hundred  and  eighty-seven  names, 
of  which  record  was  made,  when  the  literal  meanings  are  worked  out. 
It  is  interesting  to  find  that  in  the  use  of  both  nouns  and  verbs  Yokuts 
personal  names,  as  obtained  by  Dr.  A.  L.  Kroeber,  agree  with  the 
Miwok.^ 

To  a  strange  Indian,  not  acquainted  with  the  individual  whose 
name  is  mentioned,  verb  names  have  only  their  literal  meaning.  To 
the  friends  and  acquaintances  of  the  individual,  however,  the  name 
has  more  than  its  literal  meaning.  It  has  an  implied  meaning,  which 
usually  brings  in  a  reference  to  an  animate  or  inanimate  object.  For 
example,  the  personal  name  Wiiksii  is  a  form  of  the  verb  meaning 
**to  go."  Yet  to  the  friends  and  relatives  of  the  man  his  name  meant 
**Sun  going  down.''  Another  interesting  case  is  found  in  the  per- 
sonal names  Hausii  and  Hautcu,  both  derived  from  hausus,  to  yawn, 
or  to  gape.  The  former  is  a  land  moiety  name  and  a  bear  is  implied ; 
the  latter  is  a  water  moiety  name  and  a  salmon  is  implied.  An  ex- 
treme case,  but  one  which  throws  light  on  the  mental  attitude  of  the 


7  Yokuts  Names,  Journ.  Am.  Folk-Lore,  xix,  142-143,  1906. 


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1916]  Oxford:  Miwok  Moieties  147 

name-giver,  is  that  of  the  name  Kujrunu.  This  name,  according  to  the 
informant,  had  the  connotation,  **Dog  wagging  its  tail/*  Kuyunu 
contains  the  same  root  as  kuyage,  to  whistle.  Apparently  the  name- 
giver  thought  of  the  whistling  of  a  man  to  a  dog  as  the  cause  of  the 
dog  wagging  its  tail,  and,  instead  of  naming  the  child  after  the  action 
of  the  dog,  named  it  after  the  cause  of  the  dog's  action;  namely,  whis- 
tling. Without  knowledge  of  the  individual,  a  Miwok,  on  hearing  any 
of  the  above  names,  would  be  unable  to  decide  as  to  the  person's  moiety 
or  as  to  the  animal  or  object  implied.  In  the  seventy  bear  names 
obtained,  the  word  for  bear  is  actually  used  in  only  one  case. 

In  other  words,  among  the  Miwok  there  is  absolutely  nothing  in 
the  literal  meanings  of  over  70  per  cent  of  the  personal  names  even  to 
suggest  totemism.  It  is  only  in  the  implied  meanings  that  the  totemic 
element  appears.  In  this  respect  there  is  a  striking  resemblance  to 
the  Mohave  custom  of  calling  women  by  names  which  have  only  an 
implied  and  perhaps  esoteric  reference  to  natural  objects  or  phe- 
nomena, the  coyote,  for  instance.® 

A  close  parallel  to  Miwok  names  is  found  in  Hopi  personal  names, 
as  set  forth  in  the  Rev.  H.  R.  Voth's  paper  on  **Hopi  Proper  Names.*'® 
The  names  as  a  rule  are  considerably  longer  than  the  average  Miwok 
name,  because  they  are  usually  made  up  of  two  or  more  elements,  in 
many  cases  a  noun  and  a  verb.  Pure  verb  names  among  the  Hopi  are 
scarce,  but,  when  they  do  occur,  they  do  not  differ  from  Miwok  verb 
names  in  their  application.  For  example,  consider  the  name  Una, 
which  means  ** remember";  in  this  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  the 
animal  or  object  for  which  the  person  was  named.  Yet  the  coyote  is 
implied,  and  the  name  **  refers  to  the  fact  that  a  coyote  is  said  to 
remember  some  food  that  he  has  buried  somewhere  and  that  he  then 
gets."  As  stated  above,  each  Miwok  name  has  an  implied  or  actual 
reference  to  an  object  associated  with  the  moiety  to  which  the  pos- 
sessor of  the  name  belongs.  Each  Hopi  name,  however,  does  not  refer 
to  the  clan  totem  of  the  possessor,  except  coincidentally,  but  does  refer 
to  the  clan  totem  of  the  name-giver.  The  most  striking  resemblance 
between  the  Miwok  and  the  Hopi  systems  of  naming  lies  in  the  fact 
that  in  each  system  names  identical  in  form,  when  applied  to  different 
individuals,  may  connote  entirely  different  objects. 

Half-breeds  born  of  Miwok  mothers  and  white  fathers  are  always 
considered  as  belonging  to  the  moiety  of  which  the  mother  is  not  a 

8  A.  L.  Kroeber,  Preliminary  Sketch  of  the  Mohave  Indians,  Am.  Anthr., 
n.  8.,  IV,  278,  1902. 

•  Field  Col.  Mus.  Anthr.,  vi,  61-113,  1905. 


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148  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

member.  For  example,  if  the  mother  is  of  the  land  moiety,  the  half- 
breed  child  will  be  of  the  water  moiety  and  his  or  her  name  will  refer 
to  an  animal  or  object  identified  with  the  water  side  of  nature. 

The  matter  of  naming  foreigners  who  take  up  their  residence  with 
the  Miwok  proceeds  after  a  somewhat  similar  fashion.  It  is  particu- 
larly well  exemplified  by  a  number  of  Yokuts  and  Costanoan  men  who 
lived  with  the  Miwok  and  married  Miwok  women.  As  a  rule  these 
men  were  placed  in  the  moiety  to  which  their  wives  did  not  belong. 
The  same  practice  is  shown  in  the  marriage  of  Yottoko,  a  negro,  to 
Ukunulumaiye,  a  Miwok  woman  of  the  land  moiety.  Yottoko  was 
given  a  water  moiety  name.  The  above  custom  is  just  the  reverse  of 
the  Winnebago  practice,  in  which  foreigners  who  marry  Winnebago 
women  are  given  a  name  from  the  wife's  clan.***  Descent  with  the 
Winnebago  is  paternal  as  with  the  Miwok,  hence  the  children  of  such 
marriages  belong  to  the  mother 's  clan,  not  directly  through  the  mother, 
however,  but  through  the  father. 

The  ensuing  list  gives  the  names  for  which  complete  or  partial 
derivations  have  been  worked  out.  The  sex  and  moiety  of  each  indi- 
vidual is  indicated  as  follows:  (m.)  for  male,  (f.)  for  female,  W.  for 
water  moiety,  L.  for  land  moiety.  The  italicized  words  in  this  list 
indicate  the  animals  or  other  objects  to  which  the  personal  names  refer. 
It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  connotation  of  a  name  occasionally  brings  to 
light  an  interesting  old  custom,  for  example,  in  the  case  of  the  name 
Tcuke  (see  p.  157).  Lack  of  familiarity  with  the  language  prevents  a 
fuller  linguistic  analysis  of  the  names. 

Akaino.    L.  (m.)    Bear  holding  its  head  up.    Akaiye,  to  hold  one's  head  up. 

Akulu.    L.  (m.)     Looking  at  the  sun,    Akule,  to  look  up. 

Apanta.    W.  (m.)     Salamander  in  the  water.    Apanta,  salamander. 

Atce.    W.  (f.)     Cutting  and  drying  salmon.    Ate,  to  split  off. 

Awanata.    W.  (m.)     Turtle, 

Elki.  L.  (m.)  Bear  hanging  intestines  of  people  on  top  of  rocks  or  bushes. 
Elkini,  to  hang  on  top  of  or  over. 

Eneto.  L.  (m.)  Bear's  manner  of  walking.  Ena,  bent  or  crooked.  In  this  case 
reference  is  made  to  the  bear  bending  its  foot  when  walking. 

Epeta.    L.  (f.)    Lizard  lying  on  top  of  rock.    Epetitcii,  to  lie  on  the  belly.  • 

Etu.  L.  (m.)  Sun  rising  from  the  hills.  Etu,  sun;  etumu,  to  get  warm  in  the 
sun,  that  is,  to  sun  one's  self;  etumii,  to  ascend  a  hill.  According  to  a  Big 
Creek  informant,  etu  is  the  term  for  sun  at  that  place.  Cf.  watu,  sun,  in 
Southern  Sierra  dialect.  Among  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok,  other  than  Big 
Creek  people,  hiema  is  the  term  for  sun. 

Etumu.    L.  (m.)    Bear  warming  itself  in  the  sun.    Etumu,  to  sun  one's  self. 


10  Paul  Badin,  The   Clau  Organization   of  the   Winnebago,   a  Preliminary 
Paper,  Am.  Anthr.,  n.  s.,  xn,  212-213,  1910. 


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1916]  Giford:  Miwok  Moieties  149 

Etumuye.    L.  (f.)    Bear  climbing  a  hill.    Etumii,  to  ascend  a  hill. 

Hatawa.  L.  (m.)  Bear  breaking  the  bones  of  people  or  animals.  Hate,  foot; 
hate,  to  press  with  the  foot;  atwa,  to  split. 

Hateya.  L.  (f.)  Bear  making  track  in  the  dust.  Hate,  foot;  hate,  to  press 
with  the  foot. 

Hausu.    L.  (m.)    Bear  yawning  as  it  awakes.    Hausus,  to  yawn,  to  gape. 

Hautcu.    W.  (m.)    Salmon  gaping  when  out  of  water.    Hausus,  to  yawn,  to  gape. 

He'eluye.  L.  (f.)  Bow,  arrows,  and  quiver  placed  against  tree  while  warrior  rests. 
Seelutco,  to  lay  on  side. 

Helaku.    L.  (f.)     Sunny  day  without  clouds.    Helaku,  sunny  day. 

Helki.  W.  (m.)  Jacksnipe  (I)  digging  into  ground  with  bill.  Hele,  to  touch. 
The  Miwok  name  for  the  bird  alluded  to  its  kuiatawila;  it  is  said  to  come 
only  in  the  winter. 

Helkimu.    W.  (m.)     Hitting  bushes  with  seed  beater.    Hele,  to  touch. 

Heltu.  L.  (m.)  Bear  barely  touching  people  as  it  reaches  for  them.  Helat,  to 
reach  for  and  barely  touch. 

Hesutu.  L.  (m.)  Lifting  a  yellow-jackets  *  nest  out  of  the  ground.  Hesa,  yellow- 
jackets '  nest;  hesute,  to  take  out  yellow- jackets '  nest. 

Hesutuye.  L.  (f .)  Getting  yellow-jackets  *  nest  from  the  ground.  Hesa,  yellow- 
jackets  '  nest;  hesute,  to  take  out  yellow- jackets '  nest. 

Heteltci.    L.  (f.)    Leaning  against  pota  ceremony  pole.    Helitcu,  to  lean  against. 

Hisokuye.    L.  (f.)    Hair  growing  on  hear,    Hisoku,  body  hair. 

Hopoto.    W.  (m.)    Frog  eggs  hatching  in  water.    Hopoto,  round. 

Hotutu.  W.  (m.)  Bound  rocks  hurting  the  feet,  when  one  is  walking.  Hoto- 
wun,  to  walk  on  round  rocks;  hotolum,  to  roll. 

Howotmila.  L.  (m.)  Running  hand  down  (Encircling)  branch  of  a  certain  kind 
of  shrub  to  get  off  the  seeds  for  beads.    Howotu,  beads. 

Hnnipte.  L.  (m.)  Looking  **  high-toned ' '  when  getting  seed,  Hunepu,  to  look 
proud. 

Hupaiye.  W.  (f.)  Making  boiled  **wild  cabbage"  into  a  ball  for  lunch  when 
cooking  acorns.    Hupaiye,  to  squeeze. 

Huyana.    W.  (m.)    Bain  falling. 

Kalmanu.    W.  (m.)     Lightning  striking  tree.    Kala,  lightning  striking. 

Katuye.    W.  (m.)    Damming  water  in  pool.    Kata,  to  close,  to  shut. 

Kilikila.  L.  (m.)  Small  hawk  (kilikila)  calling,  making  a  cry  which  resembles 
name. 

Eoho.    L.  (m.)    Limping.    Cojo,  Spanish  for  lame. 

Kolenya.    W.  (f.)     Fish  coughing.    Kole,  to  cough. 

Eolotomu.  W.  (f.)  Getting  oak-leaf  gall-nuts.  Eolotu,  a  spiny  red  oak-leaf 
gall-nut. 

Eosumi.  W.  (m.)  Going  fishing  with  a  spear  for  salmon.  Kose,  to  throw  at; 
kosumu,  salmon. 

Kukse.  W.  (m.)  Valley  quail  starting  to  fly  from  ground.  Kukse,  to  be  fright- 
ened. 

Kusetu.    W.  (f.)     **  Wild  potato"  ajpTOuting.    Eusetu,  to  bloom. 

Kusetu.    L.  (m.)     **Wild  potato"  growing  out  of  ground.    Kusetu,  to  bloom. 

Kusetuye.    W.  (f.)    "Wild  potato"  sprouting.    Kusetu,  to  bloom. 

Kutattca.  L.  (m.)  Bear  scattering  intestines  of  a  person  as  it  eats  him.  Ku- 
tatcnani,  to  throw  away  something  not  wanted. 

Eutcume.    L.  (m.)    Unburned  ends  of  wood  after  fire  dies  out. 

Kutcuyak.    L.  (m.)    Bear  with  good  hair.    Kutci,  good. 


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150  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Kututcanati.  L.  (f.)  Bear  eating  people.  This  name  is  undoubtedly  of  the 
same  derivation  as  Kutattca. 

Kuyunu.  L.  (m.)  Dog  wagging  its  tail.  Probably  from  kuyage,  to  whistle,  in 
which  case  the  meaning  is  entirely  a  matter  of  implication.  The  reason  for 
such  a  meaning  lay  in  the  mind  of  the  name-giver,  who  connected  the  wag- 
ging of  a  dog 's  tail  with  the  whistling  of  a  person  to  the  dog. 

Labakse.    W.  (m.)     Getting  elderberry  wood.    Lapa,  elderberry. 

Lilepu.  L.  (m.)  Bear  going  over  a  man  hiding  between  rocks.  Lile,  up,  prob- 
ably used  here  with  the  idea  of  over,  or  on  top  of. 

Lidugse.    L.  (m.)     Tule  growing  in  water.    Lifia,  tule. 

Liptcu.  W.  (m.)  Dropping  of  eggs  of  female  salmon  when  it  is  lifted  up. 
Lipisa,  to  drop. 

Liptuye.  L.  (f.)  Getting  pine-nuts  from  cones  which  have  dropped  from  the 
tree  to  the  ground.    Lipisa,  to  drop. 

Litana.  W.  (m.)  Hummingbird  darting  down  after  having  gone  straight  up. 
Litafiii,  to  dart  down. 

Liwanu.    L.  (m.)    Bear  growling.    Liwani,  to  talk;  liwa,  to  make  noise. 

Lumai.  W.  (m.)  Humming  of  hummingbird's  wings  when  it  is  flying  fast. 
Lumana,  to  go  by  with  a  noise. 

Lutaiyet.    W.  (f.)    Fresh-water  snail  {Physa). 

Luyu.    W.  (m.)    Dove  shaking  head  sideways.    Luyani,  to  shake  head  sideways. 

Luynnu.  L.  (m.)  Bear  taking  off  leg  or  arm  of  person  when  eating  him. 
Luyani,  to  shake  head  sideways. 

Liitcmii.    W.  (m.)    Salmon  going  fast  up  riffle.    Lutsu,  to  ascend. 

Maiyefio.    L.  (f.)     Chieftainess. 

Matcumpaiye.  L.  (f.)  Eating  farewell-to-spring  seed  raw.  Matcu,  farewell-to- 
spring  (Godetia  williamsoni) . 

Memtba.  W.  (m.)  Tasting  farewell-to-spring  seed  after  it  has  been  mashed 
with  pestle  and  while  still  in  mortar.    Memttu,  to  taste. 

Mituna.  W.  (m.)  Wrapping  a  salmon  with  willow  stems  and  leaves  after  catch- 
ing it.    Mituye,  to  roll  up. 

Moemu.  L.  (m.)  Bears  sitting  down  looking  at  each  other.  Mo'ani,  to  meet; 
moeye,  to  join. 

Molestu.  W.  (m.)  Refers  to  the  stone  shaped  like  a  deer's  foot,  which  brings 
good  luck  in  deer-hunting  to  its  owner.    Mole,  a  magic  stone. 

Mona.  W.  (m.)  Getting  jimson  weed  seed.  Monoyu,  jimson  weed;  monui,  Yokuts 
for  jimson  weed. 

Muliya.  L.  (m.)  Hitting  farewell-to-spring  seed  with  stick  when  it  is  on  bush. 
Mule,  to  beat  or  strike. 

Mulya.  L.  (m.)  Knocking  acorns  off  tree  with  a  long  stick.  Mule,  to  beat  or 
strike. 

Miile.    W.  (m.)     Hawlc  seizing  quail  on  ground.    Mule,  to  strike. 

Notaku.    L.  (m.)     Growling  of  bear  as  some  one  passes.    Notcaku,  to  growl. 

Notcitcto.  W.  (m.)  Coyote,  snarling  over  piece  of  meat  under  its  foot.  Notcu, 
to  cry. 

Notcuuku.    L.  (f.)     Any  kind  of  animal  calling.    Notcu,  to  cry. 

Omusa.  L.  (m.)  Missing  things  when  shooting  with  arrows,  Omsa,  to  miss 
with  arrows.  Another  informant  gave  this  man 's  name  as  meaning,  * '  Miss- 
ing deer  when  shooting  at  them  with  arrows.'' 

Otu.    W.  (m.)     Collecting  sea  shells  in  a  basket.    Ote,  to  put  in  a  basket. 

Oya.  W.  (m.)  Naming  or  speaking  of  the  kuiatawila  bird  (jacksnipe?).  Oya, 
to  name. 


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Pati.    W.  (m.)     Twisting  willows  for  carrying  fisK    Patiwe,  to  break  by  twisting. 

Patiwo.    W.  (m.)    Taking  bones  from  slain  deer.    Patiwe,  to  break  by  twisting. 

Pikatco.    L.  (f.)     Sifting  tusorn  flour  on  flat  basket  by  shaking.    Pika,  to  sift. 

Pilekuye.    W.  (f.)    Shell  nose-stick  staying  in  the  ocean.    Pileku,  shell  nose-stick. 

Polaiyu.    W.  (m.)    Lake.    Polaiyu,  lake,  valley,  or  ocean. 

Polneye.    W.  (f.)    Dove  decoying  a  person  by  feigning  injury.    Polangas,  to  fall. 

Pootci.    W.  (f .)     Cutting  salmon  *s  belly.    Putu,  to  cut  open  the  belly. 

Posala.    L.  (f.)    Pounding  farewell-to-spring  seed.    Posa,  to  burst. 

Pusubi.    W.  (m.)    Fog  blowing  up  and  covering  everything.    Puselum,  to  blow. 

Pususu.    L.  (m.)     Calling  a  dog.    Puus,  Yokuts  for  dog. 

Puta.    W.  (m.)     Cutting  open  a  salmon,    Putu,  to  cut  open  the  belly. 

Putbana.    W.  (f.)     Catching  small  fish  with  basket.    Putbako,  to  scoop  up. 

Putceyu.    W.  (f.)     Evil  smell  of  deer's  large  intestine.    Puseyu,  to  stink. 

Putkuse.    L.  (f.)    Acorn  soup  boiling.    Putkuse,  to  bubble. 

Sakati.    L.  (m.)    Hawk  (kilikila)  catching  a  lizard.    Sakati,  a  species  of  lizard. 

Sapata.    L.  (m.)     Bear  hugging  tree.    Sapatu,  to  hug. 

Sapata.    L.  (f .)    Bear  dancing  with  forefeet  around  tree.    Sapatu,  to  hug. 

Sawa.    W.  (m.)    Bock  on  edge  of  river.    Sawa,  rock. 

Septuye.  L.  (f.)  Taking  something,  that  is  burning,  from  the  fire.  Sipe,  to 
pull  out. 

Sewati.    L.  (f.)     Curving  of  hearts  claws.    Sewati,  curved. 

Sibeta.  W.  (m.)  Pulling  white  sucker  fish  from  under  flat  rock.  Sipe,  to  pull 
out. 

Simutuye.  L.  (f .)  Pinning  together  tree  squirrel  *s  abdomen  with  stick'  after 
getting.    Simute,  to  pin  together. 

Sipatu.  L.  (m.)  Softening  fox's  tail  after  skinning,  by  repeatedly  shoving 
stick  into  it.    Sipe,  to  pull  out. 

Sipinyawo.    W.  (m.)    Breaking  deer's  bone  for  marrow.    Sipe,  to  pull  out. 

Sukumi.    L.  (m.)     Great  homed  owl. 

Suletu.    L.  (m.)    California  jay  flying  out  of  tree.    Sulete,  to  fly  about. 

Suletuye.    L.  (f.)    Falcon  flying  from  rock.    Sulete,  to  fly  about. 

Snmtciwe.    W.  (m.)     Plenty  of  whiskers.    Sumutcelu,  facial  hair. 

Sumtciwe.  L.  (f.)  Fuzz  on  sugar  pine  cone  when  it  is  young.  Evidently  this 
name  and  the  preceding  are  both  derived  from  a  common  root,  which  prob- 
ably refers  alike  to  fuzz  and  hair. 

Sumutcupti.  W.  (m.)  A  name  having  reference  to  the  person's  whiskers. 
Sumutcelu,  facial  hair. 

Supatce.    W.  (f.)     Mashing  seed  with  pestle.    Supa,  to  mash. 

Taipa.  W.  (m.)  Valley  quail  spreading  wings  as  it  alights.  Tapa,  to  spread 
wings. 

Tamulkuyo.  W.  (f.)  From  the  north.  Tamalin,  north.  Undoubtedly  an  ani- 
mate or  inanimate  object  was  originally  implied.  Compare  with  Tcumetoki, 
dove  coming  from  the  south. 

Tetmo.    L.  (m.)    Dog  picking  up  scraps  thrown  out.    Tetom,  to  pick  up. 

Tiponya.  L.  (m.)  Great  homed  owl  sticking  head  under  body  and  poking  egg 
when  it  is  hatching.    Tipe,  to  poke. 

Tiwatuyak.    W.  (f.)     Trading  and  buying  heads.    Tiwako,  to  trade. 

Tiwitita.    W.  (m.)     Killdeer  running  on  ground  and  calling.    Tewititi,  killdeer. 

Tolkatcu.    L.  (f.)    Small  ears  of  the  hear.    Tolko,  ear  in  Southern  Sierra  dialect. 

Totokono.    W.  (m.)    Sandhill  crane. 

Tuiwii.    L.  (m.)    California  jay  hopping  on  ground.    Tuiyangum,  to  jump. 


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152  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

Tukeye.  L.  (f.)  Pine  cones  dropping  and  making  dust.  Tukini,  to  throw  end- 
wise. 

Tukuli.  W.  (m.)  Caterpillar  traveling  head  first  down  tree  in  summer.  Tukini> 
to  throw  endwise. 

Tumma.    L.  (m.)     Beating  drum.    Tuma,  drum. 

Tupi.    W.  (m.)     Throwing  salmon  on  to  bank.    Tupi,  to  pull  up  or  out. 

Tutce.    W.  (m.)     Small  frog  jumping.    Tutneni,  to  squat. 

Tceweksu.    L.  (m.)     Tree  squirrel  eating  green  pine  cones.    Tciwam,  to  chew. 

Tcintiye.    L.  (f.)     Pressing  or  pounding  buckeye  nuts.    Tciniwa,  to  squeeze. 

Tcinwe.    W.  (m.)    Squeezing  intestines  out  of  minnows.    Tciniwa,  to  squeeze. 

Tcitepu.    W.  (m.)    Shining  of  abalone  shell.    Tcitepu,  to  shine. 

Tcititi.    L.  (m.)     Green  like  Icatydid.    Tcitaku,  green. 

Tcumetokti.    W.  (m.)     Dove  coming  from  the  south.    Tcumetc,  south. 

Uhubita.  W.  (m.)  Drinking  water  in  the  river.  Uhu,  to  drink,  in  Southern 
and  Northern  Sierra  dialects. 

Uhubitu.  W.  (m.)  Ill-smelling  stagnant  water.  Uhu,  to  drink,  in  Southern  and 
Northern  Sierra  dialects. 

Ukulnuye.    L.  (f.)    Bear  taking  young  into  den.    Uku,  to  enter. 

Ukunulumaiye.    L.  (f.)     Bear  going  into  den.    Uku,  to  enter;  emaiye,  to  visit. 

Utatci.    L.  (f.)    Bear  scratching  itself.    Utas,  to  scratch. 

Uzumati.  W.  (m.)  Grizzly  bear.  A  nickname  applied  on  account  of  a  dis- 
agreeable disposition. 

Wauna.  W.  (m.)  Snow  geese  calling  when  flying.  Woani,  to  bark;  wou,  to 
crow,  to  whine. 

Wialu.    W.  (m.)     Dove  going  away.    Wialum,  to  leave. 

Wootci.    L.  (m.)     Coyote  barking.    Woani,  to  bark;  wou,  to  whine,  to  crow. 

Woto.  L.  (m.)  Coyote  sitting  on  rock  barking  and  moving  tail.  Woani,  to 
bark;  wou,  to  whine,  to  crow. 

Wunuti.    W.  (m.)     Hunting-man.    Wuntu,  to  hunt. 

Wiiksii.    L.  (m.)     Sun  going  down.    Wuksu,  to  go. 

Yotimo.  L.  (m.)  Yellow-jacket  carrying  pieces  of  meat  from  house  to  nest. 
Yoote,  to  carry. 

Yotimo.  L.  (m.)  Yellow-jacket  carrying  pieces  of  meat  from  house  to  nest. 
Yoote,  to  carry.    This  man  is  the  son  of  the  above. 

Yottoko.  W.  (m.)  Black  mud  at  edge  of  water.  Yottoko,  dirty;  yotok,  earth 
or  dirt  in  Plains  Miwok.    The  individual  was  a  negro. 

Yutkiye.  L.  (f.)  Chicken  hawk  lifting  ground  squirrel  off  of  the  ground. 
Yiitki,  to  hang. 

Yuttciso.    L.  (f.)     Lice  thick  on  chicken  hawk.    Yutuk,  to  stick  on. 

Yutne.  W.  (m.)  Falcon  making  nest  damp  by  defecating  on  it.  Yutuk,  to 
stick  on. 

Yutu.    W.  (m.)    Coyote  making  feint  to  seize  bird.    Yutme,  to  claw. 

The  list  which  follows  gives  personal  names  as  rendered  into  Eng- 
lish by  the  Indians,  but  the  exact  denotations  of  which  are  unknown 
to  the  writer : 

A 'a 'me.    W.  (f.)    Dove  cooing  to  young. 

Akunatala.    W.  (m.)    Retiring  to  attend  to  natural  functions. 

Almase.    W.  (m.). 

Amayeta.    L.  (m.)     Big  mamanita  berries. 


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1916]  Gifford:  Miwok  Moieties  153 

Anawuye.    L.  (m.)    Stretching  hearts  hide  to  dry. 

Ape.    W.  (m.)    Eating  acorn  mush  with  the  lingers. 

Bakno.    L.  (m.)    Missing  people  with  arrows. 

Bosaiya.    L.  (f.)    White  down  on  head  of  young  eagle, 

Cusua.    L.  (m.)    Bawlc  (kilikila)  catching  small  birds. 

Elsu.    W.  (m.)    Falcon  circling  high  in  air. 

Esege.    L.  (f.)     Bear  showing  teeth  when  cross. 

Eskeye.    L.  (m.)    Farewell-to-spring  seed  cracked  open  on  bush. 

Ewentcu.    W.  (m.)    Deer  eating  brush. 

Hahiyo.    W.  (m.)     Salmon  keeping  mouth  open  when  in  shallow  water. 

Haikiwisu.    W.  (m.)    Salmon  opening  and  closing  mouth  after  being  taken  from 

river. 
Haiyepugu.    L.  (m.)     Bear  becoming  angry  suddenly. 
Hatcaiya.    W.  (f.)    Black  clouds  in  streaks. 
Hehemuye.    L.  (f.)     Bear  out  of  breath  from  running. 
Hitcta.    W.  (m.). 
Hoho.    L.  (m.)    Bear  growling. 
Hoiyitcalu.    L.  (m.)    Bear  becoming  angry. 
Hokoiyu.    W.  (m.)     Falcon  hiding  extra  food. 
Hotamuye.    W.  (f.)     Man  on  rockpile  watching  for  deer. 
Hotcakme.    W.  (m.)    Spearing  salmon. 
Huata.    W.  (f.)     Carrying  seeds  in  burden  basket. 
Huatama.    L.  (f.)    Mashing  seeds  in  mortar. 
Hulutuye.    W.  (f.)    Ahalone  shell  on  necklace  when  dancing. 
Hulwema.    L.  (f.)    Dead  grizzly  hear,  killed  by  hunter. 
Hunui.    W.  (m.)    Salmon  fat. 
Hnslu.    L.     (m.)    Bear  having  lots  of  hair. 

Hustemeyak.    W.  (m.)     Putting  fresh-water  snails  (Physa)  in  bags. 
Hutamsi.    W.  (f.)    Fish  getting  together  in  a  bunch. 
Hute.    L.  (m.)     Stars  appearing  which  form  handle  of  the  Dipper. 
Hutcumi.    L.  (m.)    Bear  eating  people. 
Huyube.    W.  (m.)     White  oak  log  lying  on  ground. 
Homiita.    L.  (f.)     Gathering  Indian  tobacco  (hutia)  in  sifting  basket. 
Ilokuk.    L.  (f.)    Softness  of  leaves  of  *'wild  potato*'  when  cooking. 
Iskemu.    W.  (m.)     Water  running  gently  when  creek  dries. 
Istu.    L.  (m.)     Sugar  pine  sugar. 
Itcimuye.    L.  (f.)     Magpie  eating  grasshopperr. 
Kaliska.    L.  (m.)     Coyote  chasing  deer. 

Kamata.    W.  (f.)    Throwing  gambling  bones  on  ground  in  hand  game. 
Kanatu.     W.  (m.)     Making  mashed  seed  into  hard  lump. 
Kaptinii.    W.  (m.)    Breaking  ice  in  the  creek. 

Katcuktcume.    L.  (m.)     Bear  lying  down  with  paws  folded,  doing  nothing. 
Ka'uwu.    L.  (m.)    Acorn  mush  cooling  and  thickening  in  basket. 
Kauwiluye.    W.  (f.)     Ice  freezing  on  something. 
Kono.    L.  (m.)     Tree  squirrel  biting  through  middle  of  pine-nut. 
Kulmuye.    L.  (f.)     Bear  eating  young  leaves  just  sprouting. 
Kulya.    L.  (m.)     Sugar  pine  nuts  burned  black. 
Laapisak.    L.  (f.)    Bear  walking  on  one  place  making  ground  hard. 
Lanku.    L.  (m.)     Said  to  be  a  Yokuts  name. 
Lanu.    L.  (m.)    People  passing  one  another  at  the  pota  ceremony,  when  running 

around  pole. 


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154  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

La'uyu.    L.  (m.)    Mashed  farewell-to-spring  seed  adhering  to  lips  when  eating. 
Leyati.    W.  (m.)    Shape  of  dbalone  shell. 
Lii.    W.  (m.)     Turtle  poking  head  out  of  water. 
Liktuye.    L.  (f.)    Bear  licking  something  it  has  killed. 
Liluye.    L.  (f.)     Chicken  hawk  singing  when  soaring. 
Lise.    W.  (m.)    Salmon's  head  just  coming  out  of  water. 
Litcitu.    W.  (m.)     Sdlmon  swimming  in  river. 
Loiyetu.    L.  (m.)    Farewell-to-spring  in  flower. 
Loiyetuye.    L.  (f.)    Farewell-to-spring  in  flower. 
Lokni.    W.  (m.)    Bain  coming  through  small  hole  in  roof. 
Luituye.    L.  (f.)    Bear  crippled  from  being  shot. 
Lukulkatu.    L.  (m.)    Making  ^ox-skin  quiver. 
Lupu.    W.  (f.)    Iridescence  of  abalone  shell. 
Lusela.    L.  (f.)    Bear  swinging  its  foot  when  licking  it. 
Lutein.    L.  (m.)    Goldfinch  flying. 
Makuina.    L.  (m.)    Bear  hating  people. 

Makuina.    L.  (m.)     Knocking  farewell-to-spring  seed  oflf  bush  with  stick. 
Malataku.    W.  (m.)    Clouds  covering  the  sky. 
Malila.    W.  (m.)     Salmon  going  fast  up  riffle. 
Malkuyu.    W.  (m.)    Farewell-to-spring  flowers  drying. 
Matcinina.    W.  (m.)     Salmon  jumping  falls  and  missing. 
Matcuta.    L.  (f.)    Cracking  and  eating  sugar  pine  nuts. 
Metikla.    W.  (m.)     Reaching  hand  under  rocks  to  catch  white  sucker  fish. 
'Metikla.    W.  (m.)    Putting  on  metakila  (feather  apron). 
Miltaiye.    W.  (f.)     Water  in  waves. 
Misu.    W.  (m.)    Rippling  water, 

Moitoiye.    W.  (f.)     Valley  quail's  topknot  bobbing  as  bird  walks. 
Molimo.    L.  (m.)    Bear  going  into  shade  of  trees. 
Momosu.    L.  (m.)     Yellow- jackets  piled  up  in  nest  in  winter. 
Mosetuya.    W.  (m.)    Dark-looking  water  on  the  ocean. 
Mu'ata.    L.  (m.)    Little  jellow -jackets  in  the  nest. 
Mukuye.    W.  (f.)     Old  trail  of  deer, 
Musonota.    L.  (f.)    Magpie  jumping  on  the  ground. 
Musonotoma.    W.  (f.  )     Coloring  of  valley  quail, 

Mutckuye.    L.  (f.)     Taking  bow  and  arrows  from  wall  to  go  shooting. 
Miikii.    W.  (m.)    Deer  making  trail  When  walking  back  and  forth. 
Namino.    L.  (m.)    Hawk  (kilikila)  pulling  at  food,  lifting  its  head  as  it  does. 
Naminu.    W.  (m.)    Coyote  feeling  weak  after  eating  salmon. 
Natcamila.    W.  (f.)    Stirring  acorn  mush  when  cooking. 
Neplii.    L.  (m.)    Bear  eating  a  man. 
Newulo.    W.  (m.). 

Nikiti.    W.  (ra.)    Round  and  smooth  like  abalone  shell. 
Nimo.    W.  (m.). 
Niwuye.    L.  (f.)     Getting  seed. 

Noini.    L.  (m.)     Putting  sonolu  (feather  head-ornament)  on  head. 
Nokonyu.    L.  (m.)    Katydid's  nose  being  close  to  its  mouth. 
Noksu.    L.  (m.)    Smell  of  chicken  hawk's  (suyu)  nest. 

Nomasu.    W.  (m.)    Giving  away  (handing  to  some  one)  seed.    Another  inform- 
ant said  that  nomasu  was  the  name  of  a  kind  of  seed. 
Oiyikoisiye.    L.  (f.)    Getting  salt  at  a  place  near  Copperopolis. 
Onalik.    W.  (m.)     Making  bows  out  of  cedar. 


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1916]  Gifford:  MiwoJc  Moieties  155 

Onpume.    W.  (f.)    Coyote  about  to  catch  something. 

Osepa.    W.  (f.). 

Osmokse.    L.  (m.)    HawJc  (kilikila)  eating  dead  birds. 

Osoi.     W.  (m.)     Becoming  angry.     Undoubtedly  this  name  originally  had  an 

implied  reference  to  some  animal,  since  forgotten. 
Panahatcu.    L.  (m.)    Twisting  and  breaking  open  sugar  pine  cones. 
Papina.    L.  (m.)     Vine  growing  on  oak  tree. 
Pasatu.    L.  (m.)    Bear's  big  foot. 
Paseleno.    W.  (f.)    Getting  wild  vetch, 
Patakasii.    W.  (m.)    Small  ant  biting  a  person  hard. 
Patcuka.    W.  (m.). 

Peeluyak.    L.  (m.)    Bear  flapping  ears  when  sitting  down. 
Pele'me.    L.  (m.)    Coyote  with  head  down  passing  person. 
Pelisu.    W.  (m.)    Eating  fish  at  river  for  lunch  when  on  fishing  expedition. 
Petno.    W.  (m.)     Valley  quail  crouching  in  brush  as  hawk  passes. 
Peusuye.    W.  (f.)     Water  spilling  over. 

Pilitcyano.    L.  (m.)    Jack  rabbit  putting  ears  back  when  lying  down. 
Piltcitcma.    W.  (f.)    Meadowlark  singing. 
Pososu.    L.  (m.)     Color  of  down  of  young  great  horned  owl, 
Posululu.    W.  (f.)    Frog  puffed  up  when  singing. 
Pota.    L.  (m.)    One  man  running  around  pota  ceremony  pole. 
Potcu'e.    W.  (m.)     Kicking  football.    Potce,  to  kick. 
Puitcitu.    W.  (m.). 

Pukuna.    W.  (f.)     Deer  jumping  when  running  downhill. 
Pumsono.    W.  (m.)     Sucker  fish  jumping  out  of  water. 
Punoi.    L.  (m.)     Tree  squirrel  jumping  from  pine  to  ground. . 
Pusui.    W.  (m.)    Turkey  miUure  putting  rattlesnake  to  sleep  by  circling  over  it. 
Pusuwe.    W.  (m.)     Cutting  deer  for  skinning. 

Putepu.    L.  (m.)     Chicken  hawk  (suyu)  walking  back  and  forth  on  limb. 
Putsume.    L.  (m.)     Brushing  ground  around  pole  before  pota  ceremony, 
Putsume.     L.  (m.)     Bear  sitting  on  top  of  big  rock  with  soles  of  feet  turned 

forward,  legs  spread. 
Sakasaiyu.    L.  (f.)    Chicken  hawk  (suyu)  making  a  rough  nest  with  holes  in  it. 
Samtuye.    W.  (f.)    Beaching  for  deer  meat  when  some  one  is  handing  it  around. 
Sanuye.    L.  (f.)    Bed  cloud  coming  with  sundown. 
Sata.    W.  (m.)    Throwing  salmon  out  of  water. 
Satuwii.     L.  (f.)     Bubbing  farewell-to-spring  seed  with  rock  after  it  has  been 

soaked. 
Selibu.    L.  (f.)    Falcon  flying  along  edge  of  bluff. 
Selipu.    L.  (f.)    Falcon  darting  down  obliquely  in  the  air. 
Selumtci.    L.  (m.)    Shooting  arrow  up  in  air. 
Semeke.    L.  (f.)    Bear  lying  down  looking  at  ground. 
Semuki.    L.  (m.)    Bear  looking  cross  when  in  its  den  during  snow. 
Semuki.     L.   (f.)     Wizard  (tuyuku)   with  fingers  bent  to  shoot  "poison"  at 

victim. 
Siitu.    L.  (m.)    Magpie's  head  cut  off. 
Sitala.    W.  .(f.)     Valley  quail  running  uphill. 
Sitki.    L.  (m.)    Putting  arrow  in  quiver. 
Sitni.    W.  (m.)    Drawing  bow, 

Sitpu.    L.  (m.)    Cracking  bones  of  badger  after  it  has  been  cooked. 
Situtu.    W.  (m.)    Taking  arrow  out  of  quiver. 


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156  University  of  California  Publicatiofis  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Situtuyu.    L.  (m.)     Running  hand  down  branch  over  basket  and  collecting  berries 

that  way. 
Siweno.    L.  (m.)     Taking  out  bear's  gall. 
Siwili.    L.  (m.)     Long  tail  of  fox  dragging  on  ground. 
Sokawa.    W.  (m.)     Taking  eye  out  of  dead  deer,  or  taking  hide  off. 
Sokono.    W.  (m.)    Wizard's  ''poison." 
Solasu.    L.  (m.)     Bear  taking  bark  off  tree. 
Soloni.-  W.  (m.)    A  place  name  in  Mariposa  County. 

Solotci.    L.  (m.)    Jack  rabbit  sitting  with  ears  up  in  the  morning  or  evening. 
Sofieyu.    L.  (m.)    Beat  walking  with  its  short  tail  hanging  down. 
Sopatcu.    L.  (m.)     Baven-feather  sonolu  (head  ornament)  shaking  on  head  of 

dancer. 
Soso.    L.  (m.)    Tree  squirrel  biting  small  hole  in  pine  nut. 
Su'aiye.    L.  (f.). 

Suki.    L.  (m.)    Chicken  hawk  (suyu)  having  a  long  tail. 
Suk'kaa.    L.  (m.)     Getting  ahead  of  others  in  digging  *'wild  potatoes," 
Sukukiye.    L.  (f.)    Flat  place  near  Rawhide. 
Sunumptca.    L.  (f.)    Old  and  spoiled  sugar  pine  nuts. 
Sutuluye.    L.  (f.)     Bear  making  noise  climbing  tree. 
Ta'kawa.    W.  (m.)    Mountain  lion  took  his  scalp  off. 
Ta'kawa.    L.  (m.)     White  head  of  the  bald  eagle, 

Takefia.    W.  (m.)     Falcon  swooping  and  knocking  down  prey  with  its  wing. 
Taktekaiyu.    W.  (m.)     Deer  running  on  the  hills. 
Takutcima.    L.  (f.)     Husking  seed  with  stick  on  flat  rock. 
Talalu.    W.  (m.)    Big  long  flat  rock, 
Tanatcio.    W.  (m.)     Coyote  poor  and  thin. 

Talatu.    L.  (m.)    Bear  walking  around  tree,  steps  close  together. 
Talepuye.    W.  (f.)    Polishing  abalone  shell. 
Talulu.    W.  (m.)    Falcon  eating  bird. 
Taukiyak.    L.  (m.)    Two  arrows  crossed,  held  by  two  warriors  standing  on  either 

side  of  trail  guarding  it  with  drawn  bows. 
Tawitci.    W.  (m.)     Turkey  vulture  defecating  around  nest. 
Telumi.    L.  (m.)     Tree  squirrel  taking  shell  off  of  nut. 
Telumu.    L.  (f.)     Pounding  farewell-to-spring  seed  in  deep  mortar. 
Tentpaiyu.     W.   (f.)     A  person  feeling  hungry  while  sitting  beside  one  who 

mashes  seeds, 
Tiimii.    W.  (m.)     Black  and  yellow  caterpillar  coming  out  of  ground. 
Tikmu.    L.  (m.)     Tree  squirrel  digging  in  ground. 
Tiktcu.    W.  (m.)    Jacksnipe  (t)  digging  "wild  potatoes"  (susa). 
Tiputa.    W.  (f.)     Valley  quail  hiding  young  when  some  one  passes. 
Titci.    L.  (f.)     Bear  making  motion  at  every  jump  when  running. 
Tiwintcu.    W.  (m.)     Killdeer  flying  and  calling. 
Tiwolu.     L.  (m.)     Chicken  hawk  (suyu)  turning  eggs  with  bill  when  they  are 

hatching. 
Tokkoko.    W.  (m.)     Burrowing  owl  coming  out  of  hole  and  calling  "tok  kok. " 

Apparently  an  onomatopoetic  name. 
Tokoak.    L.  (f.)     Refers  to  a  place  near  Rawhide  where  the  parents  of  the 

woman  lived. 
Tokolasik.    W.  (f.)    Black-oak  acorns  getting  rotten  in  water,  having  been  for- 
gotten. 
Toktokolu.    L.  (m.). 


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1916]  Oxford:  Miwolc  Moieties  157 

Tolikna.    W.  (f.)    Coyote's  long  ears  flapping. 

Toloise.    W.  (m.)    Deer  lying  down  and  looking  up  at  some  one  coming. 

Toloisi.    L.  (f.)    Chicken  hawk  tearing  gopher  snake  with  talons. 

Tololi.    L.  (m.)     Digging  for  "trtW  potato"  (moa). 

Tolopoiyu.    L.  (m.)    A  big-leaved  vine  which  grows  on  ground. 

Tolsowe.    W.  (m.)     Deer  standing,  head  up,  ears  erect,  looking  around. 

Tolsowe.    W.  (m.)     Deer's  ears  erect  when  it  is  looking  around. 

Tonolu.    L.  (m.)     Spotting  on  California  jay, 

Tuenu.    W.  (m.)     Turkey  vulture  lighting  on  rock  or  tree. 

Tuikuye.    W.  (f.)     Wizard  killing  person  with  "poison." 

Tuketu.    L.  (m.)    Bear  making  dust  when  running. 

Tukubi.    W.  (m.)     Tukutucu  bird  singing. 

Tulanu.    L.  (m.)    Two  or  three  hears  taking  food  from  one  another. 

Tulmisuye.    L.  (f.)    Bear  walking  slowly  and  gently. 

Tumakaiyu.    L.  (m.)    Bear  remaining  stubbornly  in  hole  when  people  try  to  get 

it  out. 
Tumptca.    L.  (m.)     Smoking  Indian  tobacco  (hutia). 
Tunaa.    W.  (m.)     Salmon 's  intestines  pulling  out  like  string. 
Tunaa.    W.  (m.)    Spotting  on  sununu  fish  (catfishf). 
Tunelu.    L.  (m.)    Hawk  (kilikila)  roosting  on  top  of  a  pine  tree. 
Tusimi.    W.  (m.)     Wizard's  "poison"  hurting  victim. 
Tusuwe.    W.  (m.)     Poking  deer's  stomach  with  stick,  while  it  is  cooking  with 

meat  and  blood  inside  of  it,  to  see  if  it  is  done. 
Tutaiyati.    L.  (m.)    California  jay  "cackling"  when  singing. 
Tuwume.    L.  (f.)     Arrow  sticking  in  pota  ceremony  pole. 
Tulemuyak.    L.  (m.)     Morning  star  rising. 

Tunii.    W.  (m.)     Deer  thinking  about  going  to  eat  "wild  onions." 
Tusuku.    W.  (m.)     Easy  breaking  of  shell  nose-stick, 
Tcaksepuye.    L.  (f.)     Getting  light  in  the  morning  (dawn), 
Tcanatcimu.    L.  (f.)     Tree  «gutrrcZ  "  singing. " 
Tcanutuye.    W.  (f.)     Valley  quail  scattering  as  they  fly. 
Tcasibu.    L.  (m.)     Sun  hurting  eyes. 

Tcatipu.    W.  (f.)     Deer's  antlers  hitting  brush  when  deer  is  running. 
Tcawitcu.    L.  (m.). 
Tcilawi.    W.  (m.)     One  getting  ahead  of  others  in  gathering  farewelUto-spring 

seed.     Another  informant  gave  the  connotation  of  this  name  as  "cutting 

salmon  in  strips." 
Tcilikna.    L.  (m.)    A  certain  species  of  small  hawk  flying. 
Tciplitcu.    L.  (m.). 

Tcipuyu.    W.  (f.)    Tying  up  salmon  in  willow  branches  before  cooking. 
Tcistu.    L.  (m.)    A  night  bird  calling  "tcik!  tciki  " 
Tcitatpo.    L.  (m.)    Creeper  (akantoto)  going  down  tree. 
Tciwela.    W.  (m.)    Sides  of  falcon's  nest  covered  with  excrement. 
Tciwu.    W.  (m.)     Valley  quail  defecating  as  it  flies. 
Tciyifio.    W.  (m.). 

Teoileka.    W.  (f.)     Water  standing  in  one  place. 
Tcokotca.    W.  (m.)    Big  cocoon  on  tree. 
Teotcka.    W.  (m.)    Sound  of  water  in  creek. 

Tcuimukse.    W.  (m.)    Big  black  bee,  with  yellow  spots,  gathering  pollen. 
Teuke.     L.  (m.)     Throwing  seed  on  roof  of  ceremonial  house  after  catching 

young  of  hawk  (ititu),  so  that  people  will  not  become  sick. 


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University  of  California  Puhlications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 


Tcukitcko.    W.  (f.)     Deer's  intestines. 

Tcukpaiye.    L.  (f.)    Piling  up  stems  of  farewell-to-spring, 

Tcuktoko.    W.  (m.) '  People  arriving  on  time  to  eat  deer  meat. 

Tcukululuye.    L.  (f.)    Bear  making  so  much  noise  when  walking  that  it  frightens 

other  creatures. 
Tculu.    L.  (m.)     Ck>oking  acorns  in  ashes. 
Tcumaanuye.    L.  (f.)     Crushing  manzanita  berries  in  mortar. 
Tcumela.    L.  (f.)    Bears  dancing  in  the  hills. 
Tcumutuya.    L.  (f.)    Bear  catching  salmon  with  paws  in  riffle. 
Tcutcubi.    L.  (m.)     Sun  hurting  eyes  as  it  comes  up  over  a  hill. 
Tcuttoko.    W.  (m.)    Lumps  around  base  of  deer's  antler. 
Umlutuya.    L.  (m.)     Soaking  seed  in  water  on  arrival  home  after  collecting. 
Umuye.    L.  (f.)     Damp  ground, 

W.  (f.)    Piling  up  buckeye  nuts  for  cooking. 

L.  (m.)    Bear  eating  something  it  finds  dead. 

L.  (f.)     Cracking  sugar  pine  nuts. 

L.  (m.)    Bear  rolling  rock  with  foot  when  pursuing  something. 

L.  (f.)     Falcon,  with  feathers  of  neck  ruffled  up,  dashing  down  for 


Uptuye. 
Usepyu. 
Uskuye. 
Utnepa. 
Utunya. 
prey. 
Ututse. 
tyiemsii. 
Waketnu. 
Wasekuye, 


L.  (m.)     Tasting  salt  after  it  has  been  boiled  down  in  hole  in  rock. 
L.  (m.)    Bear  sleeping  in  hole. 
L.  (m.)     Indians  shouting  as  they  draw  hoivs  when  fighting. 
W.  (f.)     Fragments  of  acorns  being  scattered  by  pestle. 


Wasilu.    L.  (m.)     Putting  on  a  quail-crest  ear-plug, 

Wasilu.    W.  (f.)    Putting  on  a  quail-crest  ear-plug, 

Wassusme.    L.  (f.)     Bear  standing  on  hind  feet  scratching  tree. 

Wenitu.  L.  (m.)  Mixing  different  kinds  of  seeds  in  same  basket  when  gath- 
ering them. 

Wenutu.    L.  (m.)     Sky  clearing  after  being  cloudy. 

Wilanu.    L.  (m.)    Pouring  water  on  acorn  flour  in  leaching  place. 

Wilu.    L.  (m.)     Chicken  hawk  (suyu)  calling  **wi." 

Wiluye.    L.  (f.)     Eagle  singing  when  flying. 

Wininu.    L.  (m.)     Falcon  circling  in  air. 

Wipupamu.  L.  (f.)  Tearing  people  to  pieces  with  mouth.  This  name  may 
originally  have  had  an  implied  reference  to  some  animal,  more  than  likely 
the  bear. 

Wittcuna.    L.  (m.)     Falcon  pulling  feathers  off  quail. 

Wopemii.    L.  (m.)     Bear  bearing  down  a  small  tree  when  climbing  it. 

Wuyi.    W.  (m.)     Turkey  vulture  soaring. 

Yaluta.  L.  (f.)  Women  out  on  flat  telling  one  another  there  is  lots  of  farewell- 
to-spring  seed. 

Yanapaiyak.    W.  (m.)    Little  clouds  passing  by  sun  and  making  small  shadows. 

Yatcalu.    W.  (m.)    Deer's  antlers  spreading  wide. 

Yeleyu.  L.  (m.)  Going  at  night,  walking  in  the  dark.  Perhaps  this  name  orig- 
inally had  an  implied  reference  to  some  animal  which  habitually  traveled  at 
night. 

L.  (f.)    Bear  traveling  among  rocks  and  brush  without  making  noise. 
L.  (f.)    Little  acorn  just  beginning  to  grow  on  tree. 
W.  (m.)     Wizard  pressing  with  fingers  on  a  sleeping  person  to  *  *  poison  * ' 


Yelutci. 
Yenatcu. 
Yenene. 
him. 
Yewetca. 


L.  (f.)    Bear  wasting  away  at  death. 


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1916]  Gifford:  Miwok  Moieties  159 

Tokoa.    L.  (m.)    Bad  man  killing  every  one. 

Yoskolo.    L.  (m.)    Breaking  off  a  piece  of  acorn, 

Toskolo.    L.  (m.)     Breaking  oflP  sugar  pine  cones. 

Tukukukuye.    W.  (f.)     Noise  made  by  dove  with  wings  when  flying.    Another 

informant  gave  the  meaning  of  this  name  as  ''the  sound  made  by  a  rolling 

stone. ' ' 
Yulestu.    L.  (m.)    Hawk  (kilikila)  calling  as  it  alights. 
Yuttene.    W.  (m.)     Seeds  getting  wet  owing  to  a  leaky  roof. 

In  sixteen  instances  I  obtained  more  than  one  name  for  an  indi- 
vidual. This  was  due  in  some  eases  to  conflicting  testimony  as  to  the 
real  name;  in  other  cases  the  additional  name  was-  a  nickname.  A 
comparison  of  the  meanings  of  real  names  and  nicknames  shows  no 
special  rule  in  the  assigning  of  the  latter.  Sometimes  the  object 
mentioned  or  implied  in  the  nickname  is  the  same  as  in  the  real  name ; 
for  example,  the  name  Akaino  and  the  nickname  Huslu  both  refer  to 
the  bear.  At  other  times  the  objects  implied  are  different;  for  ex- 
ample, the  name  Lutein  refers  to  the  goldfinch,  while  the  nickname 
Wasilu  refers  to  the  quail-crest  ear-plug.  Some  nicknames  are  ap- 
plied on  account  of  personal  peculiarities ;  for  example,  the  real  name 
of  one  of  my  informants  was  Molestu,  a  name  which  referred  to  a 
magic  stone  connected  with  deer  hunting,  while  among  his  nicknames 
were  Sumtciwe  and  Sumutcupti,  which  were  more  or  less  derisive 
names  referring  to  his  unusually  full  beard.  Other  nicknames  such 
as  Tiktcu  and  Kaptinii  are  probably  derived  from  Dick  and  Captain, 
the  English  names  applied  respectively  to  the  two  people  in  question. 
Typical  connotations  were  obtained  for  these  two  nicknames,  however, 
the  first  referring  to  a  bird  (probably  the  jacksnipe),  the  second  to  ice. 
The  real  names  of  the  individuals  who  bore  these  two  nicknames  were 
Hunui,  meaning  ** salmon  fat,'*  and  Luyu,  meaning  **dove  shaking 
head  sideways.*'  Still  other  nicknames  refer  to  events  in  the  person's 
life.  A  man  named  Mosetuya,  ** dark-looking  water  on  the  ocean," 
bore  the  nickname  Ta'kawa,  ** mountain  lion  took  his  scalp  off,"  be- 
cause of  his  adventure  with  a  mountain  lion. 

None  of  the  nicknames  obtained  apply  to  women.  In  the  following 
table  the  first  column  contains  the  individual's  correct  name  so  far  as 
ascertainable.  The  second  column  contains  another  name  alleged  to 
be  the  real  name,  but  which  I  have  discarded  as  unlikely.  The  pres- 
ence of  this  column  is  due  to  conflicting  testimony.  The  third  column 
contains  nicknames.  In  parentheses,  following  each  name,  is  men- 
tioned the  object  referred  to  in  the  meaning  of  the  name  given  in  the 
preceding  lists. 


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Reftl  name 
Akaino  (bear) 
Bakno  (arrow) 
Elki  (bear) 
Eneto  (bear) 
Hunui  (salmon) 
Lutelu  (goldfinch) 
Luyu  (dove) 
Luyunu  (bear) 
Molestu  (deer) 


Mosetuya  (water) 

Sapata  (bear) 

Sitni  (bow) 

Totokono  (sandhill  crane) 

Tciyino 

Ukulnuye  (bear) 

Yuttene  (seed) 


Alleged  name 


Ukunnunu  (bear) 


Wialu  (dove) 


Pasatu  (bear) 
Puta  (salmon) 
Oya  (jacksnipet) 
Nimo 

Semeke  (bear) 
Tanatcio  (coyote) 


Nickname 
Huslu  (bear) 
Yokoa  (bad  man) 
Tulanu  (bear) 

Tiktcu  (jacksnipef) 
Wasilu  (quail-crest  ear-plug) 
Kaptinii  (ice) 
Tumptca  (tobacco) 
Iskemu  (water) 
Sumtciwe  (whiskers) 
Sumutcupti  (whiskers) 
Ta'kawa  (mountain  lion) 


Akunatala 


The  objects  mentioned  or  implied  in  the  personal  names  presented 
on  pages  148  to  159  are  listed  below  in  three  tabulations.  The  first 
two  show  the  objects  and  phenomena  mentioned  or  implied  in  water 
moiety  names  and  in  land  moiety  names,  respectively.  The  third  table 
lists  objects  common  to  the  moieties.  The  figures  indicate  the  number 
of  names  which  have  reference  to  the  objects  listed. 

WATER  MOIETY 


Abalone 6 

Acorn 3 

Ant  1 

Beads 1 

Black  bee  1 

Bow,  arrow,  quiver 3 

Buckeye  1 

Burrowing  owl  1 

Caterpillar 2 

Cloud  3 

Cocoon  1 

Coyote  6 

Deer  23 

Dove 6 

Elderberry  1 

Falcon  6 

Farewell-to-spring  3 

Fish   5 

Fog 1 

FootbaU 1 

Frog  3 

Gambling  bones 1 

Hawk 1 

Hummingbird 2 

Hunting  man  1 

Ice   2 

Jacksnipe  (?)  3 

Jimson  weed 1 

Killdeer 2 

Lake  1 

Lightning  1 

Meadowlark  1 


Metakila  (feather  apron)  1 

Minnow  1 

Mountain  lion  1 

Mud  1 

Oak -leaf  gall-nut 1 

Physa  (fresh-water  snail)  2 

Place  name 1 

Bain  2 

Quail-crest  ear-plug  1 

Rock 3 

Salamander 1 

Salmon 21 

Sand  1 

Sandhill  crane  1 

Seashell  1 

Seed  7 

Shell  nose-stick  2 

Snow  goose 1 

Sucker  fish  3 

Sununu  fish 1 

Tukutucu  bird  1 

Turkey  vulture  4 

Turtle 2 

Valley  quail  9 

Vetch  1 

Water 10 

Whiskers 2 

White  oak 1 

"Wild  cabbage"  1 

* '  Wild  potato ' ' 2 

Wizard 4 


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Giford:  MiwoJc  Moieties 


161 


LAND  MOIETY 


Acorn 8 

Animal 1 

Bad  man  1 

Badger 1 

Bear  69 

Berries 1 

Bow,  arrow,  quiver 9 

Buckeye 1 

California  jay  4 

Chicken  hawk 10 

Chieftainess  1 

Cloud  1 

Coyote  4 

Creeper 1 

Dawn  1 

Dog 3 

Drum  1 

Eagle  3 

Falcon  6 

Farewell-to-spring  12 

Fire   1 

Fox 3 

Goldfinch 1 

Great  homed  owl  3 

Ground 1 

Hawk 9 

Jack  rabbit 2 


Katydid 2 

Lizard  1 

Magpie 3 

Manzanita 2 

Night 1 

Night  bird  1 

Pine  nuts 2 

Place  name 2 

Pota  ceremony 4 

Quail-crest  ear-plug  1 

Salt 2 

Seed  7 

Sky 1 

Sonolu  (feather  head-ornament)  ....  2 

Stars 2 

Sugar  pine 8 

Sun  5 

Sunny  day 1 

Tobacco 2 

Tule  1 

Tree  squirrel  8 

Vine  2 

' '  Wild  potato ' ' 4 

Wizard 1 

Wood  1 

Yellow-jacket  6 


OBJECTS  COMMON  TO  THE  MOIETIES 


Occurrences 

A 

/ \ 

Object  Water  Land 

Acorn  3  8 

Bow,  arrow,  quiver 3  9 

Buckeye 1  1 

aoud  3  1 

Coyote  6  4 

Falcon  6  6 

Farewell-to-spring 3  12 


Occurrences 


Object                                   Water  Land 

Hawk 1  9 

Place  name 1  2 

Quail-crest  ear-plug  1  1 

Seed  7  7 

''Wild  potato'' 2  4 

Wizard  4  1 


Marriages 

Ninety-nine  marriages  were  recorded  among  the  Central  Sierra 
Miwok,  thirty-two  of  these  being  from  Big  Creek  alone.  In  the  fol- 
lowing table  proper  marriages,  that  is,  between  individuals  of  different 
moieties,  are  indicated  by  W-L ;  improper  marriages,  that  is,  between 
individuals  of  the  same  moiety,  are  indicated  by  W-W  for  the  water 
moiety  and  L-L  for  the  land  moiety. 

Percentage  Percentage 

of  proper  of  improper 

W-L     W-W      LrL  marriages    marriages 

Village  at  Big  Creek 26        5  1  81  19 

Central  Sierra  Miwok,  except  Big  Creek 

people  48        1        18  72  28 

Central  Sierra  Miwok  in  general 74        6        19  75  25 

The  figures  for  Big  Creek  include  marriages  of  such  individuals  whose  names 
and  meanings  of  names  were  not  obtained.  The  figures  for  the  Central  Sierra 
Miwok  exclusive  of  Big  Creek  do  not  include  these. 


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In  the  above  table  it  is  to  be  noted  that  Big  Creek  has  a  lower 
percentage  of  improper  marriages  than  the  remainder  of  the  Central 
Sierra  Miwok  region.  Cross-cousin  marriage  which  occurred  there 
gave  a  wider  choice  of  mates  in  the  proper  moiety  by  not  restricting 
choice  to  non-relatives  and  distant  relatives.  This  perhaps  tended  to 
keep  down  the  number  of  improper  (endogamous  as  to  moiety)  mar- 
riages. 

The  two  following  tables  list,  in  alphabetical  order  of  husbands' 
names,  all  of  the  Miwok  marriages  of  which  record  has  been  obtained. 

BIG  CREEK  MARRIAGES 


Husband 

Moiet; 

'    Named  after 

Wife              Molet> 

•    Named  after 

Efieto 

L 

Bear 

Miltaiye 

W 

Water 

Hautcu 

W 

Salmon 

Putbana 

W 

Fish 

Hautcu 

W 

Salmon 

Utatci 

L 

Bear 

Litcitu 

W 

Salmon 

Maiyeno 

L 

Chieftainess 

Liwanu 

L 

Bear 

Tolikna 

W 

Coyote 

Luyunu 

L 

Bear 

Kauwiluye 

W 

Ice 

Molimo 

L 

Bear 

Bosaiya 

L 

Eagle 

Nomasu 

W 

Seed 

Tulmisuye 

L 

Bear 

Nomasu 

W 

Seed 

Wiluye 

L 

Eagle 

Notcitcto 

W 

Coyote 

Putkuse 

L 

Acorn 

Omusa 

L 

Arrow 

Posululu 

W 

Frog 

Patakasii 

W 

Ant 

Yewetca 

L 

Bear 

Pelisu 

W 

Fish 

Liluye 

L 

Chicken  hawk 

Sapata 

L 

Bear 

Atce 

W 

Salmon 

Sapata 

L 

Bear 

Pilekuye 

W 

Shell  nose-stick 

Talalu 

W 

Rock 

Niwuye 

L 

Seed 

Tunaa 

W 

Salmon 

Simutuye 

L 

Tree  squirrel 

Tusuku 

W 

Shell  nose-stick 

Etumiiye 

L 

Bear 

Tcilawi 

W 

Salmon  (also  seed) 

Umuye 

L 

Ground 

Wuyi 

W 

Turkey  vulture 

Titci 

L 

Bear 

Yottoko 

W 

Mud 

Ukunulumaiye  L 

Bear 

Yuttefie 

W 

Seed 

Tcanatcimu 

L 

Tree  squirrel 

] 

MARRIAGES,  EXCLUSIVE  OF  BIG  CREEK 

Husb&nd 

Moietj 

r    Named  after 

Wife              Moietj 

r    Named  after 

Eskeye 

L 

Farewell-to-spring 

Matcumpaiye  L 

Farewell-to-spring 

Eekeye 

L 

Farewell-to-spring 

Sumtciwe 

L 

Sugar  pine 

Hatawa 

L 

Bear 

Piltcitcma 

W 

Meadowlark 

Hatawa 

L 

Bear 

Sumtciwe 

L 

Sugar  pine 

Haikiwisu 

W 

Salmon 

Semuki 

L 

Wizard 

Hunipte 

L 

Seed 

Polneye 

W 

Dove 

Kilikila 

L 

Hawk 

Huatama 

L 

Seed 

Kono 

L 

Tree  squirrel 

Natcamila 

W 

Acorn 

Kukse 

W 

Valley  quail 

Hesutuye 

L 

Yellow-jacket 

Kutcuyak 

L 

Bear 

Musonotoma 

W 

Valley  quail 

Litana 

W 

Hummingbird 

Laapisak 

L 

Bear 

Lukulkatu 

L 

Fox 

Mukuye 

W 

Deer 

Lukulkatu 

L 

Fox 

Oiyikoisiye 

L 

Salt 

Lutelu 

L 

Goldfinch 

Tiputa 

W 

Valley  quail 

Liitcmii 

W 

Salmon 

Hiimiita 

L 

Tobacco 

Malila 

W 

Salmon 

Tcumutuye 

L 

Bear 

Malkuyu 

W 

Farewell-to-spring 

Itcimuye 

L 

Magpie 

Metikla 

W 

Sucker  fish 

Selipu 

L 

Falcon 

Molestu 

W 

Deer 

Uskuye 

L 

Sugar  pine 

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Criford:  Miwok  Moieties 


163 


Husband 

Moietj 

'    Named  after 

Wife               Moiety 

Named  after 

Mulya 

L 

Acorn 

Yaluta 

L 

Farewell-to-spring 

Mulya 

L 

Acorn 

Yukukukuye 

W 

Dove 

Miiku 

W 

Deer 

Tcumela 

L 

Bear 

Neplu 

L 

Bear 

Kusetuye 

W 

''Wild  potato'' 

Pati 

W 

Fish 

Tiputa 

W 

Valley  quail 

Patiwo 

W 

Deer 

Yuttciso 

L 

Chicken  hawk 

Pele  'me 

L 

Coyote 

Posala 

L 

Farewell-to-spring 

Pososu 

L 

Great  homed  owl 

Loiyetuye 

L 

Farewell  -to-spring 

P08O8U 

L 

Great  homed  owl 

Yaluta 

L 

Farewell-to-spring 

Potcu'e 

W 

Football 

Hisokuye 

L 

Bear 

Punoi 

L 

Tree  squirrel 

Liptuye 

L 

Pine  nuts 

Putsume 

L 

Bear 

Pukuna 

W 

Deer 

Sipatu 

L 

Fox 

Pukuna 

W 

Deer 

Sitni 

W 

Bow 

Sapata 

L 

Bear 

Sitni 

W 

Bow 

Toloisi 

L 

Chicken  hawk 

Sitni 

W 

Bow 

Yuttciso 

L 

Chicken  hawk 

Situtu 

W 

Arrow,  quiver 

Sewati 

L 

Bear 

Sokono 

W 

Wizard 

Matcuta 

L 

Pine  nuts 

Solotci 

L 

Jackrabbit 

Epeta 

L 

Lizard 

S08O 

L 

Tree  squirrel 

Wasekuye 

W 

Acorn 

Suki 

L 

Chicken  hawk 

Tcipuyu 

W 

Salmon 

Sukumi 

L 

Great  homed  owl 

Talepuye 

W 

Abalone 

Sukumi 

L 

Great  homed  owl 

Wasilu 

W 

Quail-crest  ear-plug 

Suletu 

L 

California  jay 

Tcaksepuye 

L 

Dawn 

Takena 

W 

Hawk 

Kututcanati 

L 

Bear 

Talatu 

L 

Bear 

Huata 

W 

Seed 

Tawitci 

W 

Turkey  vulture 

Kututcanati 

L 

Bear 

Tawitci 

W 

Turkey  vulture 

Satuwu 

L 

Farewell-to-spring 

Telumi 

L 

Tree  squirrel 

Paseleno 

W 

Vetch 

Tikmu 

L 

Tree  squirrel 

Samtuye 

W 

Deer 

Tikmu 

L 

Tree  squirrel 

Tuikuye 

W 

Wizard 

Tolsowe 

W 

Deer 

Ukulnuye 

L 

Bear 

Tumma 

L 

Dmm 

Pikatco 

L 

Acorn 

Tnnaa 

W 

Sununu  fish 

Selibu 

L 

Falcon 

Tunaa 

W 

Sununu  fish 

Utunya 

L 

Falcon 

Tcilikna 

L 

Hawk 

Tcukpaiye 

L 

Farewell-to-spring 

Tcititi 

L 

Katydid 

Heteltci 

L 

Pota  ceremony 

Tcuimukse 

W 

Black  bee 

Tuwume 

L 

Arrow 

Tcutcubi 

L 

Sun 

Hateya 

L 

Bear 

Ilmlutuya 

L 

Seed 

Sukukiye 

L 

Place  name 

Wenitu 

L 

Seed 

Musonota 

L 

Magpie 

Wininu 

L 

Falcon 

Lupu 

W 

Abalone 

Wininu 

L 

Falcon 

Yukukukuye 

W 

Dove 

Wittcuna 

L 

Falcon 

Putceyu 

W 

Deer 

Wootci 

L 

Coyote 

Yukukukuye 

W 

Dove 

Wuksii 

L 

Sun 

Lupu 

W 

Abalone 

Yotimo 

L 

Yellow-jacket 

Samtuye 

W 

Deer 

A  berdache,  Muliya,  who  was  named  after  farewell-to-spring  and 
belonged  to  the  land  moiety,  was  ** married*'  to  Taktekaiyu,  a  water 
moiety  man  named  after  deer.  It  seems  possible  that  the  exogamie 
rules  regulated  berdache  ** marriages/'  However,  this  is  the  only  such 
union  recorded,  and  the  evidence  is  therefore  insufficient.  Berdaches 
were  not  infrequent.  Out  of  five  mentioned  among  Jamestown  and 
Knights  Ferry  people,  Muliya  is  the  only  one  whose  name  was  ob- 
tained. He  and  Taktekaiyu  lived  together  at  Tcakatcino,  near  James- 
town. 


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In  the  three  following  tables  are  summarized  all  of  the  regular 
marriages  of  three  groups  of  people — ^those  with  deer,  salmon,  and 
bear  names.  These  three  groups  of  names  are  the  commonest  among 
the  Central  Sierra  Miwok.  The  absence  of  any  rule  in  the  choice  of 
mates,  oth^r  than  moiety  exogamy,  is  apparent.  That  is  to  say,  for 
example,  men  with  bear  names  did  not  regularly  marry  women  who 
were  named  after  one  particular  animal.  So  long  as  the  women  were 
of  the  proper  moiety  it  did  not  matter  what  they  were  named  after. 
Certain  marriages  occur  in  more  then  one  table ;  for  example,  a  deer- 
bear  marriage  would  appear  under  both  deer  and  bear.  Irregular  or 
endogamic  marriages  are  excluded. 


People  with 
deer  names 

Married  to 

Number  of 
occurrences 

Man 

Sugar  pine 

1 

Man 

Bear 

2 

Man 

Chicken  hawk 

1 

Woman 

Fox 

2 

Woman 

Bear 

1 

Woman 

Tree  squirrel 

1 

Woman 

Falcon 

1 

Woman 

Yellow-jacket 

1 

People  with 
salmon  names 

Married  to 

Number  of 
occurrences 

Man 

Bear 

2 

Man 

Chieftainess 

1 

Man 

Ground 

1 

Man 

Tree  squirrel 

1 

Man 

Fish 

1 

Man 

Wizard 

1 

Man 

Tobacco 

1 

Woman 

Bear 

1 

Woman 

Chicken  hawk 

1 

People  with 
bear  names 

Married  to 

Number  of 
occurrences 

Man 

Water 

1 

Man 

Coyote 

1 

Man 

Ice 

1 

Man 

Salmon 

1 

Man 

Shell  nose-stick 

1 

Man 

Meadowlark 

1 

Man 

Valley  quail 

1 

Man 

Deer 

1 

Man 

Seed 

1 

Man 

"Wild  potato" 

1 

Woman 

Salmon 

2 

Woman 

Seed 

1 

Woman 

Ant 

1 

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People  with 
bear  names 

Married  to 

Number  of 
occurrences 

Woman 

Shell  nose-stick 

1 

Woman 

Turkey  vulture 

2 

Woman 

Mud 

1 

Woman 

Hummingbird 

1 

Woman 

Deer 

2 

Woman 

Bow,  arrow,  quiver 

2 

Woman 

Hawk 

1 

Woman 

Football 

1 

Genealogies 

In  the  genealogical  information  obtained  there  are  forty-eight  male 
lines  of  descent.  Some  of  these  are  rather  long,  covering  four  or  five 
generations.  Others  consist  merely  of  two  generations — a  man  and 
his  offspring.  Of  these  lines  of  descent  only  nine  show  complete  trans- 
mission of  the  eponym  of  the  paternal  ancestor  to  the  descendants. 
In  other  words,  less  than  one-fifth  of  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok  families 
named  all  their  children  after  the  eponym  of  the  father  or  other  male 
ancestor  of  the  group.  Plainly,  there  is  no  rule  of  transmission  of  the 
eponym  of  the  male  ancestor,  and  consequently  no  widespread  belief 
in  descent  from  the  eponymous  animal. 

If  we  take  the  forty-eight  lines  of  descent  and  break  them  up  into 

smaller  groups,  consisting  in  each  case  of  father  and  child,  we  get  the 

following  results: 

Number  of  cases 132 

Percentage  of  children  with  eponym  of  father 41 

Percentage  of  children  without  eponym  of  father 59 

Considered  from  the  standpoint  of  moieties,  the  following  results 
as  to  transmittal  of  eponyms  are  obtained : 

WATER  MOIETY 

Number  of  lines  of  descent 22 

Eponym  of  paternal  ancestor  transmitted  throughout  in 14% 

Eponym  of  paternal  ancestor  not  transmitted  throughout  in 86% 

Number  of  pairs  consisting  of  father  and  child 61 

Percentage  of  children  with  eponym  of  father 28 

Percentage  of  children  without  eponym  of  father 72 

LAND  MOIETY 

Number  of  Unes  of  descent 26 

Eponym  of  paternal  ancestor  transmitted  throughout  in 23% 

Eponym  of  paternal  ancestor  not  transmitted  throughout  in  77% 

Number  of  pairs  consisting  of  father  and  child 71 

Percentage  of  children  with  eponym  of  father 52 

Percentage  of  children  without  eponym  of  father 48 

Obviously  the  results  based  on  the  pairs  of  individuals,  consisting 
of  male  parent  and  offspring,  give  the  more  accurate  data  as  to  the 
tendencies  of  the  moieties  in  the  matter  of  names.    Judging,  therefore. 


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166  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

by  percentages,  it  appears  that  the  tendency  of  the  water  moiety  as  a 
whole  was  to  ignore  the  eponym  of  the  paternal  ancestor;  while  the 
'  land  moiety  as  a  whole  was  about  evenly  divided  on  the  question.  It 
is  possible,  of  course,  that  these  tendencies  are  only  local  or  temporary. 
Disregarding  moieties  and  putting  the  data  on  the  basis  of  Big 
Creek  people  and  Central  Sierra  Miwok  exclusive  of  Big  Creek  people, 
it  is  found  that  the  latter  are  the  more  zealous  in  the  transmittal  of 
eponyms,  although  in  both  groups  they  are  transmitted  in  less  than 
half  of  the  cases : 

BIG  CREEK 

Number  of  pairs  consisting  of  father  and  child 54 

Percentage  of  children  with  eponym  of  father  33 

Percentage  of  children  without  eponym  of  father  67 

EXCLUSIVE  OF  BIG  CREEK 

Number  of  pairs  consisting  of  father  and  child 78 

Percentage  of  children  with  eponym  of  father 46 

Percentage  of  children  without  eponym  of  father  54 

Going  still  further  and  considering  moiety  as  well  as  locality,  the 
curious  result  shown  in  percentages  in  the  following  table  is  reached : 

Big  Creek  Exclusive  of  Big  Creek 

Water        Land  Water       Land 

Transmitted 9          71  50          44 

Not  transmitted  91           29  50          56 

It  appears  that  the  Big  Creek  people  of  the  water  moiety  were 
remarkably  careless  about  the  transmission  of  the  paternal  eponyin, 
while  their  fellow-villagers  of  the  land  moiety  were  the  reverse.  Upon 
consulting  the  figures  for  people,  exclusive  of  Big  Creek,  it  is  found 
that  conditions  are  very  different,  about  half  of  the  eponyms  being 
transmitted  in  each  moiety.  Perhaps  the  difference  in  results  for  the 
two  areas  is  due  to  lack  of  sufficient  data  from  Big  Creek. 

The  lines  of  descent  on  which  the  previous  discussion  is  based  are 
listed  below.  Sex  is  indicated  by  (m.)  for  male,  (f.)  for  female.  The 
word  following  each  name  is  that  of  the  object  mentioned  in  the  con- 
notation or  denotation  of  the  name. 

WATER  MOIETY— BIG  CREEK 

Onalik,  bow,  arrow,  quiver,  father  of  Katuye,  water  (m.). 

Wuyi,  turkey  vulture,  father  of  Notcitcto,  coyote  (m.),  of  Yutu,  coyote  (m.), 
and  of  Wunuti,  hunting-man  (m.).  Yutu,  father  of  Hatcaiya,  cloud  (f.). 
Wunuti,  father  of  Tciyino  (m.).  Tciyifio,  father  of  Tiimii,  caterpillar  (m.)  and 
of  Lii,  turtle  (m.). 

Tcotcka,  water,  father  of  Tolikna,  coyote  (f.)  and  of  Peusuye,  water  (f.). 

Mosetuya,  water,  father  of  Totokono,  sandhill  crane  (m.).  Totokono,  father 
of  Sawa,  rock  (m.),  of  Hunui,  salmon  (m.),  and  of  Yuttene,  seed  (m.).  Yuttefle, 
father  of  Onpume,  coyote  (f.). 


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1916]  Giford:  Miwok  Moieties  167 

Tunaa,  salmon,  father  of  Miltaiye,  water  (f.),  of  Talalu,  rock  (m.),  and  of 
Nomasu,  seed  (m.).  Talalu,  father  of  Putbana,  fish  (f.)  Nomasu,  father  of 
Tukubiy  tukutucu  bird  (m.),  of  Kusetu,  "wild  potato"  (f.),  of  Tcilawi,  seed 
(m.),  of  Hupaiye,  "wild  cabbage'*  (f.),  of  Tcanutuye,  valley  quail  (f.),  of 
Hutamsi,  fish  (f.),  of  Hopoto,  frog  (m.),  of  Pilekuye,  shell  nose-stick  (f.),  and 
of  Pelisu,  fish  (m.).    PelisU;  father  of  Atce,  salmon  (f.). 

TusiikUy  shell  nose-stick,  father  of  Otu,  seashells  (m.),  and  of  Hautcu,  salmon 
(m.).    Hautcu,  father  of  Kolenya,  fish  (f.),  and  of  Litcitu,  salmon  (m.). 

Soloni,  place  name,  father  of  Kauwiluye,  ice  (f.),  of  Posululu,  frog  (f.),  and 
of  Newulo  (m.). 

Tcotcka,  water,  father  of  Osepa  (f.)  and  of  Almase  (m.). 

WATEE  MOIETY— EXCLUSIVE  OF  BIG  CREEK 

Luyu,  dove,  father  of  Osoi  (m.),  and  of  Yukukukuye,  dove  (f.). 

Tusimi,  wizard,  father  of  Tuikuye,  wizard  (f.)»  and  of  Sokono,  wizard  (m.). 

Ewentcu,  deer,  grandfather  of  Tcatipii,  deer  (f.). 

Tcuktoko,  deer,  father  of  Hotamuye,  deer  (f.),  of  Mukuye,  deer  (f.),  and  of 
Mukii,  deer  (m.).  Miikii,  father  of  Tolsowe,  deer  (m.),  of  Samtuye,  deer  (f.), 
and  of  Patiwo,  deer  (m.).    Patiwo,  father  of  Yatcalu,  deer  (m.). 

Hahiyo,  salmon,  father  of  Liitcmii,  salmon  (m.)  and  of  Yanapaiyak,  cloud  (m.*). 

Sitni,  bow,  arrow,  quiver,  father  of  Kukse,  quail  (m.). 

Leyati,  abalone,  father  of  Musonotoma,  valley  quail  (f.). 

Situtu,  bow,  arrow,  quiver,  father  of  Nikiti,  abalone  (m.),  of  Lupu,  abalone 
(f.),  and  of  Hulutuye,  abalone  (f.). 

Metikla,  sucker  fish,  father  of  Pootci,  salmon  (f.). 

Tolsowe,  deer,  father  of  Tunii,  deer  (m.),  and  of  Putceyu,  deer  (f.). 

Miile,  quail,  father  of  Uptuye,  buckeye  (f.). 

Takena,  falcon,  father  of  Talulu,  falcon  (m.)  and  of  Tutce,  frog  (m.). 

Malkuyu,  farewell-to-spring,  father  of  Elsu,  falcon  (m.),  of  Tciwela,  falcon 
(m.),  of  Hokoiyu,  falcon  (m.),  and  of  Yutne,  falcon  (m.). 

Potcu'e,  football,  father  of  Ape,  acorn  (m.). 

LAND  MOIETY— EXCLUSIVE  OF  BIG  CREEK 

Luyunu,  bear,  father  of  Sutuluye,  bear  (f.),  and  of  Tcanatcimu,  tree  squir- 
rel (f.). 

Tutaiyati,  California  jay,  father  of  Luituye,  bear  (f.),  of  Lusela,  bear  (f.), 
and  of  Liwanu,  bear  (m.).    Liwanu,  father  of  Katcuktcume,  bear  (m.). 

Hoho,  bear,  father  of  Solasu,  bear  (m.),  and  of  Efieto,  bear  (m.).  Solasu, 
father  of  Sanuye,  cloud  (f.)*  Eneto,  father  of  Liktuye,  bear  (f.)  and  of  Sapata, 
bear  (m.).  Sapata,  father  of  Anawuye,  bear  (m.),  of  Kulmuye,  bear  (f.),  of 
Molimo,  bear  (m.),  of  Wopemii,  bear  (m.),  of  Wassusme,  bear  (f.),  of  Hehe- 
muye,  bear  (f.),  of  Moemu,  bear  (m.),  of  Hoiyitcalu,  bear  (m.),  and  of  Etumu, 
bear  (m.). 

Peeluyak,  bear,  father  of  Niwuye,  seed  (f.). 

LAND  MOIETY,  EXCLUSIVE  OF  BIG  CREEK 

Noksu,  chicken  hawk,  father  of  Tiwolu,  chicken  hawk  (m.). 
Sitki,  bow,  arrow,  quiver,  father  of  Mutckuye,  bow,  arrow,  quiver  (f.),  of 
Waketnu,  bow,  arrow,  quiver  (m.),  and  of  He'eluye,  bow,  arrow,  quiver  (f.). 
Tumma,  drum,  father  of  Makuina,  seed  (m.). 


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168  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

Semuki,  bear,  father  of  Takutcima,  seed  (f.). 

Tceweksu,  tree  squirrel,  father  of  Tikmu,  tree  squirrel  (m.),  of  Telumi,  tree 
squirrel  (m.),  and  of  Hiimiita,  tobacco  (f.)> 

Sukumi,  great  homed  owl,  father  of  Wootci,  coyote  (m.),  of  Pososu,  great 
homed  owl  (m.),  of  Tiponya,  great  homed  owl  (m.),  and  of  Yelutci,  bear  (f.). 

Etu,  sun,  father  of  Akulu,  sun  (m.),  and  of  Mulya,  acorn  (m.).  Mulya, 
father  of  Suletuye,  falcon  (f.). 

Tiilemuyak,  star,  father  of  Tcaksepuye,  dawn  (f.). 

Talatu,  bear,  father  of  Wuksii,  sun  (m.).  Wiiksu,  father  of  Siitu,  magpie 
(m.),  and  of  Tcasibu,  sun  (m.). 

Putepu,  chicken  hawk,  father  of  Toloisi,  chicken  hawk  (f.). 

Eskeye,  farewell-to-spring,  father  of  Yaluta,  farewell-to-spring  (f.). 

Punoi,  tree  squirrel,  father  of  Matcuta,  sugar  pine  (f.))  and  of  Wittcuna, 
falcon  (m.).     Wittcuna,  father  of  Tetmo,  dog  (m.). 

Putsume,  bear,  father  of  Lifiugse,  tule  (m.). 

Pele'me,  coyote,  father  of  Ukulnuye,  bear  (f.),  and  of  Posala,  farewell-to- 
spring  (f.). 

Umlutuya,  seed,  father  of  Loiyetu,  farewell-to-spring  (m.),  of  Loiyetuye, 
farewell-to-spring  (f.),  and  of  La'uyu,  farewell-to-spring  (m.). 

Neplii,  bear,  father  of  Esege,  bear  (f.)  and  of  Tcukululuye,  bear  (f.). 

Hunipte,  seed,  father  of  Wenitu,  seed  (m.),  of  Muliya,  farewell-to-spring 
(m.),  and  of  Tcukpaiye,  farewell-to-spring  (f.). 

Tcilikna,  hawk,  father  of  Hute,  star  (m.). 

Soso,  tree  squirrel,  father  of  Telumu,  farewell-to-spring  (f.),  and  of  Tcuma- 
anuye,  manzanita  (f.). 

Ciisua,  hawk,  father  of  Osmokse,  hawk  (m.),  of  Kilikila,  hawk  (m.),  of 
Sakati,  hawk  (m.),  of  Tufielu,  hawk  (m.))  of  Tulestu,  hawk  (m.),  and  of  Namino, 
hawk  (m.).    Kilikila,  father  of  Tcutcubi,  sun  (m.). 

Papina,  vine,  father  of  Yoskolo,  sugar  pine  (m.),  of  Sunumptca,  sugar  pine 
(f.),  and  of  Kulya,  sugar  pine  (m.). 

Suki,  chicken  hawk,  father  of  Wilu,  chicken  hawk  (m.). 

Of  value  as  indicating  the  relationship  of  many  individuals  not 
listed  in  the  above  lines  of  descent  is  a  list  of  brothers  and  sisters. 
Where  the  implied  eponym  is  the  same  in  each  name  in  a  group  no 
positive  evidence  is  offered  as  to  the  transmission  of  the  eponym  of 
the  father.  Where  the  eponym  in  each  name  in  a  group  is  different 
it  is  obvious  that  the  eponym  of  the  father  has  not  been  transmitted 
throughout  to  the  offspring.  Of  the  thirty-four  groups  of  brothers 
and  sisters  nine  have  similar  eponyms,  while  twenty-five  have  dis- 
similar. 

Hunipte,  seed  (m.);  Umlutuya,  seed  (m.). 

Pati,  fish  (m.);  Metikla,  sucker  fish  (m.). 

Etu,  sun  (m.);  Tculu,  acom  (m.);  Sitpu,  badger  (m.). 

Taipa,  valley  quail  (m.);  Situtu,  bow,  arrow,  quiver  (m.). 

Kutcuyak,  bear  (m.);  Tumakaiyii,  bear  (m.);  Suletu,  California  jay  (m.). 

Liptcu,  salmon  (m.);  Putsume,  pota  ceremony  (m.). 


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1916]  Giford:  Miwok  Moieties  169 

Tiwitita,  killdeer  (m.);  Piltcitcma,  meadowlark  (f.). 

Tolopoiyu,  vine  (m.);  Sitki,  bow,  arrow,  quiver  (m.). 

Metikla,  metakila  (m.);  Kolotomu,  oak-leaf  gall-nut  (f.);  Tunaa,  simunu 
fish  (m.). 

Epeta,  lizard  (f.);  Pususu,  dog  (m.);  Kuyunu,  dog  (m.). 

Tcitepu,  abalone  (m.);  Wiskala,  sand  (m.). 

Wasilu,  quail-crest  ear-plug  (f.);  Moitoiye,  valley  quail  (f.);  Sitala,  valley 
quail  (f.). 

Sapata,  bear  (f.);  Hateya,  bear  (f.). 

Awanata,  turtle  (m.);  Sitni,  bow,  arrow,  quiver  (m.). 

Istu,  sugar  pine  (m.);  Ilokuk,  "wild  potato*'  (f.). 

Sipatu,  fox  (m.);  Lukulkatu,  fox  (m.). 

Tcuktoko,  deer  (m.);  Pukuna,  deer  (f.). 

Tupi,  salmon  (m.);  Hahiyo,  salmon  (m.). 

Tolsowe,  deer  (m.);  Patcuka  (m.);  Tusuwe,  deer  (m.). 

Hustemeyak,  Physa  or  fresh -water  snail  (m.) ;  Lutaiyet,  Physa  or  fresh -water 
snail  (f.). 

Yoskolo,  acorn  (m.);  Septuye,  fire  (f.). 

Polaiyu,  lake  (m.);  Paseleno,  vetch  (f.). 

Mosetuya,  water  (m.);  Tunaa,  salmon  (m.). 

Soloni,  place  name  (m.);  Tcoileka,  water  (f.). 

Simutuye,  tree  squirrel  (f.);  Peeluyak,  bear  (m.). 

Tutaiyati,  California  jay  (m.);  Wiluye,  eagle  (f.);  Tulmisuye,  bear  (f.). 

Situtuyu,  berries  (m.);  Putsume,  bear  (f.). 

Bosaiya,  eagle  (f.) ;  Akaino,  bear  (m.) ;  Tolkatcu,  bear  (f.) ;  Maiyefio,  chief- 
tainess  (f.). 

Misu,  water  (m.);  Tentpaiyu,  seed  (f.). 

Tcuttoko,  deer  (m.);  Pukuna,  deer  (f.). 

Kono,  tree  squirrel  (m.);  Soso,  tree  squirrel  (m.). 

Tcintiye,  buckeye  (f.);  Tukeye,  pine  nuts  (f.). 

Takeiia,  hawk  (m.);  Malkuyu,  farewell-to-spring  (m.). 

Suki,  chicken  hawk  (m.);  Sakasaiyu,  chicken  hawk  (f.). 


The  following  six  short  genealogies  are  inserted  in  the  paper  as 
an  aid  to  the  discussion  of  the  Miwok  terms  of  relationship,  and  also 
for  the  purpose  of  demonstrating  the  existence  of  cross-cousin  marriage 
(see  p.  189).  As  heretofore,  m.  means  male,  f.  female,  W.  water  moiety, 
L.  land  moiety.  Generation  B  in  genealogy  I  coincides  approximately 
in  time  with  generation  B  in  the  other  genealogies;  the  same  is  true 
with  the  other  generations,  all  having  the  same  letter  being  approxi- 
mately the  same  in  age.  In  addition  to  the  letters  after  each  name 
indicating  sex  and  moiety,  there  are  inserted,  in  cases  where  names 
occur  more  than  once  in  the  genealogies,  Roman  numerals  and  letters 
referring  to  the  genealogy  and  generation  in  which  the  name  is  to  be 
again  found ;  for  example,  (IIC)  placed  after  a  name  means  that  it  is 
to  be  found  also  in  genealogy  II,  generation  C. 


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170  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 


TERMS  OF  RELATIONSHIP 

Exclusive  of  the  terms  eselu,  child;  hikime,  child  in  cradle;  and 
luwasa,  foster-child,  thirty-four  terms  of  relationship  are  employed  by 
the  majority  of  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok.  The  people  in  the  vicinity 
of  Big  Creek  employ  only  thirty-three  terms,  as  their  term  ate 
(younger  brother  or  younger  sister)  takes  the  place  of  the  two  terms 
tcale  and  kole  used  for  these  two  relationships  elsewhere.  In  this  the 
Big  Creek  people  correspond  with  some  of  the  Southern  Sierra  Miwok 
and  with  the  Plains  Miwok,  but  not  with  the  Northern  Sierra  Miwok, 
who,  like  the  majority  of  the  Central  people,  use  the  two  terms  tcale 
and  kole.  One  of  the  striking  features  of  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok 
terms  of  relationship  is  the  disregard  of  generation.  Of  the  thirty- 
four  terms,  twenty-one  apply  to  two  or  more  relationships  which  are 
in  different  generations. 

The  following  table  presents  an  analysis  of  the  typical  Central 
Sierra  Miwok  terms  on  the  basis  of  the  categories  used  by  Dr.  A.  L. 
Kroeber  in  his  paper  on  * ' Classificatory  Systems  of  Relationship.''" 
His  eighth  category,  the  condition  of  the  connecting  relative,  has  been 
omitted,  as  it  is  not  operative  in  Miwok  terms.  Dr.  Kroeber  used 
twenty-four  Miwok  terms  in  his  comparative  table,  while  I  am  using 
thirty-four.  The  changes  in  figures,  especially  for  the  category  *  *  Gen- 
eration,'' which  expresses  **the  difference  between  persons  of  the  same 
and  separate  generations,"  are  due  to  the  larger  amount  of  data  now 
at  hand.  As  remarked  above,  these  data  have  shown  that,  considering 
the  full  use  of  each  term,  more  than  one  generation  is  represented  in 
nearly  two-thirds  of  the  terms.  The  crosses  in  the  following  table 
mean  that  the  category  named  at  the  head  of  the  column  is  operative 
throughout  all  the  applications  of  the  term  opposite  which  it  is  placed. 
The  sex  of  the  relative,  and  whether  the  relationship  is  one  of  blood  or 
marriage,  are  the  two  categories  most  frequently  expressed,  the  former 
in  twenty-eight  of  the  thirty-four  terms,  the  latter  in  twenty-six.  No 
term  expresses  over  five  categories ;  the  average  term  expresses  three. 

Considered  as  to  moiety,  it  is  found  that  of  the  twenty-nine  terms 
used  by  a  man  twelve  apply  to  relatives  belonging  only  to  his  moiety, 
nine  to  relatives  of  the  opposite  moiety  only,  and  eight  to  relatives 
who  may  belong  to  either  moiety.  Belonging  to  the  man 's  moiety  only 
are  his  ansi,  ene,  haiyi,  kole,  kumatsa,  moe,  pinuksa,  tatci,  tete,  tune, 

11  Journ.  Boy.  Anthr.  Inst.,  xxxix,  78-79,  1909. 


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Ob: 

1.  MoMtaya  C 
=2.  .  .  .    <f)  — 


S.  .  .  .    <mW] 
=4.  .  .  .    (f>  — 


5.  TiiMAft  inty^ 
=•.  SuBrntaye  CI 


GmmmmAfnoif 

75.  .  .  .   (mlil 
=76.  .  .  .    (O  — 


=77.  .  .  .    (f)  — 


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1916] 


Gifford:  Miwok  Moieties 


171 


Term 

Oeneration 

Ama 

Anisu 

Alisi 

Apasti 

Atce 

Ene 

X 

Haiyeme 

X 

Haiyi 

X 

Hewasu 

X 

Kaka 

Kawu 

Kole 

Kolina 



Komatsa 



Lupnba 

Maksi 

Manisa 

X 

Moe 

X 

Nafia 

X 

Oiyame 

X 

Olo 

Osa 

X 

Pansa 

X 

Papa 

Pinuksa 

Tatci 



Tete 

Tomu 

X 

Tune 

Tcale 

Cpsa 

Cpii 

X 

ma 

X 

Wokli 

Terms* 

13 

Blood  or  Lineal  or 
marriage  collateral 


X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 


X 
X 
X 
X 

26 


Sex  of 
relative 

X 
X 
X 
X 


6 


28 


Bexof 
connecting    Sex  of 

relative  speaker 

X  X 

X  

X  X 

X  

X  

X  

X  X 

X  

X  X 

X  

X  X 
X 

X  

X  

X 

X  X 

X  X 

15  9 


Age  in 
generation 


*  Knmber  of  terms  in  which  each  category  is  expressed. 

tcale,  and  iipii,  belonging  to  the  opposite  moiety  only  are  his  anisii, 
kaka,  lupuba,  manisa,  oiyame,  osa,  tomu,  iipsa,  and  iita ;  belonging  to 
both  moieties  are  bis  ama,  atce,  hewasu,  kawu,  maksi,  olo,  papa,  and 
wokli.  With  a  woman  the  distribution  differs.  She  uses  thirty  terms 
to  the  man's  twenty-nine.  Fourteen  she  applies  to  relatives  who  be- 
long only  to  her  moiety ;  seven  to  relatives  of  the  opposite  moiety ;  and 
nine  to  relatives  who  may  belong  to  either  moiety  according  to  cir- 
cumstances. In  the  first  category  belong  her  ene,  haiyeme,  haiyi,  kole, 
kumatsa,  manisa,  oiyame,  pansa,  pinuksa,  tatci,  tete,  tcale,  iipsa,  and 
iipii ;  in  the  second  category  belong  her  ansi,  anisii,  kaka,  naiia,  tomu, 
tune,  and  iita ;  and  in  the  third  category  belong  her  ama,  apasti,  atce, 
hewasu,  kawu,  kolina,  maksi,  olo,  and  papa. 

The  terms  of  relationship  with  their  principal  applications  are 
given  below,  together  with  any  remarks  that  seem  pertinent.    The  lists 


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172  University  of  Calif ornia  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

of  meanings  are  incomplete  in  most  cases,  but  are  supplemented  a  few 
pages  beyond  by  additional  meanings  derived  directly  from  the  gene- 
alogies. Unless  otherwise  stated  the  terms  older  and  younger  in  the 
following  lists  mean  older  or  younger  than  the  speaker.  At  times  the 
diminutive  suffix  -tci  or  -ktci  is  added  for  very  young  brothers,  sisters, 
nieces,  or  nephews,  as  in  tcalektci  (baby  younger  brother),  kolektci 
(baby  younger  sister),  iipsatci  (baby  nephew). 

AmaA^  Grandmother,  grandmother's  sister,  grandfather's  sister,  great  grand- 
mother.   The  reciprocal  of  this  term  is  atee. 

Ami,  Mother's  older  sister,  father's  brother's  wife  if  she  is  older  than  mother, 
mother's  earlier  co-wife.  This  term  is  the  Big  Creek  equivalent  of  the 
more  generally  used  term  tomu.    The  reciprocals  are  ansi  and  tune. 

Anisii,  Mother's  younger  sister,  father's  brother's  wife  (younger  than  mother), 
mother's  brother's  daughter  (one  of  a  person's  two  female  cross-cousins), 
mother's  brother's  son's  daughter  (one  of  a  person's  female  cross  first 
cousins  once  removed),  stepmother,  mother's  later  co-wife.  The  recip- 
rocals of  this  term  are  ailsi  and  tune. 

Ansi.  Son,  man's  brother's  son,  woman's  sister's  son,  woman's  father's  sister's 
son  (one  of  her  two  male  cross-cousins),  man's  father's  brother's  son's 
son,  woman 's  paternal  grandfather 's  sister 's  son  (one  of  her  male  cross 
first  cousins  once  removed),  husband's  brother's  son,  wife's  sister's  son, 
co-wife's  son,  stepson.  The  reciprocals  of  this  term  are  ami  or  tomu, 
anisii,  haiyi,  iipu,  and  iita,  in  other  words,  father  and  mother,  and  poten- 
tial stepfathers  and  stepmothers. 

Apasti,  Husband's  brother,  husband's  grandfather.  The  reciprocal  of  this  term 
is  olo  in  its  meanings  brother 's  wife  and  grandson 's  wife. 

Atce,  Grandchild,  man's  sister's  grandchild,  woman's  brother's  grandchild, 
great  grandchild.    The  reciprocals  of  this  term  are  ama  and  papa. 

Ate,  Younger  brother,  younger  sister,  father's  brother's  younger  children, 
mother's  sister's  younger  children,  younger  stepbrother,  younger  step- 
sister. This  term  is  the  Big  Greek  equivalent  of  the  more  generally  used 
terms  kole  and  tcale.    The  reciprocals  of  this  term  are  tatci  and  tete. 

Ene,  Father's  sister,  father's  father's  brother's  daughter.  The  reciprocal  of 
this  term  is  iipsa  in  its  meanings  woman's  brother's  child  and  woman's 
father's  brother's  son's  child. 

Eselu,    Child,  man's  brother's  child,  woman's  sister's  child. 

Haiyeme.  Later  co-wife,  husband's  brother's  wife.  The  reciprocal  of  haiyeme 
in  the  first  meaning  is  pansa,  in  the  second  haiyeme.  In  this  last  respect, 
that  is,  being  its  own  reciprocal,  the  term  haiyeme  parallels  moe  and 
maksi,  and  pinuksa  in  part. 

Haiyi,  Mother's  sister's  husband,  stepfather  (providing  he  is  not  father's 
brother  when  iipii  is  used).  Nowadays  there  is  a  tendency  to  apply  the 
term  haiyi  to  father's  brother;  this,  however,  is  a  modern  innovation 
probably  due  to  contact  with  the  whites,  for  the  ancient  term  for  father 's 
brother  is  iipii.    The  reciprocals  of  this  term  are  afisi  and  tune. 


12  In  the  San  Miguel  dialect  of  Salinan  this  term  is  used  for  father's  parents. 
See  J.  Alden  Mason,  The  Ethnology  of  the  Salinan  Indians,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ. 
Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  x,  170,  1912. 


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1916]  Gilford:  MiwoJc  Moieties  173 

Hewasu.  Parent-in-law,  husband's  father's  brother,  husband's  mother's  sister, 
wife's  father's  brother,  wife's  mother's  sister,  man's  brother's  wife's 
parents,  woman's  sister's  husband's  parents.  The  reciprocals  of  this 
term  are  manisa  and  oiyame. 

Kaka,  Mother's  brother,  mother's  brother's  son  (one  of  a  person's  two  male 
cross-cousins,  and  in  the  light  of  Miwok  cross-cousin  marriage  a  man's 
potential  brother-in-law).  The  reciprocals  of  this  term  are  upsa  and 
lupuba. 

Katcu.  Sister's  husband,  father's  sister's  husband,  woman's  brother's  daughter's 
husband,  granddaughter 's  husband.    The  reciprocal  of  this  term  is  wokli. 

Kole.  Younger  sister,  father's  brother's  younger  daughter,  mother's  sister's 
younger  daughter,  younger  half  sister,  female  cross -cousin 's  (anisii) 
younger  daughter  if  not  speaker's  daughter  also,  younger  stepsister, 
younger  foster  sister.  The  reciprocals  of  this  term  are  tatci  and  tete. 
At  Big  Creek  ate  is  used  in  place  of  this  term. 

Kolina.  Husband's  sister,  husband's  father's  sister,  husband's  grandmother. 
The  reciprocal  of  this  term  is  olo. 

Kumatsa.  Mother's  brother's  wife,  man's  sister's  son's  wife  (a  man's  own 
daughter  in  case  of  Miwok  cross-cousin  marriage).  The  reciprocal  of 
this  term  is  pinuksa  in  its  meanings  husband's  mother's  brother  and 
husband's  sister's  child.  Two  Jamestown  informants  gave  manisa,  with 
the  meaning  husband 's  sister 's  son,  as  a  reciprocal  of  kumatsa.  This  of 
course  would  indicate  cross-cousin  marriage.  Five  other  informants, 
however,  gave  pinuksa  as  the  proper  term  for  this  relationship. 

Lupuba.  Man's  sister's  daughter,  man's  father's  sister's  daughter  (one  of  a 
man's  two  female  cross-cousins).    The  reciprocal  of  this  term  is  kaka. 

MaksiA^  Son's  or  daughter's  spouse's  parents,  son's  wife's  brother,  daughter's 
husband's  sister,  man's  sister's  husband's  parents,  woman's  brother's  wife's 
parents.  The  reciprocal  of  this  term  is  maksi;  it  is  paralleled  in  this 
regard  by  moe  and  in  part  by  haiyeme  and  pinuksa. 

Manisa.  Son-in-law,  man's  brother's  daughter's  husband,  woman's  sister's 
daughter 's  husband,  daughter 's  husband 's  brother.  The  reciprocal  of  this 
term  is  hewasu.  - 

Moe.  Wife's  sister's  husband.  This  term  is  the  reciprocal  of  itself,  in  this 
respect  being  paralleled  by  maksi  and  in  part  by  haiyeme  and  pinuksa. 

Nana.    Husband.    The  reciprocal  of  this  term  is  osa. 

Oiyame.  Daughter-in-law,  man's  brother's  son's  wife,  woman's  sister's  son's 
wife,  son 's  wife 's  sister.    The  reciprocal  of  this  term  is  hewasu. 

Olo.  Brother's  wife,  woman's  brother's  son's  wife,  grandson's  wife.  The 
reciprocals  of  this  term  are  apasti  and  kolina. 

Osa.    Wife.    The  reciprocal  of  this  term  is  nana. 

Pansa.  Earlier  co-wife.  The  reciprocal  of  this  term  is  haiyeme  in  its  meaning 
later  co-wife. 

Papa.  Grandfather,  grandmother's  brother,  great  grandfather.  The  reciprocal 
of  this  term  is  atce. 

PinvJcsa.  Husband 's  mother 's  brother  (a  woman 's  own  father  in  case  of  Miwok 
cross-cousin  marriage),  husband's  sister's  child,  man's  sister's  daughter's 
husband,  wife's  mother's  brother.  In  its  first  two  meanings  the  recip- 
rocal of  this  term  is  kumatsa;  the  second  two  meanings  are  the  recip- 
rocals of  each  other. 

18  Of.  Yokuts  makci,  A.  L.  Kroeber,  The  Yokuts  Language  of  South  Central 
California,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  n,  240,  1907. 


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174  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

Tatci.  Older  brother,  father's  brother's  older  son,  mother's  sister's  older  son, 
older  half  brother,  female  cross-cousin's  (anisii)  older  son,  older  step- 
brother, older  foster-brother.  The  reciprocals  of  this  term  are  tcale  and 
kole,  which  are  included  in  the  one  term  ate  a£  Big  Creek. 

Tete.  Older  sister,  father's  brother's  older  daughter,  mother's  sister's  older 
daughter,  older  half  sister,  female  cross-cousin's  (anisii)  older  daughter, 
older  stepsister,  older  foster  sister.  The  reciprocals  of  this  term  are 
kole  and  tcale,  which  are  included  in  the  one  term  ate  at  Big  Creek. 

Tomu.  Mother's  older  sister,  father's  brother's  wife  (older  than  mother), 
mother's  earlier  co-wife.  The  reciprocals  of  this  term  are  afisi  and  tune. 
At  Big  Creek  the  term  tomu  is  replaced  by  the  term  ami. 

Tune.  Daughter,  man 's  brother 's  daughter,  woman 's  sister 's  daughter,  woman 's 
father's  sister's  daughter  (one  of  a  woman's  two  female  cross-cousins, 
and  in  the  light  of  Mi  wok  cross-cousin  marriage  her  potential  sister-in- 
law),  man's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter,  husband's  brother's  daughter, 
wife's  sister's  daughter,  co-wife's  daughter,  stepdaughter.  The  recip- 
rocals of  this  term  are  ami  or  tomu,  anisii,  haiyi,  iipii,  and  iita;  in  other 
words,  father  and  mother,  and  potential  stepfathers  and  stepmothers. 

Tcale.  Younger  brother,  father's  brother's  younger  son,  mother's  sister's  younger 
son,  younger  half  brother,  female  cross-cousin's  (anisii)  younger  son  if 
not  speaker's  son  also,  younger  stepbrother,  younger  foster  brother.  At 
Big  Creek  ate  is  used  in  place  of  this  term.  The  reciprocals  of  this  term 
are  tatci  and  tete. 

Vpsa.  Man's  sister's  son,  woman's  brother's  child,  man's  father's  sister's  son 
(one  of  a  man's  two  male  cross-cousins),  woman's  father's  brother's 
son 's  child.    The  reciprocals  of  this  term  are  kaka  and  ene. 

VpU.  Father,  father 's  brother,  father 's  father 's  brother 's  son.  The  reciprocals 
of  this  term  are  afisi  and  tune.  There  is  a  modem  tendency  to  use  the 
term  haiyi  for  father's  brother.  Although  iipii  is  the  vocative  form  for 
father 's  brother,  he  is  sometimes  distinguished  otherwise  by  the  addition 
of  the  words  tuni  (younger)  or  upela  (older),  and  is  then  spoken  of  as 
younger  father  or  older  father.  If  father  has  only  two  brothers  and  he 
himself  is  either  the  oldest  or  the  youngest,  the  one  intermediate  in  age 
is  spoken  of  as  middle  father,  the  word  kauwina  (middle)  being  added. 

Vta.    Mother.    The  reciprocals  of  this  term  are  afisi  and  tune. 

Wokli.  Wife's  brother,  wife's  sister,  wife's  brother's  child,  wife's  father's 
sister,  wife's  grandparents.    The  reciprocal  of  this  term  is  kawu. 

A  demonstration  of  the  use  of  the  preceding  terms  of  relationship 
is  given  below.  Mrs.  Sophie  Thompson  (39.  Pilekuye)  and  her  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Lena  Cox  (58.  Kulmuye),  gave  me  the  status,  so  far  as  they 
were  concerned,  of  ninety-one  other  inhabitants  of  Big  Creek  known 
to  themj  Of  these  seventy-nine  stand  in  some  relation,  either  blood 
or  marriage,  to  the  two  informants.  The  list  of  Big  Creek  inhabitants 
by  no  means  exhausts  the  people  whom  the  informants  reckoned  as 
relatives.  A  few  of  their  many  relatives  who  lived  elsewhere  are  also 
included  in  the  list  given  below. 


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1916]  Giford:  Miwoh  Moieties  175 

For  the  sake  of  brevity  in  the  following  list  I  have  used  the  number 
assigned  to  each  individual  in  the  genealogies,  in  place  of  the  indi- 
vidual 's  name.  Where  any  special  remarks  have  been  considered  neces- 
sary they  have  been  inserted.  The  terms  applied  by  each  individual 
to  the  two  informants  are  not  given  below,  but  they  can  be  derived 
readily  enough  by  looking  up  in  the  preceding  list  the  reciprocal  of 
the  term  applied  to  the  individual  by  the  informant. 

I.  Papa  (father's  father's  brother)  to  39;  papa  (mother's  father's  father's 
brother)  to  58. 

5.  Papa  (father's  father)  to  39;  papa  (mother's  father's  father)  to  58. 

6.  Ama  (father's  mother)  to  39;  ama  (mother's  father's  mother)  to  58. 

7.  tJ^pu  (father's  father's  brother's  son)  to  39;  papa  (mother's  father's 
father's  brother's  son)  to  58. 

9.  Same  as  last. 

II.  tJ^pu  (father)  to  39;  papa  (mother's  father)  to  58. 

12.  Ami  (mother's  earlier  co-wife)  to  39;  ama  (mother's  mother's  earlier 
CO- wife  and  father's  father's  father's  brother's  daughter)  to  58. 

13.  Same  as  last. 

14.  Same  as  last. 

16.  Upii  (father's  brother)  to  39;  papa  (mother's  father's  brother)  to  58. 

17.  Ami  (father's  brother's  wife  older  than  mother)  and  ama  (father's 
mother's  brother's  daughter)  to  39;  ama  (mother's  father's  brother's  wife  and 
mother's  father's  mother's  brother's  daughter)  to  58. 

18.  Ene  (father's  sister)  and  hewasu  (mother-in-law)  to  39;  ama  (mother's 
father's  sister  and  father's  mother)  to  58. 

19.  Kawu  (father's  sister's  husband)  and  hewasu  (father-in-law)  to  39; 
papa  (father's  father)  to  58. 

20.  Tatci  (father's  father's  brother's  son's  older  son)  to  39;  kaka  (mother's 
father's  father's  brother's  son's  son)  to  58. 

21.  Same  as  last. 

22.  Olo  (father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  wife)  to  39;  no  relation  to 
58.  39  first  said  that  22  was  no  relation;  then  on  second  thought  gave  the 
above.  58  had  ceased  to  think  of  22  as  a  relative  at  all,  although  22  stands  in 
the  relation  of  kumatsa  (mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  wife) 
to  58. 

23.  Same  as  20. 

24.  Same  as  20. 

25.  Tete  (father's  father's  brother's  son's  older  daughter)  to  39;  ami 
(mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter  older  than  mother)  to  58. 

27.  Kawu  (father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter's  husband)  to  39; 
haiyi  (mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter's  husband)  to  58. 

28.  Same  as  27. 

29.  Same  as  27. 

30.  Tatci  (older  half  brother)  to  39;  kaka  (mother's  half  brother)  to  58. 

31.  Tete  (older  half  sister)  to  39;  ami  (mother's  older  half  sister)  to  58. 

32.  Same  as  30. 

33.  Olo  (half  brother's  wife)  to  39;  kumatsa  (mother's  half  brother's  wife) 
to  58. 


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176  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

34.  Same  as  30. 

35.  Same  as  33. 

36.  Same  as  31. 

37.  Same  as  31. 

38.  Tatci  (older  brother)  to  39;  kaka  (mother's  brother)  to  58. 

40.  Ansi  (father's  sister's  son)  and  nafia  (husband)  to  39;  ilpii  (father) 
to  58.  If  40  were  not  the  husband  of  39  and  the  father  of  58,  he  would  stand  in 
the  relation  of  tatci  (mother's  father's  sister's  son)  to  58.  Hence  it  might  be 
said  that  58  is  both  the  daughter  (tune)  and  younger  sister  (ate)  of  40,  a 
paradox  which  is  the  product  of  cross-cousin  marriage  and  a  system  of  relation- 
ship which  does  not  fit  that  form  of  marriage. 

41.  Ate  (younger  sister)  to  39;  anisii  (mother's  younger  sister)  to  58. 

42.  Kawu  (sister's  husband)  to  39;  haiyi  (mother's  sister's  husband)  to  58. 

43.  Ansi  (mother's  sister's  daughter's  son)  and  kawu  (sister's  husband)  to 
39;  haiyi  (mother's  sister's  husband)  to  58.  43  must  also  stand  in  the  relation 
of  tatci  (mother's  mother's  sister's  daughter's  son)  to  58,  although  the  in- 
formant did  not  state  this  to  be  so.  58  regarded  43  rather  as  an  uncle  (haiyi) 
than  as  a  brother  (tatci). 

44.  Ate  (father's  brother's  younger  daughter)  to  39;  anisii  (mother's  father's 
brother's  daughter  younger  than  mother)  to  58. 

45.  The  informants  stated  that  this  man  was  no  relation.  Nevertheless  to 
39  he  stands  in  the  relation  of  kawu  (father's  brother's  daughter's  husband) 
and  to  58  he  stands  in  the  relation  of  haiyi  (mother 's  father 's  brother 's  daugh- 
ter's  husband).  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  informants  made  a  mistake  in  the 
case  of  this  man,  although,  on  the  other  hand,  they  may  not  have  thought  of 
him  as  related  to  them  even  by  marriage.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  39  and  58  have 
an  ancestor  in  common  with  45;  this  ancestor  is  75.  The  blood  relationship  to 
39  would  be  that  of  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's  son.    Compare  82,  83,  84. 

46.  Tune  (father's  sister's  daughter)  and  kolina  (husband's  sister)  to  39; 
ene  (father's  sister)  to  58. 

47.  t)^psa  (half  brother's  daughter)  and  pansa  (earlier  co-wife)  to  39;  anisii 
(mother 's  half  brother 's  daughter)  and  ami  (mother 's  earlier  co-wife)  to  58. 
Pilekuye  (39)  stated  that  she  drove  Atce  (47)  out  of  her  husband's  house  after 
she  (Pilekuye)  became  co-wife,  a  statement  which  sheds  light  on  the  probable 
condition  in  many  polygynous  Miwok  households. 

48.  t^psa  (father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  daughter)  to  39;  anisii 
(mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  daughter)  to  58. 

49.  Kawu  (father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  daughter's  husband)  to 
39;  haiyi  (mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  daughter's  husband)  • 
to  58. 

-   50.  Tune   (father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter's  daughter)    to  39; 
tete  (mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son*s  daughter's  older  daughter)  to  58. 

51.  t^psa  to  39,  which  relationship  was  not  traced  out  owing  to  lack  of  time. 
By  marriage  to  50,  however,  51  became  manisa  (father's  father's  brother's 
son's  daughter's  daughter's  husband)  to  39  and  kawu  (mother's  father's 
brother's  son's  daughter's  daughter's  husband)  to  58. 

52.  Same  as  50. 

53.  Same  as  51  by  marriage. 

54.  Same  as  50. 

57.  Aftsi  (son)  to  39;  tatci  (older  brother)  to  58. 
59.  Ansi  (son)  to  39;  ate  (younger  brother)  to  58. 


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1916]  Gilford:  Miwok  Moieties  177 

60.  Kolina  (husband's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's  daughter)  and 
oiyame  (daughter-in-law)  to  39;  ene  (father's  father's  mother's  half  sister's 
son's  daughter)  and  olo  (brother's  wife)  to  58. 

61.  Same  as  59. 

62.  Tune  (daughter)  to  39;  ate  (younger  sister)  to  58.  , 

63.  Same  as  62. 

64.  Same  as  59.  '    ^| 

65.  Same  as  59. 

66.  Same  as  59. 

67.  Afisi  (sister's  son)  to  39;  tatci  (mother's  sister's  older  son)  to  58. 

68.  Same  as  67. 

69.  Tune  (father's  brother's  daughter's  daughter)  to  39;  tete  (mother's 
father's  brother's  daughter's  older  daughter)  to  58. 

70.  Afisi  (father's  brother's  daughter's  son)  to  39;  ate  (mother's  father's 
brother's  daughter's  younger  son)  to  58. 

71.  Kolina  (husband's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's  daughter)  and 
oiyame  (son's  wife's  sister  and  father's  brother's  daughter's  son's  wife)  to 
39;  ene  (father's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's  daughter)  and  olo  (mother's 
father's  brother's  daughter's  son's  wife  and  brother's  wife's  sister)  to  58. 

72.  Atce  (father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter's  daughter's  son)  to 
39;  ansi  (mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter's  daughter's  son) 
to  58. 

73.  Olo  (father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter's  daughter's  son's  wife) 
to  39;  oiyame  (mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter's  daughter's 
son 's  wife)  to  58. 

74.  Atce  (half  brother's  daughter's  son)  to  39;  ate  mother's  half  brother's 
daughter's  son)  to  58. 

78.  Papa  (father's  mother's  brother)  to  39;  papa  (mother's  father's  mother's 
brother)  to  58. 

82.  The  informants  stated  that  this  man  was  not  related  to  them,  meaning 
undoubtedly  that  they  did  not  normally  think  of  him  as  a  relative.  He  actually 
stands  in  the  relation  of  upU  (father's  mother's  half  sister's  son)  to  39.  The 
informants  did  not  treat  83,  84,  45,  or  85  as  related  to  themselves  through  82. 
83,  84,  and  45  were  considered  non-relatives. 

85.  Olo  to  39;  kumatsa  to  58.  For  the  facts  bearing  on  this  questionable 
relation  see  the  remarks  following  114. 

90.  Apasti  (husband's  father's  father)  to  39;  papa  (father's  father's  father) 
to  58. 

93.  Kawu  (father's  collateral  sister 's^^  husband)  and  hewasu  (husband's 
father's  brother)  to  39;  papa  (father's  father's  brother)  to  58. 

95.  Maksi  (son's  father-in-law)  and  hewasu  (husband's  father's  mother's 
half  sister's  son)  to  39;  maksi  (brother's  father-in-law)  and  papa  (father's 
father's  mother's  half  sister's  son)  to  58. 

96.  Maksi  (son's  mother-in-law)  to  39;  maksi  (brother's  mother-in-law)  and 
ama  (father's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's  wife)  to  58. 

97.  Tune  (father's  collateral  sister's  daughter)  and  kolina  (husband's  father's 
brother's  daughter)  to  39;  ene  (father's  father's  brother's  daughter)  to  58. 

98.  Kolina  (husband's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's  daughter)  and 
oiyame  (son's  wife's  sister)  to  39;  ene  father's  father's  mother's  half  sister's 
son's  daughter)  and  olo  (brother's  wife's  sister)  to  58. 

14  Collateral  sister  is  the  daughter  of  father 's  brother  or  mother 's  sister,  in 
other  words,  an  identical  cousin. 


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178  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

99.  Apasti  (husband's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's  son)  and  maksi 
(son's  wife's  brother)  to  39;  upii  (father's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's 
son)  to  58. 

102.  Hewasu  (husband's  father's  father's  brother's  son)  to  39;  papa  (father's 
father's  father's  brother's  son)  to  58. 

104.  Kolina  (husband's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter)  and 
anisii  (mother's  co-wife's  brother's  daughter)  to  39;  ene  (father's  father's 
father's  brother's  son's  daughter)  to  58. 

105.  Same  as  last. 

107.  Apasti  (husband's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  son)  and  kaka 
(mother's  co- wife's  brother's  son)  to  39;  iipii  (father's  father's  father's  brother's 
son 's  son)  to  58. 

108.  Said  by  informants  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  relative.  Nevertheless 
108  stood  in  the  relation  of  haiyeme  (husband's  father's  father's  brother's 
son's  son's  wife)  and  kumatsa  (mother's  co- wife's  brother's  son's  wife)  to  39, 
and  in  the  relation  of  either  ami  or  anisu  (father's  father's  father's  brother's 
son 's  son 's  wife)  to  58. 

109.  Ate  (mother's  co- wife's  brother's  daughter's  son)  to  39;  kaka  (mother's 
mother's  co-wife's  brother's  daughter's  son)  to  58. 

110.  Ansi  (husband's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  son)  and  kaka 
(mother's  co-wife's  brother's  son's  son)  to  39;  ate  (father's  father's  father's 
brother's  son's  son's  son)  to  58.      ^ 

113.  Ate  (mother's  sister 'b  younger  daughter)  to  39;  anisu  (mother's  mother's 
sister's  daughter)  to  58. 

114.  Kawu  (mother's  sister's  daughter's  husband)  to  39;  haiyi  (mother's 
mother's  sister's  daughter's  husband)  to  58. 

The  individuals  115  to  122  are  related  to  39  and  58  because  Nomasu 
(11)  **u8ed  to  spark  with  Posululu's  [120]  mother''  [117].  I  do  not 
know  whether  this  statement  by  Mrs.  Thompson  meant  that  11  was 
actually  the  father  of  118,  120,  and  122  or  not.  At  any  rate,  the  terms 
applied  by  her  to  these  three  individuals  were  the  same  as  those  ap- 
plied to  real  brothers  and  sisters.  The  following  relationships  and 
also  that  of  85,  the  informant  said,  are  based  on  the  above. 

115.  Ene  to  39.  115  being  ene  to  120,  who  is  counted  as  tete  to  39,  115  is 
reckoned  as  ene  to  39  also.  The  relationship  is  not  logical  whether  reckoned 
by  descent  or  by  marriage. 

116.  I  did  not  obtain  the  relationship  to  39  and  58. 

117.  I  did  not  obtain  the  relationship  to  39  and  58. 

118.  Tete  to  39;  ami  to  58. 

119.  Kawu  to  39;  no  relation  to  58. 

120.  Same  as  118. 

121.  Counted  as  no  relation.  However,  if  119  stands  in  the  relation  of  kawu 
to  39  this  man  ought  to  also. 

122.  Tatci  to  39;  kaka  to  58. 

Many  of  the  above  meanings  of  the  terms  of  relationship  are  addi- 
tional to  those  already  given  in  the  list  of  terms.    These  additional 


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1916]  Gilford:  Miwoh  Moieties  179 

meanings  are  listed  below,  and  may  be  summarized  in  the  statement 
that  they  represent  the  usual  collateral  application  of  terms  common 
to  the  so-called  classificatory  systems  of  relationship.  Meanings  of 
terms  already  given  in  the  list  of  terms  of  relationship  are  omitted  in 
that  which  follows.  It  [Should  be  remembered  that  the  ensuing  use  of 
terms  is  entirely  from  the  standpoint  of  a  woman  as  the  speaker. 


Ama 


Ami 


Anisii 


Father  ^s  mother 's  brother 's  daughter. 

Father 's  father  'a  mother 's  half  sister 's  son 's  wife. 

Mother 's  father 's  brother 's  wife. 

Mother 's  father 's  mother 's  brother 's  daughter. 

Mother's  older  half  sister. 

Mother's  earlier  co-wife. 

Mother's  mother's  earlier  co-wife. 

Mother 's  father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  daughter. 

Father 's  father 's  father 's  brother 's  daughter. 

Mother's  half  brother's  daughter. 

Mother 's  mother 's  sister 's  daughter. 

Mother's  co-wife's  brother's  daughter. 

Mother 's  father 's  brother 's  younger  daughter. 

Mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  daughter. 


Ansi 


Father's  brother's  daughter's  son. 
Husband 's  father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  son 's  son. 
Mother's  sister's  daughter's  son. 

Mother 's  father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  daughter 's  daughter 's  son. 
Apasti 

Husband 's  father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  son. 
Husband's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's  son. 


A  tee 


Ate 


Ene 


Half  brother 's  daughter 's  son. 

Father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  daughter 's  daughter 's  son. 

Father's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  younger  son. 
Mother 's  half  brother 's  daughter 's  younger  son. 
Mother's  co-wife's  brother's  daughter's  younger  son. 
Mother's  father's  brother's  daughter's  younger  son. 

Father's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter. 

Father's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's  daughter. 
Eaiyi 

Mother's  mother's  sister's  daughter's  husband. 

Mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter's  husband. 

Mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  daughter's  husband. 
Hewasu 

Husband's  father's  father's  brother's  son. 

Husband 's  father 's  mother 's  half  sister 's  son. 


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180  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

Kdka 

Mother's  half  brother. 

Mother  'b  co-wife 's  brother  *8  son. 

Mother's  co-wife's  brother's  son's  son. 

Mother's  mother's  co-wife's  brother's  daughter's  son. 

Mother 's  father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  son. 
Kawu 

Father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  daughter 's  husband. 

Father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  daughter's  husband. 

Mother's  sister's  daughter's  husband. 

Mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter's  daughter's  husband. 
Kolina 

Husband's  father's  brother's  daughter. 

Husband's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter. 

Husband's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's  daughter. 
Kumatsa 

Mother's  half  brother's  wife. 
Manisa 

Father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  daughter 's  daughter 's  husband. 
Oiyame 

Father 's  brother 's  daughter 's  son 's  wife. 

Mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter's  daughter's  son's  wife. 


Olo 


Papa 


Brother's  wife's  sister. 

Half  brother's  wife. 

Father's  father's  brother's  son's  son's  wife. 

Father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  daughter 's  daughter 's  son 's  wife. 

Mother 's  father 's  brother 's  daughter 's  son 's  wife. 

Father's  father's  brother. 

Father's  father's  father's  brother's  son. 

Father's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son. 

Mother's  father's  brother. 

Mother's  father's  father's  brother. 

Mother 's  father 's  father 's  brother 's  son. 

Mother's  father's  mother's  brother. 


Tatci 
Tete 

Tune 
Ppsa 
typii 


Father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  older  son. 

Father's  father's  brother's  son's  older  daughter. 
Mother's  father's  brother's  daughter's  older  daughter. 
Mother's  father's  father's  brother's  son's  daughter's  daughter. 

Father's  brother's  daughter's  daughter. 

Father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  daughter 's  daughter. 

Half  brother's  daughter. 

Father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  son 's  daughter. 

Father 's  father 's  father 's  brother 's  son 's  son. 
Father's  father's  mother's  half  sister's  son's  son. 


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1916] 


Gilford:  Miwok  Moieties 


181 


My  oldest  informant,  Tom  Williams  of  Jamestown,  stated  that  in 
the  case  of  endogamic  (as  to  moiety)  marriages  the  terms  of  relation- 
ship for  persons  connected  through  the  marriage  were  altered.  Every 
other  informant  denied  this.  Tom,  however,  volunteered  the  infor- 
mation in  such  a  straightforward  manner  that  it  seems  not  unlikely 
that  this  was  the  practice  in  former  times.  All  of  the  terms  which 
are  said  to  be  changed  by  the  tabu  marriage  denote  relationships  which 
are  normally  the  result  of  marriage.  Furthermore,  each  expresses  a 
relationship  which  is  at  least  one  generation  removed  from  the  speaker, 
never  in  the  speaker's  generation.  In  each  case  of  change  a  term  is 
substituted  which  brings  the  person  addressed  one  generation  nearer 
the  speaker.  No  change  is  made  in  the  case  of  relatives  connected  by 
the  marriage  are  of  one  generation.  The  motive  of  the  change  would 
seem  to  be  the  desire  to  ignore  the  improper  (endogamic)  marriage. 
This  alleged  peculiarity  of  the  Miwok  kinship  nomenclature  has  been 
disregarded  in  the  inferences  drawn  in  this  paper  owing  to  lack  of 
verification.    The  data  are  presented  as  a  matter  of  record,  the  ex- 


amples given  by  Tom  Williams  being  tabulated  below. 


Its  most  direct 
normal  applica- 
The  term     tion  is 


In  case  of  endogamic 
marriage  it  is  applied 
to 


Eselu 

Ansi 
Tune 

Cpu 

Tomu 

Cpsa 

Apasti 

Olo 

Kolina 

KoHna 

Tatei 


Child  under  15  years  Grandchild  (through  son) 

of  age  under  15  years  of  age 

Son  Grandson  (through  son) 

Daughter  Granddaughter  (through 

son) 
Father  Paternal  grandfather 

Mother 's  older  sister  Paternal  grandmother 
Sister's  son  (m.s.)    Grandson  of  sister  (m.s.) 
Husband 's  brother   Husband 's  father 
Brother's  wife  Son's  wife  (m.s.) 

Husband 's  sister       Husband 's  mother 
Son's  wife  (w.s.) 
Sister 's  daughter 's  hus- 
band (m.8.) 
Sister 's  daughter 's  hus- 
band (m.s.) 


On  account  of  the 
below-named  persons 
being  of  the  wrong 
moiety 

Grandchild 's  parents 


Had  the  mar- 
riage been 
proper  (ex- 
ogamic)  the 
term  used 
would  have 
been 

Atce 


Husband 's  sister 
Elder  brother 


Teale        Younger  brother 


Grandson 's  parents 
Granddaughter 's 

parents 
Speaker's  parents 
Speaker 's  parents 
Sister's  husband  (m.s.)  Atce 
Husband  Hewasu 

Son 's  wife 
Husband 
Wife 
Husband  if  older 

than  speaker 
Husband  if  younger 

than  speaker 


Atce 
Atce 

Papa 
Ama 


Oiyame 
Hewasu 
Oiyame 
Pinuksa 

Pinuksa 


Terminology  and  Social  Customs 

Of  the  female  relatives  who  are  normally  of  the  opposite  moiety, 
a  man  may  sometimes  marry  his  anisii  who  stands  in  the  relation  to 
him  of  cross-cousin  or  first  cousin  once  removed  (mother's  brother's 
daughter  or  mother's  brother's  son's  daughter).*"^    He  may  not  marry 


IS  See  the  discussion  of  this  matter  under  the  heading 
riage,"  p.  81. 


'Cross-Cousin  Mar- 


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182  University  of  CQUfomia  Fublicatians  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

the  aniaii  who  stands  in  the  relation  to  him  of  mother's  younger  sister. 
Tliere  seema  to  be  uo  object  IoUt  however,  to  a  man  marrying  his  anisii 
who  is  his  mother *s  collateral  sister.  The  marriage  of  41  and  43  in 
genealoo^"  I,  generation  D,  and  genealogy  V,  generation  E,  is  of  this 
type,  41  standing  in  the  relation  to  43  of  mother's  mother's  sister's 
daughter.  A  man  may  not  marry  his  lupuba,  his  tomu,  or  his  oiyame. 
Speech  with  his  oiyame  (usually  daughter-in-law)  is  tabued. 

Of  the  female  relatives  who  may  belong  to  either  moiety,  he  may 
marry  only  those  individuals  who  are  not  of  his  moiety,  as  follows: 
upon  the  death  of  his  brother,  his  olo  who  stands  in  the  relation  of 
brother's  mife;  and  upon  the  death  of  his  wife,  his  wokli  who  stands 
in  the  relation  of  wife's  sister,  wife's  brother's  daughter,  or  wife's 
father's  sister.  He  may  form  a  polygynous  union  with  any  of  the  last 
three  during  the  lifetime  of  his  M^ife.  The  marriage  of  40  to  39  after 
his  marriagt*  to  47  (genealogy  T,  generations  D  and  E)  affords  an 
example  of  a  man  marrying  liis  wife's  father's  [half]  sister. 

A  woman  may  sometimes  nxarry  her  ansi  who  is  her  cross-cousin, 
or  first  cousin  once  re  mo  veil  (father's  sister's  son  of  father's  father's 
sixer's  son),  or  her  an  si  who  is  her  collateral  sister's  son,  as  in  the 
case  cited  above  (41  and  43  in  genealogies  I  and  V).  She  may  not 
tnarry  the  ansi  who  is  her  own  son  or  her  sister's  son.  She  may  not 
marry  her  kaka.  Of  the  male  relatives  who  may  belong  to  either 
moiety  a  woman  may  raarry  those  who  are  not  of  her  moiety,  as 
follows:  upon  the  *leath  of  her  husband  or  of  her  married  sister,  her 
apasti,  who  stands  in  the  relation  of  husband's  brother,  or  her  kawu, 
who  stands  in  tht*  relation  of  sister's  husband,  father's  sister's  husband, 
or  brother  s  daughter's  husband.  She  may  also  become  a  co-wife  in 
a  polygynous  union  with  either  of  the  last  three.  The  marriage  of 
39  to  40  in  genealogy  I,  generation  D,  exemplifies  this,  for  40  was 
already  the  husband  of  47  (g*^ne rations  D  and  E),  who  was  39 's  [half] 
brother's  danghter.  If  40  had  married  39  first  and  then  47,  the  second 
marriage  would  have  been  an  example  of  a  woman  marrying  her 
father's  [half]  sister's  husband,  6v  to  state  it  from  the  opposite  stand- 
pointy  an  example  of  a  mnn  marrying  his  wife's  [half]  brother's 
daughter.  The  marriage  of  11  to  14  (genealogy  I,  generation  C)  is 
another  case  in  point,  14  stood  in  the  relation  of  (ipsa  (probably 
brother's  daughter)  to  12  and  13.  Hence  when  11  married  14  he 
married  his  wives'  brother's  daughter.  12,  13,  14,  and  15  were  co- 
wives  married  to  11  j  39  and  47  were  co-wives  married  to  40. 


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1916]  Giford:  Miwok  Moieties  183 

Speech  tabus  between  relatives  among  the  Miwok  are  correlated,  so 
far  as  they  go,  with  certain  of  the  types  of  marriage.  Between  people 
of  the  same  moiety  tabus  operate  as  follows :  between  a  man  and  his 
mother-in-law,  between  a  man  and  his  mother-in-law's  sisters,  between 
a  man  and  his  mother's  brother's  wife,  and  between  a  woman  and  her 
son-in-law's  brother.  Tabus  between  relatives  of  different  moieties  are 
those  between  a  woman  and  her  father-in-law,  a  woman  and  her  father- 
in-law 's  brother,  and  a  man  and  his  daughter-in-law's  sisters.  It  is 
to  be  noted  that  when  it  is  permissible  for  relatives  to  marry  after  the 
death  of  the  connecting  relative,  no  speech  tabu  is  imposed  upon  them 
during  the  life  of  the  connecting  relative.  Conversely,  tabus  continue 
in  operation  after  the  death  of  the  connecting  relative,  just  as  terms 
of  relationship  do,  for  example,  mother-in-law  and  son-in-law.  If  it 
becomes  necessary  to  address  a  tabu  relative  on  account  of  the  absence 
of  a  go-between,  the  plural  form  is  used,  and,  as  an  Indian  expresses 
it,  he  talks  to  his  relative  as  though  she  were  more  than  one  person. 
For  example,  a  man  would  address  his  kumatsa  (mother's  brother's 
wife)  by  the  plural  kumatsako. 

In  the  succeeding  paragraphs  the  application  of  terms  of  relation- 
ship, which  apparently  have  been  conditioned  by  social  customs,  will 
be  discussed.  The  social  phenomena,  outside  of  exogamy,  which  I 
believe  to  have  been  particularly  potent  in  molding  the  features  of 
the  Miwok  terminology,  are  the  right  of  marriage  to  certain  of  the 
wife's  relatives  and  descent  in  the  male  line.  Then,  too,  a  psycho- 
logical factor  may  be  invoked,  namely,  the  feeling  that  one  brother 
may  be  substituted  for  another,  or,  in  other  words,  that  brothers  are 
essentially  alike.  The  use  of  the  term  iipii  (father)  for  father's 
brother  indicates  this  sentiment,  and  shows  that  the  father  and  the 
father's  brother  were  regarded  as  more  or  less  interchangeable  as 
husbands  and  fathers.  This  use  of  the  term  iipii  might  be  interpreted 
as  indicating  polyandry  in  which  two  or  more  brothers  married  a 
single  woman.  There  is  not  the  slightest  pretext,  however,  for  be- 
lieving that  such  a  form  of  marriage  ever  existed  among  the  Central 
Sierra  Miwok.  The  concept  of  the  similarity  of  brothers  found  ex- 
pression in  the  practice  of  a  man  marrying  his  brother's  widow  and 
thus  becoming  the  father  of  his  brother's  children.  The  inclusion  of 
the  father  and  his  brother  in  the  term  iipii  is  just  the  reverse  of  the 
careful  distinction  of  the  mother  and  her  sisters  by  the  terms  iita, 
mother;  tomu  or  ami,  mother's  older  sister;  and  anisii,  mother's 
younger  sister. 


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184  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

Upon  the  death  of  his  wife  a  man  might  marry  her  sister,  in  case 
he  had  not  already  done  so  in  a  polygynous  marriage.  These  two 
customs,  the  marriage  of  a  man  to  his  brother's  widow  and  to  his 
wife's  sister,  readily  account  for  the  applications  of  the  twelve  terms 
of  relationship  which  follow.  It  is  not  claimed  that  the  terms  have 
resulted  only  from  these  two  types  of  marriage,  but  it  is  claimed  that 
the  types  of  marriage  and  the  use  of  the  terms  are  in  agreement  and 
certainly  seem  to  stand  in  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect. 


tpii 


Ansi 


Tune 


Father. 
Father's  brother. 

Son. 

Man's  brother's  son. 
V^Toman's  sister's  son. 
Husband 's  brother 's  son. 
Wife's  sister's  son. 

Daughter. 

Man 's  brother 's  daughter. 
Woman 's  sister 's  daughter. 
Husband 's  brother 's  daughter. 
Wife's  sister's  daughter. 

Younger  sister. 

Father's  brother's  younger  daughter. 

Mother's  sister's  younger  daughter. 

Older  brother. 

Father's  brother's  older  son. 

Mother's  sister's  older  son. 

Older  sister. 

Father's  brother's  older  daughter. 

Mother's  sister's  older  daughter. 
Tcale 

Younger  brother. 

Father 's  brother 's  younger  son. 

Mother's  sister's  younger  son. 
Hewasu 

Father-in-law. 

Husband 's  father 's  brother. 

Wife's  father's  brother. 

Mother-in-law. 

Wife's  mother's  sister. 

Husband 's  mother 's  sister. 


Kole 


Tatci 


Tete 


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1916]  Oxford:  Miwok  Moieties  185 

Manisa 

Son-in-law. 

Man's  brother's  daughter's  husband. 

Woman's  sister's  daughter's  husband. 

Daughter's  husband's  brother. 
Oiyame 

Daughter-in  -law. 

Man's  brother's  son's  wife. 

Woman 's  sister 's  son 's  wife. 

Son's  wife's  sister.  ^ 

Haiyeme 

Later  co-wife. 

Husband's  brother's  wife. 
Anisu 

Stepmother. 

Mother's  younger  sister. 

Father 's  brother 's  wife. 

The  term  anisii  denotes  among  immediate  relatives  the  mother's 
brother's  daughter,  the  mother's  younger  sister  and  the  father's 
brother's  wife,  providing  she  is  younger  than  the  mother.  The 
mother's  older  sister  and  the  father's  brother's  wife,  providing  she 
is  older  than  the  mother,  are  called  tomu,  or,  among  the  Big  Creek 
people,  ami.  The  identity  of  the  terms  in  each  of  these  pairs  of  re- 
lationships need  not  be  taken  as  an  indication  of  double  marriage, 
although  informants  stated  that  two  brothers  did  at  times  marry  two 
sisters,  and  such  indeed  would  be  the  case  were  cross-cousin  marriage 
rigorously  adhered  to.  The  identity  of  the  terms  undoubtedly  arises 
from  the  two  marriage  customs  mentioned  above,  which  have  nothing 
to  do  with  either  double  marriage  or  cross-cousin  marriage ;  namely, 
the  marrying  of  the  brother's  widow  and  of  the  wife's  sister.  Hence, 
regarded  from  the  standpoint  of  myself,  my  mother's  sister  and  my 
father's  brother's  wife  are  both  the  potential  wives  of  my  father  and 
both  my  potential  stepmothers.  To  my  mind  this  accounts  for  the 
identity  in  terminology  without  involving  double  marriage  or  cross- 
cousin  marriage.  As  I  will  show  later,  cross-cousin  marriage  is  un- 
doubtedly a  late  and  not  general  development  and  has  had  no  effect 
on  the  terminology  of  relationship. 

The  identification  of  the  mother's  brother's  daughter  with  the 
mother's  younger  sister  and  the  father's  brother's  wife  younger  than 
the  mother  is  apparent  in  the  use  of  the  term  anisii  for  these  three 
relationships  without  any  qualifying  term.  As  corroboration  of  this 
identification,  it  must  be  noted  that  the  reciprocals  of  the  various 


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186  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

meanings  of  the  terms  anisii  and  tomu  are  identical  throughout.  They 
are  ansi  and  tune,  that  is,  son  and  daughter.  Furthermore,  a  man 
or  a  woman  calls  the  children  of  the  anisii  cross-cousin  (mother's 
brother's  daughter),  when  they  are  not  the  man's  own,  his  or  her 
brothers  and  sisters,  just  as  is  done  with  the  children  of  other  anisii 
relatives,  notably  mother's  sister's  children.  Light  is  thrown  on  this 
identification  of  the  mother's  brother's  daughter  with  the  mother's 
younger  sister  and  the  father's  brother's  wife  younger  than  the  mother 
by  the  Miwok  custom  of  a  man  marrying  his  wife's  brother's  daughter 
in  cases  of  polygamy  or  after  the  death  of  his  wife.  In  some  cases, 
if  she  were  too  young  for  him  to  marry,  she  was  held  for  him  until 
she  had  reached  the  marriageable  age,  when  she  was  handed  over  to 
him.  To  myself,  therefore,  my  mother's  brother's  daughter  also  stands 
in  the  relation  of  father's  potential  wife  or  potential  stepmother,  just 
as  do  my  mother's  sister  and  my  father's  brother's  wife.  The  re- 
flection, in  the  term  anisii,  of  this  form  of  marriage ;  namely,  of  a  man 
to  his  wife's  brother's  daughter,  is  indicative  of  its  antiquity.  The 
term  anisii  might  be  translated,  not  by  its  various  applications,  but 
by  the  term  potential  stepmother,  a  translation  which  would  apply 
consistently  to  the  individuals  included  under  the  term. 

Other  Miwok  terms  of  relationship  give  additional  proof  of  the 
marriage  of  a  man  to  his  wife's  brother's  daughter.  The  term  wokli 
is  applied  not  only  to  wife's  brother  or  sister  but  also  to  wife's 
brother's  son  or  daughter.  This  means  that  a  man's  wife's  brother's 
daughter  may  become  his  wife,  thus  making  the  remaining  children 
of  his  first  wife 's  brother  his  brothers-  and  sisters-in-law.  TJie  appli- 
cation of  the  reciprocal  of  wokli,  kawu,  to  sister's  husband  and  father's 
sister's  husband  indicates  the  same  kind  of  marriage,  which,  as  already 
pointed  out,  is  the  actual  custom.  This  type  of  marriage  is  reflected 
altogether  in  twelve  terms,  to  wit :  anisii,  ansi,  kaka,  kawu,  kole,  lupuba, 
tatci,  tete,  tune,  tcale,  iipsa,  and  wokli. 

A  woman  calls  her  father's  sister's  children,  who  are  her  cross- 
cousins,  son  and  daughter,  terms  which  seem  to  have  arisen  from  this 
form  of  marriage.  Viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  woman,  she 
marries  her  father's  sister's  husband;  hence  his  children  become  her 
stepchildren.  In  Miwok  terminology,  whether  she  marries  the  man 
or  not,  his  children  (her  cross-cousins)  are  called  ansi  and  tune  (son 
and  daughter)  by  her,  and  she  is  called  anisii  (potential  stepmother) 
by  them.  The  principle  is  carried  into  other  terms,  for  her  brother  is 
called  kaka  (mother's  brother)  by  them,  while  he  applies  the  terras 


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1916]  Oxford:  Mvwok  Moieties  187 

iipsa  and  lupuba  (sister's  son  and  daughter)  to  them,  according  to 
their  sex.  We  thus  find  that  the  Miwok  classification  of  cross-cousins 
seems  to  be  based  entirely  on  this  form  of  marriage ;  namely,  that  of 
a  woman  to  her  father's  sister's  husband  or  of  a  man  to  his  wife's 
brother's  daughter.    The  cross-cousins  are: 

Man's  mother's  brother's  daughter — anisii. 
Man 's  mother 's  brother 's  son — ^kaka. 
Man's  father's  sister's  son — iipsa. 
Man's  father's  sister's  daughter — ^lupuba. 

Woman's  mother's  brother's  daughter — anisu. 
Woman's  mother's  brother's  son — ^kaka. 
Woman 's  father 's  sister 's  son — afisi. 
Woman's  father's  sister's  daughter — ^tune. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  mother's  brother's  son  and  daughter  are 
called  by  the  terms  for  uncle  and  potential  stepmother  (kaka  and 
anisii) ,  whether  the  speaker  is  a  man  or  a  woman.  A  woman's  father's 
sister's  son  and  daughter  are  called  son  and  daughter,  while  a  man's 
father's  sister's  son  and. daughter  are  called  nephew  and  niece. 

The  practice  of  cross-cousins  applying  to  each  other  the  terms  used 
by  children  and  parents,  or  by  children  and  aunts  and  uncles,  is  closely 
paralleled  elsewhere  in  the  world.  Dr.  R.  H.  Codrington^*  has  re- 
corded a  case  in  the  Banks  Islands  which  Dr.  W.  H.  R.  Rivers"  has 
cited.  Exact  parallels  to  the  terminology  in  the  Banks  Islands  are 
found  among  the  Minnitarees,  Crows,  Choctaws,  Creeks,  Cherokees, 
and  Pawnees."  All  of  the  above  cases  would  be  the  result,  Dr.  Rivers 
claims,  of  the  marriage  of  a  man  to  his  mother's  brother's  wife.  This 
type  of  marriage  is  impossible  among  the  Miwok  on  account  of  moiety 
exogamy  and  descent  in  the  male  line,  so  that  here  the  parallel  be- 
tween the  Miwok,  Melanesian,  and  eastern  North  American  cases 
ceases.  The  Miwok  terminology  is  probably  caused,  however,  by  the 
reverse  custom  of  a  woman  marrying  her  father's  sister's  husband, 
or,  stating  it  from  the  standpoint  of  a  man,  of  a  man  marrying  his 
wife's  brother's  daughter.  To  me  it  seems  probable  that  this  custom 
is  responsible  for  the  uniting  of  my  mother's  brother  and  his  male 
descendants,  immediate  and  through  males,  ad  infinitum,  in  the  term 
kaka.     Likewise  it  is  probably  responsible  for  the  uniting  of  my 


i«The  Melanesians,  Studies  in  Their  Anthropology  and  Folk -Lore  (Oxford, 
Clarendon  Press,  1891),  38-39. 

17  Kinship  and  Social  Organization  (London,  Constable  &  Co.  Ltd.,  1914),  28. 

18  Ibid,,  53. 


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188  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

mother's  brother's  female  descendants  immediate  and  through  males, 
ad  infinitumj  in  the  term  anisii,  for  all  are  the  potential  wives  of  my 
father.  Dr.  Robert  H.  Lowie  points  to  an  identical  combination  of 
male  descendants  of  the  mother's  brother  among  the  patrilineal  Omaha, 
Oto,  Kansa,  and  other  Siouan  tribes.*®  He  would  lay  this  to  the 
operation  of  exogamy  and  to  the  extension  of  the  use  of  terms  of 
relationship  to  clan  brothers  and  sisters,  rather  than  to  a  special  mar- 
riage custom,  as  Dr.  Rivers  would.  Among  the  Miwok  there  are  no 
clan  or  moiety  brothers  and  sisters,  all  relationship  being  based  on 
blood  and  marriage  ties.  Marriage  custom  and  terminology  among 
the  Miwok  would  seem,  therefore,  to  support  Dr.  Rivers'  contention. 
Other  features  which  would  arise  from  the  type  of  marriage  just  dis- 
cussed are  also  present  both  among  the  Omaha  and  the  Miwok;  for 
example,  the  classing  together  of  father's  sister's  daughter  and  sister's 
daughter.  Among  the  Omaha  my  mother's  brother's  daughter's  son 
is  ray  brother;  so  he  is  also  among  the  Miwok,  where  my  mother's 
brother's  daughter  may  be  my  stepmother,  for  my  father  has  a  right 
to  marry  her  in  case  of  my  mother's  death,  or  in  case  he  desires  to 
have  more  than  one  wife. 

To  sum  up,  I  do  not  deny  the  potency  of  exogamy  to  bring  about 
the  Omaha  and  Miwok  type  of  nomenclature,  but  I  do  claim  for  the 
marriage  custom  cited  an  equal  potency  to  bring  about  such  a  result. 

The  combining  of  woman's  sister's  husband  and  woman's  brother's 
daughter's  husband  in  the  term  kawu,  and  of  wife's  sister  and  wife's 
father's  sister  in  the  term  wokli,  are  reflections  of  the  marriage  of  a 
man  to  his  wife's  father's  sister  and  conversely  of  a  woman  to  her 
brother's  daughter's  husband. 

In  Miwok  polygnous  marriages  it  is  said  to  have  been  not  un- 
common for  a  man  to  marry  two  sisters.  Such  a  marriage  is  shown 
in  genealogy  I,  generation  C.  Nomasu  (11)  married  Wiluye  (12)  and 
Tulmisuye  (13),  who  were  real  sisters  (see  genealogy  IV,  generation 
C) .  This  type  of  marriage  is  reflected  but  faintly  in  the  nomenclature 
of  relationship.  The  remarks  under  107,  page  178,  in  the  demonstra- 
tion of  the  terms  of  relationship  based  on  the  genealogies,  bring  to 
light  a  reflection  of  this  type  of  marriage.  The  term  kaka,  usually 
applied  to  mother's  brother  and  mother's  brother's  son,  is  here  applied 
to  mother's  co-wife's  brother's  son  just  as  if  mother's  co-wife  was 
mother's  sister,  which  she  is  not  in  this  case.  The  fact  that  this  term 
is  here  applied  to  a  person  through  a  co-wife  who  is  not  mother's 


19  Exogamy  and  Systems  of  Relationship,  Am.  Anthr.,  n.  s.,  xvii,  238,  1915. 


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1916]  Oxford:  MiwoJc  Moieties  189 

sister  leads  one  to  believe  that  co-wives  were  usually  sisters.  For 
similar  examples  see  109  and  110.  Other  terms  of  relationship  are 
also  used  on  the  basis  of  treating  co- wives  as  sisters ;  for  instance,  see 
the  use  of  anisii  in  104,  of  ate  in  109,  and  of  ami  in  12  and  47.  In  the 
last  two  instances  the  mother's  co-wife  is  called  by  the  term  used  for 
mother's  older  sister. 


CROSS-COUSIN  MARRIAGE 

When  asked  if  it  were  proper  for  a  man  to  marry  a  cousin,  Miwok 
informants  always  replied  in  the  negative.  In  obtaining  genealogical 
information,  however,  cases  came  up  in  which  a  man  married  his 
mother's  brother's  daughter.  I  called  my  informant's  attention  to 
this  fact  and  received  the  reply  that  the  individuals  concerned  were 
not  regarded  as  cousins,  for  they  stood  in  the  relation  of  ansi  and 
anisii  to  each  other,  which  translated  into  English  would  be  son  and 
aunt,  or  potential  stepmother.  This  affords  an  excellent  example  of 
the  futility  of  using  English  terms  of  relationship  with  natives  when 
discussing  native  customs. 

Every  Miwok  to  whom  the  question  was  put  stated  that  the  proper 
mate  for  a  man  was  a  woman  who  stood  in  the  relation  of  anisii  to 
him,  providing  she  was  not  too  closely  related  to  him.'*^  Although  a 
man  might  marry  his  anisii  cross-cousin,  who  was  the  daughter  of  his 
mother's  brother,  he  could  under  no  circumstances  marry  his  lupuba 
cross-cousin,  who  was  the  daughter  of  his  father's  sister.  This  one- 
sidedness  of  cross-cousin  marriage  among  the  Miwok  in  no  way  affected 
its  popularity,  or,  to  be  more  exact,  the  popularity  of  anisii-ansi  mar- 
riages, of  which  the  cross-cousin  marriage  is  one  form.  In  many  cases 
my  informants  would  state  that  a  certain  man  and  his  wife  stood  in 
the  relation  to  each  other  of  ansi  and  anisii.  Although  these  instances 
were  not  substantiated,  except  in  four  cases,  by  genealogical  proof, 
they  show  the  popularity  of  this  form  of  marriage.  At  Big  Creek 
six  of  the  listed  marriages  are  of  this  type,  eight  are  not,  and  on  the 
remaining  eight  I  have  no  information.  Cases  were  encountered  in 
which  a  husband  and  wife  claimed  to  stand  in  the  ansi-anisii  relation 
to  each  other,  but,  when  asked  to  demonstrate  the  relation,  were  unable 
to  trace  the  connecting  links.  This  state  of  affairs  shows  clearly  that 
ansi-anisii  marriages  must  have  been  the  vogue,  otherwise  married 


20  See  meanings  of  term  anisii  on  pages  172  and  179;  also  discussion  of  term 
under  "Terminology  and  Social  Customs." 


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190  University  of  California  Fuhlications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

people  who  could  not  prove  such  a  relationship  would  not  lay  claim 
to  it.  Even  among  the  Northern  Sierra  Miwok  at  Elk  Grove,  among 
whom  the  moiety  system  does  not  seem  to  exist,  ansi-anisii  marriages 
were  the  custom.  The  Southern  Sierra  Miwok  of  Madera  County  state 
that  these  marriages  were  proper,  but  that  the  contracting  parties 
must  be  only  distantly  related. 

Informants  at  Jamestown,  while  stating  that  anisii-ansi  marriages 
were  prevalent  there  as  elsewhere,  said  that  marriages  between  first 
cousins,  who  stood  in  this  relation,  were  commoner  higher  in  the  moun- 
tains than  at  Jamestown.  The  men  at  Jamestown  and  lower  in  the 
foothills  were  inclined  to  marry  an  anisii  further  removed  than  a  first 
cousin.  There  seems  to  have  been  a  sentiment  at  Jamestown  against 
the  marriage  of  first  cousins.  One  woman  was  asked  if  she  would 
consider  it  proper  for  her  son  to  marry  her  brother's  daughter.  She 
replied,  **No,  she  is  too  much  like  his  mother,*'  meaning  herself.  Her 
reply  may  have  been  engendered  by  the  Miwok  custom  of  a  man 
marrying  his  wife's  brother's  daughter.  By  this  marriage  his  new 
wife,  who  is  also  his  son's  anisii  cross-cousin,  would  become  his  son's 
stepmother;  hence  perhaps  the  woman's  statement  with  regard  to  her 
son's  anisii  cross-cousin,  **too  much  like  his  mother." 

The  identification  of  the  anisii  cross-cousin  with  the  mother's 
younger  sister  and  father's  brother's  wife  younger  than  mother  has 
already  been  discussed  under  the  heading  **  Terminology  and  Social 
Customs."  As  stated  there,  there  are  twelve  terms  which  reflect  the 
marriage  of  a  man  to  his  wife's  brother's  daughter.  Turning  now  to 
cross-cousin  marriage,  let  us  search  for  terms  which  reflect  it.  We 
find  that  there  are  none.  With  the  popularity  of  cross-cousin  mar- 
riage in  the  minds  of  the  people  at  present,  one  might  expect  to  find 
identical  terms  for  such  relationships  as  mother's  brother  and  man's 
father-in-law,  mother's  brother's  wife  and  man's  mother-in-law,  son 
and  daughter  and  son  and  daughter  of  a  man's  anisii  cross-cousin, 
but  such  terms  are  lacking.^*  The  only  evidence  which  possibly  favors 
antiquity  of  cross-cousin  marriage  lies  in  the  speech  tabu  which  exists 
between  a  man  and  his  mother's  brother's  wife  or  kumatsa,  who  in 
view  of  cross-cousin  marriage  is  his  potential  mother-in-law.     The 


21  As  mentioned  on  page  173  in  the  discussion  of  the  term  kumatsa,  two  James- 
town informants  gave  the  term  manisa  (normally  son-in-law)  for  husband's 
sister 's  son  instead  of  the  usual  term  pinuksa.  If  this  usage  were  established 
it  could  be  said  that  cross-cousin  marriage  did  have  a  reflection  in  the  nomen- 
clature. However,  five  other  informants  gave  pinuksa,  not  manisa,  as  the  proper 
term. 


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1916]  Giford:  Miwok  Maieiiea  191 

Miwok,  like  other  California  Indians,  imposed  a  tabu  upon  a  man  and 
hia  mother-in-law. 

The  situation  there  is  this:  There  is  in  the  Miwok  terminology 
of  relationship  an  undeniable  reflection  of  the  marriage  of  a  man  to 
his  wife's  brother's  daughter;  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  reflection 
whatever  of  cross-cousin  marriage.  This  implies  that  the  former  is 
the  more  primitive  custom  of  the  two.  It  may  be  shown  in  a  diagram 
as  follows : 


I  I 

A=b  C=d 


E  f 

In  this  diagram,  if  E  marries  /,  who  i&  E^s  mother's  brother's 
daughter  (anisii  cross-cousin),  A  cannot  marry  /,  who  is  his  wife's 
brother's  daughter,  because  /  has  already  become  his  son's  wife,  and 
all  intercourse  between  a  man  and  his  daughter-in-law  is  tabued.  If 
E  did  not  marry  f,  A  would  have  a  perfect  right  to  her,  for  /  is  his 
wife's  brother's  daughter  and  his  potential  wife.  Thus  we  have  the 
two  types  of  marriage  in  conflict,  for  either  a  man  or  his  son  may 
claim  the  same  woman,  A  claiming  /  because  she  is  his  wife's  brother's 
daughter,  E  claiming  /  because  she  is  his  anisii  (mother's  brother's 
daughter).  Informants  and  genealogies  vouch  for  the  occurrence  of 
both  forms  of  marriage,  which  if  taken  as  synchronous  for  any  one 
woman  would  mean  polyandry,  of  which  there  is  no  trace,  a  man  and 
his  son  having  one  woman  in  common.  It  is  easily  conceivable,  how- 
ever, that  the  two  practices  existed  side  by  side. 

An  attempt  to  show  the  connection  between  these  two  intimately 
related  forms  of  marriage  will  now  be  made.  It  has  already  been 
pointed  out  that  the  marriage  of  a  man  to  his  wife's  brother's  daughter 
is  reflected  in  twelve  terms  of  relationship.  Evidently,  therefore,  a 
man  regarded  his  wife's  brother's  daughter  as  his  potential  wife,  for 
in  some  cases  of  polygyny,  and  of  the  death  of  the  first  wife,  he  mar- 
ried her.  Here  seems  to  me  to  be  the  key  to  the  mystery  of  the  one- 
sided Miwok  cross-cousin  marriage.  The  man  who  thus  had  a  right 
to  marry  his  wife's  brother's  daughter  may  have  passed  that  right  on 
to  his  son.  In  other  words,  the  marriage  right  of  the  father  became 
vested  in  the  son  in  cases  in  which  the  father  did  not  avail  himself 
of  it.    This  hypothesis  explains  why  two  blood  relatives,  who  recip- 


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192  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

rocally  used  the  terms  for  son  and  potential  stepmother,  or  aunt,  and 
who  might  actually  become  stepson  and  stepmother,  should  marry. 
The  theory  that  cross-cousin  marriage  has  been  thus  evolved  from 
another  form  of  marriage  through  descent  in  the  male  line,  displays 
it  as  a  secondary,  and  perhaps  recent,  form  of  marriage,  which  has 
not  yet  affected  the  nomenclature  of  relationship.  If  it  were  found 
in  future  investigations  that  the  father  paid  for  his  wife's  brother's 
daughter  and  then  let  his  son  marry  her,  our  hypothesis  would  become 
almost  an  established  fact. 

'  Two  terms  of  relationship,  which  are  reciprocals,  seem  to  support 
this  hypothetical  origin  of  cross-cousin  marriage.  They  are  kolina 
and  olo.  In  kolina  are  united  the  husband's  sister  and  the  husband's 
father's  sister,  which  would  be  the  case  where  both  a  man  and  his 
father  had  the  right  to  a  woman.  To  fit  our  hypothesis  more  exactly, 
however,  the  meanings  combined  should  be  husband's  sister  and  hus- 
band's son's  sister  (that  is,  stepdaughter). 

If  we  admit  the  cogency  of  the  above  theory  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
unilateral  Miwok  cross-cousin  marriage,  we  immediately  have  at  hand 
an  explanation  of  why  the  other  form  of  cross-cousin  marriage  is  for- 
bidden. When  a  man  marries  his  wife's  brother's  daughter  he  marries 
a  person  who  is  normally  not  his  blood  relative.  As  I  have  already 
pointed  out,  it  is  but  a  simple  step  to  extend  to  the  man's  son  the 
privilege  of  marrying  the  same  woman,  providing  the  man  himself 
does  not  do  so.  Now  let  us  try  to  imagine  the  forbidden  cross-cousin 
marriage  arising  in  a  similar  manner.  In  the  first  step  this  involves 
the  marriage  of  a  man  to  his  son's  lupuba  cross-cousin,  that  is,  to  his 
son's  father's  sister's  daughter,  who  is  his  own  sister's  daughter.  She 
is  called  lupuba  by  both  the  man  and  his  son.  In  the  diagram  D  and 
/  are  the  cross-cousins.    A  has  absolutely  no  right  to  /,  his  son's  cross- 


h=zA  6  =  0 


cousin.  In  the  first  place,  she  is  not  related  to  his  wife  h,  and  in  the 
second  place  she  is  the  daughter  of  his  own  sister  e,  and  hence  a  close 
blood  relative.  As  we  recall,  his  right  to  his  son's  other  female  cross- 
cousin  (anisii)  was  based  on  the  fact  that  she  was  his  wife's  brother's 
daughter  and  normally  not  his  blood  relative.    It  would  seem  that  the 


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1916]  Oxford:  MiwoJc  Moieties  193 

prohibition  against  a  man  marrying  his  lupuba,  who  is  his  sister's 
daughter,  had  been  extended  to  the  son,  thus  preventing  the  latter 
from  marrying  his  lupuba,  who  is  his  father's  sister's  daughter  and 
his  own  cross-cousin.. 

If  Miwok  cross-cousin  marriage  had  arisen  in  any  other  way  than 
the  hypothetical  way  already  outlined  it  is  hard  to  imagine  why  it 
should  be  restricted  to  only  one  pair  of  cross-cousins.  The  very  fact 
that  it  is  so  restricted  strengthens  the  theory  of  origin  primarily 
through  the  passing  on  of  a  privilege  in  the  male  line.  In  allowing 
the  one  kind  of  cross-cousin  marriage  and  not  the  other  the  Miwok 
evidently  considered  inheritance  as  more  important  than  consanguin- 
ity ;  yet  where  inheritance  had  no  weight  consanguinity  became  active 
and  prevented  the  other  form  of  cross-cousin  marriage. 

Two  first  cousin  marriages  of  the  cross-cousin  type  were  recorded. 
The  first  case  is  in  generation  C,  in  genealogies  I  and  II;  the  indi- 
viduals are  numbered  16  and  17.  Talalu  (16)  married  Niwuye  (17), 
who  is  the  daughter  of  his  mother's  (6,  Simutuye)  brother  (78,  Pee- 
luyak).  The  second  case  is  in  generation  D  of  genealogy  I;  the  indi- 
viduals are  numbered  39  and  40.  Sapata  (40)  married  Pilekuye  (39), 
who  is  the  daughter  of  his  mother's  (18,  Miltaiye)  brother  (11,  No- 
masu).  One  marriage  between  first  cousins  once  removed  was  re- 
corded. The  marriage  is  that  of  Sapata  (40)  and  Atce  (47).  It  is 
recorded  in  generations  D  and  E  of  genealogy  I.  Sapata  (40)  mar- 
ried the  daughter  (47,  Atce)  of  his  mother's  (18,  Miltaiye)  brother's 
(11,  Nomasu)  son  (32,  Pelisu). 


CONCLUSION 

The  discovery  of  a  dual  social  organization  among  the  Mono  and 
the  Yokuts  tribes,  as  mentioned  in  the  introduction,  indicates  that 
they  together  with  the  Miwok  form  a  compact  unit  socially.  Judging 
from  Dr.  J.  Alden  Mason's  statement^*  as  to  the  presence  of  a  bear 
and  a  deer  ** totem"  among  the  Salinan  Indians,  it  seems  safe  to  infer 
that  the  moiety  organization  will  be  found  to  extend  to  the  coast. 
Among  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok  the  bear  is  the  animal  associated 
most  frequently  through  personal  names  with  the  land  moiety;  the 
deer  is  the  animal  associated  most  frequently  in  a  like  manner  with 


22  The  Ethnology  of  the  Salinan  Indians,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn., 
X,  189,  1912. 


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194  University  of  California  Puhlicattons  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

the  water  moiety.     These  facts  suggest  that  the  bear  and  the  deer 
** totems''  among  the  Salinan  may  stand  for  two  moieties. 

The  greater  complexity  of  the  moiety  organization  among  the  Tachi 
Yoknts  about  Tulare  Lake  as  compared  to  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok 
organization  leads  to  the  impression  that  the  latter  people  are  on  the 
periphery  of  the  moiety  area.  Although  it  is  too  early  in  the  study 
to  advance  a  positive  opinion,  the  distribution  of  the  institution,  to- 
gether with  its  varying  complexity,  seems  to  point  to  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley  as  the  region  from  which  the  organization  spread  to  the  moun- 
tain tribes,  perhaps  to  the  west  as  well  as  to  the  east.*^ 


28  For  a  preliminary  notice  see  Dichotomous  Social  Organization  in  South 
Central  California,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  xi,  291-296,  1916. 


Transmitted  September  IS,  1915. 


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UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA    PUBLICATIONS 

IN 

AMERICAN    ARCHAEOLOGY   AND    ETHNOLOGY 

Vol.  12,  No.  5,  pp.  195-218,  plates  1-5  October  11,  1916 


ON  PLOTTING  THE  INFLECTIONS  OF  THE 

VOICE 

BY 

CORNELIUS  B.  BRADLEY 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

When  first  undertaken,  the  study  which  forms  the  subject  of  this 
paper  was  no  more  than  a  mere  incident  in  the  attempt  to  clear  up 
the  confusion  and  uncertainty  which  till  then  had  beset  a  certain 
question  of  phonetics,  namely,  the  precise  nature  of  the  tonal  inflec- 
tions or  modulations  which,  in  languages  of  the  Chinese  type,  are 
essential  features  of  every  spoken  word.  The  conclusions  reached 
through  scientific  analysis  and  measurement  of  wave-lengths  could 
not  be  made  convincing  and  conclusive  without  the  help  of  a  thoroughly 
accurate  and  trustworthy  scheme  for  representing  them  visually.  The 
time  and  the  effort  actually  spent  in  perfecting  such  a  scheme,  which 
is,  of  course,  a  mere  instrument,  may  seem  altogether  disproportionate 
to  the  end  in  view.  But  the  perfect  instrument  was  in  this  case 
absolutely  necessary  to  the  attainment  of  the  end;  and  a  scientific 
quest  is  not  to  be  lightly  abandoned  because  the  tools  for  it  are  not 
ready  to  hand. 

The  scheme  finally  worked  out  is  one  which  enables  the  student 
to  translate  accurately  to  the  eye  the  physical  facts  which  the  ear 
reads  as  figure  or  movement  within  the  field  of  pitch.  It  was  shaped 
for  a  definite  and  single  use.  But  a  perfected  instrument  often  finds 
much  wider  use  than  that  for  which  it  was  shaped  at  first.  So  I 
have  been  encouraged  to  make  it  known,  in  order  that  it  may  be  within 
the  reach  of  all  who  may  have  occasion  to  use  it.  Already  it  is  likely 
to  be  tried  in  the  attempt  to  improve  and  enrich  the  speech  of  deaf- 
mutes,  which  is  pitifully  lacking  in  the  element  of  tone,  chiefly  because 
of  the  difficulty  of  conveying  to  the  sufferers  any  intelligible  ideas 
or  suggestions  concerning  modulation  of  the  voice. 


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196  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,       [Vol.  12 

To  my  colleagues  of  the  Department  of  Anthropology  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  California — Drs.  Pliny  E.  Qoddard,  A.  L.  Kroeber,  and 
T.  T.  Waterman — I  am  greatly  indebted:  to  the  first  for  the  initial 
impulse  received  as  I  watched  his  work  in  recording  Indian  speech; 
to  all  of  them  in  succession  for  generous  and  untiring  assistance 
in  securing  the  numerous  records  of  the  voice  which  formed 
the  material  of  my  studies;  and  especially  to  Dr.  Waterman  for  the 
unfailing  interest  and  enthusiasm  with  which  he  has  followed  my 
work — a  stimulus  without  which  I  doubt  whether  this  particular 
phase  of  that  work  would  ever  have  been  brought  to  completion. 

Some  years  ago  I  chanced  to  call  one  day  at  the  Anthropological 
Laboratory  of  the  University  of  California,  and  found  my  colleagues 
there  deeply  engaged  in  study  of  instrumental  records  of  Indian 
speech.  They  were  kind  enough  to  show  me  the  Rousselot  apparatus, 
and  to  illustrate  its  working  by  taking  a  few  records  of  my  own 
utterance  of  Siamese  speech,  which  is  my  other  vernacular. 

My  friends  were  interested  at  once  in  the  peculiar  sharp  explosion 
(without  aspiration)  of  my  oriental  p,  t,  and  k,  as  sho\^Ti  in  the  record, 
contrasting  strongly  with  the  windy  utterance  given  these  consonants 
in  our  speech.  But  as  I  followed  the  delicate  sinuous  tracing  of  the 
vowels,  it  suddenly  flashed  upon  me  that  each  of  those  tiny  waves 
was  the  record  of  the  air-pulse  from  one  vibration  of  the  vocal  chords; 
that  its  length  was  the  direct  measure  of  the  time  elapsed  during 
that  vibration,  and  consequently  of  the  pitch  of  the  voice  at  that 
particular  instant.  I  knew  then  that  I  had  within  my  grasp  the 
definite  settlement  of  the  age-long  dispute  over  the  ** tones"  of 
oriental  speech.  The  pitch  of  every  portion  of  the  vowel-note  could 
be  absolutely  determined  by  physical  measurement  of  those  waves, 
and  the  whole  movement  or  inflection  of  voice  could  thus  be  accurately 
plotted  on  paper.  We  then  should  have  irrefragable  demonstration 
of  the  precise  nature  of  these  ** tones,'*  instead  of  irreconcilable 
discrepancies  between  thef  sense-impressions  of  untrained  observers  on 
the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  the  idle  fancies  embodied  in  the 
native  tradition  and  nomenclature.  So,  with  Dr.  Goddard's  kind  help, 
I  presently  secured  a  series  of  records  of  each  of  the  five  ** tones" 
of  the  Siamese  language.^ 


1  A  number  of  these  records  are  shown  in  Plate  1.  Those  used  in  this 
study  were  all  taken  at  the  highest  speed  of  the  apparatus,  so  as  to  facilitate 
measurement  by  giving  the  greatest  possible  length  to  the  waves  in  the  tracing. 
The  working  of  the  machine  and  the  method  of  securing  the  records  may  be 


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1916]  Bradley :  On  Plotting  the  Inflections  of  the  Voice  197 

Finding  myself  at  that  time  too  busy  with  my  regular  duties  to 
carry  this  investigation  further,  I  laid  the  records  aside;  but  later, 
when  I  went  abroad  for  a  year  of  study  in  the  Orient,  I  took  the 
records  with  me.  There,  in  the  intervals  of  a  larger  quest,  I  found 
time  to  work  out  the  results. 

First  came  the  measurements.  The  records  of  the  various  ** tones** 
showed  anywhere  from  50  to  150  separate  waves.  At  first  an  attempt 
was  made  to  measure  these  one  by  one  with  a  micrometer.  After  full 
trial,  however,  this  scheme  was  abandoned,  not  so  much  because  of 
the  time  and  effort  it  involved,  as  because  time  and  effort  so  spent 
were  largely  wasted.  The  exactness  attainable  by  the  micrometer  was 
rendered  of  no  avail  because  of  the  impossibility  of  determining  with 
equal  exactness  the  points  between  which  the  measurements  were 
to  be  taken.  For,  while  the  larger  phases  of  the  waves  were  obvious 
enough,  the  determination  of  the  exact  point  which  should  mark  crest 
or  hollow  was  as  nearly  impossible  as  it  would  be  in  the  case  of  a 
sea-wave.  So,  to  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  inevitable  errors  of  judg- 
ment, recourse  was  had  to  measuring  the  waves  in  small  groups 
together,  and  reading  the  scale  with  a  vernier-glass  to  the  nearest 
hundredth  of  an  inch.^     Of  the  measurements  so  made,  the  smallest 


briefly  described  as  follows:  The  various  air-pulses  originating  in  the  vocal 
apparatus  are  transmitted  to  a  sensitive  tympanum  or  drum,  which  in  turn 
actuates  a  recording  pen.  Every  separate  impulse  received  by  the  tympanum 
gives  the  pen  a  slight  thrust  to  one  side,  from  which  the  elasticity  of  the 
tympanum  promptly  brings  it  back.  The  recording  point  lightly  touches  the 
surface  of  a  sheet  of  smoked  paper  wrapped  about  a  revolving  brass  cylinder 
driven  by  clock-work  at  a  uniform  rate  of  speed.  So  long  as  the  tympanum 
is  undisturbed  by  air-pulses,  the  point  traces  a  perfectly  straight  white  line 
around  the  cylinder.  If  one  speaks  into  the  receiver,  each  consonant  breaks 
the  smooth  straight  line  for  an  instant  into  sudden  and  angular  commotion, 
while  the  vowel-tones  ruffle  it  into  a  series  of  regular  waves  which  are  often 
embroidered  or  fringed  by  delicate  ripples  or  cusps  caused  by  the  overtones 
of  the  voice  or  by  the  resonance  of  the  chambers  of  the  vocal  apparatus. 
These  features  of  the  vowel-tracings  may  be  readily  seen  in  the  examples 
shown  in  Plate  1.  Since  the  paper  moves  at  a  uniform  rate  under  the  record- 
ing point,  the  measurement  of  any  one  of  the  primary  waves  in  the  record 
will  give  its  pitch  relatively  to  the  others;  for  pitch  is  determined  by  frequency 
of  vibration. 

For  a  fuller  description  of  the  apparatus  and  of  its  workings,  see  P.  E. 
Goddard,  "A  Graphic  Method  of  Becording  Songs>^'  in  Boas  Memorial  Volume, 
p.  137. 

2  In  the  first  experiments  the  waves  were  measured  in  groups  of  three. 
Later  the  number  was  increased  to  ^vBy  with  no  appreciable  loss  in  accuracy. 
For  the  inflections  of  speech,  unlike  those  of  music,  are  true  glides,  with  no 
abrupt  steps  or  breaks  which  might  be  concealed  or  obscured  under  these 
averages.  And  in  any  case  the  thing  sought  is  the  general  figure  or  pattern 
of  the  voice-inflection  rather  than  its  minute  detail,  which  varies  greatly  with 
every  utterance. 

These  measurements  were  recorded  just  as  they  were  taken,  without  reduc- 
ing them  to  the  average  of  each  group.  Beduction  was  unnecessary,  since 
in  either  case  they  represent  ratios,  and  not  concrete  quantities.  Furthermore, 
they  are  liable  to  reduction  later  to  adjust  them  to  the  amended  scheme  yet 
to  be  described,  and  that  single  operation  suffices  for  all. 


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198  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,       [Vol.  12 

in  the  whole  series  was  18  hundredths  of  an  inch,  and  the  largest 
64  hundredths,  showing  a  compass  of  a  little  less  than  two  octaves. 

All  that  now  remained  was  to  plot  the  results  on  the  chart.  But 
just  how  was  this  to  be  done?  To  this  question  I  had  so  far  given 
almost  no  thought,  feeling  sure  that  some  form  of  the  co-ordinate 
system  now  everywhere  used  in  statistical  work  could  easily  be  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  the  case.  But  confronting  the  problem  directly,  and 
with  no  record  of  previous  attempts  to  guide  me,  I  found  myself  at 
a  loss.  On  reflection,  however,  it  occurred  to  me  that  since  the  whole 
purpose  of  this  study  was  to  secure  a  plotted  figure  which  should 
supplement  and  correct  the  imperfect  and  fleeting  image  of  the  sound 
formed  in  the  mind,  the  plotted  figure  must  be  really  comparable 
with  the  mental  one — must  have  the  same  essential  plan  and  structure. 
That  is,  the  two  must  have  the  same  system  of  co-ordinates.  This 
brought  me  to  the  question.  How  does  the  mind  image  pitch? 

In  listening  to  the  flow  of  speech,  it  is  probable  that  the  mind 
does  not  ordinarily  form  any  distinct  image  of  the  sensation  of  pitch. 
For  the  attention  is  then  directed  to  the  ensemble  by  which  the  mind 
recognizes  words  and  phrases,  and  follows  the  general  drift  of  thought 
rather  than  any  one  of  the  many  separate  elements  which  together 
make  up  the  utterance."  Ordinarily  the  function  of  pitch  in  speech 
is  a  very  subordinate  one,  being  either  incidental  to  emphasis,  or 
suggestive  of  the  syntactical  or  modal  features  of  the  utterance.  So 
far  is  it  from  being  an  essential  element,  that  it  is  entirely  omitted 
in  the  written  form  of  all  languages  except,  of  course,  those  in  which 
voice-inflection  is  as  truly  an  organic  feature  of  words  as  are  their 
vowels  and  consonants.*  Within  the  field  of  speech,  therefore,  we 
shall  look  in  vain  for  any  clear  answer  to  our  question,  How  does 
the  mind  image  pitch  ? 

If,  however,  we  turn  to  music,  we  find  that  in  it  pitch  is  no  longer 


8  To  this  fact  is  due  in  large  part  the  difficulty  which  European  students 
experience  in  understanding  and  mastering  the  *  Hones"  of  Chinese  speech. 
Their  minds  have  never  been  trained  to  take  note  of  the  pitch  of  individual 
words,  and  therefore  they  never  really  hear  it. 

*  Chinese  writing  represents  a  word  in  its  entirety  by  a  single  ideographic 
symbol.  The  "tone**  is  inherent  in  the  word  itself,  just  as  are  all  the  other 
phonetic  elements  which  together  make  up  its  complex.  It  therefore  needs 
no  separate  indication.  So  far  as  known  to  the  writer,  the  only  modern  language 
which  consistently  marks  voice-inflection  in  writing  is  the  Siamese,  which, 
though  an  offshoot  of  the  Chinese  stock,  spells  its  words  phonetically  and 
indicates  the  **tone''  of  each,  either  by  the  choice  of  letters  in  which  tone 
is  inherent,  or  else  by  diacritical  marks.  The  accents  of  ancient  Greek, 
however,  were  doubtless  also  tonal  inflections  essential  to  the  right  utterance 
of  the  syllable,  and  were  undoubtedly  present  in  speech  long  before  it  became 
necessary  to  invent  marks  to  indicate  their  nature  and  position  in  the  word. 


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1916]  Bradley:  On  Plotting  the  Inflections  of  the  Voice  199 

subordinate  or  incidental,  but  a  matter  of  prime  importance.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  when  the  mind  pauses  to  consider  the  notes  of  music, 
it  does  actually  image  their  tonal  relations — does  translate  them  into 
figures  of  location  or  of  movement  in  space.  To  discover  the  essential 
features  of  this  imaging  we  shall  not  need  to  have  recourse  to  the 
psychological  laboratory.  They  are  plainly  indicated  in  the  terms 
which  the  speech  of  widely  different  races  commonly  applies  to  musical 
tones.  Degrees  of  pitch  are  indicated  by  such  terms  as  **high"  and 
**low."  Direction  of  change,  or  movement  in  pitch,  are  indicated 
by  such  terms  as  ''rising,''  ''falling,"  and  "level.''  And  further, 
wherever  these  terms  occur,  they  are  invariably  used  in  the  same  sense. 
That  is,  notes  of  great  frequency  of  vibration  are  always  "high," 
and  those  of  small  frequency  are  always  "low,"  and  never  vice  versa,^ 
The  whole  scheme  of  our  musical  notation  is  nothing  but  an  elaborate 
development  and  enforcement  of  this  same  principle.  Its  "staff" 
is  a  veritable  ladder  on  which  the  notes  are  visibly  ranked  according 
to  pitch. 

It  should  be  remarked,  however,  that  this  particular  usage  of  speech 
is  not  the  only  one  that  has  been  current  in  the  world,  or  that  is  now 
current.  And  it  is  probably  not  the  earliest  usage,  but  one  that  has 
gradually  won  its  way  over  the  others.  For  example:  of  the  three 
Greek  accents  already  referred  to,  one  was  called  ofv?  (sharp),  and 
another  was  called  fiapv^  (heavy) — ^terms  certainly  of  an  order  alto- 
gether different  from  our  terms  "high"  and  "low,"  and  apparently 
unrelated  to  each  other.  The  third,  irepiairdfievo^  {twiated  about),  is 
probably  of  our  spatial  order,  for  it  designates  the  circumflex  tone, 
which  first  rises  and  then  falls,  and  so  is  actually  turned  about  upon 
itself.  Thus  it  appears  that  at  the  period  when  the  tonal  features  of 
Greek  speech  came  to  be  matters  of  thought  and  reflection,  three 
separate  analogies  were  already  in  the  field,  and  each  furnished  one 
of  the  names  then  given  to  them.  But  it  is  significant  that  later  still, 
when  it  became  necessary  to  mark  these  inflections  in  writing  to  save 
them  from  being  lost,  the  three  marks  were  all  of  one  system,  and  that 


B  Since  there  seems  to  be  nothing  either  in  the  physics  of  sound  or  in  the 
nature  of  the  mind  to  bring  about  this  unanimity,  it  must  be  ascribed  to  some 
very  early  and  widespread  convention  based,  perhaps,  on  some  external  and 
incidental  thing  in  musical  art,  such,  for  example,  as  the  relative  positions 
in  which  the  various  notes  of  some  primitive  musical  instrument  were  produced 
or  played.  One  can  easily  imagine  that  the  particular  instrument  was  the 
pipe,  a  thing  of  immense  antiquity,  and  still  in  use  throughout  the  greater 
part  of  the  world.  It  is,  in  fact,  nothing  but  a  whistle  with  a  tube  long 
enough  for  finger-holes,  and  played  in  the  flageolet  position.  The  notes  lowest 
in  pitch  are  thus  sounded  from  the  openings  which  are  lowest  in  actual  position, 
and  those  higher  in  pitch,  from  openings  higher  up  on  the  tube. 


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200  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.       [Vol.  12 

one  is  our  own  of  spatial  representation.  For  the  marks  are  really 
nothing  but  tiny  diagrams  of  the  gestures  by  which  one  might  instinct- 
ively illustrate  the  three  movements  in  pitch:  /  rising,  \  falling, 
^^  circumflex.  ** Sharp/'  the  equivalent  of  the  Greek  term  ofv?, 
still  survives  as  a  technical  term  in  modern  music  for  a  note  slightly 
raised  in  pitch;  but  its  counter-term  **flat"  seems  to  be  a  recent 
invention,  the  logical  basis  of  which  is  not  clear. 

We  have  turned  from  the  field  of  speech  to  that  of  music  because 
only  in  music  have  the  phenomena  of  pitch  received  the  full  attention 
necessary  to  the  formulation  of  a  usage  which  clearly  reveals  the 
workings  of  the  mind  in  dealing  with  this  matter.  The  usage  of  music 
shows  that  the  modem  mind  at  least  has  learned  to  visualize  pitch 
spatially,  as  position  on  a  vertical  scale,  with  notes  of  shorter  vibration 
above,  and  notes  of  longer  vibration  below. 

But  pitch  is  not  the  only  thing  to  be  provided  for  in  our 
scheme.  Inflection  of  the  voice  has  also  the  element  of  movement 
and  change,  and  these  can  take  place  only  in  time.  The  chart  must 
provide  also  for  this  other  dimension,  time.  Fortunately  there  is 
here  no  difficulty,  for  the  mind  habitually  co-ordinates  space  and  time, 
and  readily  translates  either  one  of  these  into  terms  of  the  other.  It 
images  time  as  the  track  of  a  moving  point — that  is,  as  a  line.  Unless 
otherwise  determined  by  outside  circumstances,  the  movement  seems 
generally  figured  as  horizontal,  and  from  left  to  right  across  the  field.® 

The  results  of  this  excursus  into  the  realm  of  psychology  may  be 
summed  up  as  follows.  The  essential  elements  of  the  mental  image 
of  an  inflection  of  the  voice  are  two :  pitch  and  time.  Pitch  is  figured 
as  position  attained  at  a  given  instant  on  a  vertical  scale.  Time  is 
figured  as  advance  from  point  to  point  measured  on  a  horizontal  scale. 
The  inflection  itself  is  figured  as  a  line  which  is  the  resultant  of  these 
two  components. 

These  principles  determined  the  general  scheme  of  the  chart  to 
be  as  follows:  The  series  of  numbers  derived  from  measurements 
and  representing  the  various  levels  of  pitch,  are  the  vertical  elements 
of  the  chart,  that  is,  its  ordinates ;  and  numbers  representing  the  time- 
intervals  are  the  horizontal  elements,  that  is,  its  abscissas. 

There  still  remained  the  problem  of  spacing  in  both  these  dimen- 


« Both  these  features  are  doubtless  due  to  convention — perhaps  both  to 
the  same  convention,  namely  to  the  direction  taken  by  Indo-European  writing. 
Both  are  abundantly  attested  by  our  modern  cartographic  treatment  of  all 
statistical  matter  involving  the  element  of  time.  In  antiquity  we  find  the 
same  idea  reflected  in  the  Greek  accent-marks  already  alluded  to.  How 
Arabians  and  Chinese  image  time  I  am  unable  to  say. 


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1916]  Bradley :  On  Plotting  the  Inflections  of  the  Voice  20 1 

sions.  Following  the  common  practice  in  the  plotting  of  statistics, 
the  spacing  was  made  uniform  throughout  each  of  these  dimensions, 
but  not  alike  in  both.  Unit-spaces  on  the  co-ordinate  paper  were 
assigned  to  the  vertical  series  of  measurement-numbers  representing 
the  various  levels  of  pitch  ;^  and  a  constant  small  interval,  suflScient 
to  give  the  requisite  spread  to  the  figure  and  to  bring  out  its  features, 
was  chosen,  after  experiment,  as  the  horizontal  time-interval  of  advance 
between  successive  stations  on  the  chart. 

This  scheme  was  carried  out  as  follows :  Beginning  at  the  left-hand 
margin,  the  first  measurement  was  entered  as  a  pencil-dot  at  the 
beginning  of  the  line  which  bore  its  number.  The  second  was  next 
entered  upon  its  own  numbered  line,  but  advanced  toward  the  right 
by  the  interval  determined  upon.  The  other  measurements  followed 
in  their  order,  each  on  its  own  numbered  line  and  at  the  same  constant 
interval  to  the  right,  till  all  the  measurements  of  that  particular  record 
were  plotted.  A  continuous  curving  line  was  then  drawn  through  the 
series  of  plotted  points,  and  the  figure  so  completed  represented 
visually  the  whole  movement  or  inflection  of  the  voice  in  uttering 
that  syllable.*  In  like  manner  the  four  other  *' tones''  of  the  series 
were  plotted  upon  the  same  sheet.  Finally  the  whole  was  brought 
into  approximate  relation  with  concert-pitch  by  finding  on  a  piano 
the  pitch  at  which  I  habitually  sounded  the  more  level  stretch  of  the 
** middle  tone" — which  was  F.  From  this  the  positions  of  the  other 
notes  of  the  diatonic  scale  were  computed  by  the  help  of  the  well- 
known  ratios  of  the  musical  intervals,®  and  their  places  were  marked 
upon  the  margin.  So  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  this  was  the  first  attempt 
ever  made  to  plot  from  measurements  the  inflections  of  the  human 
voice.  The  chart  was  completed  in  November,  1908,  and  was  exhibited 
at  a  public  meeting  of  the  Siam  Society  in  Bangkok  on  February  2 
following. 

The  experiment  was  more  successful  than  I  had  dared  to  hope. 
The  results  were  perfectly  clear  and  convincing.  The  general  scheme 
was  evidently  right.  Careful  study,  however,  revealed  a  certain 
distortion  of  vertical  values  which  interfered  with  accurate  comparison 
of  one  of  these  figures  with  another  in  a  different  portion  of  the  field 
— a  distortion  in  kind  not  unlike  the  horizontal  distortion  of  Mercator's 


7  In  this  case  the  measurement-numbers  ran  from  18  at  the  top  of  the 
sheet  to  64  at  the  bottom.     Cf.  plate  2  and  p.  198  ante. 

8  The  figure  so  plotted  is  the  rising  glide  shown  in  plate  2,  which  is  a 
reproduction  of  my  original  chart  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  American 
Oriental  Society,  xxxi,  pt.  3,  p.  286.    1911. 

»  Cf .  Century  Dictionary  8.  v.  Interval. 


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202  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,       [Vol.  12 

maps.  The  source  of  it  was  found  to  be  the  equal  spacing  of  the 
vertical  series  of  numbers  representing  the  levels  of  pitch.  While 
these  numbers  increase  from  above  downward  in  arithmetical  pro- 
gression, the  musical  intervals,  as  plotted  on  the  chart,  increase  in 
geometrical  progression,  with  the  result  that  any  given  interval  of 
the  lower  octave  occupies  a  vertical  space  just  twice  as  great  as  the 
same  interval  of  the  upper  octave.  An  upward  sweep  of  an  octave 
from  middle  pitch  would  appear  only  half  as  long  as  a  descending 
sweep  of  an  octave  from  the  same  starting-point.  This  distortion  is 
brought  out  unmistakably  if  one  compares  the  rising  glide  in  plate  2 
with  the  falling  one.  The  rising  glide  covers  fourteen  semitones,  while 
the  falling  one  covers  six  and  one-half.  Yet  on  the  chart  the  vertical 
reach  of  the  former  is  only  a  trifle  greater  than  that  of  the  latter.*** 
The  distortion  would  be  very  much  greater  if  voices  of  entirely  different 
range,  such  for  example  as  the  masculine  and  the  feminine,  were 
plotted  together  according  to  this  scheme  and  brought  into  comparison. 
In  such  a  case,  indeed,  effective  comparison  would  be  almost  impossible. 

Now  the  ear  knows  nothing  whatever  of  measurements  such  as  we 
have  been  making ;  but  beyond  question  it  recognizes  all  octave  cycles 
as  equal.  Whether  this  is  due  to  the  recognition  directly  by  the  ear 
of  cycles  of  recurrent  unison,  or  whether  it  was  first  suggested  by 
the  fact  that,  in  instrimients  like  the  pipe,  the  upper  and  the  lower 
octaves  are  played  from  the  same  openings  and  over  the  very  same 
length  of  tube,  are  questions  which  need  not  detain  us  here.  But  if 
the  octaves  are  equal,  then  it  follows  inevitably  that  the  semitones — 
if  they  be  equal  divisions  of  the  octave — are  all  equal  to  each  other. 
This  equality,  moreover,  is  enforced  by  the  almost  universal  use  of 
the  tempered  scale  for  musical  instruments  played  either  with  keys 
or  with  frets.  Thus  our  visual  imagination  and  our  thought  too,  unless 
sophisticated  by  physics,  follow  suit  of  the  ear  and  make  the  semi- 
tones equal. 

The  error  being  thus  located,  the  first  step  toward  rectifying  it 
was  obvious  and  easy,  namely,  to  make  the  semitone-intervals  equal 


10  This  element  of  vertical  distortion,  coupled  with  another  of  horizontal 
distortion  to  be  noticed  later,  may  also  be  clearly  seen  if  one  compares  figure  1 
of  plate  5,  where  both  errors  are  uncorrected,  with  figure  2  of  the  same  plate, 
where  both  are  eliminated.  The  vertical  element  works  as  gravity  does, 
progressively  diminishing  all  upward  movement  as  represented  on  the  chart, 
making  it  fall  short  of  its  due  height;  and  progressively  increasing  all  down- 
ward motion,  making  it  overshoot  its  mark.  The  other  (the  horizontal) 
distortion  gives  to  ascending  motion  a  greater  spread  than  is  its  due,  and 
to  descending  motion  a  spread  proportionately  less.  The  two  together  make 
the  plotted  figure  of  the  rising  inflection  both  shorter  and  flatter  than  it 
should  be,  and  that  of  the  falling  inflection  both  deeper  and  steeper. 


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1916]  Bradley:  On  Plotting  the  Inflections  of  the  Voice  203 

upon  the  chart.  So  the  symbols  of  the  twelve  semitones  took  the  places 
previously  occupied  by  the  measurement-numbers  on  the  unit-lines 
of  the  paper.  But  the  next  step — to  find  new  places  for  those  ousted 
numbers — was  not  by  any  means  so  easy.  Indeed,  it  was  long  before 
any  clear  lead  appeared.  After  much  vain  groping  it*  suddenly  flashed 
upon  me  one  day  that  each  semitone  of  the  octave  has  its  distinct 
numerical  value,  namely,  its  ratio  to  the  fundamental  note  of  the 
scale.  And  this  numerical  value  it  brings  with  it  to  the  new  position 
in  which  it  has  been  placed.  These  decimal  ratios  of  the  semitones 
therefore,  equally  spaced,  form  the  determining  series  of  the  corrected 
chart,  in  the  intervals  of  which  the  integers  of  the  measurements  must 
be  interpolated,  each  in  its  proper  place.  I  had  found  the  clew,  but 
was  by  no  means  out  of  the  labyrinth. 

The  ratios  of  the  diatonic  scale  already  mentioned  would  not  answer 
here,  for  their  intervals  are  not  equal.  I  was  where  no  books  of  refer- 
ence were  accessible,  and  I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  I  should  have  found 
what  I  wanted,  if  I  had  had  them.  Thrown  back  thus  upon  my  own 
resources,  I  reflected  that  the  octave  ratios  form  a  series  in  geometrical 
progression — 1,  2,  4,  8,  16,  and  so  on — ^with  the  constant  ratio  of  2. 
The  semitone-ratios  of  the  tempered  scale,  therefore,  must  also  form 
a  geometrical  progression  of  twelve  terms  within  each  octave.  Since 
2  is  the  constant  ratio  of  the  octave  series,  the  constant  ratio  of  the 
semitone  series  must  be  that  quantity  which  multiplied  into  itself 
twelve  times  will  make  2 — that  is,  the  twelfth  root  of  2.  Fortunately 
my  desert  island  afforded  an  article  of  furniture  not  often  found  in 
such  places — a  table  of  logarithms.  With  its  help  I  soon  worked  out 
the  series  of  ratios  shown  on  the  left-hand  margin  of  plate  4  and  in 
table  1  below.  For  convenience  in  plotting,  and  to  get  rid  of  a  decimal 
place,  10  rather  than  1  was  assumed  as  unity.  The  computation  cov- 
ered two  octaves — twenty-four  semitones — ^with  numerical  values 
ranging  from  10  to  40,  providing  compass  enough  for  any  ordinary 
speaking  voice  in  experiments  such  as  these. 

The  earlier  scheme,  it  will  be  recalled,  was  concrete  and  practical, 
based  on  a  series  of  numbers  derived  from  actual  measurements.  This 
new  scheme  was  begun  with  an  ideal  series  of  ratios,  and  I  proceeded 
to  work  it  out  as  an  ideal  scheme  to  the  end,  leaving  to  a  later  stage 
the  question  of  its  adjustment  to  concrete  cases.  So  dealing  with  it, 
the  problem  of  interpolation  referred  to  above  became  a  problem  of 
finding  the  places,  within  this  ratio-series,  of  the  natural  numbers 
from  10  to  40.    The  ratios  are  mostly  decimal,  though  10,  20,  and  40 


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204  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,       [Vol.  12 

at  the  octave  points  are  integers,  and  two  others,  at  the  fifth  below  in 
each  octave,  differ  but  infinitesimally  from  15  and  30.  Five  numbers 
were  thus  located  at  the  start,  and  the  particular  space  within  which 
each  one  of  the  other  numbers  must  be  located  was  plainly  disclosed. 
Their  exact  positions,  however,  were  not  so  easily  determined.  The 
method  of  proportional  parts  was  first  tried,  and  it  furnished  an 
approximation  sufficiently  close  to  serve  the  purpose  immediately  in 
view.  Indeed,  that  was  the  method  used  in  plotting  the  ** tones''  of 
Chinese  speech.^^ 

Here  I  should  have  stopped.  But  the  ** pagan  curiosity''  with 
which  I  am  sometimes  reproached  drove  me  on.  There  must  be  a 
real  solution  to  a  mathematical  series  so  wonderfully  strict  and  sym- 
metrical ;  and  I  must  find  it.  Nevertheless  I  groped  long  in  darkness 
before  light  broke  upon  me  at  last  one  morning  as  I  awoke  out  of 
sleep.  If  I  were  to  plot  the  curve  of  those  semitone  ratios,  the  levels 
at  which  the  curve  cuts  the  vertical  unit-lines  would  be  the  true 
location  of  the  integral  numbers.  "Without  delay  I  set  myself  to  work. 
The  result  is  shown  in  plate  4,  figure  1,  where  the  vertical  distances 
(ordinates)  of  the  integer  levels  may  be  read  directly  from  the  milli- 
meter divisions  of  the  paper. 

Even  so  I  was  not  satisfied.  The  solution  was  perfect  of  its  kind, 
but  the  kind  was  instrumental  and  mechanical — not  of  pure  science. 
I  marvel  now  at  my  infatuation  with  the  problem,  but  still  more  at 
my  stupidity.  Long  before  this,  in  computing  the  semitone-ratios,  I 
had  used — without  recognizing  it  or  so  formulating  it — the  equation 
y  =  a'^,  wherein  a  is  ^^^/2,  and  x  is  in  turn  each  of  the  numbers  of 
the  natural  series  from  1  to  24.  But  the  equation  is  really  one  of 
two  variables.  All  that  I  now  needed  to  do  was  to  turn  the  equation 
about  and  solve  it  for  the  values  of  x  when,  a  remaining  constant,  y 
is  in  turn  each  number  of  the  natural  series  from  10  to  40.  This 
all  the  time  being  within  my  reach,  and  with  the  diagram  fully  drawn 
and  under  my  eyes,  it  was  weeks  before  I  recognized  in  it  the  solution  I 
was  seeking.  Thus  at  last  my  calculus,  fifty  years  out  of  mind,  came 
back  to  me  and  laid  the  uneasy  demon  that  so  long  had  plagued  me. 

The  distortion  of  figure,  in  so  far  as  it  arose  from  the  unequal 
spacing  of  the  semitone  intervals,  was  now  completely  corrected  by 
respacing  unequally  the  numbered  levels  of  pitch  in  such  a  way  that 


11  Cf.  plate  3,  from  a  chart  first  published  in  Proceedings  of  the  American 
Philological  Association,  XLV,  page  xliv,  with  abstract  of  the  paper  read. 
The  paper  was  subsequently  published  in  full  in  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic 
Society,  North  China  Branch,  August,  1915. 


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1916]  Bradley:  On  Plotting  the  Inflections  of  the  Voice  205 

their  intervals  diminished  from  above  downward  just  fast  enough 
to  leave  the  semitone  intervals  equal  throughout  the  chart.  Still 
another  element  of  distortion,  however,  lurked  in  the  equal  horizontal 
spacing  which  was  adopted  at  the  start.  The  spaces  there  ottght  to 
vary  also,  for  they  represent  the  time-intervals  between  successive 
points  in  the  record,  and  these  vary  of  course  with  the  pitch.  It  was 
some  time,  I  am  ashamed  to  say,  before  it  became  clear  that  the  very 
same  measurement  which  I  plotted  vertically  as  pitch,  gave  me  also, 
in  its  aspect  as  time,  the  measure  of  forward  movement.  The  single 
measurement,  that  is,  gives  both  co-ordinates  of  the  plotted  point — a 
most  unusual  and  surprising  thing. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  whole  of  the  measure- 
ment-number must  be  taken  as  the  increment  of  advance.  To  do  so 
would  be  to  flatten  the  figure  almost  beyond  recognition.  All  that 
is  necessary  is  that  the  increment  in  each  case  be  proportional  to  the 
number  representing  pitch.  Some  constant  fraction  of  that  number 
— say  one-half  or  one-third — will  suffice  to  give  the  figure  the  necessary 
spread. 

Reviewing  now  the  discussion  so  far,  we  see  that  the  general  scheme 
for  plotting  inflections  of  the  voice  involves  two  dimensions,  each 
with  a  different  system  of  spacing.  In  the  scheme  as  originally  worked 
out,  there  was  an  error  of  distortion  in  each  of  these  two  dimensions, 
due  to  the  equal  spacing  which  was  tentatively  adopted  in  each.  In 
the  readjustment  of  the  scheme  described  above  both  errors  have 
been  eliminated  by  substituting  for  the  equal  spacing  in  each  dimension 
a  spacing  graduated  proportionally  to  the  measurement-numbers — 
inversely  proportional  in  the  case  of  the  vertical  intervals;  directly 
proportional  in  the  case  of  the  horizontal.  Inflections  so  plotted  are 
capable  of  strictest  comparison  in  all  their  features  both  with  each 
other  and  with  the  records.  It  is  difficult,  moreover,  to  see  how  any 
other  systematic  error  can  creep  in,  for  there  are  but  these  two 
dimensions  in  which  it  could  operate,  and  but  the  one  door  of  measure- 
ment by  which  it  could  enter. 

The  revised  scheme,  as  has  been  noted,  is  not  built  upon  actual 
measurements,  as  was  the  first  one,  but  upon  an  ideal  system  of 
abstract  numbers  or  ratios,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  positions  deter- 
mined by  these,  on  the  other.  It  is,  moreover,  limited  to  two  octaves, 
a  compass  which  includes  the  extreme  range  of  voice  in  ordinary 
speech.    The  special  advantage  of  such  a  scheme  is  that,  being  ideal. 


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206  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,       [Vol.  12 

it  is  capable  of  being  adapted  without  diflBculty  to  any  concrete  case. 
The  essential  feature  of  the  plot  (that  is,  the  spacing  of  the  numbered 
levels  of  pitch)  is  arranged  once  for  all,  and  is  never  to  be  changed. 
Adjustment  has  to  do  only  with  the  numbers  which  are  attached  to 
these  levels,  and  it  may  be  accomplished  in  either  of  two  ways:  (a) 
the  numbers  of  the  scheme  may  be  raised  to  meet  the  actual  measure- 
ments by  use  of  a  suitable  multiplier j  or  (6)  the  measurement-numbers 
may  be  reduced  by  division  to  the  dimensions  of  the  scheme.  There 
is  little  to  choose  between  the  two  methods,  save  that  there  is  probably 
less  chance  of  mistake  or  confusion  if  the  plotted  scheme  of  numbers 
be  kept  unchanged,  and  the  particular  voice  or  the  particular  meas- 
urements be  reduced  to  the  standard,  just  as  all  barometric  readings, 
for  purposes  of  comparison,  are  reduced  to  sea-level.  The  whole 
process  may  be  made  clear  by  means  of  the  following  example  together 
with  its  illustration  in  figure  2  of  plate  4. 

In  table  3,  column  2  (p.  207),  are  given  two  series  of  measurements 
made  in  the  course  of  my  experiments  with  the  ** tones"  of  Siamese 
speech.  The  two  are  taken  almost  at  random  from  my  notes,  and 
represent  respectively  the  rising  and  the  falling  inflection.  The 
measurements  are  of  groups  of  six  waves  throughout.  The  extreme 
measurements  are  30  and  110 — a  large  compass  of  voice,  falling  only 
a  little  short  of  two  octaves.  The  smallest  number  in  our  scheme  is 
10.  The  measurements  may  therefore  be  reduced  to  standard  by 
dividing  them  throughout  by  3.  The  results  of  the  reduction  are 
tabulated  in  column  3,  and  these  are  the  figures  to  be  used  in  the 
plotting.^* 

In  table  2,  column  1,  are  given  the  numbers  attached  to  the  levels 
of  pitch  in  our  scheme;  and  opposite  these  in  column  2  are  given  the 
ordinates  of  those  levels,  that  is,  the  vertical  distance  of  each  measured 
from  the  starting-point  at  level  10  at  the  top  of  the  sheet.  These 
ordinates  are  the  results  of  the  computation  described  above  (p.  204). 
We  turn  now  to  the  co-ordinate  paper  on  which  the  inflections  are 
to  be  plotted.  Vertically  it  should  have  twenty-four  unit  spaces — one 
for  each  semitone  of  the  two  octaves.  Horizontally,  the  eighteen  unit 
spaces  usually  found  in  the  millimeter  sheet  will  be  ample  for  all  needs. 
Beginning  at  the  upper  right-hand  comer,  we  number  each  unit- 
line  along  the  margin  from  0  at  the  top  to  24  at  the  bottom.  This 
marking  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  final  plot  and  is  not  absolutely 


12  In  many  cases  it  may  be  found  simpler  to  perform  the  reduction  by 
multiplying  and  pointing  off  one  decimal  place.  Thus,  if  the  extreme  measure- 
ments had  been  27  and  95,  we  might  have  multiplied  by  4  and  pointed  off  thus: 
10.8  and  38.0. 


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207 


necessary,  but  is  only  intended  to  facilitate  the  reading  of  the  milli- 
meter distances  in  the  next  operation.  It  should  be  done  lightly  with 
a  pencil,  so  that  it  may  be  easily  erased  when  it  has  served  its  purpose. 
It  therefore  does  not  appear  in  plate  4. 

Next,  at  a  little  distance  within  the  right-hand  margin,  we  mark 
the  top  line  10,  the  level  with  which  our  scheme  begins.  Its  distance 
of  course  is  zero.  From  table  2  we  take  the  second  distance,  16.5, 
and  find  its  place  between  the  16th  and  17th  millimeter  lines  directly 
below  10,  where  we  mark  it  with  a  short  horizontal  pencil-line,  and 
number  it  as  level  11.  We  find  in  the  table  the  third  distance,  31.6 
(measured  also  from  line  10),  and  with  the  help  of  the  marginal 
numbering  of  the  unit-lines,  we  enter  it  in  its  place  as  level  12 — and 
continue  the  operation  with  constantly  diminishing  spaces,  until  we 
reach  the  40th  level  at  the  24th  line  near  the  bottom.  This  completes 
the  preparation  of  the  chart. 


Table  1 

Table  2 

Table  3 

The   Semitone 

The 

Levels  of 

Measurements 

Batios 

Pitch 

Series  1 

Numerical 

Vertical 

Horizontal 

No. 

Value 

No. 

Distance 

No. 

Original 

Reduced 

Interval 

0 

10.00 

10 

00.0  mm. 

1 

56 

18.7 

9nmi. 

1 

10.60 

11 

16.5 

2 

55 

18.3 

9 

2 

11.23 

12 

31.6 

3 

56 

18.7 

9 

3 

11.89 

13 

45.5 

4 

55 

18.3 

9 

4 

12.60 

14 

58.3 

5 

54.5 

18 

9 

5 

13.35 

15 

70.3 

6 

53.5 

17.8 

9 

6 

14.14 

16 

81.5 

7 

51 

17 

9 

7 

14.98 

17 

92.0 

8 

50 

16.7 

8 

8 

15.87 

18 

101.8 

9 

48 

16 

8 

9 

16.81 

19 

111.1 

10 

46 

15.3 

8 

10 

17.81 

20 

120.0 

11 

43 

14.3 

7 

11 

18.87 

21 

128.5 

12 

40 

13.3 

7 

12 

20.00 

22 

136.5 

13 

37 

12.3 

6 

13 

21.20 

23 

144.2 

14 

36 

12 

6 

14 

22.46 

24 

153.6 

15 

35.5 

11.6 

6 

15 

23.78 

25 

158.7 

16 

35 

11.5 

6 

16 

25.20 

26 

165.5 

17 

33 

11 

6 

17 

26.70 

27 

172.1 

18 

30 

10 

5 

18 

28.28 

28 

178.3 

19 

29.96 

29 

184.3 

Series  2 

20 

31.74 

30 

190.3 

1 

50 

16.7 

8  nmi. 

21 

33.60 

31 

196.0 

2 

52 

17.3 

9 

22 

35.62 

32 

201.5 

3 

54 

18 

9 

23 

37.74 

33 

206.9 

4 

56 

18.7 

9 

24 

40.00 

34 

212.0 

5 

57 

19 

10 

35 

217.0 

6 

58 

19.3 

10 

36 

221.8 

7 

61 

20.3 

10 

37 

226.5 

8 

66 

22 

11 

38 

231.1 

9 

74 

24.7 

12 

39 

235.6 

10 

83- 

27.7 

14 

40 

240.0 

11 

93 

31 

16 

12 

110 

36.7 

18 

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208  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.       [Vol.  12 

We  come  now  to  the  actual  plotting.  Referring  to  table  3  for  the 
reduced  measurements  (in  column  3)  we  take  the  first  one,  18.7,  and 
enter  it  with  a  pencil-dot  slightly  above  level  19  traced  across  the 
chart.  Taking  the  next  number,  18.3,  we  note  its  place  just  below 
level  18;  and  finding  in  column  4  its  horizontal  interval,  9  (one-half 
of  18.3),  we  enter  the  second  point  at  the  level  ascertained,  and  9 
millimeter  spaces  to  the  right  of  the  first.  The  third  point  is  again 
on  level  18.7,  and  9  mm.  to  the  right  of  point  2.  This  process  is 
continued  until  the  series  ends  with  point  18  at  level  10,  126  mm. 
from  the  left-hand  edge.  Through  this  series  of  points  a  smoothly 
curving  line  is  carefully  drawn,  which  constitutes  the  figure  or 
pattern  of  movement  executed  by  the  voice  in  that  particular  utterance. 

The  plotting  of  the  second  series  of  measurements  is  carried  out 
in  the  same  way,  and  on  the  same  sheet.  Lastly,  concert-pitch  is  found 
from  the  record  of  a  C-fork  taken  at  the  same  time  with  the  other 
records,  which  in  this  case  determines  the  level  of  C  as  17.6,  that  is, 
near  the  10th  unit-line  from  the  top.  From  this  datum  the  places  of 
the  other  notes  of  the  musical  scale  are  easily  determined  by  assigning 
one  unit-space  to  each  semitone. 

This  study  demonstrates  the  immense  superiority,  in  point  of 
delicacy,  of  instrumental  analysis  over  the  trained  ear.  In  plate  3, 
tone  1,  are  shown  five  examples  of  the  utterance  of  the  same  short 
syllable  in  succession.  The  pitch  was  intended  to  be  a  perfectly  level 
tone.  The  serpentine  oscillations  which  our  analysis  reveals  entirely 
escaped  the  sense  of  hearing,  as  did  also  the  uncertainty  of  attack 
and  finish,  and  the  hesitation  in  mid-movement  exhibited  in  many 
examples  of  other  tones  given  in  the  same  chart.  In  figure  3 
of  plate  5  may  be  seen  the  vagaries  of  a  singer's  voice  in  ren- 
dering C  natural — a  continual  wandering  away  from  pitch  followed 
by  attempted  correction  and  return.  The  ear  fails  utterly  to  detect 
errors  of  this  dimension,  for  the  whole  portion  of  the  note  here  shown 
on  the  chart  occupied  but  1.08  of  a  second  of  time.  The  instrument 
reveals  even  minute  variations  in  the  rate  of  a  tuning-fork  due  to 
infinitesimal  variations  in  the  drag  on  the  prongs  of  the  fork  as  the 
recording  point  sweeps  the  surface  of  the  paper. 

Transmitted  April  S,  1916. 


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EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  1 

Specimen  records  taken  with  the  Bousselot  apparatus,  reduced  to  three- 
fourths  of  their  original  dimensions. 

Numbers  1  to  5  are  records  of  the  five  'Hones''  of  long  vowels  in  Siamese 
speech,  namely,  1,  Rising;  2,  Circumflex;  3,  Middle;  4,  Depressed;  5,  Falling. 
No.  1  has  been  marked  off  into  groups  of  waves  for  measurement.  Number  6 
is  the  record  of  an  electric  tuning-fork  making  100  vibrations  per  second. 

The  general  features  of  movement  and  pitch  which  characterize  these  five 
"tones"  are  shown  in  plate  2;  and  a  brief  indication  of  the  part  they  play 
in  actual  speech  is  given  in  the  explanation  of  that  plate.  For  an  account 
of  the  way  in  which  the  records  are  made,  see  footnote  1,  pp.  196-197. 

The  extreme  delicacy  of  which  these  records  are  capable  is  shown  in  the 
case  of  the  electric  fork,  the  rate  of  which  would  naturally  be  supposed  to  be 
absolutely  uniform  within  the  limits  of  a  single  record.  But  measurement 
shows  that  the  rate  varied  during  the  fraction  of  a  second  of  time  occupied 
in  the  process.  The  first  forty  waves  of  the  record  together  measure  two  one- 
hundredths  of  an  inch  more  than  the  last  forty.  This  infinitesimal  variation 
is  probably  due  to  infinitesimal  differences  in  the  drag  of  the  recording  point 
as  it  swings  from  side  to  side  on  the  surface  of  the  paper. 


[210] 


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EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  2 

Chart  of  the  five  ** tones**  of  long  vowels  in  Siamese,  illustrating  the 
earlier  scheme  of  plotting. 

So  far  as  known  to  the  writer,  this  is  the  first  attempt  ever  made  to 
plot  from  actual  measurements  the  inflections  of  the  voice.  It  was  made 
in  November,  1908,  and  was  exhibited  at  a  meeting  of  the  Siam  Society  held 
in  Bangkok  on  February  2,  1909. 

The  figures  here  shown  were  plotted  from  records  of  the  writer's  voice 
as  he  pronounced  the  one  syllable  nd  with  the  five  modes  of  voice-inflection 
distinguished  by  the  Siamese  in  their  utterance  of  long  vowels.  The  one 
syllable  so  uttered  becomes  five  different  words,  which  to  the  natives  do  not 
seem  to  be  homophones  at  all,  but  as  clearly  different  as  seem  to  us  the 
words  hate,  heat,  hite,  hoat,  hoot,  which  differ  only  in  vowel  quality.  The 
meaning  of  the  five  Siamese  words,  differing  only  in  tone,  are  as  follows: 
Syllahle  Inflection  Meaning 

nd  rising  thick 

circumflex  uncle  or  aunt 

middle  rice- field 

depressed  indeed 

falling  face,  front 


[212] 


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EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  3 

Chart  of  the  ** tones''  of  Pekingese. 

In  this  chart  the  vertical  distortion  noted  in  the  earlier  scheme  was 
corrected  by  giving  to  the  levels  of  pitch  a  graduated  instead  of  a  uniform 
spacing.  It  has  a  further  interest  in  its  revelation  of  surprising  eccentricities 
or  inaccuracies  in  the  performance  of  the  human  voice.  Tone  1,  for  example, 
is  heard  by  the  ear  as  a  tone  perfectly  level  in  pitch.  Its  serpentine  oscilla- 
tions completely  escape  notice  by  the  ear,  as  do  also  the  uncertainty  of  attack 
and  the  hesitation  in  execution  noticeable  in  many  other  figures  of  the  chart. 

Pekingese  scholars  claim  four  separate  ** tones"  for  their  dialect.  But 
the  chart  would  seem  to  show  that  there  are  really  but  three.  The  general 
figure  or  pattern  of  **tone"  2  is  identical  with  that  of  **tone"  3,  and  instru- 
mental analysis  fails  to  discover  within  the  range  of  examples  available  any 
constant  difference  of  detail  which  the  ear  could  detect  as  a  basis  of  distinction. 
It  may  be  that  there  is  a  difference  in  vowel-quantity  which  does  not  appear 
in  the  examples  chosen. 


[214] 


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EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  4 

Figure  1. — The  semitone-ratios  and  the  levels  of  pitch. 

The  semitone-ratios  are  a  series  of  numbers  which  express  the  relative 
time  of  vibration  at  the  pitch  of  each  semitone  of  the  octave,  when  the 
vibration-time  at  the  pitch  of  C  is  10.  These  ratios,  computed  for  two  octaves, 
are  shown  at  the  left-hand  margin  of  the  chart,  each  on  its  unit-line.  The 
ratios,  it  will  be  noted,  are  nearly  all  decimal.  The  problem  is  to  find  the 
precise  levels  within  this  decimal  series  at  which  the  integers  11,  12,  13,  etc., 
are  to  stand.  The  problem  was  solved  graphically  as  follows:  Each  ratio 
(less  10,  because  we  begin  at  the  margin  with  10)  was  plotted  on  the  chart 
as  a  horizontal  line.  Through  the  ends  of  these  lines  a  curve  was  drawn. 
The  points  in  which  this  curve  cuts  the  vertical  unit-lines  will  mark  the  true 
levels  of  the  various  integral  numbers.  The  vertical  distance  (ordinates) 
from  0  at  the  top  of  the  chart  to  each  of  these  levels  may  be  read  directly 
from  the  co-ordinate  paper.  The  ordinates  actually  entered  on  the  chart  are 
those  derived  from  a  subsequent  computation,  and  are  carried  out  to  one 
decimal  place. 

Figure  2. — Illustration  of  the  perfected  scheme  for  plotting  inflections 
without  distortion  in  either  dimension,  aa  is  the  figure  of  a  rising  inflection, 
and  bb  the  figure  of  a  falling  inflection  so  plotted.  For  the  data  used  and 
for  detail  of  the  method  see  table  3  and  the  adjacent  text,  p.  207,  ante. 


[216] 


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EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  5 
Figures  1  and  2. — Direct  comparison  of  the  two  schemes  of  plotting. 
Figure  1  is  the  rising  inflection  (aa)  and  the  falling  inflection  (bb)  as 
originally  plotted  in  plate  2.  Figure  2  shows  these  same  inflections  replotted 
according  to  the  perfected  scheme.  Comparison  shows  that  aa  of  figure  1  is 
shorter  and  flatter  and  shows  a  greater  time-dimension  than  does  the  cor- 
rected aa  of  figure  2,  while  bb  of  figure  1  is  deeper,  steeper,  and  has  less 
time-dimension   than   the  corrected  bb   of   figure  2. 

Figure  3  is  a  representation  of  the  performance  of  a  singer's  voice  in 
rendering  the  0  natural  of  a  tuning-fork.  It  illustrates  the  same  vagaries, 
the  same  uncertainties  and  attempted  corrections  which  were  shown  in  the 
case  of  the  speaking  voice  in  plate  3. 


1218J 


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UNIV.    CALII 


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UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA    PUBLICATIONS 

IN 

AMERICAN   ARCHAEOLOGY  AND    ETHNOLOGY 

Vol.  12,  No.  6,  pp.  219-248  February  24,  1917 


TtBATULABAL   AND   KAWAIISU 
KINSHIP  TERMS 

BY 

EDWABD  WINSLOW  GIFFOBD 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction   ^ 219 

Phonetic  Transcription ^ 220 

Tubatnlabal ..^ 220 

Kawaiisu  « ^ 228 

Comparison   ^ _ 232 

Tiibatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  - - ^ ^ 232 

Kawaiisu,  Kaibab  Paiute,  and  Uintah  TJte  244 

INTRODUCTION 

In  November  and  December,  1915,  the  writer  was  engaged  in  an 
examination  of  the  tribes  inhabiting  the  eastern  and  southern  slopes 
of  the  San  Joaquin  drainage  basin  to  determine  the  limits  in  California 
of  social  and  ceremonial  organization  on  the  basis  of  dual  divisions.^ 
Among  the  tribes  visited  were  the  Tiibatulabal  of  the  Kern  River 
region  in  the  southern  Sierra  Nevada  and  the  adjoining  Kawaiisu  of 
the  Tehachapi  Mountains  at  the  southern  end  of  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley.  Both  of  these  Shoshonean  groups  lack  the  dual  organization 
for  which  the  writer  was  seeking.  The  kinship  systems  of  these  two 
peoples  are  of  especial  interest,  however,  and  the  facts  about  them  are 
presented  in  the  following  pages.  Important  features  of  these  systems 
are  the  use  of  single  terms  for  reciprocal  relationships  (identical- 
reciprocals),  the  use  of  diminutive  sufSxes,  and  the  use  of  terms  and 
sufiSxes  denoting  the  condition  of  connecting  relatives. 

1  Bichotomous  Social  Organization  in  South  Central  California,  Univ.  Calif. 
Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  xi,  291-296,  1916. 


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220  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

The  Tiibatulabal  and  their  closely  related  western  neighbors,  the 
Bankalaehi,  form  one  of  the  four  primary  linguistic  branches  of  the 
Shoshonean  family,  known  as  the  Kern  River  branch.*  The  remaining 
branches  are  the  Plateau,  the  Southern  California,  and  the  Pueblo. 
Compared  with  the  territory  of  the  Plateau  branch  that  of  the  Kern 
River  branch  is  infinitesimally  small.  Perhaps  it  is  in  consequence  of 
this  limited  geographic  range  that  scarcely  a  feature  of  the  Tiiba- 
tulabal kinship  nomenclature  proves  to  be  unique,  and  this  in  spite 
of  the  linguistic  divergence  exhibited  by  the  Tiibatulabal  language. 

'  The  Kawaiisu,  the  southern  neighbors  of  the  Tiibatulabal,  who  are 
also  to  be  discussed,  speak  a  dialect  of  Ute-Chemehuevi,'  and  are 
included  in  the  great  Plateau  branch  of  the  Shoshonean  stock.  As 
will  be  pointed  out  in  the  comparative  portion  of  this  paper,  it  appears 
probable  that  the  Kawaiisu  and  Tiibatulabal  kinship  systems  have 
affected  each  other  on  account  of  the  contact  of  the  two  peoples. 

Thanks  are  due  Dr.  Edward  Sapir  for  the  use  of  his  unpublished 
notes  on  Kaibab  Paiute  and  Uintah  Ute  relationship  terms. 

Phonetic  Transcription 
In  this  paper  c  =  sh,  tc  =  ch  as  in  church,  6  =  aw  as  in  law,  ii  =  u 
as  in  run,  and  n  =  ng  as  in  sing.  The  sound  represented  by  ii  is 
neutral  and  is  not  to  be  understood  as  identical  with  Gterman  ii.*  A 
period  on  the  line  between  two  vowels  indicates  that  they  have  their 
ordinary  phonetic  value  and  do  not  form  a  diphthong. 

TtJBATULABAL 
Forty  Tiibatulabal  terms  of  relationship  were  obtained.  These 
include  identical-reciprocals  with  diminutive  suffixes.  The  diminu- 
tive suffix  -bin  or  -vin  is  often  added  to  an  identical-reciprocal  term 
to  indicate  the  younger  generation  of  the  reciprocal  relationship  ex- 
pressed by  the  single  term,  as  aka  (father's  father)  and  akabin  (son's 
child,  m.  s.).  The  terms  applied  to  relatives  by  marriage  upon  the 
death  of  the  connecting  relative  have  been  omitted  in  the  above  figure. 
The  term  for  grandparent  and  grandchild  following  the  death  of  the 
connecting  relative  is  included,  however,  as  it  is  a  special  term  (hoki), 


2  A.  L.  Kroeber,  Shoshonean  Dialects  of  California,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am. 
Arch.  Ethn.,  iv,  97,  98,  100,  1907. 

8  A.  L.  Kroeber,  Shoshonean  Dialects  of  California,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am. 
Arch.  Ethn.,  iv,  97,  98,  100,  110,  1907. 

*  See  the  discussion  of  such  sounds  by  A.  L.  Kroeber,  Shoshonean  Dialects  of 
California,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  iv,  90,  91,  1907. 


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1917]  Gifford:  Tiibatulahal  and  Kawaiisu  Kinship  Terms  221 

and  not  merely  the  ordinary  term  plus  a  suflSx  as  in  the  ease  of  rela- 
tives by  af&nity.  The  terms  applied  to  five  such  relatives  by  marriage 
upon  the  death  of  the  connecting  relatives  were  obtained.  The  suiBx 
-paiyiin  or  -piiniii  is  added  in  these  cases,  apparently  with  some  such 
meaning  as  *  *  used  to  be ;  *  *  for  this  is  the  meaning  given  for  the  analo- 
gous Kawaiisu  suflBx  -puni  or  -repuni.  Doubtless  the  suflBx  is  added 
to  other  Tiibatulahal  terms  of  affinity  besides  the  five  mentioned,  but 
examples  were  not  obtained.  It  is  not  unlikely  also  that  the  term 
nawasu  (child's  spouse's  parent)  is  changed  upon  the  death  of  one  of 
the  connecting  relatives,  just  as  the  corresponding  Kawaiisu  term 
teeni  is  changed  (see  p.  232).  The  Tiibatulahal  term  kali  (father's 
sister's  husband)  and  its  identical-reciprocal  take  the  suffix  -paiyiiii 
or  -piinin  (see  p.  222).  On  this  account  it  is  suspected  that  all  other 
analogous  terms  for  aunts,  uncles,  nieces,  and  nephews  by  aflBnity  like- 
wise take  this  suffix.  However,  information  on  this  point  was  not 
obtained. 

In  the  following  list  m.  s.  and  w.  s.  stand  respectively  for  **man 
speaking"  and  ** woman  speaking." 


tObatulabal  relationship  terms* 

ana.  Father  (before  death  of  a  child,  that  is  to  say,  before  the  death  of  a 
brother  or  sister  of  the  speaker).  Reciprocal:  tumu  (son,  daughter). 
Compare  kumu  (father),  abu  (mother),  and  umii  (mother). 

kumu.  Father  (after  death  of  a  child,  that  is  to  say,  after  the  death  of  a 
brother  or  sister  of  the  speaker),  father's  older  brother,  mother's  sister's 
husband  older  than  father,  stepfather.  Reciprocals:  tumu  (son;  daughter; 
brother's  child,  m.  s.;  wife's  sister's  child),  aiyawutawa  (stepson),  ano- 
ciwan  (stepdaughter).  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  kumu,  the  term  for 
father's  older  brother,  is  used  for  stepfather,  while  yugu,  the  term  for 
mother's  younger  sister,  is  used  for  stepmother. 

abu.  Mother  (before  death  of  a  child,  that  is  to  say,  before  the  death  of  a 
brother  or  sister  of  the  speaker).  Reciprocal:  tumu  (son,  daughter). 
Compare  iimii  (mother),  ana  (father),  and  kumu  (father). 

iimii.  Mother  (after  the  death  of  a  child,  that  is  to  say,  after  the  death  of  a 
brother  or  sister  of  the  speaker),  mother's  older  sister,  father's  brother's 
wife  older  than  mother.  Reciprocal:  tumu  (son;  daughter;  sister's  child, 
w.  s.;  husband's  brother's  child). 


5  The  terms  anociwan,  kunan,  pauwan,  soiyin,  tohan,  wiinin,  and  yuguan  were 
always  given  with  the  terminal  -n,  which  means  *  *  my ' '  (see  A.  L.  Kroeber,  Notes 
on  Shoshonean  Dialects  of  Southern  California,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch. 
£thn.,  VIII,  262,  1909).  The  terms  agist,  amust,  hiimiibic,  impaiyis,  wasumbis, 
wo.ict,  and  ya.ubic  were  never  given  with  the  terminal  -n.  The  remaining  terms 
■were  given  both  with  and  without  it,  and  are  here  listed  without  it.  In  ref- 
erence, and  sometimes  in  address,  the  suffix  -nun,  also  with  the  meaning  *'my," 
is  added  to  the  term  as  in  wasumbisnun,  tdhanun,  and  kutcinun. 


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222  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

tumu.  Son,  daughter,  brother's  child  (m.  B.)y  sister's  child  (w.  8.)^  half  brother's 
child  (m.  s.)i  half  sister's  child  (w.  s.),  husband's  brother's  child,  wife's 
sister's  child.  Beciprocals:  ana  (father),  abu  (mother),  kumu  (father, 
father's  older  brother,  mother's  sister's  husband  older  than  father),  umu 
(mother,  mother's  older  sister,  father's  brother's  wife  older  than  mother), 
tdhan  (father's  younger  brother,  mother's  sister's  husband  younger  than 
father),  yugu  (mother's  younger  sister,  father's  brother's  wife  younger 
than  mother). 

p^ci.  Older  brother,  older  half  brother,  male  cousin  older  than  speaker.  Re- 
ciprocal: nalawi  (younger  brother,  younger  sister,  younger  half  brother, 
younger  half  sister,  cousin  younger  than  speaker). 

nalawi.  Younger  brother,  younger  sister,  younger  half  brother,  younger  half 
sister,  cousin  younger  than  speaker.  Beciprocals:  kutci  (older  sister, 
older  half  sister,  female  cousin  older  than  speaker),  patci  (older  brother, 
older  half  brother,  male  cousin  older  than  speaker). 

kutci.  Older  sister,  older  half  sister,  female  cousin  older  than  speaker.  Becip- 
rocal:  nalawi  (younger  brother,  younger  sister,  younger  half  brother, 
younger  half  sister,  cousin  younger  than  speaker). 

impaiyis.  Brother  (w.  s.),  male  cousin  (w.  s.),  sister  (m.  s.),  female  cousin 
(m.  s.).    Reciprocal:  impaiyis. 

tdhan.  Father's  younger  brother,  mother's  sister's  husband  younger  than  father. 
Beciprocal:  tumu  (brother's  child,  m.  s.;  wife's  sister's  child). 

yugu.  Mother 's  younger  sister,  mother 's  younger  half  sister,  father 's  brother 's 
wife  younger  than  mother,  stepmother.  Beciprocals:  tumu  (sister's  child, 
w.  s.;  half  sister's  child,  w.  s.;  husband's  brother's  child),  aiyawutawa 
(stepson),  anociwan  (stepdaughter).  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  yngu, 
the  term  for  mother's  younger  sister,  is  used  for  stepmother,  while  kumu, 
the  term  for  father 's  older  brother,  is  used  for  stepfather. 

aiyawutawa.    Stepson.    Beciprocals:  kumu  (stepfather),  yugu  (stepmother). 

anociwan.    Stepdaughter.    Beciprocals:  kumu  (stepfather),  yugu  (stepmother). 

pauwan.  Father's  sister,  mother's  brother's  wife.  Beciprocal:  amust  (brother's 
child,  w.  8.;  husband's  sister's  child). 

amust.  Brother's  child  (m.  s.),  husband's  sister's  child.  Beciprocal:  pauwan 
(father's  sister,  mother's  brother's  wife). 

kali.  Mother's  brother,  father's  sister's  husband.  Beciprocal:  kalibin  (sister's 
child,  m.  8.;  wife's  brother's  child). 

kalibin.  Sister's  child  (m.  s.),  wife's  brother's  child.  Beciprocal:  kali  (mother's 
brother,  father's  sister's  husband).  Kalipaiyiin.  Wife's  brother's  child 
(after  death  of  wife),  father's  sister's  husband  (after  death  of  father's 
sister).  It  does  not  seem  likely  that  the  ending  -paiyiifi  is  added  to  kali 
with  the  meaning  mother's  brother  or  sister's  child  (m.  s.),  as  the  rela- 
tionship is  one  of  blood,  not  marriage. 

aka.  Father's  father.  Beciprocal:  akabin  (son's  child,  m.  s.).  It  probably 
applies  also  to  collateral  relatives  (see  agist). 

akabin.  Son's  child  (m.  s.).  Beciprocal:  aka  (father's  father).  It  probably 
applies  also  to  collateral  relatives  (see  agist). 

apa.  Father's  mother.  Beciprocal:  apavin  (son's  child,  w.  s.).  It  probably 
applies  also  to  collateral  relatives  (see  agist). 

apavin.  Son's  child  (w.  s.).  Beciprocal:  apa  (father's  mother).  It  probably 
applies  also  to  collateral  relatives  (see  agist). 


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1917]  Oxford:  Tiibatulahal  and  Kawaiisu  Kimhip  Terms  223 

agist.  Mother's  father.  Beciprocal:  agistbin  (daughter's  child,  m.  s.).  Inas- 
much as  utsu  (mother's  mother)  and  its  reciprocal  utsubin  (daughter's 
child,  w.  s.)  apply  to  collateral  as  well  as  to  lineal  relatives,  the  term 
agist  and  its  reciprocal  agistbin,  being  analogous,  doubtless  apply  like- 
wise to  collateral  as  well  as  lineal  relatives. 

agistbin.  Daughter's  child  (m.  s.).  Beciprocal:  agist  (mother's  father).  It 
probably  applies  also  to  collateral  relatives  (see  agist). 

utsu.  Mother's  mother,  mother's  mother's  sister,  mother's  mother's  half  sister. 
Beciprocal:  utsubin  (daughter's  child,  w.  s.;  sister's  daughter's  child, 
w.  s.;  half  sister's  daughter's  child,  w.  s.). 

utsubin.  Daughter's  child  (w.  s.),  sister's  daughter's  child  (w.  s.),  half  sister's 
daughter's  child  (w.  s.).  Beciprocal:  utsu  (mother's  mother,  mother's 
mother's* sister,  mother's  mother's  half  sister). 

hdki.  Grandparent  or  grandchild  (after  the  death  of  the  connecting  relative). 
Beciprocal:  hdki. 

saka.     Great-grandparent.    Beciprocal:  sakabin  (great-grandchild). 

sakabin.    Great-grandchild.    Beciprocal:  saka  (great -grandparent). 

kufian.    Husband.    Becit>rocal:  soiyin  (wife). 

soiyin.    Wife.    Beciprocal:  kufian  (husband). 

wd.ict.    Co-wife,  co-husband.    Beciprocal:  wo.ict. 

wasumbis.  Spouse's  parent,  wife's  mother's  sister.  Beciprocals:  tasi  (son's 
wife),  wiifiin  (daughter's  husband).  Wasumpaiyiifi  or  wasumbisipiinin. 
Spouse's  parent  (after  death  of  spouse). 

tasL  Son's  wife.  Beciprocal:  wasumbis  (spouse's  parent).  Tasipaiyiifi.  Son's 
wife  (after  death  of  speaker's  son). 

wunin.  Daughter's  husband,  half  sister's  daughter's  husband.  Beciprocal: 
wasumbis  (spouse's  parent).  wiiniupaiyM  or  wiiniiipunifi.  Daughter's 
husband  (after  death  of  speaker's  daughter). 

ya,ubic.    Wife's  brother.    Beciprocal:  piya  (sister's  husband). 

piya.«  Sister's  husband,  half  sister's  husband,  husband's  brother,  daughter's 
daughter's  husband  (w.  s.).  Beciprocals:  tugu  (brother's  wife),  ya.ubic 
(wife's  brother),  yuguan  (wife's  sister,  wife's  mother's  mother).  Piya- 
paiyiin.    Sister's  husband  (after  death  of  speaker's  sister,  w.  s.).*^ 

yuguan.  Wife's  sister,  wife's  half  sister,  wife's  mother's  mother.  Beciprocal: 
piya  (sister's  husband,  half  sister's  husband,  daughter's  daughter's 
husband). 

tugu.  Brother's  wife,  daughter's  son's  wife  (w.  s.).  Beciprocals:  hiimiibic 
(husband's  sister),  piya  (husband's  brother). 

humiibic.    Husband's  sister.    Beciprocal:  tugu  (brother's  wife). 

nawasu.    Child's  spouse's  parent.    Beciprocal:  nawasu. 

There  are  certain  relationships  about  which  the  statements  of  in- 
formants are  unsatisfactory  or  contradictory.  These  are^liscussed  in 
the  following  paragraphs  and  table.  In  the  table  the  terms  which  I 
have  considered  as  most  likely  correct  are  italicized. 

By  one  informant  anociwan  was  given  for  daughter,  by  the  same 
informant  and  one  other  for  brother's  daughter  (m.  s.),  and  by  a  third 


6  One  informant  applied  this  term  also  to  wife 's  brother,  wife 's  sister,  and 
brother's  wife  (m.  s.). 

7  Doubtless  the  ending  -paiyiifi  is  suffixed  to  piya  used  in  other  ways,  and  to 
ya.ubic,  yuguan,  hiimiibic,  and  tugu,  following  the  death  of  the  connecting  rela- 
tive.   The  above  example,  however,  is  the  only  one  obtained. 


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224 


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informant  for  wife's  sister's  daughter.  The  third  informant  also 
gave  aiyawutawa  for  wife's  sister's  son.  In  the  list  on  page  222  the 
meanings  of  these  two  terms  appear  as  stepdaughter  and  stepson  re- 
spectively, as  these  are  the  only  positively  ascertained  meanings. 

Mrs.  John  Nicolas,  a  Kernville  Tiibatulabal,  gave  osambis  as  the 
term  for  sister's  child  (w.  s.).  She  was  very  positive  about  it,  and 
although  it  was  obtained  from  no  one  else,  it  may  represent  a  dialectic 
difference.  An  Onyx  (South  Fork  of  Kern  River)  informant,  Tom 
Pope,  stated  that  the  people  about  Kernville,  on  the  main  Kern  River, 
used  certain  terms  which  were  not  used  on  the  South  Fork.  He 
mentioned  as  an  example  the  term  hoki,  which  is  the  term  for  a  grand- 
parent or  grandchild  following  the  death  of  the  connecting  relative. 
According  to  Mrs.  Nicolas,  there  were  two  terms  for  great-grand- 
parents, saka  for  great-grandfather,  ipi  for  great-grandmother,  with 
reciprocals  sakabin  and  ipibin.  Other  informants  gave  saka  for  both 
grandparents.  This,  too,  may  be  a  dialectic  difference.  As  shown  in 
the  case  of  the  Miwok,  such  variations  in  a  relationship  system  may 
occur  within  a  few  miles.® 

Uncertain  Usages  op  Terms* 


Relationship 

Informants 

Bill 

Petra 

Clotilda    Tom 

Mrs.  John 

Indian 

Chico 

Miranda 

L.  Gomez  Pope 

Nicolas 

Henry 

Wife's  sister's  child 

kali 

tumu  kalibin 

kalibin 

aiyawutawa 
anociwan 

Wife's  sister 

yuguan 

piya    yuguan 

yuguan 

tugu 

Sister's  husband  (w.  s.) 

piya 

kumobic 

piya     piya 

piya 

kumobic 

Brother's  wife  (m.  s.) 

tumubic 

piya    piya 

tugu 

tugu 

Husband's  sister 

kumoanana 

tugu    tugu 

hilmiibic 

hiimiibic 

Wife 's  sister 's  husband 

impaiyis 

patci 

piya 

Husband 's  brother 's  wife 

anakutcim 

anakutcim 

tugu 

*  After  this  table  was  in  type  the  following  terms  for  brothers-in-law  and  sisters-in-law  were 
secured  from  Mrs.  Mary  Imitirio,  a  Tiibatulabal  woman  living  on  Tule  River  Indian  Reser- 
vation, Tulare  County,  California:  Wife's  brother,  piya;  sister's  husband  (m.  s.),  piya:  wife's 
sister,  yuguan:  sister's  husband  (w.  s.),  piya:  husband's  brother,  ya.ubic;  brother's  wife 
(w.  s.),  tugu;  husband's  sister,  hiimiibic,  brothers  wife  (w.  s.),  tugu. 

The  analysis  of  the  Tiibatulabal  terms  of  relationship  in  the  suc- 
ceeding table  is  on  the  basis  of  the  eight  categories  set  forth  by  Dr. 
A.  L.  Kroeber."  His  eighth  category,  **  Condition  of  the  connecting 
relative/'  is  here  amplified  in  meaning  so  as  to  cover  the  change  of 
terms  for  father  and  mother  following  the  death  of  one  or  more  of 
their  children  (see  abu  and  iimii  =  mother,  ana  and  kumu  =  father, 


8E.  W.  Gifford,  Miwok  Moieties,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  xn, 
172-174,  1916.    Compare  the  meanings  of  ate,  kole,  and  tcale. 

»  Classificatory  Systems  of  Relationship,  Journ.  Roy.  Anthr.  Inst.,  xxxix,  78, 
1909. 


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225 


in  the  preceding  list  on  p.  222.)    The  cross  used  in  the  following  table 
indicates  the  expression  of  a  category  by  a  term. 

In  the  following  table  the  category  ** Generation"  is  undoubtedly 
expressed  by  more  terms  than  would  be  the  case  if  fuller  genealogical 

Categorical  Analysis  op  Tubatulabal  Kinship  Terms 


Term 

Gener- 
ation 

Blood 

or 

marriage 

Lineal  or    Sex  of 
collateral  relative 

Sex  of 

connecting 

relative 

Sex  of 
speaker 

Age  in 
gener- 
ation 

Condition 
of  con- 
necting 
relative 

abu 

X 

X 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

agist 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

agistbin 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

aiyawutawa 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

aJka 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

akabin 

X 

X 



X 

X 

.... 

.... 

amust 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

X 

ana 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

anociwan 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

apa 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

.... 

apavin 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

X 

X 

.... 

hoki 

.... 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

hiimiibic 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 



impaiyis 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

kalibin 

X 

X 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

kali 

X 



X 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

kumu 

X 

.... 

.... 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

kunan 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

.... 

kutci 

X 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

nalawi 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

.... 

X 

nawasu 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

patci 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

.... 

X 

.... 

pauwan 

X 

— 

X 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

piya 

.... 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

saka 

X 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 



sakabiu 

X 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

soiyin 

X 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

.... 

.... 

tasi 

X 

X 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

X 

tohan 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

X 

tugu 

— 

X 

.... 

y 

.... 

.... 

tumu 

X 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

utsu 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

utsubin 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

X 

X 

umii 

X 

.... 

.... 

X 

.... 

.... 

X 

X 

wasurobis 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

X 

wd.ict 

X 

X 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

wiinin 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

ya.ubic 

X 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

X 

.... 

yugu 

X 

.... 

.... 

X 

.... 

X 

.... 

yuguan 

.... 

X 

.... 

X 

X 

X 

.... 

Terms* 

36 

31 

10 

25 

17 

11 

7 

11 

*  Number  of  terms  in  which  each  category  is  expressed. 


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226  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

evidence  were  available,  for  terms  of  aflSnity,  such  as  hiimiibic  (hus- 
band's sister)  and  ya.ubic  (wife's  brother),  woidd  probably  be  found 
to  refer  to  more  than  one  generation  just  as  do  piya  (sister's  husband ; 
daughter's  daughter's  husband,  w.  s.),  tugu  (brother's  wife;  daugh- 
ter's son's  wife,  w.s.),  and  yuguan  (wife's  sister;  wife's  mother's 
mother).  Even  with  this  reduction,  however,  the  category  ** Gener- 
ation" would  stand  out  as  one  of  those  most  frequently  expressed. 
Probably  the  category  **  Condition  of  connecting  relative"  really  finds 
expression  in  far  more  terms  than  it  appears  to  in  the  following  table, 
for,  as  already  mentioned,  further  investigation  will  doubtless  demon- 
strate that  the  suflBx  -paiyiin  or  -piinin  is  added  to  all  of  the  terms  of 
aflSnity  upon  the  death  of  the  connecting  relative.  If  such  is  found 
to  be  the  case,  the  number  of  terms  in  which  this  category  fimds  ex- 
pression will  be  doubled. 

The  fragmentary  genealogy  on  page  227  is  presented  for  the  purpose 
of  demonstrating  the  use  of  the  Tiibatidabal  relationship  terms.  The 
genealogy  was  supplied  by  Wanamut  (number  11  in  the  genealogy), 
who  is  otherwise  known  as  Mrs.  Mercedes  Linares,  and  by  her  daughter 
Tcaigump  (19),  otherwise  known  as  Mrs.  Clotilda  Linares  Gomez. 
Names  in  italics  are  those  of  women. 

The  following  kinship  terms  were  obtained  from  Wanamiit  (11) 
and  Tcaigump  (19)  as  applied  between  them  and  the  individuals  ap- 
pearing in  the  above  genealogy : 

I  calls  11  hdki  (daughter's  daughter  following  death  of  I's  daughter;  11 
calls  1  hdki  (mother's  father  following  death  of  11 's  mother).  1  calls  19  sakabin 
(daughter's  daughter's  daughter);  19  calls  1  saka  (mother's  mother's  father). 

3  calls  11  tumu  (daughter);  11  calls  3  iimii  (mother  following  the  death  of 
a  child).  3  calls  19  utsubin  (daughter's  daughter);  19  calls  3  utsu  (mother's 
mother). 

5  calls  11  tumu  (sister's  daughter);  11  calls  5  yugu  (mother's  younger 
sister).  5  calls  19  utsubin  (sister's  daughter's  daughter);  19  calls  5  utsu 
(mother's  mother's  sister). 

6,  7,  and  8  call  11  tumu  (wife's  sister's  daughter);  11  calls  6,  7,  and  8  tdhan 
(mother's  sister's  husband  younger  than  father).  19  calls  6,  7,  and  8  nothing; 
no  reason  was  given. 

9  calls  11  nalawi  (younger  sister);  11  calls  9  kutci  (elder  sister).  9  calls 
19  tumu  (sister's  daughter);  19  calls  9  iimii  (mother's  older  sister). 

II  calls  10  piya  (sister's  husband).  10  calls  19  tumu  (wife's  sister's 
daughter);  19  calls  10  kumu  (mother's  sister's  husband  older  than  father). 

11  calls  19  tumu  (daughter).  19  calls  11  iimu  (mother  following  the  death 
of  a  child,  that  is,  my  brother  or  sister). 

12  calls  11  soiyin  (wife);  11  calls  12  kufian  (husband). 

14  calls  11  yugu  (mother's  younger  sister);  11  calls  14  tumu  (sister's 
daughter).  14  calls  19  nalawi  (younger  half  sister);  19  calls  14  kutci  Colder 
half  sister). 


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227 


,  IJUTO" 


f 
s 


I  HIP 

L 


m 


§ 


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228  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

15  calls  11  umii  (mother  following  the  death  of  a  child);  11  calls  15  tumu 
(daughter).  15  calls  19  nalawi  (younger  half  sister);  19  calls  15  kutci  (older 
half  sister). 

16  calls  11  wasumbis  (wife's  mother);  11  calls  16  wiifiin  (daughter's  hus- 
band). 16  calls  19  yuguan  (wife's  half  sister);  19  calls  16  piya  (half  sister's 
husband). 

17  calls  11  umu  (mother  following  the  death  of  a  child);  11  calls  17  tumu 
(daughter).    17  calls  19  nalawi  (younger  sister);  19  calls  17  kutci  (older  sister). 

20,  21,  and  22  call  11  iimii  (mother  following  the  death  of  a  child) ;  11  calls 
20,  21,  and  22  tumu  (son).  20,  21,  and  22  call  19  kutci  (older  sister);  19  calls 
20,  21,  and  22  nalawi  (younger  brother).  20,  21,  and  22  call  19'8  children 
kalibin  (sister's  child) ;  19 's  children  call  20,  21,  and  22  kali  (mother's  brother). 

23  calls  11  wasumbis  (husband's  mother);  11  calls  23  tasi  (son's  wife). 
23  calls  19  humubic  (husband's  sister);  19  calls  23  tugu  (brother's  wife). 

24  and  25  call  11  utsu  (mother's  mother);  11  calls  24  and  25  utsubin  (daugh- 
ter's daughter).  24  and  25  call  19  yugu  (mother's  younger  half  sister);  19 
calls  24  and  25  tumu  (half  sister's  daughter). 

26  calls  11  yuguan  (wife's  mother's  mother);  11  calls  26  piya  (daughter's 
daughter's  husband).  26  calls  19  wasumbis  (wife's  mother's  half  sister);  19 
calls  26  wiinin  (half  sister's  daughter's  husband). 

27  and  28  call  11  apa  (father's  mother);  11  calls  27  and  28  apavin  (son's 
child).  27  and  28  call  19  pauwan  (father's  sister);  19  calls  27  and  28  amust 
(brother's  child). 

29  calls  11  saka  (mother's  mother's  mother);  11  calls  29  sakabin  (daughter's 
daughter's  daughter).  29  calls  19  utsu  (mother's  mother's  half  sister);  19  calls 
29  utsubin  (half  sister's  daughter's  daughter). 

12  calls  24  and  25  agistbin  (daughter's  daughter);  24  and  25  call  12  agist 
(mother's  father). 


KAWAIISU 

Forty-three  Kawaiisu  terms  of  relationship^**  were  obtained ;  these 
include  ten  terms  which  are  exact  reciprocals  except  that  they  have 
diminutive  suffixes.  As  with  the  Tiibatulabal  system,  there  are  a 
number  of  terms  which  take  a  suffix,  said  to  mean  **u8ed  to  be,'*  to 
indicate  the  death  of  the  connecting  relative.    In  Kawaiisu  this  suffix 


10  The  terms  for  wife 's  sister 's  husband  and  husband 's  brother 's  wife  were 
not  ascertained  to  my  satisfaction.    The  evidence  stands  as  follows: 
Relationship  Informants 

J.  Nichols       M.  Williams        A.  Brown  R.  Williams 

Wife 's  sister 's  husband  nawabiu        atamwoni      pavini 

saka.ini 

Husband's  brother's  wife         nama.ini        nama.ini        nama.ini 

patcini 
nabuzioni 
Mrs.  Befugia  Williams  stated  that  the  terms  pavini  and  saka.ini  are  applied 
according  to  the  ages  of  the  women  concerned,  not  according  to  the  ages  of  the 
two  men.  This  is  in  line  with  the  Kawaiisu  method  of  classifying  aunts  and 
uncles  by  affinity  (see  p.  235).  Mrs.  Williams  also  stated  that  the  term  nabuzieni 
becomes  nabuzirepuni  following  the  death  of  the  connecting  relative.  The  use 
of  the  terms  brother  and  sister  for  these  two  relationships  is  paralleled  in  the 
analogous  Tiibatulabal  data  (see  table  of  '* Uncertain  Usages  of  Terms,"  p.  224). 


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1917]  Oxford:  Tubatulahal  and  Kawaiisu  Kinship  Terms  229 

is  -puni  or  -repuni.  It  is  also  used  in  instances  of  divorce.  For  ex- 
ample, a  woman  adds  this  suffix  to  the  term  for  son-in-law  in  case  that 
relative  and  her  daughter  separate.  Eight  uses  of  this  suffix  were 
noted ;  all  were  for  terms  of  affinity.  Doubtless  there  are  other  similar 
cases  of  its  use,  which  were  not  recorded.  The  eight  terms  are  in- 
cluded in  the  list  of  Kawaiisu  terms,  but  are  not  included  in  the  count 
of  forty-three  terms  given  just  above. 

Not  all  of  the  meanings  of  Kawaiisu  relationship  terms  were  ob- 
tained. Enough,  however,  were  secured  to  make  clear  the  main 
features  of  the  system.  The  terms  for  great-grandfather  and  great- 
grandmother  are  the  only  ones  which  are  open  to  question  Only  two 
informants  were  consulted  on  this  particular  point.  They  agreed  on 
the  terms  for  great-grandson  and  great-granddaughter ;  but  for  great- 
grandfather one  gave  saka.ini,  the  other  saka.iteini.  For  great-grand- 
mother one  gave  nama.ini,  the  other  nama.itcini.  One  of  these  in- 
formants said  that  the  term  asiisiizini  was  sometimes  used  for  great- 
grandmother  ;  she  stated,  however,  that  it  was  a  term  borrowed  from 
the  **Tejon  Indians. '^^^ 

KAWAIISU  RELATIONSHIP  TERMS12 

muwuni.  Father  (before  death  of  child).  Reciprocals:  pediini  (daughter), 
tuwuni  (son). 

kuguni.  Father  (following  the  death  of  a  child),  father's  older  brother,  father's 
sister's  husband,  mother's  older  sister's  husband.  Reciprocals:  kuutcini 
(younger  brother's  child,  m.  s.;  wife's  brother's  child;  wife's  younger 
sister's  child),  pediini  (daughter;  brother's  daughter,  m.  s.;  wife's 
brother's  daughter;  wife's  sister's  daughter),  tuwuni  (son;  brother's 
son,  m.  s.;  wife's  brother's  son;  wife's  sister's  son).  Compare  muwuni 
(father),  mawiiuni  (mother),  and  piyuni  (mother). 

kuutcini.  Younger  brother's  child  (m.  s.),  wife's  brother's  child,  wife's  younger 
sister's  child.  Reciprocal:  kuguni  (father's  older  brother,  father's  sister's 
husband,  mother's  older  sister's  husband). 

piyuni.  Mother  (before  death  of  a  child).  Reciprocals:  peduni  (daughter), 
tuwuni  (son). 

mawiiiini.  Mother  (following  the  death  of  a  child),  mother's  older  sister, 
father's  older  brother's  wife.  Reciprocals:  mawuutcini  (younger  sister's 
child,  w.  8.;  husband's  younger  brother's  child),  pediini  (daughter;  hus- 
band's brother's  daughter;  sister's  daughter,  w.  s.),  tuwiini  (son;  hus- 
band's brother's  son;  sister's  son,  w.  s.).  Compare  piyuni  (mother), 
kuguni  (father),  and  muwuni  (father). 


11  By  **Tejon  Indians"  are  meant  those  living  near  Tejon,  Kern  County, 
California.  In  language  they  might  be  either  Yokuts  or  Shoshonean,  as  both 
stocks  are  found  in  that  locaUty. 

12  The  ending  -ni,  of  each  term  in  the  list,  means  '*my. "  The  non-vocative 
forms  are  not  given  in  this  list.  In  such  forms  -ni,  -mi,  and  -na  are  the  terminal 
syllables  meaning  **my,"  **your,"  and  "his,"  respectively.  There  are  occa- 
sional modifications  of  the  last  stem  vowel.  In  reference  the  full  pronouns 
nugaia  (my),  imia  (your),  and  onaia  (his)  may  also  be  preposed. 


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230  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

mawiiiitcini.  Younger  sister's  child  (w.  s.),  husband's  younger  brother's  child. 
Reciprocal:  mawiiuni  (mother's  older  sister,  father's  older  brother's 
wife). 

tuwuni.  Son,  brother's  son  (m.  s.),  husband's  brother's  son,  wife's  brother's 
son,  sister's  son  (w.  s.),  wife's  sister's  son.  Beciprocals:  muwuni 
(father),  kuguni  (father,  father's  older  brother,  father's  sister's  hus- 
band, mother's  older  sister's  husband),  pi^iini  (mother),  mawiiuni 
(mother,  mother's  older  sister,  father's  older  brother's  wife),  heeni 
(father's  younger  brother,  mother's  younger  sister's  husband),  nupbieni 
(mother's  younger  sister,  father's  younger  brother's  wife). 

pediini.  Daughter,  brother's  daughter  (m.  s.),  husband's  brother's  daughter, 
wife's  brother's  daughter,  sister's  daughter  (w.  s.),  wife's  sister's 
daughter.  Reciprocals:  muwuni  (father),  kuguni  (father,  father's  older 
brother,  father's  sister's  husband,  mother's  older  sister's  husband), 
piyuni  (mother),  mawiiiini  (mother,  mother's  older  sister,  father's  older 
brother's  wife),  heeni  (father's  younger  brother,  mother's  younger  sister's 
husband),  nupbieni  (mother's  younger  sister,  father's  younger  brother's 
,        wife). 

pay  in  i.  Older  brother,  male  cousin  older  than  speaker.  Reciprocals:  nama.ini 
(younger  sister,  female  cousin  younger  than  speaker),  saka.ini  (younger 
brother,  male  cousin  younger  than  speaker). 

saka.ini.  Younger  brother,  male  cousin  younger  than  speaker.  Reciprocals: 
pavini  (older  brother,  male  cousin  older  than  speaker),  patcini  (older 
sister,  female  cousin  older  than  speaker). 

patcini.  Older  sister,  female  cousin  older  than  speaker.  Reciprocals:  nama.ini 
(younger  sister,  female  cousin  younger  than  speaker),  saka.ini  (younger 
brother,  male  cousin  younger  than  speaker). 

nama.ini.  Younger  sister,  female  cousin  younger  than  speaker.  Reciprocals: 
pavini  (older  brother,  male  cousin  older  than  speaker),  patcini  (older 
sister,  female  cousin  older  than  speaker). 

heeni.  Father's  younger  brother,  mother's  younger  sister's  husband.  Recip- 
rocals: heetcini  (older  brother's  child,  m.  s.;  wife's  older  sister's  child), 
pediini  (brother's  daughter,  m.  s.;  wife's  sister's  daughter),  and  tuwuni 
(brother's  son,  m.  s.;  wife's  sister's  son). 

heetcini.  Older  brother's  child  (m.  s.),  wife's  older  sister's  child.  Reciprocal: 
heeni  (father's  younger  brother,  mother's  younger  sister's  husband). 

nupbieni.  Mother's  younger  sister,  father's  younger  brother's  wife.  Recip- 
rocals: nupbietcini  (older  sister's  child,  w.  s.;  husband's  older  brother's 
child),  pediini  (sister's  daughter,  w.  s.;  husband's  brother's  daughter), 
tuwuni  (sister's  son,  w.  s.;  husband's  brother's  son). 

nupbietcini.  Older  sister's  child  (w.  s.),  husband's  older  brother's  child.  Re- 
ciprocal: nupbieni  (mother's  younger  sister,  father's  younger  brother's 
wife). 

pahani.  Father 's  sister,  mother 's  brother 's  wife.  Reciprocal:  pahatcini  (brother's 
child,  w.  s.;  husband's  sister's  child). 

pahatcini.  Brother's  child  (w.  s.),  husband's  sister's  child.  Reciprocal:  pahani 
(father's  sister,  mother's  brother's  wife). 

cinuni.    Mother's  brother.    Reciprocal:  cinutcini  (sister's  child,  m.  s.). 

cinutcini.    Sister's  child  (m.  s.).    Reciprocal:  cinuni  (mother's  brother). 

kunoni.  Father's  father,  spouse's  father's  father.  Reciprocal:  kunotcini  (son's 
child,  m.  s.;  son's  child's  spouse,  m.  s.). 


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1917]  Giford:  Tuhatulahal  and  Kawaiisu  Kinship  Terms  231 

kunotcini.  Son's  child  (m.  8.)»  son's  child's  spouse  (m.  s.).  Reciprocal:  kunoni 
father's  father,  spouse's  father's  father). 

hutcini.  Father's  mother,  spouse's  father's  mother.  Reciprocal:  hutcitcini 
(son's  child,  w.  s.;  son's  child's  spouse,  w.  s.). 

hutcitcini.  Son's  child  (w.  s.),  son's  child's  spouse  (w.  s.).  Reciprocal:  hutcini 
(father's  mother,  spouse's  father's  mother). 

tdgoni.  Mother's  father,  spouse's  mother's  father.  Reciprocal:  tdgotcini 
(daughter's  child,  m.  s.;  daughter's  child's  spouse,  m.  s.). 

tdgotcini.  Daughter's  child  (m.  s.),  daughter's  child's  spouse  (m.  s.).  Recip- 
rocal: tdgoni  (mother's  father,  spouse's  mother's  father). 

kaguni.  Mother's  mother,  spouse's  mother's  mother.  Reciprocal:  kagutcini 
(daughter's  child,  w.  s.;  daughter's  child's  spouse,  w.  s.). 

kagutcini.  Daughter's  child  (w.  s.),  daughter's  child's  spouse  (w.  s.).  Recip- 
rocal: kaguni  (mother's  mother,  spouse's  mother's  mother). 

sakaitcini.  Great-grandfather  (literally  ** little  younger  brother").  Another 
informant  gave  this  term  as  saka.ini.  Reciprocals:  pavatcini  (great- 
grandson,  literally  "little  older  brother"),  patcitcini  (great-granddaugh- 
ter, literally  ** little  older  sister"). 

nama.itcini.  Great-grandmother  (literally  ** little  younger  sister").  Another 
informant  gave  this  term  as  nama.ini.  Reciprocals:  pavatcini  (great- 
grandson,  literally  ** little  older  brother"),  patcitcini  (great-granddaugh- 
ter, literally  "little  older  sister"). 

pavatcini.  Great-grandson  (literally  "little  older  brother").  Reciprocals: 
nama.itcini  (great-grandmother,  "little  younger  sister"),  saka-itcini 
(great-grandfather,  literally  "little  younger  brother"). 

patcitcini.  Great-granddaughter  (literally  "little  older  sister").  Reciprocals: 
nama.itcini  (great-grandmother,  literally  "little  younger  sister"),  saka.itcini 
(great-grandfather,  literally  "little  younger  brother"). 

kupmani.    Husband.    Reciprocal:  piwhani  (wife). 

piwhani.     Wife.     Reciprocal:  kupmani  (husband). 

wdhoni.    Co-wife,  co-husband.    Reciprocal:  w6honi. 

yeheni.  Spouse's  parent,  spouse's  parent's  brother  or  sister.  Reciprocals: 
hutcibiani  (son's  wife,  sister's  son's  wife,  brother's  son's  wife),  mdnoni 
(daughter's  husband,  sister's  daughter's  husband,  brother's  daughter's 
husband).  Yehesepuni.  Spouse's  parent  (following  death  of  speaker's 
spouse) . 

hutcibiani.  Son's  wife,  sister's  son's  wife,  brother's  son's  wife.  Reciprocal: 
yeheni  (spouse's  parent,  spouse's  parent's  brother  or  sister).  Hutcibire- 
puni.    Daughter-in-law  (following  death  of  speaker's  son). 

mdnoni.  Daughter's  husband,  sister's  daughter's  husband,  brother's  daughter's 
husband.  Reciprocal:  yeheni  (spouse's  parent,  spouse's  parent's  brother 
or  sister).  Mdnowaipuni.  Son-in-law  (following  death  of  speaker's 
daughter).  It  is  said  to  be  used  also  in  case  of  separation  of  speaker's 
daughter  from  her  husband. 

atamwoni.  Wife's  brother,  sister's  husband  (m.  s.).  Reciprocal:  atamwoni. 
Atomworepuni.  Wife's  brother  (following  death  of  speaker's  wife); 
sister's  husband  (following  death  of  speaker's  sister,  m.  s.). 

nebiwhoni.  Wife's  sister,  brother's  wife  (m.  s.).  Reciprocal:  nekomwhoni 
(sister's  husband,  w.  s.;  husband's  brother).  Nebiwhorepuni.  Wife's 
sister  (following  death  of  speaker's  wife),  brother's  wife  (following 
death  of  speaker's  brother,  m.  s.). 


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232  UniverHty  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

nekomwhoni.  Sister's  husband  (w.  s.),  husband's  brother.  Reciprocal:  nebi- 
whoni  (wife's  sister;  brother's  wife,  m.  s.).  Nekumrepuni.  Sister's 
husband  (following  death  of  speaker's  sister,  w.  s.),  husband's  brother 
(following  death  of  speaker's  husband). 

wiisimbiani.  Husband's  sister,  brother's  wife  (w.  s.).  Reciprocal:  wusimbiani. 
Wusibirepuni.  Husband's  sister  (following  death  of  speaker's  husband), 
brother's  wife  (following  death  of  speaker's  brother,  w.  s.). 

teeni.  Child 's  spouse 's  parent.  Reciprocal:  teeni.  Teerepuni.  Child 's  spouse 's 
parent  (following  death  of  speaker's  child  or  speaker's  child's  spouse). 

An  analysis  of  the  Kawaiisu  terms  is  presented  in  the  opposite 
table  (p.  233).  As  in  the  ease  of  the  analysis  of  Tiibatulabal  terms 
on  page  225,  it  is  based  on  the  eight  categories  set  forth  by  Dr.  A.  L. 
Kroeber."  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  category  ** Generation"  is  ex- 
pressed in  all  of  the  terms,  a  feature  which  is  in  sharp  contrast  with 
the  subordination  of  **  Generation "  in  the  Miwok  kinship  system,  in 
which  it  is  expressed  in  only  slightly  more  than  one-third  of  the 
terms.** 

The  cross  used  in  the  opposite  table  indicates  the  expression  of  a 
category  by  a  term. 


COMPARISON 
TiJBATULABAL  AND  KaWAIISU 

Forty  terms  of  relationship  were  obtained  among  the  Tiibatulabal 
as  against  forty-three  among  the  Kawaiisu.  The  following  table  ex- 
hibits numerically  the  application  of  the  terms  in  the  two  languages : 

Number  of  Terms 

Belationship                   Tiibatulabal  Kawaiisu 

Parent 4  4 

Child  1  2 

Stepchild 2 

Brother,  sister,  first  cousin  4  4 

Aunt,  uncle 6*  6* 

Niece,  nephew 3t  8t 

Grandparent,  grandchild 9  8 

Great-grandparent,  great-grandchild  ....       2  4 

Relation  by  marriage  ||  12  11 

*  Two  of  the  terms  for  aunt  and  uncle  are  also  the  terms  for  mother  and  father  following 
the  death  of  one  or  more  of  their  children. 

t  One  of  the  terms  (tumu)  for  niece  or  nephew  is  also  applied  to  one's  own  child. 

t  Two  of  the  terms  for  niece  and  nephew  are  also  applied  to  son  and  daughter. 

II  This  does  not  include  aunts,  uncles,  grandparents,  or  grandchildren  by  marriage,  nor 
does  it  include  any  of  the  step-relations. 

18  Classificatory  Systems  of  Relationship,  Journ.  Roy.  Anthr.  Inst.,  xxxix, 
78,  1909. 

14  E.  W.  Gifford,  Miwok  Moieties,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  xii, 
171,  1916. 


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Oxford :  Tubatuldhal  and  Kawaiisu  Kinship  Terms 


233 


Categorical  Analysis  of  Kawahsu  Kinship  Terms 


Term 
atamwoni 
ciniini 
cinutcini 
heeni 
heetcini 
hutcibiani 
hutcini 
hutcitcini 
kaguni 
kagutcini 
kuguni 
kunoni 
kunotcini 
kupmani 
kuutcini 
mawuiini 
mawiiiitcini 
mdnoni 
muwuni 
nama.ini 
nama.itcini 
nebiwhoni 
nekomwhoni 
nupbieni 
nupbietcini 
pahani 
pahatcini 
pavatcini 
pavini 
patcini 
patcitcini 
pediini 
piwhani 
piyuni 
saka.ini 
8aka.itcini 
teeni 
togoni 
tdgotcini 
tuwiini 
wdhoni 
wiisimbiani 
jeheni 
Terms* 


Blood  Sex  of 

Oener-       or        Lineal  or   Sex  of  connecting  Sex  of 
ation  marriage  collateral  relative    relative     speaker 


Age  in 
gener- 
ation 


Condition 
of  con- 
necting 
relative 


X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

43 


X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 


X 
X 
X 

23 


X 
X 
X 
X 


X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 


12 


30 


16 


16 


X 
X 

12 


'  Number  of  terms  in  which  each  category  is  expressed. 


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234  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

The  Tiibatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  classifications  of  parents  are  iden- 
tical. In  both  languages  there  is  a  special  term  for  father  and  a 
special  term  for  mother.  These  terms  are  used  for  no  other  relation- 
ships. Their  use,  however,  for  the  parents  is  subject  to  a  restriction, 
for  they  are  used  only  as  long  as  all  of  their  children  are  alive.  Upon 
the  death  of  a  child,  the  surviving  children  henceforth  call  the  parent 
by  a  diflferent  term.  The  new  term  in  the  case  of  the  father  is  that 
applied  to  the  father's  older  brother.  The  new  term  ini  the  case  of 
the  mother  is  that  applied  to  the  mother's  older  sister.  In  both  lan- 
guages four  terms  are  used  for  the  parent  relationship  (see  the  pre- 
ceding table) .    The  terms  are : 


Belationship 

Tiibatulabal 

Kawaiisu 

Father  before  death  of  child 

ana 

muwuni 

Father  after  death  of  child 

kumu 

kuguni 

Mother  before  death  of  child 

abu 

piyuni 

Mother  after  death  of  child 

iimii 

mawiiiini 

For  son  and  daughter  the  Tiibatulabal  have  but  one  term,  there 
being  no  distinction  made  as  to  sex  of  children.  The  Kawaiisu,  on 
the  other  hand,  distinguish  between  male  and  female  offspring. 


elationship 

Tiibatulabal 

Kawaiisu 

Son 

tumu 

tuwuni 

Daughter 

tumu 

pediini 

Only  Tiibatulabal  data  are  at  hand  in  the  matter  of  stepchildren. 
It  appears  that  the  Tiibatulabal  are  far  more  exact  in  designating 
stepchildren  than  own  children.  There  are  separate  terms  for  stepson 
and  stepdaughter,  whereas  son  and  daughter  are  united  in  one  term, 
there  being  no  distinction  as  to  sex.  Aiyawutawa  is  the  designation 
for  stepson,  anociwan  for  stepdaughter.  The  reciprocals  of  these 
terms  are  not  father  (ana)  and  mother  (abu),  but  are  instead  the 
terms  for  father's  older  brother  (kumu)  and  mother's  younger  sister 
(yugu).  This  identification  of  the  stepparents  with  the  older  paternal 
uncle  and  the  younger  maternal  aunt  is  one-sided,  for  the  terms 
aiyawutawa  and  anociwan  are  not  the  terms  of  the  reciprocal  nepotic 
relationship.  The  nepotic  relationship  is  designated  by  the  term  tumu 
(offspring).  On  the  one  hand,  the  classing  of  the  stepparents  with 
the  older  paternal  uncle  and  the  younger  maternal  aunt  and  the  unit- 
ing of  own  children  with  the  brother's  children  (m.  s.)  and  with  the 
sister's  children  (w.  s.)  suggests  the  levirate.    On  the  other  hand,  the 


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235 


lack  of  identification  of  the  stepchildren  with  the  brother's  children 
(m.  s.)  and  with  the  sister's  children  (w.  s.)  would  indicate  absence  of 
the  levirate.  In  other  words,  from  this  point  of  view,  the  Tiibatulabal 
evidence  is  equivocal. 

As  shown  in  the  table  on  page  232,  the  Tiibatulabal  and  Kawaiisu 
both  use  six  terms  for  uncles  and  aunts,  as  follows : 


Tiihatulahal 

Kawaiisu 

Father 's  older  brother 

kumu 

kuguni 

Father 's  younger  brother 

tdhan 

heeni 

Father 's  sister 

pauwan 

pahani 

Mother's  brother 

kali 

cinuni 

Mother 's  older  sister 

umii 

mawuiini 

Mother 's  younger  sister 

yugu 

nupbieni 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  specialization  as  to  age  is  on  the  side  of 
the  ** parallel"  aunts  and  uncles,  that  is,  those  related  to  ego  through 
a  parent  of  the  same  sex.  There  is  an  absence  of  age  specialization 
in  the  nomenclature  of  the  ** cross"  aunts  and  uncles,  that  is,  those 
related  to  ego  through  a  parent  of  the  opposite  sex.  Both  the  Tiiba- 
tulabal and  Kawaiisu  nomenclatures  are  identical  in  their  treatment 
of  aunts  and  uncles  by  consanguinity. 

Next  we  must  consider  the  aunts  and  uncles  by  affinity,  in  other 
words,  the  spouses  of  those  listed  just  above : 

Tiihatulahal 

Father 's  older  brother 's  wife  

Father 's  brother 's  wife  older  than  mother  iimii 

Father's  younger  brother's  wife  

Father 's  brother 's  wife  younger  than  mother  yug^ 

Father's  sister's  husband  kali 

Mother's  brother's  wife  pauwan 

Mother 's  older  sister 's  husband  

Mother 's  sister 's  husband  older  than  father  kumu 

Mother 's  younger  sister 's  husband  

Mother 's  sister 's  husband  younger  than  father  tdhan 


Kawaiisu 
mawtiuni 

nupbieni 

kuguni 
pahani 
kuguni 

heeni 


Here  we  find  some  decided  differences  between  the  two  systems. 
The  Tiibatulabal  use  six  terms,  the  Kawaiisu  only  five.  The  former 
classify  the  spouses  of  ** parallel"  uncles  and  aunts  according  to  the 
age  of  a  spouse  in  relation  to  the  mother  or  the  father  of  the  speaker. 
The  Kawaiisu  classify  the  spouses  of  ** parallel"  uncles  and  aunts 
according  to  the  relative  ages  of  the  uncles  and  aunts,  and  not  accord- 
ing to  the  age  of  the  spouse.  The  Tiibatulabal  scheme  suggests  double 
marriage,  that  is,  the  marriage  of  two  brothers  to  two  sisters.    Noth- 


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ing,  however,  is  known  of  the  marriage  customs  of  either  people,  so 
that  it  is  idle  to  dwell  too  much  upon  the  possible  forms  of  marriage 
suggested  by  the  terminology.  A  curious  feature  of  the  Kawaiisu 
nomenclature  is  the  identification  of  father's  sister's  husband  with  the 
father's  older  brother,  the  term  kuguni  being  used  where  one  would 
expect  to  find  cinuni.  To  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  theory  of  the 
reflection  of  forms  of  marriage  in  kinship  nomenclature  this  would 
prove  brother-sister  marriage,  which  is  of  course  an  absurdity.  The 
identification  of  father's  sister's  husband  with  mother's  brother  in 
Tiibatulabal  is  not  so  unusual.  It  might  result  from  the  marriage  of 
two  pairs  consisting  each  of  a  brother  and  a  sister.  A  common  ex- 
ample of  this  type  of  marriage  is  found  in  the  custom  of  cross-cousin 
marriage.  Here  again  genealogies  and  the  statements  of  informants 
as  to  such  a  form  of  marriage  among  either  people  are  lacking. 

The  reciprocals  for  aunts  and  uncles  by  affinity  are  the  same  as 
for  aunts  and  uncles  by  consanguinity.  All  of  the  terms  of  consan- 
guinity (except  Kawaiisu  cinuni,  mother's  brother)  are  also  terms  of 
affinity ;  hence  one  list  answers  for  both. 


TUhatulahal 

Kawaiisu 

Term 

Reciprocal 

Term 

Reciprocal 

kumu 

tumu 

kuguni 

kuutcini 

tuwiini 

pediini 

tdhan 

tumu 

heeni 

heetcini 

tuwiini 

pediini 

pauwan 

amust 

pahani 

pahatcini 

kali 

kalibin 

cinuni 

ciniitcini 

iimii 

tumu 

mawuiini 

mawiiiitcini 

tuwiini 

peduni 

yugu 

tumu 

nupbieni 

nupbietcini 

tuwiini 

pediini 

The  preceding  list  shows  that  ** parallel"  nieces  and  nephews 
(brother's  children,  m.  s,,  and  sister's  children,  w.  s.)  are  classed  solely 
as  offspring  by  the  Tiibatulabal,  a  condition  favoring  the  existence  of 
the  levirate.  Among  the  Kawaiisu  the  classification  is  paradoxical, 
for  ** parallel"  nieces  and  nephews  are  not  only  classified  as  offspring 
(son  and  daughter),  but  also  by  a  strictly  nepotic  term  which  is  an 
identical-reciprocal  of  the  term  for  aunt  or  uncle.  The  classification 
as  offspring  seems  to  be  secondary,  and  taken  alone  suggests  the  levi- 


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Tubatulabal 

Kawaiisu 

patci 

pavini 

nalawi 

saka.ini 

kutci 

patcini 

nalawi 

nama.ini 

impaiyis 

impaiyis 

1917]  Gifford:  Tubatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  Kinship  Terms  237 

rate.  The  use  of  the  identical-reciprocal  for  the  nepotic  relationship, 
however,  is  rather  against  the  presence  of  that  institution.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  the  classification  of  nieces  and  nephews  as  oflPspring  is  due 
to  Tiibatulabal  influence.  The  Tubatulabal  resemble  their  Shoshonean 
neighbors  on  the  north  in  their  classification  of  *' parallel''  nephews 
and  nieces ;  at  least  this  is  true  if  we  may  judge  from  a  relationship 
system  collected  at  North  Fork,  Madera  County. 

The  following  table  presents  the  grouping  of  brothers,  sisters,  and 
first  cousins: 


Older  brother,  older  male  cousin 
Younger  brother,  younger  male  cousin 
Older  sister,  older  female  cousin 
Younger  sister,  younger  female  cousin 
Brother  (w.  s.),  male  cousin  (w.  s.) 
Sister  (m.  s.),  female  cousin  (m.  s.) 


The  feature  common  to  both  Tubatulabal  and  Kawaiisu,  as  exhib- 
ited in  the  above  table,  is  that  cousins  are  classified  as  sisters  and 
brothers,  a  feature  found  also  among  the  Shoshonean  Mono  of  North 
Fork.  The  points  of  difference  between  Tubatulabal  and  Kawaiisu 
are  very  clear.  The  former  unite  younger  brother  and  younger  sister 
in  one  term.  This  is  analogous  to  another  usage  of  the  Tubatulabal, 
who  unite  son  and  daughter  in  one  term.  The  Kawaiisu,  however, 
have  distinct  terms  for  younger  brother  and  younger  sister.  The 
Tiibatulabal  grouping  of  brothers,  sisters,  and  cousins  exhibits  another 
feature,  which  is  not  found  among  the  Kawaiisu  but  which  is  present 
among  the  North  Fork  Mono;  namely,  a  single  term  for  brother  or 
male  cousin  (w.  s.)  and  for  sister  or  female  cousin  (m.  s.). 

Grandparents  and  grandchildren  are  grouped  in  the  same  manner 
in  both  Tiibatulabal  and  Kawaiisu.  These  terms  are  discussed  a  few 
pages  below  in  connection  with  identical-reciprocals  and  diminutives. 
The  Tubatulabal  possess  nine  terms  for  the  grandparent-grandchild 
relation ;  the  Kawaiisu  possess  eight.  The  ninth  term  in  Tubatulabal 
is  hoki,  which  is  used  by  either  grandparent  or  grandchild  following 
the  death  of  the  connecting  relative. 

The  Tiibatulabal  have  but  one  term  for  great-grandparent  and  but 
one  for  great-grandchild,  again  paralleling  the  single  term  for  off- 
spring. The  Kawaiisu  have  two  for  each  of  these  relationships,  as  they 
distinguish  sex. 


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A  comparison  of  the  terms  for  brothers-in-law  and  sisters-in-law 
in  the  two  languages  would  be  futile,  owing  to  the  uncertainty  with 
regard  to  some  of  the  Tiibatulabal  terms. 

A  radical  difference  in  the  classification  of  the  grandchild's  spouse 
and  the  spouse's  grandparent  is  to  be  noticed.  The  Tiibatulabal 
classify  these  relatives  as  brothers-in-law  and  sisters-in-law  (see  No. 
26  on  p.  228).  The  Kawaiisu  classify  the  grandchild's  spouse  and 
spouse's  grandparent  as  grandchild  and  grandparent,  respectively. 
The  Tiibatulabal  classification  is  similar  to  the  Miwok.^' 

As  stated  earlier,  diminutive  suffixes  are  used  by  both  the  Tiiba- 
tulabal and  the  Kawaiisu.  At  least  among  the  latter  people  the  dimin- 
utive suffix  is  also  an  endearment,  as  in  piwhatcini  (piwha[tci]ni), 
dear  wife.  It  is  also  used  in  connection  with  the  term  for  child's 
spouse's  parent,  teetcini  (tee[tci]ni).  Informants  stated  that  the  use 
in  this  case  was  for  the  sake  of  politeness.  In  the  same  way  a  person 
uses  this  endearment  for  the  mother-in-law  or  father-in-law,  yehetcini 
(yehe[tci]ni). 

Information  obtained  from  the  Tiibatulabal  as  to  the  use  of  the 
diminutive  suffix  -bin  or  -vin  as  a  term  of  endearment  requires  sub- 
stantiation. Otherwise  the  use  of  the  diminutive  among  the  Tiiba- 
tulabal corresponded  to  its  use  among  the  Kawaiisu,  except  that  it  was 
employed  less  extensively.  The  following  list  exhibits  clearly  the 
agreements  and  disagreements  in  the  use  of  the  diminutives  in  the 
two  languages.    Every  term  is  followed  by  its  reciprocal. 


Belationship 
Mother 's  brother 

Sister's  child  (m.  s.) 
Father 's  younger  brother 

Older  brother's  child  (m.  s.) 
Father's  mother 

Son 's  child  (w.  s.) 
Mother's  mother 

Daughter's  child  (w.  s.) 
Father's  older  brother 

Younger  brother's  child  (m.  s.) 
Father's  father 

Son's  child  (m.  s.) 
Mother's  older  sister 

Younger  sister's  child  (w.  s.) 


Kawaiisu 

Tuhatulahal 

cinuni 

kaU 

cinutcini 

kalibin 

heeni 

tdhan 

heetcini 

tumu 

hutcini 

apa 

hutcitcini 

apavin 

kaguni 

utsu 

kagutcini 

utsubin 

kuguni 

kumu 

kuutcini 

tumu 

kunoni 

aka 

kunotcini 

akabin 

mawiiiini 

iimii 

mawiiiitcini 

tumu 

15  E.  W.  Giflford,  Miwok  Moieties,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  xn, 
172-174,  1916.    See  apasti,  kawu,  kolina,  olo,  wokli. 


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Belationship 

Kawaiisu 

Tiihatulahal 

Great-grandmother 

nama.itcini 

saka 

Great-grandson 

pavatcini 

sakabin 

Great-granddaughter 

patcitcini 

sakabin 

Mother 's  younger  sister 

nupbieni 

yugu 

Older  sister's  child  (w.  s.) 

nupbietcini 

tumu 

Father 's  sister 

pahani 

pauwan 

Brother's  child  (w.  s.) 

pahatcini 

amust 

Great-grandfather 

8aka.itcini 

saka 

Great-grandson 

pavatcini 

sakabin 

Great-granddaughter 

patcitcini 

sakabin 

Mother's  father 

tdgoni 

agist 

Daughter's  child  (m.  s.) 

tdgotcini 

agistbin 

A  glance  at  the  preceding  table  betrays  the  fact  that  the  Tiiba- 
tulabal  use  the  diminutive  form  for  the  grandchildren  and  great- 
grandchildren and  for  the  sister's  child  (m.  s.).  These  terms  are 
identical-reciprocals  of  the  terms  for  grandparents,  great-grandpar- 
ent, and  mother's  brother,  plus  the  diminutive  endings.  This  condi- 
tion is  matched  exactly  in  the  case  of  Kawaiisu  terms,  except  in  the 
matter  of  the  great-grandparents  and  great-grandchildren;  there,  to 
be  sure,  the  diminutive  suffix  is  used,  but  a  single  stem  is  not  used  for 
the  two  terms  of  the  reciprocal  relation,  as  in  Tiibatulabal.  In 
Kawaiisu  there  are  six  terms  for  aunts  and  uncles  with  reciprocals 
which  are  identical  except  for  the  addition  of  the  diminutive  suffix. 
With  the  exception  of  the  case  of  mother's  brother  and  reciprocal 
mentioned  just  above,  these  are  all  lacking  in  Tiibatulabal.  The 
diflference  is  perhaps  not  so  great  as  it  appears,  however,  for  in 
Kawaiisu,  as  already  mentioned,  the  reciprocals  of  heeni,  kuguni, 
mawiiiini,  and  nupbieni  (which  are  the  terms  for  ** parallel"  aunts 
and  uncles)  may  be  also  the  terms  for  son  and  daughter  (see  pp.  229- 
230)  as  well  as  the  terms  listed  above.  In  Tiibatulabal  the  term  used 
for  son  or  daughter  is  also  used  as  the  reciprocal  of  the  terms  for 
*  *  parallel ' '  aunts  and  uncles  ( iimii,  yugu,  kumu,  tohan ) .  This  reduces 
the  constant  diflferences  between  the  two  systems,  in  regard  to  the 
use  of  diminutives,  to  two.  The  Tiibatulabal  use  pauwan  for  father's 
sister  and  amust  for  brother's  child,  w.  s. ;  in  other  words,  two  terms 
with  different  stems  and  without  the  diminutive  suffix.  The  Kawaiisu 
use  pahani  and  pahatcini  for  the  same  relationships;  in  other  words, 
two  terms  with  the  same  stem  and  with  the  diminutive  suffix.  The 
Tiibatulabal  use  of  sakan  and  sakabin  for  the  great-grandparent  and 
reciprocal  is  analogous  to  the  Kawaiisu  use  of  pahani  and  pahatcini. 


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240  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

The  Kawaiisu  use  of  nama.itcini  and  saka.itcini  for  the  great-grand- 
parents and  pavateini  and  patciteini  for  the  great-grandchildren  is 
different  still,  for  the  diminutive  suflSx  is  used  with  both  of  a  pair  of 
reciprocal  terms  having  different  stems. 

The  use  of  identical-reciprocal  terms,  plus  a  diminutive  for  the 
younger  generation  of  the  pair,  seems  to  be  more  developed  among  the 
Kawaiisu  than  among  the  Tiibatulabal.  The  former  consistently  apply 
them  to  the  six  groups  of  aunts  and  uncles,  nieces  and  nephews,  and 
to  the  four  groups  of  grandparents  and  grandchildren.  The  latter 
consistently  apply  them  to  the  four  groups  of  grandparents  and  grand- 
children and  to  the  single  group  great-grandparent  and  great-grand- 
child. In  the  classification  of  aunts  and  uncles  they  are  inconsistent, 
identical-reciprocals  being  used  in  only  one  out  of  the  six  groups. 
Informants  among  the  Tiibatulabal  said  that  frequently  the  terms  for 
grandchildren,  which  are  here  listed  with  diminutive  suflSxes,  were 
used  without  them.  Among  the  Mono,^®  the  northern  neighbors  of  the 
Tiibatulabal,  terms  for  grandchildren  and  grandparents  are  also  iden- 
tical, but  no  diminutive  suffix  is  employed.  Viewed  from  the  stand- 
point of  number  of  uses  of  identical-reciprocals  and  diminutives,  the 
Tiibatulabal  are  intermediate  between  their  northern  and  southern 
neighbors. 

The  Tiibatulabal  terms  hoki  (grandparent  or  grandchild  following 
the  death  of  the  connecting  relative),  impaiyis  (brother  or  male  cousin, 
w.  s. ;  sister  or  female  cousin,  m.  s.),  nawasu  (child's  spouse's  parent), 
and  wo.ict  (co-wife,  co-husband)  have  identical-reciprocals,  but  never 
employ  the  diminutive  suffix.  Analogous  terms  among  the  Kawaiisu 
are  atamwoni  (wife's  brother;  sister's  husband,  m.  s.),  teeni  (child's 
spouse's  parent),  wohoni  (co-wife,  co-husband),  and  wiisimbiani  (hus- 
band's sister;  brother's  wife,  w.  s.).  The  explanation  of  the  non-use 
of  the  suffix  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  terms,  with  the  exception 
of  hoki,  apply  to  individuals  of  only  one  generation. 

Identical-reciprocal  terms  are  of  two  types,  distinguishable  by  their 
meanings.  One  type,  exemplified  by  Tiibatulabal  nawasu  and  wo.ict 
and  by  Kawaiisu  teeni  and  wohoni,  has  identical  meanings;  for  ex- 
ample, the  meaning  of  nawasu  and  teeni  is  child's  spouse's  parent; 
the  reciprocal  of  each  of  these  terms  is  also  child's  spouse's  parent. 
The  meanings  of  identical-reciprocal  terms  of  the  second  type  are 
distinctly  unlike ;  in  fact,  the  two  meanings  are  the  antitheses,  one  of 


i«Oiily  the  Mono  of  North  Fork,  Madera  County,  California,  have  been 
visited  by  the  writer. 


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1917]  Giford:  TUhatulahal  and  Kawaiisu  Kinship  Terms  241 

the  other;  for  example,  the  Tiibatulabal  term  aka  means  father's 
father;  the  reciprocal  aka  or  aka  [bin]  means  son's  child  (m.  s.).  A 
Kawaiisu  example  is  the  term  atamwoni,  meaning  wife's  brother  and 
sister's  husband,  m.  s. 

Certain  lexical  similarities  between  Tiibatulabal  and  Kawaiisu 
terms  are  obvious.  The  most  striking  resemblances  are  best  shown  by 
a  table.    In  the  case  of  the  Tiibatulabal  term  saka,  together  with  its 


Tiibatulabal  Kawaiisu 

kufian  (husband)  kupmani  (husband) 

patci  (older  brother)  patcini  (older  sister) 

pauwan  (father's  sister)  pahani  (father's  sister) 

saka  (great-grandparent)  saka.ini  (younger  brother) 

saka.itcini  (great-grandfather) 


reciprocal  sakabin  (great-grandchild),  we  seem  to  have  an  example  of 
out-and-out  borrowing,  the  Tiibatulabal  using  the  Kawaiisu  term  for 
great-grandfather,  which  is  merely  the  Kawaiisu  term  for  younger 
brother  plus  the  diminutive  suffix.  The  reverse  hypothesis  is  possibly 
the  correct  one,  namely,  that  the  Kawaiisu  borrowed  the  Tiibatulabal 
term  for  great-grandparent  and  applied  it  to  the  younger  brother  and 
then  to  the  great-grandfather.  This  hypothesis,  however,  seems  an 
unlikely  one. 

The  following  table  summarizes  the  categorical  analyses  of  the 
Tiibatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  terms  presented  in  detail  on  pages  225  and 
233.  The  columns  headed  ''Number"  give  the  number  of  terms  in 
which  each  category  is  expressed.  The  columns  headed  ** Percentage" 
express  the  number  of  occurrences  of  a  category  in  percentages  of  the 
total  number  of  terms. 

Tiibatulabal  Kawaiisu 

Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 

Terms  40            ....  43 

Generation  36            90  43           100 

Blood  or  marriage  31             78  23            53 

Lineal  or  collateral  10            25  12            28 

Sex  of  relative  25            63  30            70 

Sex  of  connecting  relative  17            43  16            37 

Sex  of  speaker  11             28  16            37 

Age  in  generation  7             18  8             19 

Condition  of  connecting  relative 11             28  12            28 

The  category  ** Generation"  is  expressed  in  all  of  the  Kawaiisu 
terms  as  presented  in  this  paper.     Inquiry  on  a  genealogical  basis 


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242  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

might  break  down  this  complete  expression  of  the  category.  In  Tiiba- 
tulabal  four  out  of  forty  terms  fail  to  express  this  category ;  one  of 
these  four  is  the  term  hoki,  which  is  applied  to  either  grandparent  or 
grandchild  following  the  death  of  the  connecting  relative.  The  re- 
maining three  are  the  terms  for  brothers-in-law  and  sisters-in-law, 
which  are  applied  also  to  spouse's  grandparent  and  grandchild's 
spouse,  a  very  different  classification  from  the  Kawaiisu  which  has 
already  been  discussed. 

The  difference  in  the  expression  of  the  category  **  Blood  or  mar- 
riage" in  the  two  languages  is  largely  due  to  the  difference,  just  men- 
tioned, in  the  classification  of  spouse's  grandparent  and  grandchild's 
spouse,  which  among  the  Kawaiisu  are  classed  as  grandparent  and 
grandchild.  This  difference  alone  takes  eight  Kawaiisu  terms  out  of 
this  category.  The  corresponding  TUbatulabal  terms  for  grandparent 
and  grandchild  naturally  fall  under  this  category,  as  they  all  definitely 
express  consanguinity  without  expressing  afl&nity  also. 

The  other  categories  are  expressed  quite  similarly  by  the  relation- 
ship systems  of  the  two  languages,  with  the  exception  of  the  categories 
**Sex  of  relative"  and  **Sex  of  speaker."  The  difference  in  the  first 
instance  is  the  result  of  the  Tubatulabal  uniting  of  great-grandson  and 
great-granddaughter  on  the  one  hand  and  great-grandfather  and  great- 
grandmother  on  the  other  hand,  while  the  Kawaiisu  distinguish  two 
great-grandchildren  and  two  great-grandparents.  In  the  second  in- 
stance, *  *  Sex  of  speaker, ' '  the  difference  is  due  to  the  use  of  identical- 
reciprocals  for  nepotic  relatives  by  the  Kawaiisu  and  to  their  non-use, 
except  in  one  case  (kali-kalibin),  by  the  TUbatulabal. 

Like  the  last  table,  the  following  table  presents  a  categorical  com- 
parison, also  in  percentages  of  the  number  of  terms,  of  the  Tubatulabal 
and  Kawaiisu  kinship  systems  and  those  presented  by  Dr.  A.  L. 
Kroeber  in  his  paper  on  the  *  *  Classificatory  Systems  of  Relation- 
ship."^^ For  Dr.  Kroeber 's  Miwok  figures  those  of  the  writer"  have 
been  substituted.  It  is  clear  that  in  at  least  one  category,  **  Lineal  or 
collateral,"  the  TUbatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  hold  a  unique  position  and 
have  no  near  approach  in  any  of  the  other  systems  here  presented, 
except  the  Miwok." 


17  Journ.  Roy.  Anthr.  Inst.,  xxxix,  79,  1909. 

18  Miwok  Moieties,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  xn,  171,  1916. 

10  The  comparisons  in  the  three  succeeding  tables  must  be  used  with  reser- 
vation, as  a  factor  of  uncertainty  has  been  introduced  by  differences  in  the 
collecting  of  the  data.  For  Miwok  the  material  is  far  more  detailed  than  for 
the  other  groups. 


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1917]  Giford:  Tubatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  Ein$hip  Terms  243 


«       *       *       5        I       I       I        I 

Number  of  terms  24  27  28  34  28  40  43  34  35 

Generation  100  78  96  38  79  90^  100  88  74 

Blood  or  marriage  100  100  100  76  100  78 '  53  94  97 

Lineal  or  coUateral lOK)  78  100  18  93  25  28  100  80 

Sex  of  relative 67  78  71  85  61  63  70  53  63 

Sex  of  connecting  relative 54  48  50  44  50  43  37  56  60 

Sex  of  speaker 13  11  36  26  43  28  37  29  40 

Age  in  generation  13  15  14  15  14  18  19  35  23 

Condition  of  connecting  relative ..       0  0  0  0  ♦  28  28  0  3 

*  This  category  is  expressed  in  terms  denoting  relatives  by  marriage,  but  the  number  of 
such  terms  is  not  given.  See  A.  L.  Kroeber,  Olassincatory  Systems  of  Relationship,  Joum.  Boy. 
Anthr.  Inst.,  xxxix,  79,  footnote,  1909. 

The  purpose  of  the  two  following  tables  is  to  indicate  by  figures 
the  actual  differences  between  the  Tubatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  systems 
and  each  of  the  other  systems  presented  in  the  foregoing  table.  The 
figures  in  these  tables  are  the  differences  between  the  percentages  in 
the  Tiibatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  columns  of  the  preceding  table  and  the 
percentages  in  each  of  the  other  columns  of  the  preceding  table.  The 
total  at  the  foot  of  each  column  in  the  succeeding  tables  is  the  sum  of 
the  percentage  differences,  that  is,  the  differences  in  percentages  for 
each  category  as  expressed  in  Tiibatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  and  each  of 
the  other  languages.  These  totals  are  the  basis  of  comparison  of  the 
systems  as  wholes.  The  first  table  is  for  the  Tubatulabal  system,  the 
second  for  the  Kawaiisu.  It  is  to  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  the  Tiiba- 
tulabal and  Kawaiisu  systems  resemble  each  other  far  more  closely 
than  any  of  the  other  Californian  systems  resemble  either  of  these. 
In  fact,  the  gap  between  the  Tubatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  systems  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  remaining  Californian  systems  on  the  other  hand 
may  be  said  to  be  very  conspicuous.  Tubatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  differ 
from  each  other  by  a  total  of  sixty-one  percentage  differences,  while 
the  nearest  approach  to  this  is  found  between  Tubatulabal  and  Miwok, 
the  total  of  percentage  differences  being  one  hundred  and  seventeen, 
nearly  twice  as  great  as  the  difference  between  Tubatulabal  and 
Kawaiisu.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  Tubatulabal  system  is  not  so  far 
removed  from  the  other  Californian  systems  as  is  the  Kawaiisu.  The 
greatest  difference  between  the  Tiibatulabal  and  any  of  the  other 
Californian  systems  is  one  hundred  and  seventy  percentage  differences, 
occurring  between  Tubatulabal  and  Yuki.     The  greatest  difference 


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244  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

between  Kawaiisu  and  any  other  system  is  two  hundred  and  thirteen 
percentage  diflferenees,  occurring  between  Kawaiisu  and  Luiseno,  both 
Shoshonean  groups.  The  least  difference  is  between  Kawaiisu  and 
Miwok,  amounting  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  percentage  differences. 
This  least  difference,  however,  is  nearly  two  and  one-half  times  as  great 
as  the  difference  between  TUbatulabal  and  Kawaiisu. 

TiJBATULABAL 


Generation  10       12  6  52  11  10  2  16 

Blood  or  marriage  22       22  22  2  22  25  16  19 

LineaZ  or  collateral  75       53  75  7  68  3  75  55 

Sex  of  relative  4       15  8  22  2  7  10  0 

Sex  of  connecting  relative 11         5  7  1  7  6  13  17 

Sex  of  speaker 15       17  8  2  15  9  1  12 

Age  in  generation  534341  17  5 

Condition  of  connecting  relative  28       28  28  28  28*  0  28  25 

Total  170     155  158  117  157*  61  162  149 

Kawaiisu 


o  .:« 


s 


Generation  0       22  4       62       21  10  12  26 

Blood  or  marriage  47       47  47       23       47  25  41  44 

Lineal  or  collateral  72       50  72       10       65  3  72  52 

Sex  of  relative  38  1597  17  7 

Sex  of  connecting  relative 17       11  13         7       13  6  19  23 

Sex  of  speaker 24       26  1       11         6  9  8  3 

Age  in  generation  64545  116  4 

Condition  of  connecting  relative  28       28  28       28       28*  0  28  25 

Total  197     196     171     150     194*     61 .  213     184 

*  "Terms  denoting  relatives  by  marriage  undergo  a  vocalic  change  to  indicate  the  death  of 
the  connecting  relative."  See  A.  L.  Kroeber,  Classiflcatory  Systems  of  Relationship,  Journ. 
Roy.  Anthr.  Inst.,  xxxix,  79,  footnote,  1909.  Dr.  Kroeber  does  not  indicate  the  number  of 
terms  so  altered,  hence  the  figures  in  the  Yokuts  column  of  the  table  for  the  category  "Condition 
of  connecting  relative"  are  too  large.  Likewise  the  totals  of  percentage  differences  between 
Tiibatulabal  and  Yokuts  and  between  Kawaiisu  and  Yokuts  are  too  large. 

Kawaiisu,  Kaebab  Paiute,  and  Uintah  Ute 

A  comparison  of  the  Kawaiisu  terms  with  those  of  the  Uintah  Ute 
of  northern  Utah  and  Kaibab  Paiute  of  southwestern  Utah  and  north- 


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Gifford :  Tiibatuldbal  and  Kawaiisu  Kinship  Terms 


245 


western  Arizona  obtained  by  Dr.  Edward  Sapir^**  shows  a  very  close 
similarity  in  sound  and  spelling,  even  to  the  matter  of  the  diminutive 
suffix.  Similarity  of  the  three  groups  might  be  expected  because  of 
the  community  of  language,  for  all  speak  Ute-Chemehuevi  dialects. 
The  Tiibatulabal,  however,  do  not  speak  Ute-Chemehuevi,  and,  further- 
more, belong  to  another  of  the  four  primary  divisions  of  the  Shosho- 
nean  stock  f^  hence  their  terms  of  relationship  could  not  be  expected 
to  exhibit  as  strong  a  degree  of  resemblance  to  the  Kawaiisu  terms  as 
Uintah  Ute  and  Kaibab  Paiute  terms  exhibit. 

The  thirty-two  Kaibab  Paiute  terms  secured  by  Dr.  Sapir  are  listed 
below.  Twelve  of  these,  although  very  similar  in  sound  and  spelling 
to  certain  of  the  Kawaiisu  terms,  are  applied  in  a  quite  different 
manner.     (Consult  in  the  following  list  numbers  4,  10-17,  22-25.) 


Kaibab  Paiute 

1.  moan**  (father) 

2.  piyan* '  (mother) 

3.  tuwatsin**  (son) 

4.  patein**  (daughter) 

5.  pavi(t8i)n*'  (older  brother) 

6.  tc*  ■*qa.itcin* '  (younger  brother) 

7.  patsitsin* '  (older  sister) 

8.  yiip'ian* '  (younger  sister) 

9.  namintsin* '  (younger  sister) 

10.  toxon*  *  (grandfather) 

11.  toxotsin*  •  (grandchild,  m.  s.) 

12.  qaxun* '  (grandmother) 

13.  qaxutsin*  *  (grandchild,  w.  s.) 

14.  qunun*  *  (great-grandfather,  great- 

grandfather's brother) 

15.  qunutsin* '  (great-grandchild,  m.  s. ; 

brother's  great-grandchild,  m.  s.) 

16.  '"'•Hsin*'  (great-grandmother, 

great-grandfather 's  sister) 

17.  * ''"  tsitsin* '  (great-grandchild,  w.  s. 

brother's  great-grandchild,  w  .8.) 

18.  ain<*  (father's  brother) 

19.  aitsin* '  (brother's  child,  m.  s.) 

20.  paan**  (father's  sister,  probably 

also  mother's  sister) 

21.  paatsin*'  (brother's  child,  w.  s.; 

probably  also  sister's  child,  w.  s.) 

20  A  Note  on  Reciprocal  Terms  of  Relationship  in  America,  Am.  Anthr.,  n.  s., 
XV,  132-138,  1913 ;  also  Dr.  Sapir 's  unpublished  data,  which  are  presented  in  the 
succeeding  lists  of  terms. 

21  A.  L.  Kroeber,  Shoshonean  Dialects  of  California,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am. 
Arch.  Ethn.,  iv,  97,  98,  100,  1907. 


Kawaiisu 
muwuni  (father) 
piyuni  (mother) 
tuwuni  (son) 
peduni  (daughter) 
pavini  (older  brother) 
pavatcini  (great-grandson) 
saka.ini  (younger  brother) 
saka,itcini  (great-grandfather) 
patcini  (older  sister) 
patcitcini  (great-granddaughter) 
nama.ini  (younger  sister) 
nama.itcini  (great-grandmother) 
tSgoni  (mother's  father) 
togotcini  (daughter's  child,  m.  s.) 
kaguni  (mother's  mother) 
kagutcini  (daughter's  child,  w.  s.) 
kunoni  (father's  father) 

kunotcini  (son's  child,  m.  s.) 

hutcini  (father 's  mother) 

hutcitcini  (son's  child,  w.  s.) 

heeni  (father's  younger  brother) 
heetcini  (older  brother's  child,  m.  s.) 
pahani  (father 's  sister) 

pahatcini  (brother's  child,  w.  s.) 


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246 


University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [VoL  12 


Kaibah  Paiute 

22.  cinan*  *  (male  cousin  older  than 

speaker;  mother's  brother) 

23.  cinatsin^ '  (male  cousin  younger 

than  speaker;  nephew, 
probably  sister's  child,  m.  s.) 

24.  mftflu*in* '  22  (female  cousin  older 

than  speaker;  niece) 

25.  mafiwu*  itsin^ '  22  (female  cousin 

younger  than  speaker) 

26.  pifiwan^i  (wife) 

27.  qom'An'*  (husband) 

28.  monatsin^*  (daughter's  husband) 

29.  tantafiwll*vin^ '  (sister 's  husband, 

m.  s.) 

30.  tsi'  entamowan*  *  (wife 's  brother) 

31.  naimpifiwAn* '  28  (wife's  sister; 

brother's  wife,  m.  s.) 

32.  naifiqurnxn*'  24  (husband's  brother; 

sister 's  husband,  w.  s.) 


Kawaiisu 
cinuni  (mother's  brother) 

cinutcini  (sister's  child,  m.  s.) 


mawiiiini  (mother's  older  sister) 

mawuiitcini  (younger  sister's  child,  w.  s.) 

piwhani  (wife) 

kupmani  (husband) 

mdnoni  (daughter's  husband) 

atamwoni  (sister's  husband,  m.  s.) 

atamwoni  (wife's  brother) 

nebiwhoni  (wife's  sister;  brother's  wife, 
m.  s.) 

nekomwhoni  (husband's  brother;  sister's 
husband,  w.  s.) 


The  ensuing  list  gives  the  thirty-three  Uintah  Ute  terms  obtained 
by  Dr.  Sapir  together  with  the  corresponding  Kawaiisu  terms : 


Uintah  Ute 
mfian'*  (father) 
pien'  *  (mother) 


1. 
2. 

3.  towAn*'  (son) 

towAtcin' '  (more  affectionate  form) 

4.  patcin* '  (daughter) 

patcitcin' '  (more  affectionate  form) 

5.  pavin' '  (older  brother) 
pavitein' ' 

6.  tc'  "qai*  in*  *  (younger  brother) 
tc'  '"qai*  tcin*  • 

7.  paitcin*  *  (older  sister) 

8.  namitcin**  (younger  sister)  25 

9.  qun""'  (father's  older  brother) 


Kawaiisu 
muwuni  (father) 
piyuni  (mother) 
tuwuni  (son) 

pediini  (daughter) 

pavini  (older  brother) 
pavatcini  (great-grandson) 
saka.ini  (younger  brother) 
saka.itcini  (great-grandfather) 
patcini  (older  sister) 
patcitcini  (great-granddaughter) 
nama.ini  (younger  sister) 
nama.itcini  (great-grandmother) 
kuguni  (father's  older  brother) 


10.  qun'tcin*'  (father's  older  brother's    kuutcini  (younger  brother's  child,  m.  s.) 
child)  2« 

22** These  terms  were  tested  only  for  father's  brother's  children." — Sapir. 
Number  24  was  also  recorded  as  mafiwu'an* ',  and  number  23  as  cinantsin* '. 

28  *  *  Cf .  piflwan*  * ;  term  probably  means  something  like  *  my  co-wife '  and 
seems  to  point  to  levirate  marriage." — Sapir.  An  analogous  relation  exists 
between  the  Kawaiisu  terms  piwhani  and  nebiwhoni. 

24  *  *  Cf .  qom'An* ' ;  term  probably  means  something  like  co-husband  and  seems 
to  point  to  levirate  marriage." — Sapir.  An  analogous  relation  exists  between 
the  Kawaiisu  terms  kupmani  and  nekomwhoni. 

25  *  *  Children  of  two  brothers,  of  two  sisters,  and  of  brother  and  sister  call 
each  other  '  older  and  younger  brother '  and  '  older  and  younger  sister '  (see  nos. 
5,  6,  7,  8),  'older'  and  'younger'  referring  to  actual  ages  of  parties  involved,  not 
to  those  of  their  parents." — Sapir.  This  statement  is  true  of  the  Kawaiisu 
terminology  also  (see  p.  230  for  the  fuU  meanings  of  the  terms  pavini,  8aka.ini, 
patcini,  and  nama.ini). 

2« '  *  Very  likely  misunderstood  for  *  my  younger  brother 's  child, '  male  speak- 
ing. ' ' — Sapir. 


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1917]  Giford:  Tiibaittlabal  and  Kawaii^u  Kinship  Terms  247 

Uintah  Ute  KawaOsu 

11.  aitcin'*  (father's  younger  brother;     heeni  (father's  younger  brother) 

older  brother's  child,  m.  s.)  heetcini  (older  brother's  child,  m.  s,^ 

12.  *"quin'*  (mother's  older  brother) 

13.  '"qutcin* '  (younger  sister's  chOd, 

m.  s.) 

14.  cinxntein^   (mother's  younger  cinuni  (mother's  brother) 

brother;  older  sister's  child,  m.s.)  cinutcini  (sister's  child,  m.  s.) 

15.  pan'  *  (father 's  sister)  pahani  (father 's  sister) 

16.  patcin'  *  (brother 's  child,  w.  s.)  pahatcini  (brother 's  child,  w.  s.) 

17.  m&wun'*»*  (mother's  older  sister)  mawiiuni  (mother's  older  sister) 

18.  mawun'tcin'*  (younger  sister's  mawiiiitcini  (younger  sister's  child,  w.  s.) 

child,  w.  s.) 

19.  nimbiiian"  (mother's  younger  nupbieni  (mother's  younger  sister) 

sister) 

20.  nimbiiiatcin*  *  (older  sister 's  chUd)  nupbietcini  (older  sister 's  child,  w.  s.) 

21.  qonun'*  (father's  father)  kunoni  (father 's  father) 

22.  qonuntcin**  (son's  child,  m.  s.)  kunotcini  (son's  child,  m.  s.) 

23.  '''^Hcin**  (father's  mother)  hutcini  (father's  mother) 

24.  *^*'tcitcin'*  (son's  child,  w.  s.)  hutcitcini  (son's  child,  w.  s.) 
29?  tOTun**  (mother's  father)  tdgoni  (mother's  father) 

26.  toyutcin'*  (daughter's  child,  m.  s.)  tdgotcini  (daughter's  child,  m.  s.) 

27.  qaTun'*  (mother's  mother)  kaguni  (mother 's  mother) 

28.  qaYutcin**  (daughter's  child,  w.  s.)  kagutcini  (daughter's  child,  w.  s.) 

29.  yaitcin"  (spouse's  parent,  son's  yeheni  (spouse's  parent) 

wife) 

30.  munatcin'*  (daughter's  husband)        mdnoni  (daughter's  husband) 

31.  tantauavin'*  (wife's  brother;  atamwoni  (wife's  brother;  sister's 

sister's  husband,  m.  s.)  husband,  m.  s.) 

32.  nambiwAn'  *  (brother's  wife;  sister's  nebiwhoni  (wife's  sister;  brother's  wife, 

husband,  w.  s.;  wife's  sister;  hus-        m.  s.) 
band's  brother;  husband's  sister) 

33.  piwAn* '  (husband,  wife)  piwhani  (wife) 

As  disclosed  by  the  preceding  list,  Uintah  Ute  terms  and  Kawaiisu 
terms  exhibit,  in  addition  to  similarity  in  sound,  a  marked  similarity 
in  application.  The  few  deviations  from  this  similarity  are  now  to 
be  discussed.  Equivalents  for  numbers  12  and  13,  the  Ute  terms 
for  mother's  older  brother  and  younger  sister's  child  (m.  s.),  are 
lacking  in  Kawaiisu.  The  Kawaiisu  do  not  distinguish  between 
mother's  older  and  mother's  younger  brothers.  Both  are  included  in 
the  one  term  cinuni,  the  Ute  equivalent  of  which  refers  only  to  mother's 
younger  brother.  Three  Ute  terms  of  afi&nity,  numbers  29,  32,  and  33, 
are  much  more  embracing  in  meaning  than  the  corresponding  Kawaiisu 
terms.  Number  29  unites  son's  wife  with  spouse's  parent,  a  procedure 
quite  foreign  to  Kawaiisu.  Equally  unique  is  number  33,  which  unites 
husband  and  wife  in  one  term,  the  equivalent  of  English  spouse.  The 
Ute  term  thus  used  is  employed  in  Kawaiisu  and  Kaibab  Paiute  for 
wife  only.  In  number  32  are  combined  relationships  which  in  Ka- 
waiisu require  three  terms  for  their  expression,  viz. : 


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248  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

1.  nebiwhpni  (brother's  wife,  m.  s.;  wife's  sister) 

2.  nekomwhont  (sister's  husband,  w.  s.;  husband's  brother) 

3.  wiisinibiani  (brother's  wife,  w.  s.;  husband's  sister) 

The  uniting  in  Ute  of  the  relationships  expressed  in  1  and  2  is  in 
line  with  and  a  natural  consequence  of  the  combining  of  husband  and 
wife  in  one  term  (number  33). 

xJBy  way  of  summary,  we  find  that  the  Uintah  Ute  nomenclature 
exhibits  six  peculiarities  of  application  which  are  lacking  in  Kawaiisu ; 
the  Kaibab  Paiute  nomenclature  exhibits  twelve;  and  the  Tiiba- 
tulabal  list  (although  the  speech  is  quite  distinct  from  the  preceding 
three  groups) ,  exhibits  only  ten  peculiarities.  It  seems  as  though  con- 
tiguity of  territory  is  responsible  for  the  small  number  of  discrepancies 
between  the  Tiibatulabal  and  the  Kawaiisu  nomenclatures,  just  as  it 
doubtless  accounts  for  the  features  they  have  in  common,  such  as  the 
terms  and  suflBxes  denoting  the  condition  of  the  connecting  relative. 
On  the  other  hand,  community  of  language  doubtless  accounts  for  the 
similar  phenomena  among  the  Uintah  Ute  and  the  Kawaiisu.  Cer- 
tainly contiguity  of  territory  does  not  account  for  them,  for  the  two 
groups,  at  least  at  the  present  time,  are  far  removed  from  each  other. 
But  if  community  of  language  explains  the  Uintah  Ute  nomenclature, 
what  can  be  said  of  the  Kaibab  Paiute  nomenclature,  which  is  in  a 
dialect  very  similar  to  both  Uintah  Ute  and  Kawaiisu  ?  Kaibab  Paiute 
shows  more  peculiarities  when  compared  to  its  congener  Kawaiisu  than 
does  even  the  extraneous  Tiibatulabal.  Clearly  the  position  of  Kaibab 
Paiute  is  anomalous.  Although  linguistically  close  to  both  Kawaiisu 
and  Uintah  Ute,  and  geographically  intermediate,  it  displays  more 
than  twice  as  many  peculiarities  when  compared  with  Kawaiisu  as 
does  Uintah  Ute.  Dr.  Sapir  remarks  with  regard  to  Uintah  Ute  and 
Kaibab  Paiute  terms  of  relationship :  * '  Here,  as  so  often,  a  cultural 
dividing  line  runs  clear  across  a  homogeneous  linguistic  group. ''^' 
The  writer  would  go  a  step  farther  and  remark  that,  if  our  evidence 
is  correct,  the  northeastern  extremity  (Uintah  Ute)  of  the  group  is  in 
closer  agreement  with  the  southwestern  extremity  (Kawaiisu)  than 
either  one  is  with  the  middle  (Kaibab  Paiute) .  Hence  the  homogeneous 
linguistic  group  may  be  spoken  of  as  trisected  rather  than  bisected. 


27  A  Note  on  Reciprocal  Terms  of  Relationship  in  America,  Am.  Anthr.,  n.  s., 
XV,  137,  1913. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  PUBLICATIONS 

IN 

AMERICAN   ARCHAEOLOGY  AND   ETHNOLOGY 

Vol.  12,  No.  7,  pp.  249-282  February  10,  1917 


BANDELIER'S  CONTRIBUTION  TO  THE  STUDY 

OF  ANCIENT  MEXICAN  SOCIAL 

ORGANIZATION 

BY 

T.  T.  WATERMAN 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction  _ 249 

Clan  organization  in  ancient  Mexico  252 

Governmental  functions  of  the  clan  256 

Honorary  chiefs  256 

The  clan  council 257 

Executive  officers  of  the  clan 25S 

The  war-leader,  or  achcacauhtin  259 

The  civil  officials  260 

The  tribe  and  tribal  government  261 

The  tribe  and  the  phratry  261 

The  tribal  council  262 

The  head  war-chief  264 

Duality  of  the  office  267 

The  "Snake-Woman"  267 

The  "Four  Quarters,'*  or  phratries  269 

The  "Captains-general,"  or  phratry-captains  270 

Other  institutions  in  the  phratry  271 

Points  of  difficulty 272 

Conclusion  - *. 273 

Alphabetical  list  of  sources  cited  by  Bandelier  276 

INTRODUCTION 

There  are  two  widely  different  schools  of  doctrine  concerning  the 

political   and  social  institutions  which   the   Spaniards   encountered 

among  the  highly  civilized  natives  of  the  Mexican  plateau.    One  school 

consists  of  two  investigators,  Lewis  H.  Morgan^  and  A.  F.  Bandelier.^ 

J  Ancient  Society,  New  York,  1877;  League  of  the  Iroquois,  New  York,  1904; 
'  *  Montezuma 's  Dinner, ' '  in  North  American  Eeview,  April,  1876. 

2 ' '  On  the  Art  of  War  and  Mode  of  Warfare  of  the  Ancient  Mexicans, ' ' 
Reports  of  the  Peabody  Museum.  Harvard  University,  ii,  95-161;  "On  the  Dis- 


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250  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.       [Vol.  12 

These  two  writers  consider  that  the  famous  Aztec  ** empire"  was  not 
an  empire  at  all,  but  a  loose  confederacy  of  democratic  Indian  tribes. 
They  have  been  supported  in  more  recent  literature  by  John  Fiske, 
in  his  Discovery  of  America,^  and  by  the  sentiments,  if  not  in  the 
published  writings,  of  most  American  ethnologists.  The  opposing 
school  consists,  broadly  speaking,  of  the  other  scholars  who  have 
written  on  the  subject.^*  In  most  of  the  literature  which  concerns  the 
Aztecs  the  assumption  is  made  throughout  that  they  had  monarchical 
institutions.  The  *' supreme  rulers'^  of  the  Aztec  ** empire''  are  rep- 
resented in  some  very  recent  works  as  independent  monarchs,  keeping 
the  state  and  pomp  of  moguls.  Bandelier's  papers  mentioned  above 
are  by  far  the  most  serious  contributions  to  the  subject.  He  makes 
an  effort  to  reconstruct  a  picture  of  the  entire  Aztec  social  order.  It 
is  the  purpose  of  the  present  paper  to  review  and  criticize  his  results. 
It  seems  simplest  to  consider  his  findings  with  reference  to  one  tribe, 
namely,  the  Mexicans,  or  inhabitants  of  Tenochtitlan.  His  own  ref- 
erences to  the  original  sources  are  given  in  the  following  pages  in  the 
form  of  footnotes.    No  new  material  is  involved. 

A  word  might  be  said  in  the  beginning  about  Bandelier's  method 
of  composing  his  papers.  We  conclude,  from  remarks  in  his  *  *  Sources 
for  the  Aboriginal  History  of  Spanish  America, '  '*  that  it  was  his  habit 
first  to  write  a  paper  out  of  his  fund  of  general  information  on  a 
subject,  citing  authorities  only  on  special  points,  and  when  the  idea 
suddenly  occurred  to  him.  Then  he  went  through  the  paper  again 
and  worked  up  a  most  formidable  set  of  footnotes,  in  which  he  often 
embodied  the  results  of  further  research.  In  the  case  of  the  contri- 
butions at  present  referred  to,  he  wrote  three  papers  on  practically 
the  same  subject,  each  paper  more  elaborate  than  the  one  before.  The 
result  of  all  three  is  a  sort  of  complex,  full  of  statements  anticipatory 
of  other  statements,  and  statements  presupposing  a  knowledge  which 
the  reader  lacks,  a  complex  in  which  the  first  portion  is  unintelligible 
without  the  last,  while  the  last  presupposes  a  knowledge  of  the  first. 

Worse  than  all,  in  connection  with  some  essential  points,  the  author 
allows  himself  to  become  involved  in  contradictions.  Moreover,  he 
nowhere  gives  a  list  of  sources.    He  permits  himself  to  employ  such 

tribution  and  Tenure  of  Land  and  Customs  with  Respect  to  Inheritance  of  the 
Ancient  Mexicans,"  ibtd.,  pp.  385-448;  *^0n  the  Social  Organization  and  Mode 
of  Government  of  the  Ancient  Mexicans,''  t&id.,  pp.  557-669.  These  papers  are 
cited  as  Art  of  War,  Tenure  of  Land,  and  Mode  of  Government,  repectively. 

3  Cambridge,  Mass.,  1892. 

•"^a  An  honorable  exception  is  Beuchat,  Manuel  d 'archeologie  am§rieaine, 
Paris,  1912. 

*  Proceedings  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
XXVII,  1878. 


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251 


Table  Showing  Bandeliee's  Sources 
The  dates  indicate  in  each  case  the  period  when  composition  was  begun.     While 
the  dates  are  in  many  cases  conjectural,  the  general  order  is  approximately  correct. 
The  sources  which  seem  most  important  from  the  standpoint  of  ethnography  are  in- 
dicated by  bold-face  type. 


Date 
1505 
1519 
1521 
1524 
1525 

1527 
1530 


1531 


1534 
1540 

1541 

1546 
1550 


1551 
1552 
1554 


1560 
1569 
1573 
1576 

1579 
1582 
1588 
1589 
1596 
1598 

1608 
1609 
1610 
1613 
1617 

1635 
1697 
1742 
1765 


Author 
Martyr,  Peter  (Pietro  Martire  d'Anghiera) 
Cortes,  Hernando 
Zuazo,  Alonzo  de 
Alvarado,  Pedro  de 

Ovledo  y  Valde^,  Gtonzalo  FemiLndez  de 
Anonsrmous  Conqueror,  The 
Las  Casas,  Bartolem^  de 
Merced  a  Herndn  Cortes  de  tierras 

inmediatas  de  Mexico,  etc. 
Cuarta  relaci6n  an6nima  de  la  jornadf  ~.  .  . 

a  Nueva  (Jalicia,  etc. 
Lettre  des  auditeurs  Salmeron,  Maldonado, 

Ceynos  et  Queroga 
Salmeron  (given  names  not  ascertained) 
Bologna,  Francisco  de 
Concilios  provinciales  .  .  .  de  Mexico  ' 
Tapia,  Andres  de 
Acazitli,  Francisco  de  Sandoval 
Motolinia  (Toribio  de  Benevente) 
Sahagtin,  Bernardino  de 
Codex  Mendoza 
Codex  Ramirez 
Codex  Telleriano-Remensis 
Des  cdr^monies  observes  .  .  .  lorsqu-ils 

f  alsaient  un  tecle 
De  rordre  de  succession  observe  par  les 

Indlens 
Molina,  Alonzo  de 
Mendoza,  Antonio  de 
Cr6mara,  Francisco  L6pez  de 
Relaci6n  de  las  ceremonias  y  ritos,  etc. 
Diaz  del  Castillo,  Bemal 
Anunciaci6n,  Domingo  de  la 
Lettre  des  chapelains  Fr^re  Toribio  et 

Fr^re  Diego  d  'Olarte 
Montufar,  Alonzo  de 
Ztirltay  Alonzo  de 
Chavez,  Gabriel  de 
Mendleta,  Gerdnlmo  de 
Camargo,  Domingo  Mufioz 
Palacio,  Diego  Garcia 
Dur^n,  Diego 
Pomar,  Juan  Bautista 
Acosta,  Jos6  de  Salamdn 
Torquemada,  Juan  de 
Herrera,  Antonio  de 
Tezozomoc,  Fernando  de  Alvarado 
Garcia,  Gregorio 
Ixtlilxochitl,  Fernando  de  Alva 
Sol6rzano  y  Pereyra,  Juan 
Eslava,  Fern&n  Gonzalez  de 
Bemesal,  Antonio  de 
Beal  ejecutoria  de  S.  M.  sobre  tierras 

de  Axapusco 
Nieremberg,  Joan  Eusebius 
Vetancurt,  Augustin 
Padilla,  Matlas  de  la  Mota 
Clavigero,  Francisco  Severio 


Title 
De  novo  orbe 
Cartas 
Carta 

Relaci6n  a  Herndn  Cort6s 
Historia  general  y  natural,  etc. 
Belaci6n  de  algonas  cosas,  etc. 
Historia  de  las  Indias 


Lettre  .  .  , 
Lettre,  etc. 


au  conseil  des  Indes 


Belacidn,  etc. 
Relaci6n  de  Jornada,  etc. 
Historia  de  los  Indios 
Historia  general 


Vocabulario 

Avis  de  Vice-Roi,  etc. 

Historia  general 

Historte  verdadera 

Lettre,  etc. 


Supplique  k  Charles  V 
Breve  .  .  .  relaci6n  (Bapport) 
Rapport  sur  .  .  .  Meztitlan 
Historia  ecclesi&stica 
Historia  .  .  .  de  Taxcallan 
San  Salvador  und  Honduras,  etc. 
Historia  de  las  Indias 
Relaci6n  de  Texcoco 
Historia  natural  y  moral 
.  .  .  monarchia  Indiana 
Historia  .  .  .  de  los  hechos,  etc. 
Cr6nica  mexicana 
Origen  de  los  Indios 
Historia  Chichimeca 
.  .  .  de  Indiarum  jure 
Coloquios  espirituales 
Historia  .  .  .  de  Chyapa 


Historia  naturae 
Teatro  mexicano 
Historia  de  Nueva-Galicia 
Storia  antica  del  Messico 


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252  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

baffling  expressions  as  **the  learned  friar/'  or  **the  celebrated  Francis- 
can,"" in  reference  to  a  literature  where  the  majority  of  the  important 
writers  are  both  friars  and  Franciscans.  Still  another  feature  of 
his  work  is  this,  that  when  he  is  in  search  of  corroboration  he  appeals 
impartially  to  authors  of  the  sixteenth,  and  of  all  subsequent  centuries 
up  to  the  end  of  the  nineteenth,  without  outward  preference  or  dis- 
tinction. In  any  attempt  to  examine  his  findings  at  all  closely,  it  is 
therefore  necessary  to  have  at  hand  a  list  of  his  authorities.*  These 
authorities  appear  in  chronological  order  in  the  appended  tabulation. 
For  fuller  information  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  alphabetical  list 
at  the  end  of  the  present  paper,  and  to  the  usual  works  of  reference.^ 

Clan  Organization  in  Ancient  Mexico 
In  attempting  to  review  the  results  of  Bandelier's  investigations 
of  Mexican  social  organization,  it  seems  best  to  begin  with  that  element 
of  society  which  the  Indians  would  have  considered  the  fundamental 

(one.  Mexico  City  was  more  than  a  city  in  our  sense  of  the  word.  It 
was  rather  on  the  order  of  a  city-state.  The  Mexicans  are  continually 
spoken  of  as  a  ** tribe.''  We  may  regard  it  as  absolutely  certain  that 
this  tribe,  numbering  a  great  many  thousands  of  individuals,  was 
really  a  conglomerate  of  smaller  units.  In  fact,  continual  reference 
is  made  in  the  sources  to  smaller  social  groups  which  seem,  in  many 
ways,  to  be  of  really  fundamental  importance.  Nearly  all  authors, 
for  example,*  represent  the  Aztec  tribe  at  the  beginning  of  its  legend- 
ary history  as  starting  off  on  its  migration  organized  in  kinship 
groups.    These  kins  are  worthy  of  careful  attention. 


s  Mode  of  Qovemment,  p.  687,  note  276,  for  example. 

6  He  has  two  papers  which  in  part  supply  this  need,  but  only  in  part.  One 
is  the  paper  on  *' Sources  for  the  Aboriginal  History  of  Spanish  America,'* 
mentioned  above  in  note  4.  The  other  is  *  *  Notes  on  the  Bibliography  of  Yucatan 
and  Central  America,"  Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  n.  s., 
I,  82-118. 

'^  For  example:  Sabin,  Dictionary  of  Works  Relating  to  America  from  the 
Discovery  to  the  Present  Time,  New  York,  1868-1891. 

Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  especially  the  first  two 
volumes,  Boston,  8  volumes,  no  date. 

Ticknor,  History  of  Spanish  Literature,  Boston,  3  volumes,  1854,  especially 
the  fourth  edition,  Boston,  3  volumes,  no  date. 

Bancroft,  Works,  39  volumes,  San  Francisco,  1883-1890. 

Lehmann,  Progress  in  Mexican  Research,  Archiv  fiir  Anthropologie,  vi,  1907; 
reprinted  by  the  Due  de  Loubat,  Paris,  1909. 

Icazbalceta,  Bibliograffa  Mexicana  del  Siglo  XVI,  Mexico,  1866. 

Weber,  Beitrage  zur  Charakteristik  der  alteren  Geschichtsschreiber  fiber 
Spanish-Amerika,  in  Beitrage  zur  Kulturgeschichte,  edited  by  Lamprecht,  xiv, 
Leipzig,  1911. 

8  Acosta,  Clavigero,  Dur&n,  Garcia,  Herrera,  Ixtlilxochitl,  Mendieta,  Sahagun, 
Torquemada,  Vetancurt. 


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253 


There  is  considerable  variation  in  the  terms  employed  by  the  Span- 
iards to  describe  these  units.  The  commonest  is  the  word  barrio, 
which  seems  to  mean  in  the  Spanish  of  the  period  a  city  ward  or 
precinct.  These  barrios  are  in  some  passages  called  parishes,  quar- 
ters, or  parcidUdades,  The  native  equivalent  is  given  by  Zurita*  as 
calpullL  The  question  is,  just  exactly  what  is  meant,  in  modern  term- 
inology, by  calpuUi,  and  what  was  its  function  ?  Zurita  helps  us  out 
by  telling  us  that  **a  calpulK  is  what  the  Jews  called  a  tribe. "^®  Ref- 
erence to  the  early  books  of  the  Bible  will  indicate  that  the  Jewish 
tribe  was  believed  to  be  a  group  descended  from  one  ancestor.  Tor- 
quemada  also  describes  what  are  apparently  these  same  groups,  and 
says  that  they  are  based  on  the  central  idea  of  descent.^^  First  of  all, 
then,  the  calpulU  was  an  organization  of  kin,  probably  what  modern 
ethnographers  would  speak  of  as  a  '*clan."  Zurita  in  another  place 
adds:  **The  word  calpulU  .  .  .  signifies  a  barrio  inhabited  by  a 
family,  known  as  of  very  ancient  origin,  which  for  a  long  time  owns 
a  territory  of  well-defined  boundaries,  and  all  the  members  of  which 
are  of  the  same  lineage.  "^^  Here,  then,  is  an  additional  trait  of  the 
calpulU — it  is  a  land-holding  organization.  **The  lands  do  not  belong 
to  each  inhabitant  of  the  village,"  says  Zurita,  **but  to  the  calpulU, 
which  possesses  them  in  common.''^*  **  Very  few  people,"  according  to 
Fuenleal,  '*have  lands  of  their  own.  The  lands  are  held  in  common."^* 
This  fact  is  rendered  certain  enough  to  be  accepted  as  probably  charac- 
teristic of  Mexican  society,  by  corroboration  by  a  number  of  authors.^** 
Gomara  especially  says  that  **many  married  people  often  live  in  one 
house,  and  brothers  and  sisters  do  not  divide  their  lands."  Peter 
Martyr  also  mentions  the  existence  of  communal  houses.^*  Each  group 
of  kin  develops  garden  plots,^^  which  are  called  collectively  **soil  of 
the  calpuUi.''^^    Such  lands  could  in  no  manner  be  sold,  according  to 


9  Ztirita,  p.  50.  For  exact  reference  see  the  list  of  sources  at  the  end  of  the 
present  paper. 

10  Zfirita,  p.  53. 

11  Torquemada,  p.  545. 

12  Zurita,  p.  50. 
i»  Zurita,  p.  51. 

1*  Fuenleal,  p.  253. 

i^Clavigero,  Book  7,  ch.  14;  Durdn,  ch.  5;  G6mara,  p.  443;  Herrera,  pp.  135, 
190;  Martyr,  p.  228;  Oviedo,  Book  32,  ch.  51,  pp.  536,  537;  Torquemada,  p.  545, 
Book  2,  ch.  11,  Book  3,  chs.  13,  22. 

i«  Peter  Martyr,  decade  5,  ch.  10. 

i^Acosta,  Book  7,  ch.  9,  p.  473;  Clavigero,  Book  2,  ch.  17;  Tezozomoc,  ch.  3, 
p.  8;  Torquemada,  Book  3,  ch.  33,  p.  291,  Book  2,  ch.  15,  p.  101. 

i»Ixtlilxochitl,  ch.  35,  p.  242;  Zurita,  p.  51. 


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254  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

the  passage  in  Clavigero,**  to  which  reference  was  made  above  (note 
15).  This  statement  on  the  part  of  Clavigero  is  corroborated  by  other 
authors.^®    No  one  but  a  member  of  a  calpulli  had  the  right  to  settle 

^on  any  of  its  lands.^^  These  passages  bring  out  rather  clearly, 'Svith 
regard  to  the  calpulliy  that  there  was  involved,  in  addition  to  the  idea 
of  common  descent,  a  second  idea  that  we  often  find  associated  with 
the  clan-organization  of  other  and  ruder  tribes,  namely,  common  own- 
ership of  land.  The  calpulli  appears  in  this  connection  quite  clearly 
as  analogous  to  the  clan,  as  found,  for  example,  among  the  Iroquois. 

The  fact  that  the  calpullis  were  really  fundamental  is  brought  out 
by  statements  such  as  this:  *'Each  calpulli  was  sovereign  within  its 
own  limits. '  '^^  *  *  Each  quarter  had  its  own  soil  without  any  connection 
:  with  the  other.  *^  This  means  that  Mexican  society  was  really  founded 
on  the  calpulli,  and  that  the  tribe  was  an  organization  made  up  of  a 
number  of  these  fundamental  units. 

Some  discrepancies  exist  in  the  references  to  ownership  of  lands. 
References  are  made  in  certain  places  to  '* public"  or  communal  lands, 
and  elsewhere  to  private  holdings.  The  facts  probably  are  that  each 
calpulli,  as  a  group,  controlled  certain  lands,  but  these  lands  were 
assigned  or  allotted  to  small  families  for  cultivation.^^  These  lands 
could  not  be  sold  by  the  individual,  or  alienated  in  any  way.  This 
custom  has  an  analogy  in  the  agricultural  institutions  of  the  Iroquois, 
as  described  by  Morgan.^*  The  evidence  for  this  arrangement  among 
the  Mexicans  is  found  in  Zurita,  and  confirmed  by  other  authors.^^ 
The  soil  was  certainly  occupied  by  individual  families,^**  their  lots  or 
holdings  being  known  as  tlalmilli.^^    The  right  of  occupancy  was  con- 

.  nected  with  inheritance.^**  We  have  it  on  the  authority  of  one  author^® 
that  if  a  man  neglected  for  two  years  to  cultivate  his  patch  it  was 


i»  Clavigero,  Book  7,  ch.  14. 

20  Herrera,  decade  3,  Book  4,  ch.  15,  p.  135;  Torquemada,  Book  14,  ch.  7,  p. 
545;  Ziirita,  p*.  52. 

21  Zurita,  p.  53. 

22  Clavigero,  Book  7,  ch.  14;  Ziirita,  pp.  51,  65. 

23  Zurita,  pp.  52,  56,  57,  60;  De  Tordre  de  succession,  pp.  223,  224. 

24* 'Houses  and  House-Life  of  the  American  Aborigines,**  U.  8.  Department 
of  the  Interior,  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  iv,  79;  for  North 
American  tribes  in  general  see  Ancient  Society  by  the  same  author,  pp.  154-174. 

25  Zurita,  p.  55;  Clavigero,  Book  7,  ch.  14;  Herrera,  p.  135;  Torquemada, 
p.  545. 

26  Zurita,  pp.  52,  56,  57,  60;  De  Tordre  de  succession,  pp.  223,  224. 
2T  Molina. 

28  Clavigero,  Book  7,  ch.  14;  De  I'ordre  de  succession,  p.  224;  Fuenleal,  p. 
253;  Herrera,  p.  138;  Torquemada,  p.  545. 
20  Zdrita,  p.  56. 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  Social  Organization  255 

assigned  or  allotted  to  someone  else.  When  a  family  disappeared,  the 
land  reverted  to  the  gronp.^°  It  seems  most  reasonable  to  suppose, 
then,  that  the  calpuUis,  as  groups,  held  tenure  of  the  land,  as  did  the 
Iroquois  clans;  and  the  individuals  merely  occupied  portions  of  the 
j^soil  without  having  proprietary  rights.  There  were  certain  plots,  the 
produce  of  which  went  with  certain  oflBces,  but  the  evidence  concerning 
these  *'oflBcial''  lands  is  very  uncertain,  and  they  may  probably  be 
passed  over  for  the  present  without  materially  aifecting  the  picture 
of  Mexican  land  tenure.  The  calpulUj  whatever  it  may  have  been, 
certainly  exhibits  in  this  respect  a  very  fundamental  resemblance  to 
what  are  known  as  clans  in  the  ethnographical  literature  of  today. 

The  calpulli  was  involved  in  other  activities  than  the  ownership 
of  land.  Mexican  ** armies''  are  represented  as  consisting  of  bands  of 
from  two  hundred  to  four  hundred  men.  It  is  plausible  to  suppose 
that  each  band  represented  the  fighting  force  of  one  calpulli.  Each 
group,  according  to  Duran,  carried  the  emblem  of  their  barrio.  Here 
we  see  another  likeness  to  the  clan — the  fact  that  the  group  made 
common  cause  in  warfare.  * 

There  are  two  additional  features  of  the  calpulli  which  make  the 
resemblance  to  the  typical  clan  more  striking  still.  Each  one  had  its 
own  god,  or  calpnlteotzin,^^  and  its  own  central  place  of  worship.'^ 
I  think  therefore  that  we  are  on  firm  ground  in  assuming  with  Ban- 
delier  that  Mexican  society,  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest,  was  still 
organized  on  a  primitive  clan  basis.    '^ 

We  come  now  to  the  question  of  the  number  of  these  calpulUs. 
Twenty  ** chiefs''  of  the  Mexicans  are  mentioned  in  some  of  the 
sources.^^  This  would  suggest  the  existence  of  twenty  separate  units 
in  the  tribe.  Herrera,  speaking  of  the  ** parishes"  (calpullis),  says 
that  there  were  *'many."^*  Torquemada^*  says  that  there  were  four 
general  divisions,  each  with  three  or  four  calpulUs,  which  would  make 
a  total  of  perhaps  sixteen.  Bernal  Diaz  again  says  that  the  central 
governing  body  was  a  '* senate"  of  twenty .^^  On  a  priori  grounds  it 
seems  likely  that  each  clan  would  have  a  representative  in  such  a 
senate.     That  would  indicate  that  the  precise  number  was  probably 

«o  Zfirita,  p.  52. 

31  Durdn,  p.  42. 

32  Herrera,  p.  188. 

33  Durdn,  pp.  97,  98,  99.    Tezozomoc  also  might  be  cited. 

34  Herrera,  p.  188. 

3»  Torquemada,  p.  545. 
3«  Diaz,  p.  95. 


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256  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

twenty.  The  number  is  given  as  twenty  by  Vetancurt.*^  If  the  fore- 
going passages  really  describe  the  facts,  the  fundamental  point  of 
Mexican  organization  is  that  the  nation  or  tribe  consisted  of  an  ag- 
glomerate of  twenty  independent  clans.  However  elaborate  their 
government  may  have  been,  it  was  based  directly  on  a  clan  organi- 
zation. Evidence  for  this  idea,  as  may  be  seen  by  consulting  the  table 
of  authors,  is  found  in  sources  of  the  best  character. 

In  connection  with  certain  governmental  and  deliberative  functions, 
each  of  the  calpullis  or  clans  just  described  had  a  council  house,  or 
tecpan.  Sometimes  these  were  themselves  called  merely  calpulli.  They 
contained  halls  and  a  tower.'* 

Oovernmental  Functions  of  the  Clan 
It  remains  now  to  discuss  the  oflBcials,  through  whom  the  govern- 
ment was  administered.  It  seems  best,  first  of  all,  to  clear  the  ground 
as  far  as  we  can  of  certain  diflBculties.  One  of  the  most  troublesome 
of  these  is  the  occurrence  of  contradictory  allusions  to  individuals, 
usually  referred  to  as  ** chiefs,''  in  Aztec  teCuhtU. 

Honorary  Chiefs 
Consult:  Art  of  War,  pp.  117-120;  Mode  of  Government^  pp.  641-644. 

The  orthography  of  this  word  tecuhtli  shows  considerable  variety. 
The  proper  form  seems  to  be  the  one  given.  The  word  ^eoie,  used  by 
Mendieta,'®  is  apparently  a  variant  of  the  same.  It  also  occurs  as 
tec,  tecutzin,  and  teutley}^  The  stem  means  in  Aztec  simply  *  *  grand- 
father.'' 

The  various  senses  in  which  this  term  is  used  by  the  Spanish 
chroniclers  leave  us  in  some  uncertainty  as  to  the  functions  of  the 
tecuhtli.  According  to  Bandelier,  it  seems  simplest  to  suppose  that 
the  tecuhtli  was,  after  all,  not  a  governmental  official.  He  insists 
(though  his  own  allusions  to  the  dignity  in  question  are  inconsistent )l 
that  the  tecuhtlis  were  members,  we  might  say,  of  an  order  of  merit, 
which  was  awarded  especially  for  valor.  It  did  not  necessarily  en- 
title the  holder  to  office,  or  to  authority  of  any  sort.  We  must  note, 
however,  that  the  chamber  where  the  principal  governing  body  met 
was  called  the  ** place  of  tecuhtlis,''  according  to  Bandelier 's  etymol- 
ogy.*^   While  the  situation  with  regard  to  the  tecuhtli  is  by  no  means 


87  Cited  in  vague  terms  by  Bandelier,  Mode  of  Government,  p.  592. 
88Dur&n,  p.  215;  Herrera,  p.  190;  Tezozomoc,  p.  58;  Ztirita,  p.  62. 
80  Mendieta,  Book  2,  ehs.  38,  39. 

40  Ziirita,  p.  47. 

41  Mode  of  Government,  p.  406,  note  46. 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  Social  Organization  257 

dear,  a  dozen  passages  may  be  cited  which  give  Bandelier's  conclusion 
some  authority/*  Offices  were  filled  mostly  by  these  ** chiefs/'  or 
iecuhtU,^^  perhaps  as  offices  in  this  country  after  the  Civil  War  were 
fiUed  largely  by  veterans.  In  Indian  society  especially  successful 
warriors  would  of  course  be  the  most  likely  aspirants  for  official  posi- 
tions. The  position  or  dignity  was  held  for  life,  but  it  was  not  hered- 
itary.** It  involved,  among  other  things,  great  outlay  for  feasts  on 
the  part  of  the  candidate.**  This  certainly  fits  in  with  what  we  know 
of  primitive  society  elsewhere  in  America — for  example,  on  the  North- 
west coast,  where  rank  and  influence  are  connected  with  outlay  for 
entertainment.*"  It  seems  probable,  on  the  whole,  that  in  discussing 
the  governmental  offices  of  the  Aztecs,  these  ** civil  chiefs,"  or  tecuhtli, 
are  to  be  ruled  out.  A  man  with  the  title  of  tecuhtli  might  fill  almost 
any  office ;  and  consequently  the  accounts  of  the  privileges  and  duties 
which  various  members  of  this  order  had,  involve  us  in  all  sorts  of 
difficulties.  It  seems  quite  likely  that  the  rank  of  tecuhtli  was  an 
honor,  not  an  office.  In  my  opinion,  Bandelier  does  not  establish  this 
fact  clearly,  but  at  least  it  is  a  plausible  theory. 

The  Clan  Council 

Consult:  Tenure  of  Land,  p.  425  and  notes;  Mode  of  Government,  p.  633,  espe- 
ciaUy,  note  152,  which  occupies  two  pages. 

Bandelier  states  that  the  government  of  the  clan,  or  calpulli,  was  in 
the  hands  of  a  clan  council.  This  council,  he  says,  was  composed  of 
important  men  who  got  their  office  by  election.  For  none  of  these 
statements  has  he  any  proof.  There  is  one  passage  in  Sahagun*^  which 
would  seem  perhaps  to  imply  the  existence  of  something  like  a  clan 
council.  A  council  of  the  kin  met  to  decide  quarrels  over  land,**  but 
it  had  no  final  authority.*^  Altogether,  evidence  for  the  existence  of  a 
clan  council,  as  a  definite  governing  institution,  is  of  a  most  vague 
and  unsatisfactory  sort.  The  best  indication  that  something  of  the 
sort  existed  is  a  statement  by  Zurita*®  that  the  ''chief,'*  whoever  such 


♦2  Clavigero,  pp.  471,  472;  G6mara,  p.  436;  Herrera,  p.  135;  Mendieta,  pp.  156, 
161;  Torquemada,  pp.  361,  366;  Z6rita,  pp.  47,  48. 

*8  G6mara,  Mendieta,  Torquemada,  as  cited  above;  also  Camargo,  p.  176. 

**  Ziirita,  p.  49. 

♦BDes  c^r^monies  observ^es,  p.  233;  G6mara,  p.  436;  Mendieta,  p.  156;  Z6rita, 
p.  28. 

*«  See,  for  example,  Boas  in  Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum  for  1895,  "The 
Social  Organization  and  Secret  Societies  of  the  Kwakiutl  Indians." 

*^  Sahagfin,  p.  185. 

*8  Zfirita,  pp.  56,  62. 

*»  Zfirita,  pp.  55,  56,  60,  61,  62. 


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258  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.       [Vol.  12 

an  officer  may  have  been,  did  nothing  without  consulting  the  other  old 
men  of  the  calpulli.  The  council  seems  to  have  been  a  general  assem- 
bly, for  we  are  told  that  on  occasions  of  importance  the  clan  met  as  a 
wholc^**  In  other  words,  what  we  have  in  Mexico  is  approximately 
what  we  find  in  the  history  of  our  own  ancient  ancestors,  namely,  that 
all  matters,  executive  or  judicial,  pertaining  to  the  group  were  settled 
in  an  undifferentiated  folk-moot.  If  a  more  definitely  organized  gov- 
erning body  existed,  there  seems  to  be  very  little  evidence  of  it  in  the 
sources. 


Executive  Officers  of  the  Clan 

Consult:  Art  of  War,  pp.  101,  119  and  following;  Tenure  of  Land,  p.  425  and 
following;  Mode  of  Government^  pp.  591,  636  and  following,  647  and  fol- 
lowing. 

The  most  satisfying  statement  made  by  Morgan  concerning  Iro- 
quois government  is  one  to  the  effect  that  there  was  a  primary 
specialization  of  offices  into  civil  offices  on  the  one  hand  and  military 
offices  on  the  other.  This  statement  gives  promise  of  reducing  the 
whole  governmental  establishment  to  a  definite  system.  Moreover,  the 
specialization  into  leaders  for  war  and  leaders  for  peace  seems  to  be 
logically  a  very  early  step  in  the  evolution  of  government.  In  spite 
of  this,  Bandelier,  in  speaking  of  Mexican  government,  closes  by  as- 
signing the  civil  and  military  leadership  in  the  clan  to  one  person.'*^ ' 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  a  case  might  be  made  out  for  a  division  of 
the  clan  offices  into  military  and  civil  categories.  Fuenleal,  for  ex- 
ample, says  that  there  are  two  officers,  ** called  principales  or  chiefs," 
in  **each  of  the  quarters  which  we  today  call  parishes. ''°^  He  is  borne 
out  in  this  statement  by  Torquemada  and  Zurita,^^  the  former  saying 
that  each  barrio  or  parcialidad  (meaning  almost  certainly  the  clan, 
or  calpnlli)  has  two  officers,  a  gatherer  of  stores  and  *^a  regidor,  or 
t/'cuhtU/'  The  Simancas  manuscript  also  speaks  of  alcaldes  and 
regidors  of  the  villages,**  saying  that  an  Aztec  official  called  achca- 
caulitis  was  the  alcalde,  or  judge,  while  the  Aztec  achcacauhtin  was 
the  algua-zil,  or  sheriff.  It  is  important,  it  seems  to  me,  to  recognize 
this  differentiation  in  the  offices  of  the  clan. 


60Z6rita,  p.  62;  Fuenleal,  p.  249. 

51  Tenure  of  Land,  p.  425. 

52  Fuenleal,  p.  249. 

58  Torquemada,  p.  544;  Ztirita,  p.  225. 
5*  De  1  'ordre  de  succession,  p.  225. 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  Social  Organization  259 

The  War-Leader,  or  Achcacauhtin 
One  at  least  of  the  clan  officers  we  can  identify  quite  readily.  His 
existence  is  very  frequently  mentioned.  He  enjoys,  however,  a  wide 
variety  of  titles  in  the  Spanish  works.  Some  of  the  most  important 
are  shown  in  the  following  list.  All  of  these  titles  seem  to  apply  to 
one  official. 

Titles  Appued  to  the  '*Clan  Wae-Leader''  by  Different  Authors  l^ 


Title  applied 

Author 

Pariente  mayor^o 

Z6rita 

Chief  abbot 

Mendieta 

Algruacil  mayor5« 

Torquemada 

Leader  in  the  fight 

Tezozomoc 

Captain  of  the  people 

Molina 

Priest 

Mendieta 

Principal  and  master-at-arms 

Tezozomoc 

Chief  of  the  quarter 

Tezozomoc 

Master  of  the  youth 

Tezozomoc 

Teacher 

Captain  of  the  guard 

Torquemada 

Prince 

Clavigero 

Old  man 

Fuenleal 

Valiant  man 

Sahagun 

Officer  to  whom  the  youths  were  entrusted 

Clavigero 

Captain 

Tezozomoc 

Begidor 

Torquemada 

It  is  obvious  at  once  that  to  get  any  clear  idea  of  the  function  of 
an  officer  who  is  called  at  once  a  captain  of  the  ^ard  and  an  abbot, 
involves  some  difficulty.  The  dignitary  in  question  was  evidently  an 
official  who  had  no  counterpart  in  societies  with  which  the  Spaniards 
were  familiar.  His  native  title  was  achcacauhtin^^''  which  means 
simply  ** elder  brother.*'  One  of  his  duties  was  to  lead  the  clan  in 
battle^*  and  to  instruct  the  young  men  of  the  clan  in  warlike  exercises.*^ 
These  achcacauhtins  got  their  office  by  election,****  though  the  details 
of  this  election  are  quite  uncertain.®^     Perhaps  this  rather  uncertain 


/ 


55  Zurita  says  he  was  like  the  *' pariente  mayor  ^'  in  the  mountains  of  Biscay. 
I  would  not  attempt  to  say  what  the  term  means. 

86  The  exact  implication  of  this  word  also  is  somewhat  uncertain. 

57  De  I'ordre  de  succession,  etc.,  p.  225;  Molina,  p.  113;  Sahagtin,  p.  305; 
Torquemada,  p.  355;  Tezozomoc,  pp.  24,  25;  Zurita,  p.  60. 

58  Authority  almost  entirely  wanting.    See  Art  of  War,  p.  119  and  following. 
50  Tezozomoc,  chs.  17,  38,  57. 

•0  Molina,  p.  113. 

•1  It  is  referred  to  in  general  terms  in  De  1  'ordre  de  succession,  p.  225 ; 
Herrera,  p.  125;  Zfirita,  p.  60. 


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260  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

evidence  will  at  least  enable  us  to  conclude  that  there  was  a  clan  official 
called  the  ** elder  brother,"  who  had  duties  in  a  general  way  of  military 
sort,  which  he  may  have  combined  with  ceremonial  functions. 

The  Civil  Officials 

Consult:  Tenure  of  Land,  p.  425  and  following;  Mode  of  Government,  pp.  637, 
639  and  following. 

Mention  is  made  in  the  sources  of  three  different  functions  besides 
the  one  just  mentioned :  that  of  calpullec,  or  head  of  the  clan ;  that  of 
tlatoani,  or  ** speaker,"  a  sort  of  delegate  who  represented  the  interests 
of  the  clan  in  the  larger  assemblies;  and  that  of  ** steward,"  or  super- 
visor of  stores.  Bandelier  insists  that  the  calpullec  and  the  ** speaker" 
were  different  officers.®^  Fuenleal,  however,  lumps  them  simply  as 
**  other  officers  called  viejos.^'^^  Zurita,  moreover,  says  that  the 
calpullec  spoke  for  members  of  the  calpulli  ** before  the  governors."®* 
This  particular  passage  would  seem  to  suggest  that  the  calpullec  and 
the  speaker  were  the  same  individual.  While  it  is  perhaps  impossible 
to  get  a  clear  impression  from  the  sources,  it  would  certainly  make 
the  whole  scheme  of  government  appear  more  symmetrical  to  suppose 
that  there  was  one  clan  official  who  looked  out  for  all  clan  business  ^ 
that  was  not  specifically  military.  Whether  the  Aztecs  cared  for 
symmetry  in  their  government  is,  naturally,  another  question.  Ban- 
delier thinks  that  at  least  the  calpullec  and  the  ** steward"  may  have 
been  the  same  official. 

With  the  word  calpullec  is  associated  the  supervision  and  distri- 
bution of  lands.*"  In  this  connection  the  calpullec  kept  records  in  the 
ancient  picture-writing.®®  He  seems  to  have  supervised  the  stores  of 
grain  belonging  to  the  kin  or  clan,  for  he  is  spoken  of  as  ** providing" 
food  for  the  religious  festivals.®^  One  man  could  hardly  have  done 
so  out  of  his  private  stores,  so  the  statement  probably  implies  that  he 
had  charge  of  public  supplies.  It  is  very  likely  that  these  supplies 
were  in  part  in  the  nature  of  tribute  from  conquered  groups.  The 
office,  whatever  it  implied,  was  held  for  life  or  good  behavior,®*  and 


«2  Mode  of  Government,  p.  639. 
08  p.  249. 
«4  Pp.  60,  61,  62. 
65  Zurita,  pp.  61,  62. 

««  Clavigero,  Book  7,  ch.  14;  Mendieta,  p.  135;  Sahag6n,  p.  304;  Torquemada, 
.  546. 
«7  Herrera,  p.  134;  Zurita,  pp.  51-66. 
«8  Herrera,  p.  125;  Zurita,  pp.  60,  61. 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  Social  Organization  261 

was  vested  in  a  man  by  election.  According  to  Zurita,*®  when  a 
calpullec  died  they  elected  the  most  respected  old  man,  who  was  often 
a  son  or  other  near  relative  of  the  former  functionary. 

There  was  undoubtedly  an  office  known  as  that  of  tlatoani,  or 
** speaker.**  Each  of  these  ** speakers**  was  elected  by  his  own 
calpulli,^^  and  while  the  tenure  ordinarily  was  permanent,  he  could 
be  removed,  according  to  Zurita,^^  by  the  proper  measures.  The  ex- 
istence of  ** speakers**  is  referred  to  by  several  other  authors.^-  Ac- 
cording to  Bandelier,  the  tribal  council  consisted  of  the  speakers  from 
each  clan,  a  total  of  twenty  in  all.^^  If  these  three  offices  were  sep- 
arate, there  was  certainly  not  much  balance  in  the  Aztec  arrangement, 
since  one  military  leader  is  offset  by  three  civil  officers.  In  any  case, 
it  is  obvious  that  the  clan  was  well  provided  with  officials,  and  the  clan 
itself  constituted  an  important  and  highly  functional  element  of  the 
Aztec  social  order. 


The  Tribe  and  Tribal  Government 
The  Tribe  and  the  Phratry 
It  is  rather  hard  to  present  the  facts  in  regard  to  the  relation  of 
the  clans  to  Mexican  society  as  a  whole,  for  the  reason  that  these  clans 
entered  into  combinations  of  two  different  sorts.  Twenty  clans  to- 
gether made  up  the  tribe,  which  was,  from  certain  points  of  view,  the 
next  largest  unit  above  the  clan.  The  clans  seem  to  have  been  directly 
active  in  tribal  government.  On  the  other  hand,  for  certain  ceremonial 
and  military  purposes,  these  clans  are  grouped  into  phratries,  of  which 
there  were  four  in  all.  The  term  ** phratry**  does  not  occur  in  the 
sources,  but  it  is  the  term  which  would  probably  be  applied  by  modern 
ethnographers.^*  In  the  literature  the  units  we  have  described  as 
phratries  are  called  ** major  quarters.**  For  certain  purposes,  then, 
the  dans  were  considered  as  a  group  of  twenty  (the  tribe).  For 
other  purposes  they  were  grouped  into  four  large  brotherhoods  (the 
phratries) .   The  usual  notion  is  that  the  phratries  were  originally  clans 

«»  Loc,  cit. 

70  Zfirita,  p.  60. 

71  Op.  cit.,  p.  61, 

72Bernal  Diaz,  p.  32;  Molipa,  vol.  1,  p.  108,  vol.  2,  p.  14;  Pimentel,  p.  174; 
Sahagun,  p.  314;  Torquemada,  pp.  355,  626;  Z6rita,  p.  43. 

78  See  below,  MS  p.  28. 

7* It  is  used  already  by  Morgan,  ''Houses  and  House-Life  of  the  American 
Aborigines, "  U.  8.  Department  of  the  Interior,  Contributions  to  North  American 
Ethnology,  iv,  14-15;  Ancient  Society,  p.  157. 


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262  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

which  divided,  by  segmentation,  each  into  four  or  five,  thus  making 
the  twenty  clans  aa  they  were  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest.  Even  if 
this  is  their  actual  history,  for  purposes  of  presentation  it  is  simpler 
to  discuss  first  the  tribe  and  its  various  officers,  and  proceed  to  the 
phratries  later. 

The  Tribal  Council 

Consult:  Art  of  War,  pp.  101,  119  and  foUowing;  Tenure  of  Land,  p.  425  and 
cially  note  16;  Art  of  War,  pp.  127-129  with  notes,  160. 

The  Mexicans,  aa  a  tribe,  are  usually  considered  to  have  been  ruled 
by  a  despot.  The  principal  contribution  of  Morgan  and  Bandelier  to 
the  subject  lies  in  their  critical  examination  of  this  idea.  The  supreme 
authority,  according  to  Bandelier,  was  vested,  not  in  any  despot,  but 
in  a  ** council'*  or  ** senate"  of  important  men,  one  from  each  of  the 
independent  clans.  These  men,  as  far  aa  their  function  in  the  council 
was  concerned,  were  called  tlatoani,  or  ** speakers."  This  council,  in 
Bandelier 's  opinion,  is  the  most  important  thing  in  the  Aztec  govern- 
mental system. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  sources  that  they  say  rather  more  about 
the  condition  of  the  Mexicans  in  the  traditional  period  before  the 
founding  of  the  city  than  about  the  actual  social  order  which  was  in 
existence  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest.  Even  statements  concerning 
the  Mexicans  and  their  political  arrangements  while  in  the  semi- 
mythical  migration  period  are  interesting.  Although  without  historical 
value,  such  statements  probably  reflect  later  conditions,  contempor- 
aneous with  the  life  of  the  authors.  Conditions  late  in  chronological 
order  were  probably  read  back  into  the  semi-mythical  period.  Hence, 
when  authors,  in  describing  the  period  of  wandering,  refer  to  govern- 
ment by  a  council,  it  shows  at  least  that  the  idea  of  a  governing  council 
was  well  known.  The  various  statements  concerning  the  number  of 
councilors  who,  in  the  prehistoric  period,  made  up  this  governing  body 
are  not  in  accord.  Perhaps  the  best  way  of  presenting  the  data  is  to 
put  various  references  in  the  form  of  a  tabulation.     In  passing,  it 

Number  op  Members  op  the  Supreme  Council  in  the  Traditional  Period, 
According  to  Different  Sources 


Author 
Clavigero 
Dur&n 
Dur&n 

Number  of  members  in 
Pajce                        the  supreme  council 

190                                 20 
47                             10  (6  chiefs,  4  priests) 
7 

Garcia 

Book  5,  ch.  3            20 

Mendieta 

148                            10 

Tezozomoc 

7 

Torquemada        94,  289,  290,  291    20 


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1917]  Waterman :  Mexican  Social  Organization  263 

must  be  observed  that  a  large  number  of  authors  mention  no  council 
at  all  in  connection  with  this  period,  but  picture  the  tribe  as  under  the 
government  of  one  chief,  or  king. 

Whatever  the  facts  about  this  traditional  period  may  be,  at  the 
time  of  the  Conquest  there  was  almost  certainly  a  council  with  im- 
portant powers.  The  thousands  of  persons  making  up  the  tribe  could 
not  have  congregated  in  one  immense  public  gathering  for  the  suc- 
cessful transaction  of  business.  The  idea  that  the  authority  of  this 
council  was  supreme  rests  on  a  number  of  passages.  They  show  that 
the  **king,''  or  chief,  did  not  govern  the  tribe  entirely  on  his  own  ^ 
responsibility.^** 

Admitting,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  this  council  existed,  its 
make-up  is  by  no  means  clear.  Sahagun,  describing  a  council  which 
met  for  the  election  of  a  war-chief,  mentions  that  it  was  composed  of 
"old  men,  officers,  and  medicine-men.*'^®  Torquemada,  in  one  of  the 
passages  cited  just  above  (note  75),  mentions  the  fact  that  old  women 
were  also  included.^^  This  seems  to  mean,  in  other  words,  that  any- 
one who  considered  himself  of  sufficient  importance  to  have  an  opinion 
worth  delivering  might  appear  at  the  council  and  make  himself 
heard.  It  is  entirely  possible  that  all  actual  formal  decisions  were  an- 
nounced by  duly  recognized  officials.  From  what  we  know  of  Indian 
government  elsewhere,  it  seems  probable  that  these  officials  announced 
the  popiilar  verdict,  instead  of  deciding  each  point  on  their  own 
authority.  The  number  of  such  duly  recognized  officials  is  variously 
given.  Bernal  Diaz  mentions  twenty  *  *  grand  lords, ' '  a  passage  which 
sounds  as  though  it  might  be  a  reference  to  a  supreme  council.^® 
Duran,  however,  refers  to  **  grand  lords,  twelve  in  number. ''^®  Ixtlil- 
xochitl,  as  if  bent  on  confusing  the  matter  still  more  thoroughly, 
mentions  fourteen  **  great  lords. ''®°  Tezozomoc  mentions  first  twelve, 
and  then  raises  the  number  to  fifteen}'^  In  view  of  the  fact  that  twenty 
clans  are  more  consistently  mentioned  than  any  other  number,  while 
there  is  at  least  some  evidence  for  councilors  to  the  number  of  twenty, 


76Aco8ta,  pp.  411,  477;  De  Pordre  de  succession,  p.  228;  Diaz,  pp.  191,  194 
Dur^n,  pp.  103,  108,  117,  1133;  Fragmento  1,  pp.  124,  125;  Fragmento  2,  p.  147 
Gr6mara,  p.  442;  Herrera,  p.  76;  Mendieta,  p.  129;  Tezozomoc,  pp.  11,  12,  13,  172 
Torquemada,  pp.  352,  537. 

7e8ahag6n,  p.  318. 

'7  Torquemada,  p.  537. 

'«  Bernal  Diaz,  ch.  95;  ch.  97,  p.  99. 

79  Durdn,  p.  215. 

80  ixtlilxochitl  (a),  p.  236. 

81  Tezozomoc,  p.  57. 


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264  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

it  is  perhaps  safest  to  put  two  and  two  together  and  regard  the  council 
as  made  up  of  twenty  clan  representatives.  At  any  rate,  this  is 
Bandelier's  conclusion. 

When  we  come  to  the  question  of  how  often  the  council  met,  the 
evidence  is  not  quite  so  conflicting.  The  appropriate  citations  of 
authority  may  also  be  presented  in  the  form  of  a  table. 


Meetings  of  the  Tribal  Council 

Author  Page  Periodic  meetings 

Clavigero  482  Once  every  Mexican  ''month"  (20  days) 

Ixtlilxochitl  267,  268,  269  Every  twenty  days 

66mara  442  Once  a  month  (every  30  daysf) 

Mendieta  135  Every  ten  or  twelve  days 

Torquemada  355  Every  ten  days  ("later  every  twelve  days*') 

Ziirita  101  Every  twelve  days 


Meetings,  however,  could  apparently  be  called  in  an  emergency.®* 
Bernal  Diaz  mentions  daily  meetings  during  Cortes'  first  stay  in 
Mexico.*^  I  should  say  that  we  are  entitled  to  conclude,  on  the  basis 
of  this  evidence,  that  a  council  existed  in  ancient  Mexico  which  had 
extremely  wide  powers.  There  is  even  a  strong  presumption  that  it 
constituted  a  higher  authority  than  any  other  body  or  any  individual. 


The  Head  War-Chief 

Consult:  Art  of  War,  pp.  123,  129;  Mode  of  Government,  pp.  588,  592,  645,  659, 
666,  667,  668,  670;  Tenure  of  Land,  pp.  391,  397,  407. 

As  for  the  executive  officers  of  the  tribe,  we  can  recognize  at  least 
two.  There  was  certainly  in  the  Mexican  tribe  an  important  leader 
whom  we  may  call  the  Head  War-Chief.  The  other  official  we  will 
refer  to  in  a  moment.  The  existence  of  this  head  war-chief  does  not 
need  to  be  discussed.  All  the  literature  on  the  Aztecs,  even  the  oldest 
accounts,  abounds  in  mention  of  various  men  who  held  the  office.  The 
last  three  of  the  list  are  actual  historical  characters  and  had  official 
dealings  with  Cortes  and  the  Spaniards.  Question  arises  only  with 
regard  to  the  precise  nature  of  their  office.  There  is  considerable 
evidence  noted  above,  on  page  263,  that  the  council  was  above  all  other 
agencies  of  government.     The  war-chief  in  addition  could  not  de- 


82  Codex  Ramirez,  pp.  52,  62,  66,  67,  80;  Fragmento  1,  pp.  124,  127;  Fragment© 
2,  pp.  137,  147. 
88  Diaz,  p.  95. 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  Social  Organization  265 

clare  war,  which  was  the  prerogative  of  the  council.®*  Since  that  is 
the  case,  the  head  war-chief  obviously  was  not  a  ruler,  nor  a  despot, 
nor  a  monarch,  in  the  European  sense  of  the  word.  Another  most 
important  fact  in  connection  with  the  possible  question  of  supremacy 
between  the  council  and  the  war-chief  is  the  fact  that  the  war-chief- 
tainship was  an  elective  office.  The  fact  that  the  war-chief  was  elected 
is  common  knowledge,  and  it  is  mentioned  or  referred  to  in  practi- 
cally all  the  literature.*'  The  significance  of  this  fact  is  often  passed 
by.  It  certainly  makes  a  sharp  distinction  between  the  Aztec  leaders 
and  the  European  monarchs  of  the  same  period.  No  real  monarch 'T 
can  be  elected,  it  seems  to  me,  the  example  of  the  kings  of  Poland  and 
the  emperors  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing. The  kings  of  Poland  were,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  kings  only 
in  name;  and  the  same  might  be  said  with  regard  to  the  German 
emperors.  The  head  war-chief  had  the  title  in  Aztec  of  tlacatecuhtli, 
translated  *  *  chief  of  men. '  *  He  was  also  known  as  '  *  speaker '  *  ( tlatoani, 
degenerated  sometimes  to  tetuan),^^  His  principal  office  was  to  lead 
warriors  to  battle.®^  It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  insist  with  Bandelier 
that  the  head  war-chief  was  not  a  king. 

The  fact  of  election  is  amply  supported.*®  One  authority  says  that 
he  was  elected  by  the  tribal  council.*®  Sahagtin,  however,  who  gives 
much  the  fullest  information  on  such  points,  says  that  the  war-chief 
was  elected  by  a  **  junta"  of  speakers,  clan  chiefs,  old  leaders,  and 
priests,  not  by  ballot,  but  unanimously.**®  Of  the  two,  the  latter  state- 
ment seems  much  the  more  reasonable.  It  is  supported  by  the  Codex 
Mendoza,®^  and  by  a  statement  in  Duran.'^  A  similar  statement  is 
also  made  concerning  the  ** kings'*  of  Tezcoco,  a  city  which  was  a  close 
neighbor  and  ally  of  Mexico.**^    Duran,  in  particular,  emphasizes  the 

8*I>ur&n,  p.  204;  Tezozomoc,  pp.  55,  56.  The  Codex  Mendoza,  pi.  67,  is  cited 
by  Bandelier.  The  commentary  on  this  plate  (Kingsborough,  vol.  6,  p.  74)  offers, 
however,  nothing  very  conclusive. 

85  Cf.  note  93. 

86Fuenleal,  p.  247;  the  ''speaker'*  is  described  by  Bandelier  as  one  of  the 
ciml  officials  in  the  case  of  the  clan. 

8T  Acosta,  p.  431 ;  Mendieta,  p.  132. 

88  For  example,  Acosta,  p.  431;  Clavigero,  p.  463;  Codex  Mendoza,  pi.  2; 
Codex  Ramirez,  p.  58;  De  I'ordre  de  succession,  p.  228;  Dur4n,  pp.  103,  498; 
Mendieta,  pp.  148,  153,  154;  Sahagun,  pp.  136-139,  318;  Tezozomoc,  pp.  142,  143; 
Torquemada,  p.  358;  Zurita,  p.  14. 

80  De  1  'ordre  de  succession,  p.  228. 

»o  Sahagtin,  p.  318. 

»i  Codex  Mendoza,  pi.  2. 

02  Dur4n,  p.  53,  describing  the  election  of  ** Hummingbird,"  in  the  year  1396 
(traditional  chronology). 

osDurdn,  p.  496;  Ixtlilxochitl  (a),  chs.  76,  88;  Mendieta,  p.  153;  Pomar; 
Sahagun,  p.  318,  Book  8,  ch.  30;  Tezozomoc,  chs.  101,  102;  Torquemada,  pp.  357, 
358,  359. 


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266  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

importance  of  election,  and  the  non-operation  of  the  principle  of 
heredity,  in  Indian  government.®*  He  is  borne  out  by  Vetancurt, 
Torquemada,  and  Zurita.***  Bandelier  has  some  evidence,  therefore, 
for  his  statement  that  the  Mexican  leaders  were  not  kings. 

If  the  head  war-chief  was  elected,  the  question  at  once  arises :  Who 
were  eligible  for  the  office?  The  fact  is  that  the  choice  was  limited 
to  Qne  group,  which  consisted  of  a  whole  family  or  lineage.  This  is 
stated  by  a  large  number  of  good  authorities.®^  Duran,  according  to 
Bandelier,®^  states  emphatically  that  a  son  did  not  follow  his  father 
in  office,  unless  duly  elected  to  it.  Pomar  says  concerning  the  Tezcu- 
cans  that  they  elected,  as  war-chief,  any  one  of  an  entire  kin.®*  The 
best  evidence  of  all  in  this  connection  is  the  actual  list  of  war-chiefs, 
in  which  men  are  not  by  any  means  regularly  followed  in  office  by 
their  sons.  The  sons  of  such  officials,  moreover,  were  brought  up  as 
private  citizens,  not  as  heirs-apparent  to  an  office.  They  became 
singers  or  followed  other  professions.®®  To  put  the  facts  briefly,  the 
office  of  head  war-chief  was  actually  elective,  but  at  the  same  time  it 
was  hereditary  within  a  group.  The  nature  of  this  group  is  not  clear. 
It  may  even  have  been  some  certain  one  of  the  clans. 

Bandelier  makes  much  of  the  point  that  the  last  head  war-chief, 
Montezuma,  was  deprived  of  his  office  by  the  Mexicans.  There  is  little 
question  about  the  facts.^^®  The  circumstances,  however,  were  alto- 
gether unusual.  The  Spaniards  were  in  the  city,  and  Montezuma  was 
in  their  power  and  was  prevented  from  discharging  his  office.  Under 
the  circumstances,  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  chose  another  leader. 
The  fact  does  not  prove  the  existence  of  machinery  for  the  ** recall'' 
of  an  unpopular  war  leader.  Herrera  says  that  among  the  Quiche 
there  was  a  **king,"  but  that  the  heads  of  families  had  a  right  to  put 
him  to  death  for  misdemeanor.*^^  The  existence  of  such  a  custom  in 
connection  with  a  **king''  would  indicate  that  the  Spaniards  did  not 
mean  to  be  taken  literally  in  their  application  of  the  word  to  Indian 


0*  Dur&n,  pp.  103  and  490  especially. 

w  Vetancurt,  quoted  in  Kingsborough,  viii,  124;  Torquemada,  pp.  358,  .359; 
Ziirita,  pp.  18,  19. 

»«Aco8ta,  pp.  439,  440;  Clavigero,  p.  463;  Codex  Bamirez,  p.  58;  Dur4n,  pp. 
103,  498,  499;  Sahagun,  p.  318;  Torquemada,  p.  358;  Zurita,  pp.  12,  14. 

97  Durdn,  p.  103,  cited  ju8t  above. 

»8  The  passage  is  not  cited  by  Bandelier,  and  it  is  contradicted  by  Torque- 
mada, pp.  357,  358,  359. 

08  Sahagfin,  Book  5,  ch.  3;  Tezozomoc,  p.  143. 

looBernal  Diaz,  p.  132;  Cortes,  pp.  41,  42;  Codex  Bamirez,  p.  89;  Fragmento 
2,  p.  143;  Herrera,  pp.  264,  267;  Las  Casas,  p.  49;  Sahagun,  pp.  28,  29;  Torque- 
mada, pp.  494,  497;  Vetancurt,  pp.  125,  130,  131. 

101  Herrera,  p.  386. 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  SocicU  Organisation  267 

afifairs.    The  existence  of  the  right  to  kill  a  king  certainly  involves  a 
logical  contradiction. 

Duality  of  the  Office 

Another  interesting  point  about  the  office  of  war-chief,  which  makes 
clear  the  fact  that  it  is  not  comparable  to  a  monarchical  institution,  is 
that  the  office  was  dual.  Alongside  of  the  ** chief  of  men"  there  was 
another  official  with  practically  equal  powers.  The  second  official  held 
the  extraordinary  title  of  **  Snake-Woman. ' '  The  custom  of  having 
two  chief  officials  seems  to  be  quite  typical  of  the  plateau  tribes,  and 
perhaps  of  Middle-American  societies  in  general.  For  example,  there 
were  two  head  chiefs  in  Tlascala.^®^.  The  same  might  be  said  of 
Xochimilco,^^'  of  Chalco,^***  of  the  Totonacs,^^'  and  of  the  tribes  of 
Guatemala.'**?  At  Matlatzinco,  according  to  Ziirita,^**^  there  were  three' 
chiefs  who  held  office  by  turns.  It  is  stated  by  one  historian  that 
this  duality  or  plurality  in  leadership  was  common  to  every  Mexican 
tribe.'®*  It  was  the  custom  among  the  Iroquois,  as  is  well  known,  to 
appoint  an  assistant  or  helper  for  each  important  official. 

The  ''Snake-Wormn'' 
Consult:  Art  of  War,  p.  124;  Social  Organization^  pp.  660-667. 

We  know  relatively  little  about  the  ** Snake-Woman,''  or  coadjutor 
to  the  head  war-chief,  except  that  the  office  existed.  No  plausible 
explanation  has  ever  been  offered  for  the  extraordinary  title.  I  think 
the  first  point  to  be  emphasized  is  that  the  snake-woman  was  apparently 
equal  to  the  '*king,'*  or  head  war-chief,  in  rank.  This  is  stated  by  a 
number  of  good  authorities.'^®  (See  Social  Organization,  p.  665,  note 
221.)  He  is  referred  to  as  ** coadjutor  to  the  king,'*  or  ** second 
king.""®    Moreover,  certain  insignia  were  common  to  these  two  offi- 


102  Anonymous  Conqueror,  p.  388;  Bernal  Diaz,  p.  60;  Cortes,  pp.  18,  46; 
G^mara,  p.  332;  Motolinia,  pp.  229,  230;  Oviedo,  p.  372;  Tezozomoc,  pp.  150,  152; 
Torquemada,  p.  347  (mentions  four,  not  two). 

losDurdn,  p.  104;  Tezozomoc,  p.  25. 

iM  Bernal  Diaz,  pp.  154,  155;  Dur&n,  p.  134;  Tezozomoc,  pp.  33,  36. 
.  105  Dur4n,  pp.  181,  206. 

106  Bernal  Diaz,  p.  220  (see  also  the  Popul  Vuh,  Paris,  edited  by  Brasseur  de 
Bourbourg,  1861,  p.  339). 

107  Zurita,  p.  389. 

108  Herrera,  p.  141;  confirmed  by  Tezozomoc. 

looAcosta,  p.  494;  Codex  Ramirez,  p.  66;  Dur^n,  pp.  215,  255;  Fragmento  1: 
Tezozomoc,  pp.  53,  58,  66;  Torquemada,  p.  352;  Vetancurt,  p.  369. 
110  By  the  Codex  Ramirez,  Durfi.n,  and  Tezozomoc,  especially. 


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268  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

cials,  and  were  worn  by  no  others.  Among  them  was  the  copt7K/" 
the  so-called  royal  crown  (a  curious  head-ornament  of  metal,  rising 
over  the  forehead),  and  a  certain  style  of  dress.*^*  Both  the  chief  of 
men  and  the  snake-woman  had  commemorative  carvings,***  and  the 
same  burial  rites."*  The  snake-woman  did  not,  however,  have  pre- 
cisely the  same  functions.  We  are  quite  uncertain,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
just  what  his  functions  were.  The  Spaniards  applied  to  the  office 
various  terms,  which  may  perhaps  be  presented  in  tabular  form. 

Titles  Applied  to  the  ' '  Snake  Woman  ' '  by  the  Spaniards 


Title  given 

Author 

Page 

Coadjutor  to  the 

king 

Codex  Ramirez 

• 

Coadjutor  to  the  king 

Durdn 

* 

Coadjutor  to  the 

king 

Tezozomoc 

48 

Viceroy 

Torquemada 

352 

Viceroy 

Vetancurt 

369 

Supreme  judge 

Clavigero 

481 

Supreme  judge 

Codex  Mendoza 

pi.  69 

Supreme  judge 

Torquemada 

352 

Supreme  judge 

Vetancurt 

369 

Mayordomo 

Bernal  Diaz 

87 

Captain -General 

Cortes 

89,90 

Captain-General 

G^mara 

392 

Captain-General 

Tezozomoc 

48 

Principal  councilor  and  lieutenant 

Herrera 

53 

Principal  councilor  and  lieutenant 

Tezozomoc 

57 

Captain 

Torquemada 

567 

General  and  auditor 

Tezozomoc 

32 

Presidente 

Tezozomoc 

48 

Governor  of  Mexico 

Etelaci6n  de  Jornada 

315,471 

*  See  Mode  of  Government,  note  210. 

It  is  very  hard  to  form  a  clear  impression  of  an  officer  whose 
function  corresponded  at  once  to  that  of  captain-general  and  that  of 
supreme  judge.  It  is  very  probable  that  the  snake-woman,  whatever 
else  his  functions,  was  particularly  in  charge  of  the  gathering  and 
housing  of  tribute.^^*^  During  the  siege  of  the  city  by  the  Spaniards, 
Montezuma  commanded  the  confederate  tribes  who  were  fighting  the 
Spaniards,  while  the  snake-woman  led  the  local  Mexican  forces.^*' 


111  Dur&n,  p.  214. 

112  Clavigero,  Book   7,  ch.  22;   Codex  Telleriano-Bemensls;   Durfi.n,  p.   215; 
Tezozomoc,  pp.  57,  115,  129. 

iisDurfin,  pp.  250,  251;  Tezozomoc,  p.  65. 

iMAcosta,  p.  496;  Codex  Ramirez,  p.  381;  Dur&n,  p.  381. 

115  Durdn,  pp.  172,  173;  Tezozomoc,  pp.  45,  64,  65,  104,  110,  111,  119. 

lie  Cort^,  p.  89. 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  Social  Organization  269 

The  last  snake-woman  to  hold  the  office  was  appointed  governor  of 
the  City  of  Mexico  under  the  Spaniards  by  Cortes.**^  It  would  be 
logically  the  most  satisfying  course  to  assume  that  there  was  a  division 
of  function  between  the  two  highest  officers,  as  there  was  possibly  in 
the  case  of  the  clan  officers.  For  example,  it  would  be  a  scheme  easy 
to  understand  if  the  head  war-chief  had  exercised  primarily  military 
leadership,  while  the  snake-woman  was  essentially  a  civil  officer,  with 
the  administration  of  tribute  gathering  and  other  public  matters  in 
his  hands.  The  evidence,  however,  does  not  so  indicate.  At  any  rate, 
the  existence  of  an  officer  who  shared  the  prerogatives  and  the  author- 
ity of  the  head  war-chief  adds  tremendously  to  the  probability  that 
the  latter  official  was  not  a  ** royal' '  person. 

A  question  of  some  theoretical  interest  is  this:  Did  the  bilateral 
segmentation  of  Aztec  officialdom  into  civil  and  military  functionaries 
extend  to  the  high  officers  of  the  tribe  f  The  answer  is  that  it  did  not. 
There  is  no  reference  to  any  civil  officer  corresponding  to  the  head 
war-chief.  The  reason,  when  we  reflect  a  moment,  is  not  far  to  seek. 
The  tribe,  namely,  had  no  civil  business.  It  owned  no  land,  collected 
no  internal  taxes,  made  no  expenditures,  never  interfered  in  the  affairs 
of  the  clans.  In  other  words,  the  only  business  in  which  the  tribe 
engaged  as  a  unit  was  war.  There  was  no  need  for  any  tribal  officer 
except  the  war  leader.  The  snake-woman  is  certainly  not  a  civil 
officer,  but  a  military  one,  and  is  to  be  recognized  as  the  understudy 
of  the  war-chief.  Everything  in  and  about  his  office,  even  his  personal 
ornaments,  points  to  his  partnership  in  the  war-chief's  duties.  In 
other  words,  a  point  to  be  always  emphasized  is  the  purely  military 
purpose  and  intent  of  all  the  Mexican  efforts  towards  the  organization 
of  a  government. 

The  **Pour  Quarters/'  or  Phratries 
The  fact  that  the  ancient  City  of  Mexico  was  divided  into  four 
districts  is  well  known,  and  it  is  accepted,  I  believe,  quite  generally."® 
These  ** major  quarters"  were  divided  into  a  number  of  independent 
elans,  probably  twenty  in  all  (see  above,  p.  255).  The  fact  that  the 
*' major  quarter"  is  a  group  of  clans  is  indicated  quite  clearly."*  The 
question  as  to  what  function  the  ** major  quarter"  had,  as  a  unit  of 

iiTBernal  Diaz,  pp.  198,  199;  Cortes,  p.  110;  Herrera,  pp.  122,  123;  Ixtlil- 
xochitl  (b),  pp.  265,  266,  269. 

"8  Acosta,  p.  467;  Clavigero,  p.  494;  Durdn,  p.  42;  G6mara,  p.  434;  Herrera, 
p.  61;  Vetancurt,  p.  124. 

ii»  See  especially  Dur&n,  Torquemada,  Vetancurt,  as  cited  above. 


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270  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

the  social  order,  still  remains.  We  know  that  it  was  very  important 
*  in  military  affairs.^ ^®  Moreover,  it  had  certain  religious  functions. 
Each  such  ** quarter,"  for  example,  had  its  own  god  and  place 
for  worship.^-^j^  A  group  of  clans  for  ceremonial  and  military  purposes 
deserves,  it  seems  to  me,  to  be  called  a  **phratry.''  Moreover,  the 
word  ccdpulli,  which  implies  kinship,  is  applied  also  to  these  four 
quarters,  ^^^  indicating  that  these  were  based  on  notions  of  common 

^  descent.  That  these  *'four  quarters,'*  or  ** major  quarters,"  of 
the  Spanish  historians  were  very  important  institutions  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  they  persisted  in  the  City  of  Mexico  for  a  very  long 
time  after  the  Conquest.  They  were  perpetuated  in  the  four  city 
wards  of  San  Pablo,  San  Juan,  Santa  Maria  la  Redonda,  and  San 
Sebastian,  which  were  simply  the  old  quarters,  known  to  the  Indians 
as  Teopan,  Aztacalco,  Moyotlan,  and  Cuepopan."^  It  was  at  one  time 
intended  to  concentrate  the  Indian  population  in  the  old  pueblo  of 
Tlaltelolco,  which  was  known  as  the  '*ward"  of  Santiago.  The  most 
interesting  thing  about  these  ** major  quarters"  is  the  fact  of  the  ex- 
istence of  a  great  war  leader  for  each  one,  an  official  who  is  most 

/commonly  referred  to  as  the  ** captain-general"   (though  the  use  of  j^ 
this  term  is  not  restricted  to  the  one  official  in  question).    It  remains 
to  discuss  the  functions  and  rank  of  these  officers. 

The  ^^CaptainS'Generaly''  or  Phr at ry 'Commanders 
Consult:  Art  of  War,  p.  121;  Mode  of  Government,  pp.  688-690. 

The  existence  of  these  four  conspicuous  officials  is  referred  to, 
though  their  titles  are  given  somewhat  differently  by  a  number  of 
authors.^ 2*  There  is  little  question  about  their  identity.  Bandelier 
states,  on  fairly  good  authority,  that  they  were  elected,"*  and,  he 
thinks,  by  the  population  of  each  of  the  ' '  four  quarters. ' '  Each  one 
had  a  special  title  or  official  name.  In  other  words,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Iroquois,  a  certain  name  went  with  the  occupancy  of  the  office. 
These  four  names,  given  differently  by  different  authors,  help  to  iden- 


120  Clavigero,  p.  494;  Tezozomoc,  p.  161;  Torquemada,  loc.  cit.;  also  see  below, 
under  **  Captain -General. " 

121  Dur&n,  p.  42. 

122  For  example,  Tezozomoc,  p.  184. 

i23Dur&n,  p.  42;  Tezozomoc,  p.  98;  Vetancurt,  p.  42. 

i24Aco8ta,  p.  441;  Clavigero,  Book  7,  eh.  21;  Codex  Bamirez,  pp.  57,  58; 
T)ur4n,  pp.  102,  103;  Herrera,  p.  75;  Sahagun,  pp.  318,  319;  Tezozomoc,  pp.  24, 
161. 

125  Acosta,  Codex  Bamirez,  Dur6n,  Herrera,  Sahagiin,  as  cited  just  above, 
note  124. 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  Social  Organisation  271 

tify  the  officials,  when  mentioned  in  different  places  in  our  sources. 
They  are,  as  given  by  Bandelier,  Tlacateccatl,  or  ** cutter  of  men*'; 
Tlacochcacatl,  or  **man  of  the  storehouse  of  weapons'' ;  Ezhuahuacatl, 
or  '*he  who  sheds  blood";  and  perhaps  Quauhnochtli,  or  ** eagle  and 
cactus  chief."  Three  passages  prove  to  Bandelier 's  satisfaction  that 
the  four  were  immediate  assistants  to  the  head  war-chief.^^®  If  this 
is  true,  their  main  function  was  undoubtedly  warlike.  A  variety  of 
titles  are  applied  to  them,  however.  Among  other  things,  they  are 
referred  to  as  *  *  judges. '  '"^  *  *  Alcalde ' '  is  another  Spanish  term  which 
to  many  Spanish  authors  seemed  applicable  to  the  official  in  question."^ 
Taking  everything  into  consideration,  we  are  evidently  dealing  with  a 
somewhat  undifferentiated  office,  in  which  military  leadership  was  the 
most  important  factor. 

As  regards  their  dress,  these  four  men  were  allowed  to  tie  the  hair 
with  red  leather,  a  thing  which  was  otherwise  permitted  only  to  the 
head  war-chief  and  the  snake-woman.  Another  point  of  extreme 
importance  is  this,  that  (according  to  fairly  good  authority)  the  head 
war-chief  was  invariably  elected  from  among  tl\ese  four.*^**  We  have 
already  considered  the  idea  that  the  chief  of  men  had  to  be  elected 
from  one  lineage.  If  this  second  principle  was  also  in  operation,  the 
four  phratry-captains  must  obviously  have  belonged,  in  each  case,  to 
the  same  lineage.  Otherwise  they  would  not  have  been  eligible  for 
election  to  the  office.  Of  the  authors  just  mentioned  (note  139),  Duran 
is  very  explicit. 

Mention  ought  to  be  made  of  the  fact  that  some  of  the  sources 
speak  not  of  four  officers,  whom  we  may  assume  to  be  captains-general, 
but  of  two.^'^  It  seems  plausible,  however,  that  four  was  the  actual 
number,  corresponding  to  the  four  quarters. 

Other  Institutions  in  the  Phratry 
The  tribe  seems  to  have  had  a  public  house,  where  the  head  war- 
chief  and  other  important  men  lived,  and  where  a  great  deal  of  official 
business  went  forward.  This  was  called  the  tribal  tecpan  (consult 
Mode  of  Government,  pp.  648,  655).  Bandelier  makes  much  of  the 
point  that  the  so-called  *' palace"  of  Montezuma  was  merely  the  official 

126  Codex  Ramirez,  pp.  57,  58;  Dur6n,  p.  103;  Sahagun,  p.  318. 

127  Clavigero,  p.  481;  Torquemada,  p.  352;  Vetancurt,  p.  370. 

128  Codex  Mendoza,  pi.  59. 

129  Acosta,  pp.  431,  441;  Codex  Mendoza,  pi.  11;  Codex  Ramirez,  p.  58;  Dur4n, 
p.  103;  Tezozomoc,  ch.  15  (confirms  vaguely);  Torquemada,  pp.  172,  186. 

i3oG6mara,  p.  442;  Sahagun,  p.  311;  Zurita,  p.  95. 


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272  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

tribal  administration  building.     Similar  buildings  may  have  existed 
in  each  major  quarter. 

Two  other  institutions  connected  with  the  quarter  might  hold  our 
attention  for  a  moment.  One  was  a  place  called  by  Bandelier  the 
*'schoolhouse/'  where  youths  were  trained,  **  under  the  supervision  of 
the  clan  leaders,"  for  war.  The  other  was  an  armory,  a  ** house  of 
darts,*'  which  seems  to  have  been  immediately  under  the  supervision 
of  the  phratry-captain.  Statements  concerning  the  **schoolhouses" 
may  be  found  in  various  authors.^*^  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  clan 
official  did  the  teaching,  but  the  schoolhouse  was  an  establishment 
belonging  to  the  ** major  quarter,"  or  phratry.  The  existence  of  four 
houses  of  darts,  one  for  each  major  quarter,  or  phratry,  is  mentioned 
by  one  author.***  Others  are  not  so  explicit.***  They  seem  to  have 
existed,  however,  and  to  have  been  found  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
temples,***  probably  because  the  temples  and  other  public  buildings 
were  grouped  together.  The  '* darts"  spoken  of  were  undoubtedly 
the  javelins  hurled  by  means  of  the  characteristic  Mexican  weapon, 
the  atlatl,  or  spear-thrower.***^  Torquemada  speaks  of  a  special  house, 
at  the  Main  Temple,  reserved  for  javelins,  and  nothing  else.**^  Alto- 
gether it  can  be  seen  that  phratries  had  a  rather  definite  and  active 
function  in  the  Mexican  social  order. 


Points  op  Difficulty 

A  great  many  points  are  brought  up  by  Bandelier  concerning 
which  we  have  no  satisfactory  information.  We  know,  for  example, 
that  Mexico  and  two  allied  pueblos,  Tezcoco  and  Tlacopan,  exacted  a 
relatively  heavy  tribute  from  many  surrounding  places.  The  collec- 
tion and  forwarding  of  this  tribute  imply  the  existence  of  an  ex- 
tensive business  organization.  There  are  many  references  to  the 
calpixca,  or  ** stewards,"  who  were  engaged  in  this  work,  but  there  is 
very  little  to  show  us  the  precise  nature  of  their  appointment  and 


181  G6inara,  p.  438;  Mendieta,  p.  124;  Sahagtin,  p.  268;  Tezozomoc,  pp.  121, 
134;  Torquemada,  p.  185. 

182  Tezozomoc,  p.  184. 

isaBernal  Diaz,  vol.  2,  p.  87,  says  *'two'';  G6mara,  p.  345,  and  Herrera,  p. 
197,  say  ** several'';  Motolinia,  p.  188,  says  **many. " 

i84Aoo8ta,  Book  6,  ch.  28;  Anonymous  Conqueror,  p.  394;  06mara,  vol.  2, 
p.  349;  Tezozomoc,  p.  121;  Torquemada,  p.  146. 

185  Mrs.  Zelia  Nuttall,  in  Peabody  Museum  (Harvard  University),  Anthropo- 
logical Papers,  vol.  1. 

186  Torquemada,  p.  146. 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  Social  Organization  273 

procedure.  Bandelier  devotes  considerable  space  to  these  calpixca, 
but  after  all  achieves  nothing  very  definite.  (See  Mode  of  Government, 
especially  pp.  638,  697.)  We  know  that  the  tribute  was  collected,  that 
it  was  forwarded  to  the  confederate  towns,  and  that  it  was  divided  up 
among  the  allies,  Mexico  and  Tezcoco  taking  each  two-fifths,  and 
Tlacopan  receiving  one-fifth.  We  have  a  suspicion  that  this  tribute 
was  finally  parcelled  out  to  the  clans  and  not  to  individuals.  The 
exact  facts  in  connection  with  the  gathering  of  tribute  are  a  most 
promising  field  for  investigation.  Another  extremely  interesting  ques- 
tion, which  is  closely  allied  to  the  one  just  mentioned,  is  the  question 
of  trade  routes  and  avenues  of  commerce.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  there  was  a  lively  commerce  in  highly  specialized  products  be- 
tween various  localities  on  the  Plateau.  The  actual  tracing  of  the 
important  trails  and  other  arteries  of  commerce  ought  to  be  practi- 
cable, and  it  is  certainly  most  necessary. 

We  ought  to  have  a  list  of  the  names  applied  to  the  clans,  or 
calpullis.  The  whole  matter  of  totemism  ought  also  to  be  thoroughly 
explored.  Analogy  with  the  Iroquois,  together  with  the  attire  worn 
by  Mexican  warriors,  would  suggest  that  these  clans  might  quite  pos- 
sibly have  exhibited  certain  totemistic  phenomena.  Nothing  has  ever 
been  done  with  the  question  whether  or  not  the  Mexican  clans  were 
exogamous.  All  these  points  could  probably  be  worked  out  on  the 
basis  of  the  source  material. 

A  totally  different  point  which  ought  to  be  investigated  is  the 
question  of  the  nature  and  workings  of  the  Confederacy,  to  the  exist- 
ence of  which  allusion  has  just  been  made.  Mexico  seems  to  have 
enjoyed  the  right  of  furnishing  a  leader  for  each  confederate  enter- 
prise, this  leader  being  normally  her  own  head  war-chief.  This  fact 
tends  to  make  an  additional  distinction  between  this  official  of  the 
Mexicans  and  the  ordinary  war-chief  of  ordinary  Indian  tribes.  The 
Confederacy  was  really  superimposed  on  the  already  existing  local 
organization  of  each  tribe,  and  its  workings  ought  to  prove  most 
interesting. 

Conclusion 

The  following  tabulation  indicates  the  composition  of  Mexican 
society  as  viewed  by  Bandelier.  Under  the  headings  are  listed  the 
institutions  and  functions  characterizing  (in  his  opinion)  each  division 
of  the  social  order. 


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274  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Clan  Phratry  Tribe 

War-party  War-party  War-party 

War-leader  (Elder  Brother)  War-leader  (Phratry  captain)  War-leader  ("King'') 

Beligous  observances  Beligious  observances  Beligious  observances 

Official  buildings  Official  buildings  Official  buildings 

Council  Council 

Temple  

Steward  

Calpullec  

Speaker  

Lands  


In  summing  up  Bandelier's  findings,  several  points  are  to  be  borne 
in  mind.  It  is  perfectly  obvious,  in  the  first  place,  that  arguments 
cannot  be  based  on  the  descriptive  terminology  used  by  the  Spanish 
authors  of  the  sixteenth  century,  not  even  when  these  authors  were 
eye-witnesses  of  what  they  describe.  When  Spanish  authors  define 
the  same  Indian  official  as  being  at  once  a  bailiff  and  a  general,  or  a 
captain  of  the  guard  and  an  abbot,  we  are  obviously  helpless  to  make 
up  our  minds  what  the  official  really  was.  There  are  several  possible 
explanations  for  the  uncertainties  in  the  Spanish  accounts,  all  of  which 
probably  apply  in  some  measure.  The  offices  the  Spaniards  were 
describing  were  not  exactly  analogous  to  anything  in  the  Old  World. 
Probably,  also,  these  Indian  offices  were  somewhat  undifferentiated. 
An  ** official''  who  is  mentioned  as  holding  office  was  probably  in  the 
main  merely  an  important  man.  One  day  he  might  be  leading  a  party 
to  war,  and  the  next  day  taking  an  important  role  in  a  religious  cere- 
mony, or  exerting  influence  in  a  way  which  made  him  look  to  the 
Spaniards  like  a  judge.  Of  the  various  reasons  for  confusion  and 
uncertainty,  this  lack  of  specialization  in  functions  seems  to  be  prob- 
ably the  most  important. 

What  applies  to  the  less  important  officials,  applies  with  greater 
force  to  the  most  important  dignitary  of  all,  the  head  war-chief. 
Whether  he  is  to  be  called  a  king  or  not  depends  on  the  meaning  which 
this  term  carries.  The  office  was,  however,  elective,  and  for  that  and 
other  reasons,  *^king''  is  probably  not  the  term  to  use.  The  conclusion 
to  which  the  evidence  obviously  points  is  that  the  Aztec  war-chief  was 
probably  well  started  on  the  road  to  becoming  a  king,  but  had  not  yet 
arrived.  A  most  significant  point  is  that  the  leadership  was  shared. 
This  is  true  also  of  the  government  of  tribes  in  the  United  States, 
where  there  was  often  a  board  of  four  or  more  ** chiefs'*  who  directed 
affairs.    It  would  be  possible  fully  to  understand  the  government  of 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  Social  Organizatian  275 

ancient  Mexico  only  by  making  a  comparative  study  of  govei^nment 
among  tribes  in  the  eastern  United  States  (especially  the  Iroquois), 
on  the  Plains  and,  above  all,  among  the  Pueblos  of  the  Southwest, 
where  we  are  almost  certain  to  find  conditions  that  may  be  compared 
with  those  in  Tenochtitlan. 

In  a  more  general  way  still,  there  were  fundamental  differences 
between  Indian  and  Spanish  society  which  the  Spaniards  never  seem 
to  have  understood.  The  ownership  of  land,  to  mention  the  most  im- 
portant kind  of  property,  was  vested  not  in  individuals  but  in  the 
clan.  This  fact  the  Spaniards  were  slow  to  grasp.  The  Spaniards 
also  viewed  the  whole  of  Mexican  tribal  society  as  a  unit  subdivided 
into  four  quarters,  and  each  quarter  further  subdivided,  for  adminis- 
trative purposes,  into  clans,  or  calpullis.  The  facts  probably  are  that 
the  Indians  regarded  the  clans  as  the  essential  thing,  while  the 
four  quarters,  or  phratries,  and  in  still  larger  measure  the  tribe,  were 
merely  loose  aggregates  of  clans  held  together  primarily  for  the  pur- 
poses of  war,  and,  after  that,  of  ritual.  The  fundamental  point 
which  Bandelier  makes,  that  Spanish  society  was  essentially  feudal, 
while  Indian  society  was  essentially  democratic,  is,  it  seems  to  me,  a 
good  one. 

The  question,  therefore,  whether  Mexican  society  was  monarchical 
or  democratic  seems  to  me  to  be  largely  an  artificial  one.  Mexico,  for 
example,  is  regularly  described  in  works  concerning  the  Aztecs  as  a 
monarchy;  Tlascala  as  a  republic.  Republic  {res  publica)  is  a  word 
which  could  not,  as  used  by  the  early  writers,  have  had  its  modern 
sense ;  moreover,  it  was  actually  applied  to  both  cities  alike."^  There 
is  not  the  slightest  critical  reason  for  drawing  any  distinction  between 
the  mode  of  government  of  the  two.  The  distinction  is  an  accidental 
one.  Mexico  was  certainly  as  much  of  a  republic  as  Tlascala  was. 
A  great  deal  of  the  talk  about  Mexico  being  a  monarchy,  especially 
the  highly  colored  talk,  could  probably  be  traced  back  to  Ixtlilxochitl. 
He  seems  to  have  been  moved  by  a  desire  to  glorify  his  maternal  an- 
cestors, who  were  war-chiefs  of  Tezcoco,  and  to  establish  royal  rank 
for  the  family.  He  uses  a  feudal  terminology,  even  in  speaking  of  the 
most  ancient  periods,  when  the  peoples  he  describes  were,  according 
to  his  own  words,  naked  hunters.^'* 

Many  problems  are  suggested  by  Bandelier  for  which  the  necessary 
data  are  so  far  lacking.    The  actual  details  of  Mexican  organization 


187  Torquemada,  p.  361. 

188  Ixtlilxochitl  (a),  pp.  30,  66. 


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276  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.      [Vol.  12 

might  still  be  recovered,  in  large  measure,  through  a  study  of  the 
manuscript  material,  more  and  more  of  which  is  becoming  available. 
This  involves,  however,  an  exhaustive  knowledge  of  its  contents. 
Bandelier's  work,  it  seems  to  me,  is  a  good  beginning,  and  offers  the 
proper  foundation  for  a  final  study  of  Mexican  society. 

Bandelier's  positive  contributions  to  the  subject  may  be  summed 
This  involves,  however,  an  exhaustive  knowledge  of  their  contents, 
up  as  follows.  He  cites  evidence  which  proves  conclusively  that  the 
social  organization  of  Tenochtitlan  was  based  on  clans,  that  these  clans 
were  grouped  in  four  phratries,  and  that  the  actions  of  the  tribe  as 
a  whole  were  governed  primarily  by  a  council.  The  ** kings"  he  shows 
clearly  to  be  the  executive  agents,  in  a  very  real  sense,  of  this  council, 
and  responsible  through  them  to  the  people.  He  brings  forward  a 
good  deal  of  evidence  in  support  of  his  dictum  that  Mexican  society 
was  fundamentally  democratic. 

The  remainder  of  the  points  made  in  his  paper  are  unsatisfactory 
in  the  present  state  of  the  evidence.  The  question  of  the  importance  ^ 
of  *' honorary  chiefs**  and  the  question  of  the  existence  of  separate 
clan  councils  as  governmental  institutions  are  still  entirely  open.  The 
function  of  the  ** elder  brother,**  or  war  leader  in  the  clan,  and  his 
relation  to  other  clan  officials,  must  remain  quite  problematical.  Ban-<^ 
delier  cannot  be  said  to  have  achieved  anything  conclusive  in  regard 
to  the  whole  matter  of  clan  officials.  The  relation  of  Bandelier's  work 
to  Morgan  *s  is  very  close.  Morgan  arrived  at  certain  conclusions, 
without  having  a  very  wide  knowledge  of  the  evidence  in  the  sources. 
He  quotes  only  nine  sixteenth-century  authors.  Bandelier  backs  up 
Morgan's  conclusions  by  a  rather  wide  study  of  the  sources,  as  the 
following  bibliography  will  show.  He  may  be  regarded  as  finally 
confirming  the  most  important  of  Morgan's  conclusions. 

Alphabetical  List  op  the  Sources  Cited  by  Bandelier 
Showing  the  dates  of  composition 
It  is  difficult  to  say  definitely  when  each  of  these  works  was  com- 
posed. The  dates  which  are  given  in  the  appended  list  often  indicate 
merely  the  approximate  period.  It  must  be  remembered  that  this 
list  includes  only  the  original  works  cited  by  Bandelier,  and  not  the 
modern  works  to  which  he  makes  reference.  It  is  not  in  any  sense  a 
bibliography  of  the  subject. 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  Social  Organizatwn  277 

AcAziTLi,  Fbancisco  de  Sandoval 

Belaci6n  de  la  Jornada  .  .  .  del  pueblo  de  Tlalmanalco,  etc.     (Written  in 
1641.) 

Mexico  (in  Icazbalceta,  Colecci6n  de  documentos  para  la  historia 
de  Mexico,  2  vols.,  1858-1866,  vol.  2),  1866. 

ACOSTA,  J0S£  DE  SaLAMIn 

Historia  natural  y  moral  de  las  Indias.     (Composed  about  1588.) 
Seville,  1608. 
Alvarado,  Pedbo  de 

Belaci6n  a  Hernando  Cortes.     (Written  in  1524.) 

Madrid,  edited  by  Yedia  (in  Historiadores  primitives  de  Indias, 
2  vols.,  included  as  vols.  22  and  26  of  the  Biblioteca  de  autores  Espa- 
noles,  71  vols.,  various  editors,  1849-1880,  vol.  22),  1868. 
Anonymous  Conqueror 

Be]aci6n  de  algunas  cosas  de  Nueva  Espana  y  de  la  Gran  Ciudad  de  Temestitan 
de  Mexico.    (Composed  **80on  after  the  Conquest.") 

Mexico  (in  Icazbalceta,  Colecci6n  de  Documentos  para  la  Historia 
de  Mexico,  2  vols.),  1858-1860. 
Anunciaci6n,  Domingo  de  la 

Lettre.     (Written  in  Chalco,  September  20,  1554.) 

Paris  (in  Ternaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  16 
[i.e.,  Series  2,  vol.  6]),  1840. 
Biblioteca  Mexicana 

The  work  cited  by  Bandelier  under  this  very  misleading  title  is  an  edition  of 
the  Cr6nica  Mexicana  of  Fernando  de  Alvarado  Tezozomoc.  This  edition 
was  annotated  by  Orozco  y  Berra  and  contains  also  the  Codex  Bamlrez 
and  two  *  *  f  ragmentos, "  very  frequently  referred  to  by  our  author.  The 
volume,  including  the  Cr6nica  Mexicana  and  its  companion  pieces,  seems 
to  constitute  number  69  in  a  series  the  general  title  of  which  is  as  given, 
Biblioteca  Mexicana.  This  title  does  not,  however,  appear  in  the  usual 
works  of  reference. 
Bologna,  Prancisoo  de 

Lettre  au  Beverend  Padre  Clement  de  Monelia.     (Written  before  1534.) 

Paris  (in  Ternaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  10), 
1840. 
Camargo,  Domingo  MuSoz 

Histoire  de  la  republique  de  Taxcallan.     (Written  1576-1585.) 

Paris,  edited  by  Ternaux-Compans  (in  Nouvelles  Annales  des  Voy- 
ages, 160  vols.,  various  editors,  1819,  vols.  98  and  99),  1843. 
Chavez,  Gabriel  de 

Bapport  sur  la  Province  de  Meztitlan.     (Written  October  1,  1569.) 

Paris  (in  Ternaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  16 
[i.e..  Series  2,  vol.  6]),  1840. 
Clavigero,  Francisco  Severio 

Storia  antica  de  Messico.     (Composed  about  1765.) 
Cesena,  1780. 
Co^ex  Mendoza, 

London  (in  Kingsborough,  Mexican  Antiquities,  9  vols.),  1831. 
(Note. — The  original  painting  is  in  vol.  1,  pp.  1-73,  the  original 
Spanish  commentary  in  vol.  5,  pp.  39-113,  and  an  English  translation 
of  the  Spanish  commentary  in  vol.  6,  pp.  3-87.) 


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278  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Codex  Bamirez  (so-called).  In  Tezozomoc,  Crdnica  Mexicana  .  .  .  anotada  por 
.  .  .  M.  Orozco  y  Berra,  y  precidida  del  C6dice  Bamlrez,  manuscrito  in- 
titulado:  Belaci6ii  del  origen  de  los  Indios  que  habitan  esta  Nueva  Espana 
segun  SUB  historias,  y  de  un  examen  de  ambas  obras,  al  cual  va  anexo  un 
estudio  de  cronologia  Mexicana  por  el  mismo  .  .  .  Orozco  y  Berra. 

Mexico  (in  Biblioteca  Mexicana.    Coleccion  de  obras  y  documentos 
relatives  a  la  historia  .  .  .  de  Mexico,  No.  69),  1878. 
Codex  Telleriano-Bemensis, 

London    (in   Kingsborough,    Mexican   Antiquities,   9   vols.),    1831. 
(Note. — The  original  picture-writing  is  reproduced  in  vol.  1,  pp.  73- 
166,  the  Spanish  commentary  in  vol.  5,  pp.  129-158,  and  an  English 
translation  of  the  Spanish  commentary  in  vol.  6,  pp.  95-153.) 
Concilios  Provinciates,  Primero  y  Segundo,  celehrctdos  por  la  muy  noble  y  muy  leal 
ciudad  de  Mexico,  etc.,  etc. 
Mexico,  1769. 
Conquista  de  MSjico.    See  Gdmara. 
CoBT^s,  Hernando 

Cartas.     (Written  at  different  times  from  1519  to  1526.) 

Madrid,  edited  by  Vedia   (in  Historiadores  primitives  de  Indias, 
2  vols.,  issued  as  vols.  22  and  26  of  the  Biblioteca  de  autores  Espa- 
noles,  71  vols.,  1849-1880),  1877. 
Cuarta  relacidn  andnima  de  la  Jornada  que  hizo  Nuno  de  Guzman  a  la  Nueva  Galicia. 
(Written  about  1530.) 

Mexico  (in  Icazbalceta,  Colecci6n  de  documentos  para  la  historia 
de  Mexico,  2  vols.,  1858-1866,  vol.  2,  pp.  260-485),  1866. 
Des  c^r ^monies  observes  autrefois  par  les  Indiens   lorsqui-ils  faissaient  un  tecle 
(anonymous). 

Paris  (in  Ternaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  10, 
pp.  233-241),.1840. 
De  Vordre  de  succession  observe  par  les  Indiens  relativement  d  leurs  terres  et  de 
leurs  territoires  communaux  (anonymous). 

Paris  (in  Ternaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  10), 
1840. 
Diaz  del  Castillo,  Bernal 

Verdadera  historia  de  los  sucesos  de  la  conquista  de  la  Nueva  Espana.    (Com- 
posed in  1552,  some  authorities  say  1568.) 

Madrid,  edited  by  Vedia  {^in  Historiadores  primitives  de  Indias, 
2  vols.,  issued  as  vols.  21  and  26  of  the  Biblioteca  de  autores  Espa- 
noles,  71  vols.,  various  editors,  1849-1880,  vol.  26),  1862. 

London,   edited  by  Maudslay    (in  Works  issued  by  the   Hakluyt 
Society,  Series  2,  vols.  23,  24,  25),  1908. 
DurAn,  Diego 

Historia  de  las  Indias  de  Nueva  Espafia.     (Composed  in  1579-1581.) 

Mexico  (edited  by  Ramirez),  1867.     (First  volume  only.     The  re- 
mainder was  confiscated  by  the  newly  installed  Republican  govern- 
ment on  the  fall  of  Maximilian.     The  text  of  this  edition  is  said  to 
have  been  tampered  with.) 
EsLAVA,  Fernan  Gonzales  de 

Coloquios  espirituales  y  sac ramen tales,  y  poeslas  sagradas.     (Written  before 
1610.) 

Mexico  (edited  by  Icazbalceta),  1877.     (Only  200  copies  printed.) 
Fragmenio  1.    See  Noticias  relntivas  al  reinado  de  Motecuzuma  Ilhuicamina, 


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1917]  Waterman:   Mexican  Social  Organization  279 

Fragmento  2.    See  Noticias  relativas  a  la  conquista  de&de  la  llegada  de  Cortes  a 

Tetzcuca,  etc. 
FuENLEAL,  Sebastian  BAiifREZ  de 

Carta  (addressed  November  3,  1552,  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V). 

Paris  {in  Ternaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  10), 
1840. 
GarcIa,  Greoobio 

Origen  de  los  Indios  del  Nuevo  Mundo  y  Indias  Occidentales.  (Date  of 
composition  not  ascertained.) 

Madrid,  edited  by  Barcia  (in  Historiadores  primitives  de  las  Indias 
occidentales,  3  vols.,  1727-1740),  1729. 
G<3mara,  Fbancisco  Lopez  de 

Historia  general  de  las  Indias.  (Note. — The  second  part  of  this  work  goes 
under  the  title  '^Conquista  de  M6jico,"  and  is  so  cited  by  Bandelier.) 
(Composed  about  1550.) 

Madrid,  edited  by  Vedia   (in  Historiadores  primitives  de  Indias,  2 
vols.,  issued  as  vols.  22  and  26  of  the  Biblioteca  de  autores  Espanoles, 
71  vols.,  various  editors,  1849-1880),  1877. 
Hebbeba,  Antonio  de 

Historia  general  de  los  hechos  de  los  Castellanos  en  las  islas  y  tierra  firme 
del  mar  oceano.     (Composed  between  1596  and  1600.) 

Madrid,  edited  by  Barcia  (in  Historiadores  primitives  de  las  Indias 
occidentales,  3  vols.,  1727-1740),  1749. 

IXTLILXOCHITL,  HeBNANDO  DE  AlVA 

(a)  Historia  Chichimeca.     (Composed  1608-1616.) 

Paris  (in  Temaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vols.  12 
and  13  [i.e..  Series  2,  vols.  2  and  3]),  1840. 
(h)  Belaciones  hist6ricas.     (Composed  1608-1616.) 

Paris  (in  Temaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  8), 
1838.  (Note. — Only  the  thirteenth  Relacidn  is  printed  here,  under  the 
name  Cruaut^s  horribles  des  conqu^rants  de  Mexico.  This  curious 
name  was  invented  by  Bustamente,  in  his  edition  of  Sahagiin  [Mexico, 
1829].  The  Temaux-Compans  reprint  is  the  one  cited  by  Bandelier.) 
Las  Casas,  Babtolom^  de 

(a)  Brevissima  relaci6n  de  la  destruycidn  de  las  Indias.  (Composed  1541- 
1542.) 

Venetia,  1643. 
(h)  Historia  de  las  Indias.     (Composed  1527-1562.) 

Madrid  (in  Colecci6n  de  documentos  in^ditos  para  la  historia  de 
Espana,  112  vols.,  various  editors,  published  by  the  Boyal  Academy  of 
History,  1842-1895,  vols.  62-66),  1875-1876.  (Note.— The  so-called 
Historia  ApologHica  of  Las  Casas  is  printed  in  vol.  66,  beginning  with 
p.  237  of  this  set.  Chapter  211  of  the  Historia  is  also  printed  in  full 
in  vol.  8  of  Kingsborough 's  Mexican  Antiquities  [9  vols.,  London, 
1831,  vol.  8  (first  part),  pp.  248-254].  This  latter  excerpt  is  referred 
to  by  Bandelier.) 
Lettre  des  auditeurs  Salmeron,  Maldonado,  Ceynos  et  Queroga  d  rimpSratrice  de 
Mexico,     (Written  in  Mexico,  March  30,  1531.) 

Paris  (in  Temaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  16 
[i.e..  Series  2,  vol.  6]),  1840. 


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280  University  of  California  Puhlicaiions  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,      [Vol.  12 

Lettre  des  chapelains  Frire  Torihio  et  Frhre  Diego  d'Olarte  d  Don  Luis  de  VeJasco. 
(Written  August  27,  1554.) 

Paris  (in  Temaux-Compans,  Voyages,  vol.  10),  1840. 
Martyr,  Peter  (Pibtro  Martire  d  'Anohiera) 
De  novo  orbe.     (Written  1505-1530.) 

London  (translated  by  Eden  and  Lok),  1612. 
Mendieta,  Ger6nimo  de 

Historia  eccIesUlstica  Indiana.     (Composed  1573-1596.) 

Mexico  (in  Icazbalceta,  Colecci6n  de  documentos  para  la  historia 
de  Mexico,  2  vols.),  1858-1860. 
Mendoza,  Antonio  de 

A\'is  du  Vice-Roi  .  .  .  sur  les  prestations  personelles  et  les  tamemes.  (Written 
in  1550.) 

Paris  (in  Temaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  IQ), 
1838. 
Merced  a  Eemdn  Cortes  de  tierras  inmediatas  a  Mexico,  y  solares  en  la  ciudad 
(Written  July  23,  1529.) 

Mexico  (in  Icazbalceta,  Colecci6n  de  documentos  para  la  historia 
de  Mexico,  2  vols.),  1858-1860. 
Molina,  Alonzo  de 

Vocabulario  en  lengua  Mexicana  y  Castellana.     (Composed  about  1550.) 
Mexico,  1571. 
MoNTUPAR,  Alonzo  de 

Supplique  k  Charles  V  en  faveur  des  Macenales.  (Written  in  Mexico, 
November  30,  1554.) 

Paris  (Appendix  to  the  '^Cruaut^s  Horribles"  of  Ixtlilxochitl,  in 
Temaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  8),  1838. 

MOTOLINIA   (TORIBIO  DE  BeNEVENTE) 

Historia  de  los  Indios  de  Nueva  Espafta.    (Composed  in  1541.) 

Mexico  (in  Icazbalceta,  Colecci6n  de  documentos  para  la  historia 
de  Mexico,  2  vols.),  1858-1860. 
Nieremberg,  Joan  (sic)  Eusebius 

Historia  naturae,  maxime  peregrinae,  libri  XVI  distincta.  (Probably  written 
shortly  before  1635.) 

Antverpiae,  1635. 
Noticias  relativas  a  la  conquista  desde  la  llegada  de  Cortes  a  Tetzcuco  hasta  la  toma 
del  templo  mayor  de  Mexico  ("Fragmento  2'*). 

Mexico  (in  Fernando  de  Alvarado  Tezozomoc,  Cr6nica  Mexicana, 
annotated  by  Manuel  Orozco  y  Berra,  edited  by  Jos6  M.  Vigil,  pp.  134, 
135),  1878. 
Noticias  relativas  al  rcinado  de  Motecuzuma  Ilhuicamina  (**Fragmento  1"). 

Mexico  (in  Fernando  de  Alvarado  Tezozomoc,  Cr6nica  Mexicana, 
annotated  by  Manuel  Orozco  y  Berra,  edited  by  Jos6  M.  Vigil,  pp. 
124-134),  1878. 
Olarte,  Diego  d'. 

See  under  Lettre  des  Chapelains  Fr^re  Toribio  et  Fr^re  Diego  d  'Olarte. 
Ortega,  F. 

The  work  cited  by  Bandelier  is  an  appendix  to  a  three-volume  edition  of 
Echeverria  y  Veytia,  Historia  antigua  de  M^jico,  of  which  Ortega  was  the 
editor.    It  was  published  in  Mexico  in  1836. 


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1917]  Waterman:  Mexican  Social  Organization  281 

Oyiedo  y  ValdI^s,  Gonzalo  Fernandez  db 

Historia  general  j  natural  de  las  Indias.     (Composed  1525-1550.) 

Madrid,  Beal  Academia  de  Historia  (four  folio  volumes),  1851. 

Padilla,  Aqustin  DAvila 

Historia  de  la  fundacion  j  discurso  de  la  provincia  de  Santiago  de  Mexico 
(date  of  composition  not  ascertained). 
Bruselas,  1625. 

Padilla,  MatIas  de  la  Mota 

Historia  de  la  conquista  de  la  provincia  de  la  Nueva-Galicia.  (Written  in 
1742.) 

Mexico  (published  by  the  Geographical  and  Statistical  Society), 
1870. 

Palacio,  Diego  GabgIa  de 

San  Salvador  und  Honduras  im  Jahre  1576.     (Written  about  1576.) 
Berlin  (translated  by  Frantzius),  1873. 

PlMENTEL  NeZAHUACOYOTL,  HERNANDO 

Memoria  dirigido  al  rey,  etc.  (Date  uncertain.  This  is  an  unpublished 
manuscript,  quoted  by  Orozco  y  Berra  on  p.  243  of  his  Geografia  de  las 
lenguas.) 

PoMAR,  Juan  Bautista 

Belaci6n  de  Texcoco.    (Written  in  1582.) 

Mexico  (in  Icazbalceta,  Nueva  colecci6n  de  documentos  para  la 
historia  de  Mexico,  5  vols.,  1886-1892),  1891.    Subsequent  to  Bandolier. 

Beal  ejecutoria  de  8,  M,  sobre  tierras  y  reservas  de  Pechos  y  Pag  a  perteneciente  a 
los  caciques  de  Axapusco  de  la  jurisdiccidn  de  Otumha,    (Issued  in  1617.) 

Mexico  (in  Icazbalceta,  Colecci6n  de  documentos  para  la  historia 
de  Mexico,  2  vols.,  1858-1866,  vol.  2),  1866. 

Belaci&n  de  jomada  que  hiso  Don  Fernando  de  Sandoval  Acazitli,  etc.  (See 
Acazitlu) 

Belaci&n  de  las  ceremonias  y  ritos,  pohlacidn  y  gohiemo  de  los  Indios  de  la  provincia 
de  Mechuacan  hecha  al  IlVmo  Dr,  D.  Antonio  de  Mendoza,  Virey  y  Gober- 
nador  de  Nueva  Espana,     (Written  between  1534  and  1551.) 

Madrid  (in  CoIecci6n  de  documentos  in6ditos  para  la  historia  de 
Espana,  112  vols.,  edited  by  Navarrete  and  others,  1842-1895,  vol.  53), 
1842. 

Remesal,  Antonio  de 

Historia  de  la  provincia  de  San  Vicente  de  Chyapa  y  Guatemala  del  orden 
de  Santo  Domingo.     (Written  1613-1619.) 
Madrid,  1619. 

Sahag^,  Bernardino  de 

Historia  general  de  las  cosas  de  Nueva  Espana.     (Composed  1546-1569.) 
London  (in  Kingsborough,  Mexican  Antiquities,  9  vols.),  1831. 

Salmcron,    (See  also  under  Lettre  des  auditeurs  Salmeron,  Maldonado,  etc.) 

Salmeron  (given  names  not  known). 

.  .  .  lettre  .  .  .  au  conseil  des  Indes.  (Written  in  Mexico  City,  August  13, 
1531.) 

Paris  (in  Ternaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  16 
[i.e.,  Series  2,  vol.  6]),  1840. 


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282  University  of  California  Publicatioiis  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.       [Vol.  12 

Sol6ezano  y  Peeeyra,  Juan 

Disputatio  de  Indianim  jure  sive  de  juxta  Indiarum  occidentalium  inquisitione, 
acquisitione  ac  retentione.     (Written  1609-1629.) 
Madrid,  1629. 

Tapia,  Anders  de 

Re]aci6n  hecha  por  el  Senor  Andres  de  Tapia  sobre  la  conquista  de  Mexico. 
(Date  of  composition  not  ascertained.) 

Mexico  (in  Icazbalceta,  Colecci6n  de  documentos  para  la.historia 
de  Mexico,  2  vols.,  1858-1866,  vol.  2),  1866. 

Tezozomoc,  Feenando  de  Alvarado 

Cr6niea  Mexicana.     (Composed  in  1598.) 

London  {in  Kingsborough,  Mexican  Antiquities,  9  vols.,  vol.  9), 
1831. 

Toribio  de  Benevente.    See  Motolinia. 

Toribio  et  Diego  d^Olarte.    See  Lettre  des  Toribio,  etc. 

TOEQUEMADA,  JUAN  DE 

la  (-Ilia)  parte  de  los  veinte  y  un  libros  rituales  y  monarchia  Indiana  con 
el  origen  y  guerra  de  los  Indies  occidentales,  de  sua  poblaqones,  descubri- 
miento,  conquista,  conversi6n  y  otras  cosas   maravillosas   de   la  misma 
tierra.     (Composed  1589-1609.) 
Madrid,  1723. 

Vetancurt,  Augustin  de 

Teatro  Mexicano,  descripci6n  breve  de  los  sucesos  exemplares,  hist6ricos, 
politicos  .  .  .  del  nuevo  mundo  occidental  de  las  Indias.  (Note. — The 
Cr6nica  de  la  Provincia  del  Santa  Evangelico  de  Mexico,  mentioned  by 
Bandelier,  is  the  Fourth  Part  of  this  **  Teatro. '^  (Composition  com- 
pleted in  1697.) 

Mexico,  1870. 

ZuAzo,  Alonzo  de 

Carta  al  Padre  Fray  Luis  de  Figueroa.  (Dated  Santiago  de  Cuba,  November 
14,  1521.) 

Mexico  {in  Icazbalceta,  Colecci6n  de  documentos' para  la  historia 
de  Mexico,  2  vols.,  1858-1866,  vol.  1),  1858. 

Z^RiTA,  Alonzo  de 

Breve  y  sumaria  relaci6n  de  los  senores  y  maneras  y  diferencias  que  habla 
de  ellas  en  la  Nueva  Espana  y  en  otras  provincias  sus  comarcanas,  etc. 
(Composed  about  1560.) 

Paris  {in  Ternaux-Compans,  Voyages,  20  vols.,  1837-1841,  vol.  10), 
1840.  (Nqte. — The  relation  appears  under  the  title  ^*  Rapport  sur  les 
diff^rentes  classes  de  chefs  de  Nouvelle-Espagne") 


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UNIV.   CALIF.    PUBL.  AM.   ARCH.   &  ETHN. 


[GIFFORD]   PLATE  6 


THOMAS  WILLIAMS,   OF  JAMESTOWN 

CENTRAL    SIERRA    MIWOK 

Nnrrntor  of  Stories  nos.   1-11 


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UNIVERSITY    OF   CALIFORNIA    PUBLICATIONS 

IN 

AMERICAN    ARCHAEOLOGY  AND    ETHNOLOGY 

Vol.  12,  No.  8,  pp.  283-338,  plate  6  May  II,  1917 


MIWOK  MYTHS 

BY 

EDWARD  WINSLOW  GIFFORD 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction  283 

Stories  by  Thomas  Williams 284 

1.  The  Theft  of  Fire ^ 284 

2.  Bear  and  the  Fawns 286 

3.  Yayali,  the  Giant ~ 292 

4.  The  Making  of  Arrows 302 

5.  Prairie  Falcon 's  Marriage 306 

6.  The  Flood  310 

7.  The  Bepeopling  of  the  World ^ ^...  312 

8.  The  Search  for  the  Deer 314 

9.  Salamander  and  Chipmunk ^ 318 

10.  Liiard  and  Fox : 323 

11.  Valley  Quail's  Adventures „ 329 

Stories  by  William  Fuller ^ 332 

12.  The  Theft  of  Fire ^ 332 

13.  Bear  and  the  Fawns 333 

14.  Yayali,  the  Giant ^ - ^ ^ 334 

Abstracts   335 


INTRODUCTION 

The  fourteen  stories  presented  in  this  collection  were  secured 
during  1913  and  1914  among  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok  of  Tuolumne 
County,  California.  Three,  which  are  exceedingly  brief,  were  told  by 
William  Puller  of  Soulsbyville.  The  remaining  eleven  were  obtained 
from  Thomas  Williams  of  Jamestown,  whose  picture  appears  in 
plate  6. 

All  are  sentence-by-sentence  translations  into  English  of  myths 
which  were  recorded  in  Miwok  on  the  phonograph. 

These  stories  were  formerly  related  at  night  in  the  circular 
assembly  houses  of  the  Miwok.    Certain  men  versed  in  the  myths  often 


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284  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

travelled  from  village  to  village  telling  the  tales  in  the  assembly  house 
of  each  village.  Such  a  raconteur  was  known  as  an  utentbe,  a  name 
derived  from  utne,  a  myth.  Each  utentbe  was  paid  for  his  services, 
his  audience  presenting  him  with  baskets,  beads,  furs,  and  food. 
Thomas  Williams,  who  was  formerly  an  utentbe,  said  that  the  telling 
of  a  myth  often  took  all  night.  Not  infrequently  the  myth  was 
chanted.  Each  myth,  whether  chanted  or  told  in  ordinary  prose,  was 
accompanied  by  the  songs  of  the  various  characters.  For  example, 
with  the  story  of  Prairie  Falcon's  Marriage  belong  three  songs,  one 
sung  by  Prairie  Falcon,  one  by  his  wife,  and  one  by  his  father. 

A  comprehensive  collection  of  Miwok  myths,  including  a  number 
from  the  Central  Sierra  Miwok,  has  been  published  by  Dr.  C.  Hart 
Merriam.^  Stephen  Powers  includes  three  Miwok  myths  in  his 
** Tribes  of  California.''*  Dr.  A.  L.  Kroeber  has  printed  a  number 
of  Southern  Sierra  Miwok  myths.^ 


STORIES  BY  THOMAS  WILLIAMS 

1.     THE  THEFT  OF  FIRE 

The  Black  Geese  asked  the  White  Geese  to  help  them.  They 
gathered  in  the  assembly  house. 

Lizard  lay  on  top  of  the  rock  and  looked  into  the  valley.  It  was 
then  that  he  found  the  fire.  He  saw  the  flames  issuing  from  the 
smoke  hole  in  the  top  of  a  large  assembly  house.  Then  Lizard  told 
Coyote  that  he  saw  the  fire  below.  Coyote  doubted  him.  Lizard  said, 
**Come  up  here  on  top  of  the  rock,  look  below,  and  you  will  see  sparks 
coming  from  the  assembly  house."  Coyote  asked,  ** Where  do  you 
see  the  fire^  I  see  no  fire  in  that  direction."  Then  Lizard  said, 
** Watch.  There  goes  another  spark."  Coyote  said  to  the  Geese, 
**It  is  strange  that  we  cannot  see  it.  He  saw  it  again."  The  Geese 
did  not  believe  him.    They  said  that  he  was  deceiving  them. 

After  sundown  Coyote  saw  the  fire,  entered  the  assembly  house, 
and  told  everyone  about  it.  Flute-player  (Mouse)  said  nothing.  The 
people  told  Flute-player  to  go  out  and  look  at  the  fire.  Flute-player 
merely  said,  '*Yes."    He  took  with  him  four  flutes,  but  told  no  one 


1  The  Dawn  of  the  World:   Myths  and  Weird  Tales  told  by  the  Mewan  Indians 
of  California,  A.  H.  dark  Co.,  1910,  Cleveland,  O. 

2  Contrib.  N.  Am.  Ethn.,  m,  358,  366,  367,  1877. 

8  Indian  Myths  of  South  Central  California,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch. 
Ethn.,  IV,  202,  1907. 


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1917]  Gifford:  Miwok  Myths  285 

when  he  left.  He  played  two  flutes  while  he  journeyed  into  the  valley. 
When  he  arrived  at  the  assembly  house  in  the  valley,  he  did  not  know 
how  to  enter.  Bear,  Rattlesnake,  and  Mountain  Lion  guarded  the 
door,  so  that  none  might  enter.  Flute-player  climbed  on  top  of  the 
assembly  house.  There  he  found  Eagle  with  his  wing  over  the  smoke 
hole,  so  that  none  might  enter.  Eagle,  however,  slept.  Flute-player 
was  puzzled,  for  he  did  not  know  how  to  enter  the  house  undetected. 
Finally,  he  cut  two  feathers  from  Eagle's  wing  and  thereby  entered. 

When  he  descended  into  the  assembly  house,  he  found  the  people 
asleep.  He  went  to  the  fire  and  filled  two  of  his  fiutes  with  coals. 
Again  he  visited  the  fire,  filling  two  more.  He  filled  four  flutes  with 
the  fire. 

Then  he  started  for  home.  All  of  the  people  awoke  and  looked 
for  him.  They  ran  all  over  the  hills,  but  did  not  find  him.  Eagle 
sent  in  pursuit  Wind,  then  Rain,  then  Hail.  Hail  caught  fiute-player. 
Flute-player,  however,  placed  his  flutes  in  the  water  before  Hail 
caught  him.  He  told  Hail  that  he  had  nothing.  He  said  that  he 
would  take  no  one's  fire.    Hail  believed  him  and  departed. 

Flute-player  then  recovered  his  fiutes  and  played  upon  them  after 
Hail  departed.  He  still  had  his  fire.  He  said  to  himself,  **I  have 
my  fire. ' ' 

Finally,  he  arrived  at  home,  arrived  with  his  fire  in  the  four  fiutes. 
Coyote  came  down  the  mountains  to  search  for  him,  for  he  feared 
that  someone  had  killed  Flute-player.  Flute-player  sent  Coyote  back 
ahead  of  him  to  tell  the  people  that  he  was  returning  with  the  fire. 
Coyote  ran  back  and  told  the  people  to  gather  wood,  told  them  that 
Flute-player  was  bringing  the  fire. 

Flute-player  proceeded  slowly,  so  that  Coyote,  becoming  impatient, 
went  to  meet  him  again.  He  met  him  when  he  was  nearly  home. 
Upon  his  arrival.  Flute-player  climbed  on  top  of  the  assembly  house. 
Then  he  played  his  flute.  Everyone  inside  was  cold.  When  Flute- 
player  finished  playing  one  fiute  he  dropped  coals  through  the  smoke 
hole  into  the  assembly  house.  Then  he  started  to  play  a  second  fiute. 
Before  he  finished  playing  the  second  one,  Coyote  interrupted  him 
by  shouting.    Coyote  told  Flute-player  to  continue  playing. 

The  people  in  the  middle  received  the  fire ;  the  others  received  but 
little  fire — the  north  people,  the  south  people,  the  east  people,  and 
the  west  people.  The  west  people  did  not  talk  very  distinctly,  because 
they  received  so  little  fire ;  the  east  people  the  same ;  the  north  people 
the  same;  the  south  people  the  same.     Those  who  were  close  to  the 


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286  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

fire  talked  distinctly.  Coyote,  who  stayed  at  the  door,  received  but 
little  fire.    He  tried  to  talk,  but  shouted  instead. 

The  people  in  the  middle  cooked  their  food.  The  others  ate  theirs 
raw.  They  talked  different  languages  from  the  people  in  the  middle. 
The  west  people  talked  differently ;  the  south  people  talked  differently ; 
the  north  people  talked  differently ;  the  east  people  talked  differently. 
The  middle  people  talked  correctly,  for  they  were  around  the  fire. 
The  people  who  were  around  the  fire  cooked  their  food.  The  people 
in  the  middle  obtained  the  acorns  and  the  manzanita.  The  others  had 
nothing  to  eat.  That  which  they  ate  was  always  raw.  It  was  Coyote  *s 
fault,  that  the  others  talked  incorrectly.  If  Coyote  had  said  nothing, 
all  would  have  received  fire.  He  spoiled  the  scheme,  when  he  shouted 
at  Flute-player,  for  Flute-player  stopped.  He  stopped  before  he  had 
played  the  fourth  flute  and  before  he  had  distributed  all  of  the  fire. 

All  of  those  who  received  the  fire  talked  the  same  language.  All 
of  those  who  were  close  to  the  fire  had  the  same  language.  Some 
received  the  fire.  Some  did  not  receive  it.  That  is  why  they  did  not 
speak  the  same  language. 

If  Lizard  had  not  found  the  fire,  all  would  have  died.  He  found 
the  fire  and  saved  the  people.  Lizard  found  the  fire  below.  Flute- 
player  went  below  to  steal  the  fire  to  save  the  people  from  death. 
Coyote  shouted  to  Flute-player  to  drop  one  coal  in  front  of  him. 
Then  he  dropped  the  coal  and  one  went  without  fire.  All  of  the  middle 
people  understand  each  other.  The  others  do  not  hear  one  another 
very  plainly.  They  would  all  have  talked  correctly,  if  they  had  all 
received  fire.  The  people  fought  each  other,  because  they  did  not 
understand  each  other's  speech. 

[The  assembly  house  of  the  valley  people  was  upon  the  west  side 
of  the  San  Joaquin  River.  The  assembly  house  of  the  Geese  was  at 
Goodwin's  Ranch,  near  Montezuma,  Tuolumne  County.] 


2.    BEAR  AND  THE  FAWNS 

** Sister-in-law,  let  us  get  clover.  I  like  clover,"  Bear  said  to  Deer. 
Then  Deer  replied,  **Yes,  we  will  eat  clover."  Bear  said,  **We  will 
leave  these  girls  (Fawns)  at  home.  They  always  follow  you."  She 
told  the  Fawns,  **We  go  to  eat  clover.  Clover  is  high  enough  to  eat 
now,  I  think.    You  girls  stay  at  home  until  we  return. ' ' 

Bear  said  to  her  sister-in-law,  ** Let's  go.  We  will  be  back  to- 
night. ' '    Then  they  went  below  to  eat  clover. 


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After  they  had  gone  below,  Bear  said,  ** Let's  sit  down  and  rest.** 
Then  she  continued,  **  Examine  my  head,  examine  my  head.  I  must 
have  lice  on  my  head/'  Deer  replied,  **Yes,  yes,  come  here  and  I  will 
look  for  lice."  Then  she  found  lice  on  Bear's  head.  She  found  large 
frogs  on  Bear's  head.  When  she  found  the  frogs,  she  picked  them  oflE 
and  threw  them  away.  Bear  asked  her,  **What  is  it  that  you  throw 
away?  Are  you  throwing  away  my  lice?"  Deer  replied,  **No,  you 
hear  the  leaves  dropping."  Bear  said,  **Take  them  all  out.  I  have 
many  lice." 

Then  Deer  removed  them  all.  Bear  asked,  **What  are  you  throw- 
ing away?"  Deer  replied,  **I  throw  away  nothing.  You  hear  pine 
cones  dropping  from  the  tree."  Bear  said,  **I  think  that  you  throw 
away  my  lice."  Deer  retorted,  **No,  those  are  pine  cones  dropping 
from  the  trees." 

** Remove  them  all,  then,"  said  Bear;  ** remove  them  all.  My  head 
feels  light,  since  you  have  finished  picking  the  lice  from  it."  Deer 
threw  away  the  frogs,  threw  away  large  frogs. 

Bear  said  to  Deer,  **Let  me  examine  your  head."  Deer  said,  **A11 
right."  Bear  examined  Deer's  head  and  said,  ** There  are  many." 
Deer's  lice  were  wood-ticks  and  Bear  proceeded  to  take  them  from 
Deer's  head. 

Then  Bear  said,  **  There  are  many.  I  do  not  think  I  can  get  them 
all  by  picking.  You  have  many.  Let  me  chew  these  lice  and  your 
hair  with  them.  That  is  the  only  way  I  can  remove  them.  You  have 
many  lice.  I  do  not  think  that  I  have  removed  them  all.  There  are 
many.  Stoop  and  I  will  chew  your  hair.  Do  not  be  afraid.  Stoop 
and  let  me  try. ' ' 

Then  Deer  stooped.  She  thought  Bear's  intentions  were  good. 
Bear  examined  her  hair  for  a  while,  and  then  chewed.  Instead  of 
chewing  Deer's  hair.  Bear  bit  her  neck,  killing  her. 

Bear  ate  all  of  Deer,  except  the  liver,  which  she  took  home.  She 
placed  the  liver  in  a  basket  and  put  clover  on  top  of  it.  Then  she  went 
home.  She  proceeded  homeward  after  sundown,  carrying  the  clover 
in  the  basket  with  the  liver  in  the  bottom  of  the  basket. 

Arriving  at  home,  she  told  the  Fawns  to  eat  the  clover.  She  said 
to  them,  **Your  mother  has  not  come  yet;  you  know  she  is  always 
slow.  She  always  takes  her  time  in  coming  home."  Thus  spoke  Bear 
to  the  Pawns,  when  she  arrived  at  home. 

The  Fawns  ate  the  clover.  After  they  had  eaten  it,  they  saw  the 
liver  in  the  bottom  of  the  basket.     The  younger  one  found  it.     She 


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told  the  older  one,  **Our  aunt  killed  our  mother.  That  is  her  liver/' 
The  older  Pawn  said  to  her  younger  sister,  *  *  Our  aunt  took  her  down 
there  and  killed  her.    We  had  better  watch,  or  she  will  kill  us,  too. ' ' 

They  continued  to  eat  the  clover  after  finding  the  liver.  Then 
the  younger  one  said,  **What  shall  we  do?  I  fear  she  will  kill  us,  if 
we  stay  here.  We  had  better  go  to  our  grandfather.  Get  ready  all  of 
our  mother's  awls.  Get  all  of  the  baskets.  Q^t  ready  and  then  we 
will  go.  We  will  go  before  our  aunt  kills  us.  She  killed  our  mother. 
I  think  it  is  best  for  us  to  go. " 

*  *  Do  not  forget  to  take  the  awLs, ' '  said  the  older  Pawn,  for  she  was 
afraid  of  being  overtaken  by  Bear.  The  Pawns  started  with  the 
baskets  and  awls,  leaving  one  basket  behind.  Their  aunt.  Bear,  was 
not  at  home  when  they  left.  When  she  returned,  she  looked  about, 
but  saw  no  Pawns.  Then  Bear  discovered  their  tracks  and  set  out 
to  follow  them.  After  she  had  tracked  them  a  short  distance,  the 
basket,  left  at  home,  whistled.  Bear  ran  back  to  see  if  the  Pawns  had 
returned.  In  the  meantime  the  Pawns  proceeded  on  their  journey, 
throwing  awls  and  baskets  in  different  directions.  Again,  Bear  started 
from  the  house.  As  she  proceeded  the  awls  whistled.  Bear,  thinking 
that  the  Fawns  were  whistling,  left  the  trail  in  search  of  them. 

The  Pawns  said,  **We  go  to  our  grandfather." 

As  Bear  followed  them  along  the  trail,  the  baskets  and  awls 
whistled  and  delayed  her.  Whenever  Bear  heard  the  whistles,  she 
became  angry  and  ran  in  the  direction  from  which  the  sound  pro- 
ceeded. She  of  course  saw  nothing  and  returned  to  the  trail.  She 
heard  a  whistle  in  the  direction  of  the  stream.  She  ran  toward  it,  but 
when  she  arrived  there,  saw  nothing. 

When  she  did  not  find  the  girls  she  became  angry.  She  said, 
** Those  girls  are  making  fun  of  me.*'  Then  she  shouted,  ** Where  are 
you,  girls t  Why  don't  you  meet  met"  The  awls  only  whistled  in 
response  and  Bear  ran  toward  the  sound.  Then  she  became  still 
angrier  and  said  to  herself,  **If  I  capture  you  girls,  I  will  eat  you. 
If  I  find  you  girls,  I  will  eat  you. ' ' 

Bear  continued  to  track  the  Pawns.  She  found  the  trail  easily 
and  saw  their  tracks  upon  it.  She  said,  *  *  I  have  found  the  marks  that 
will  lead  me  to  them.*'  She  followed  the  marks  upon  the  trail.  *'If 
I  catch  them,  I  shall  eat  them.''  She  heard  more  whistling  and  that 
enraged  her.  Then  she  jumped  on  to  a  tree  and  bit  a  limb  in  two. 
It  made  her  furious  to  hear  the  whistling.  She  said  to  herself,  *  *  If  I 
ever  catch  those  girls,  I  shall  eat  them."     The  baskets  continued  to 


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whistle  on  both  sides  of  the  trail,  making  her  very  angry,  and  retard- 
ing her  progress.    The  Fawns  had  many  baskets. 

They  followed  the  long  trail  until  they  arrived  at  a  river.  Bear 
was  far  behind.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  they  saw  their 
grandfather,  Daddy  Longlegs.  They  told  him  that  Bear  had  eaten 
their  mother  and  that  they  wanted  to  cross  the  river  in  order  to  escape 
from  her.  Their  grandfather  extended  his  leg  across  the  river  so  that 
they  might  walk  across  on  it.  Then  they  crossed  on  their  grand- 
father's leg.  In  the  meantime  Bear  continued  to  track  them.  She 
still  followed  false  leads  because  of  the  whistling  of  the  baskets  and 
awls.    The  following  of  false  leads  delayed  her. 

The  Fawns  said  to  their  grandfather.  Daddy  Longlegs,  **Let  her 
cross  the  river.  She  follows  us.''  Bear  was  still  coming  along  the 
trail.  The  baskets,  the  soap-root  brushes,  and  the  awls  continued  to 
whistle,  causing  her  delay.  The  Fawns  had  many  baskets,  soap-root 
brushes,  and  awls. 

After  the  Fawns  had  crossed  the  river.  Bear  arrived  at  the  bank. 
She  asked  Daddy  Longlegs,  **Did  the  girls  come  by  this  place?"  He 
replied,  **Yes."  Then  Bear  told  Daddy  Longlegs,  **The  girls  ran 
away  from  me."  Daddy  Longlegs  asked,  ** Where  is  their  mother?" 
Bear  replied,  **  Their  mother  is  sick.  That  is  why  she  did  not  come, 
and  that  is  why  I  seek  the  girls.    She  told  me  to  bring  them  back." 

Bear  then  asked  Daddy  Longlegs  to  put  his  leg  across  the  river, 
so  that  she  might  cross.  He  said,  **A11  right,"  and  stretched  his  leg 
across  the  river.  Then  Bear  walked  on  Daddy  Longlegs'  leg.  When 
she  reached  the  middle,  Daddy  Longlegs  gave  a  sudden  spring  and 
threw  her  into  the  air.  She  fell  into  the  river,  and  had  to  swim 
to  the  opposite  shore. 

She  found  again  the  track  of  the  Fawns.  Wherever  the  track  was 
plain  she  ran  rapidly  to  make  up  for  the  time  lost.  The  numerous 
awls,  which  the  Fawns  had  thrown  to  each  side  of  the  trail,  whistled 
as  before. 

** Hurry,  sister,  we  near  our  grandfather's  (Lizard's)  house,"  said 
the  older  Fawn  to  the  younger.  Bear  became  exceedingly  angry  and 
shouted  in  her  rage. 

** Hurry,  she  comes;  hurry,  sister,  she  comes.  We  would  not  like 
to  have  her  catch  us  before  we  reached  our  grandfather's,"  said  the 
older  Fawn.  Then  the  Fawns  threw  awls  and  baskets  to  each  side 
of  the  trail  anew.  As  they  approached  their  grandfather's  house, 
Bear  gained  upon  them.  As  Bear  saw  them  nearing  their  grand- 
father 's  she  shouted  again  in  her  anger. 


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The  Pawns  at  last  arrived  at  their  grandfather's  assembly  house 
and  asked  him  to  open  the  door.  The  grandfather  told  the  Pawns, 
**My  door  is  on  the  north  side  of  the  house."  The  Pawns  ran  to  the 
north  side,  but  found  no  door.  Then  they  called  again,  **  Hurry, 
grandfather,  open  the  door.*'  He  said,  **My  door  is  on  the  east  side 
of  the  house.''  Then  they  ran  to  the  east  side,  but  found  no  door. 
Then  they  ran  around  the  house.  They  found  no  door.  They  called 
again  to  their  grandfather.  He  said,  **My  door  is  at.  the  top  of  the 
house.    Come  in  through  the  top." 

The  Pawns  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  house  and  entered  through 
the  smoke  hole.  Their  grandfather  asked  why  they  had  come  to  see 
him.  The  Pawns  told  him,  **Bear  killed  our  mother."  The  grand- 
father asked,  ** Where  is  Bear!" 

The  Pawns  said,  **Bear  took  our  mother  down  to  the  clover.  She 
ate  mother  there.  Then  she  returned  to  the  house  and  told  us  to 
eat  the  clover  which  she  brought.  While  we  were  eating  the  clover 
from  the  basket,  we  found  the  liver  of  our  mother  in  the  bottom 
under  the  clover,  found  our  mother's  liver  at  the  bottom  of  the  basket. 
The  clover  was  on  top  of  it."  Thus  spoke  the  Fawns  to  their  grand- 
father.   He  asked  them  again,  ** Where  is  Bear?" 

The  Pawns  replied,  *  *  She  follows  us.    She  comes.    Yes,  she  comes. ' ' 

Then  Lizard,  their  grandfather,  threw  two  large  white  stones  into 
the  fire.  The  Fawns  sat  by  and  watched  him  while  he  heated  the 
two  white  stones.  While  he  heated  the  stones,  Bear  came.  She  had 
followed  the  tracks  of  the  Pawns  to  their  grandfather's  assembly 
house.  Bear  said  to  herself,  **I  think  they  went  to  their  grand- 
father's."   Meanwhile  Lizard  heated  the  white  stones. 

After  looking  around  the  assembly  house,  Bear  called  to  Lizard, 
*  *  Did  the  Pawns  come  here  ? ' '  Lizard  said,  ' '  Yes.  Why  ?' '  *  *  Well, 
I  wish  to  take  them  home."  said  Bear.  Lizard  asked.  **Why  do  you 
wish  to  take  them  home  1 ' '  Then  Bear  replied,  *  *  I  wish  to  take  them 
home  to  their  mother.    Where  is  your  door  ? ' ' 

Lizard  told  her  that  the  door  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  assembly 
house.  She  ran  to  the  north  side,  but  found  no  door.  She  called 
again,  ** Where  is  the  door?"  ** It  is  on  the  west  side  of  my  assembly 
house,"  said  Lizard.  Bear  was  very  angry,  but  she  ran  to  the  west 
side  of  the  house.  She  found  no  door  there,  so  she  asked  again. 
Lizard  said,  **It  is  on  the  east  side  of  my  assembly  house."  Again 
she  found  no  door,  and  she  became  exceedingly  angry  and  asked  him 
crossly,  ** Where  is  the  door?"     Lizard  replied,  **Run  around  the 


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assembly  house  and  you  will  find  it."  She  ran  around  the  house 
four  times,  but  to  no  avail.  In  more  of  a  rage  than  ever,  she  asked 
Lizard,  **  Where  is  your  doorT'  Then  Lizard  told  her  that  it  was 
at  the  top  of  the  assembly  house.  Bear  climbed  to  the  top  and  found 
the  opening. 

Upon  finding  the  opening,  she  shouted  and  said,  **I  shall  eat  those 
girls.'*  Lizard  only  laughed.  Bear  asked  how  she  should  enter. 
Lizard  said,  **Shut  your  eyes  tight  and  open  your  mouth  wide,  then 
you  enter  the  quicker. ' ' 

Bear  shut  her  eyes  tight  and  shoved  her  head  through  the  smoke 
hole  with  her  mouth  wide  open.  Lizard  called  to  her,  ** Wider.'* 
Then  Lizard  threw  those  two  white  stones,  which  he  had  heated,  and 
threw  one  of  them  into  her  mouth.  It  rolled  into  her  stomach.  He 
threw  the  second  one.  It  remained  in  her  mouth.  Bear  rolled  from 
the  top  of  the  assembly  house  dead. 

Lizard  told  his  granddaughters,  **She  is  dead."  Then  Lizard 
went  outside  and  skinned  Bear.  After  skinning  her,  he  dressed  the 
hide  well.  He  cut  it  into  two  pieces,  making  one  small  piece  and  one 
large  piece. 

He  gave  the  large  hide  to  the  older  Fawn  and  the  small  hide  to 
the  younger.  He  said  to  them,  **Take  care  of  those  hides."  Then 
he  told  the  older  Pawn  to  run  and  discover  what  sort  of  a  sound  the 
hide  made  when  she  ran.  The  older  Pawn  ran  and  the  sound  was 
very  loud.  Then  Lizard  told  the  younger  Pawn  to  run.  Her  hide 
made  a  fairly  loud  sound,  but  not  so  loud  as  that  of  the  older  Pawn. 

Old  Lizard  laughed,  saying,  **The  younger  one  is  stronger  than 
the  older."  Then  he  told  them  to  run  together.  He  pointed  to  a 
large  tree  and  told  them  to  try  their  strength  against  the  tree.  The 
older  one  tried  first.  She  ran  against  it,  splintering  it  a  little.  Then 
the  younger  girl  ran  against  the  tree  at  its  thickest  part.  She  smashed 
it  to  pieces. 

Lizard  laughed  again  and  said,  **You  are  stronger  than  your 
sister."  Then  he  told  both  to  run  together.  They  ran  about  and 
kicked  the  tree  all  day  long.  Lizard  returned  home  and,  upon  arriv- 
ing there,  said,  **The  girls  are  all  right.  I  think  I  had  better  send 
them  above." 

The  Pawns  said  to  Lizard,  **We  are  going  home."  Lizard  asked 
them  not  to  go.  He  said,  **I  shall  get  you 'both  a  good  place.  I  am 
going  to  send  you  girls  above."  Then  the  girls  went  up.  They 
ran  around  above  and  Lizard  heard  them  running.    He  called  them 


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Thunders.  He  said,  **I  think  it  is  better  for  them  to  stay  there. 
They  will  be  better  oflf  there."  Lizard  closed  the  door  of  his  assembly 
house.  Rain  began  to  fall.  The  girls  ran  around  on  the  top,  and  rain 
and  hail  fell. 


3.     YAYALI,  THE  GIANT 

The  Qiant  walked  from  below.  He  shouted  as  he  journeyed  up 
the  mountain,  shouted  all  of  the  way.  He  shouted  to  the  people  as 
he  searched  for  them,  shouted  all  around  the  hills. 

Chipmunk  answered  him.  Chipmunk  told  the  people  that  some- 
one was  coming  up  the  mountain  shouting.  **  Perhaps  he  comes  to 
tell  us  something,"  said  Chipmunk.  **I  shall  meet  him."  Chipmunk 
said  to  his  wife,  *  *  I  think  your  brother  comes.  I  shall  meet  him,  for 
I  think  he  comes. ' ' 

It  was  raining  heavily  when  Chipmunk  went  to  meet  the  new- 
comer. Chipmunk  called  to  him,  **Come,  tell  us  who  you  are."  The 
Giant  answered  Chipmunk  by  saying,  ** There  is  my  meat."  Chip- 
munk again  answered  the  Giant's  call,  for  he  thought  that  his  brother- 
in-law  was  coming. 

Chipmunk  at  last  realized  that  the  newcomer  was  not  his  brother- 
in-law,  and  he  said  to  himself,  **I  have  found  someone.  I  have  met 
someone.  He  is  not  my  brother-in-law."  When  Chipmunk  saw  the 
burden  basket  on  the  back  of  the  Giant,  he  knew  that  he  was  not  his 
brother-in-law.  Chipmunk  said  to  himself,  **I  do  not  think  I  will 
go  anywhere  now.  I  do  not  think  I  will  be  able  to  reach  home. ' '  Just 
then  the  Giant  approached  him  and  asked  him  where  he  was  going. 
Chipmunk  replied,  **My  assembly  house  is  over  there."  The  Giant 
said,  **Go  ahead  and  I  will  go  with  you." 

Upon  arriving  at  the  house,  Chipmunk  told  the  Giant  to  enter 
ahead  of  him,  while  he  obtained  wood  and  built  a  fire.  The  Giant 
insisted,  however,  that  Chipmunk  take  the  lead,  saying  that  he  was 
not  a  member  of  the  family.  *  *  You  are  the  owner  of  the  house, ' '  said 
the  Giant.  **You  lead  into  your  own  house.  I  am  not  the  owner  of 
it."  Chipmunk  demurred  and  asked  the  Giant  to  go  ahead.  **Take 
the  lead,  or  you  will  freeze,"  he  said  to  the  Giant.  **You  have  been 
in  the  rain  and  have  become  wet.    I  will  build  a  fire  for  you. ' ' 

Chipmunk's  insistence  was  of  no  avail.  Again  the  Giant  said, 
**You  take  the  lead.  You  are  the  owner  of  the  house."  Then  Chip- 
munk, to  save  further  argument,  led  the  way  into  the  house.     The 


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Giant  followed  him.  As  they  approached  the  door,  the  Giant  reached 
into  his  basket,  securing  a  stone.  He  threw  the  stone  at  Chipmunk, 
striking  him  on  the  back  and  killing  him. 

After  he  had  killed  Chipmunk,  the  Giant  told  Chipmunk's  wife 
to  help  him  bring  in  the  meat.  He  then  made  himself  at  home  and 
married  Chipmunk's  widow.  He  cooked  Chipmunk,  the  owner  of  the 
house,  whom  he  had  killed.  He  told  his  new  wife  to  eat  of  Chip- 
munk's flesh  after  he  had  cooked  it.  She  said,  **You  eat  it."  The 
Giant  insisted,  **You  eat  it,  you  eat  it." 

After  the  Giant  left  the  house,  his  wife  (Chipmunk's  widow)  dug 
a  hole  in  the  ground.  She  placed  in  the  hole  her  daughter  by  Chip- 
munk.   She  fed  the  little  girl  with  deer  meat. 

The  Giant  returned  at  sundown.  He  had  in  his  basket  many 
people,  whom  he  had  killed.  When  he  entered  the  house,  he  said 
to  his  wife,  **We  will  not  starve.  We  have  plenty  of  meat."  The 
woman  told  the  Giant  to  eat  the  human  flesh  himself.  She  cooked 
deer  meat  for  hei*se]f.  She  ate  the  deer  meat.  The  Giant  ate  the 
people  whom  he  had  killed. 

The  Giant's  wife  cooked  deer  meat,  with  which  she  fed  her 
daughter,  whom  she  had  hidden  in  the  pit.  She  did  not  wish  the 
Giant  to  see  her  daughter,  for  fear  that  he  might  eat  her. 

As  the  Giant  departed  the  next  morning,  he  said  to  his  wife,  *  *  You 
have  a  better  husband  than  you  had  before.  He  obtains  more  meat 
than  your  former  husband.  Chipmunk.  I  go  now  to  get  you  more 
meat."  He  proceeded  into  the  hills  in  search  of  more  people.  He 
told  his  wife  before  he  left,  that  he  would  be  back  at  sundown.  As  he 
departed  he  rolled  a  big  boulder  against  the  door,  so  that  his  wife 
might  not  escape.  He  rolled  large  boulders  against  both  ends  of  the 
assembly  house,  and  also  one  over  the  smoke  hole  at  the  top  of  the 
assembly  house,  where  the  smoke  emerges.  He  closed  the  doors  tightly 
with  large  boulders.  After  he  had  closed  the  doors,  he  went  into  the 
hills  to  capture  more  victims.  He  returned  with  a  load  of  people  in 
his  basket.  He  had  captured  many  large,  fat  people  for  his  wife. 
He  rolled  the  boulders  aside  and  entered  the  house. 

While  he  was  away,  his  wife  had  cooked  deer  meat.  The  Giant 
wished  to  feed  his  wife  upon  fat  people.  He  told  her  to  eat  the  flesh 
of  fat  people.  She  said,  **Yes,"  but  instead  she  ate  deer  meat.  The 
Giant  thought  that  she  ate  the  fat  people,  but  instead  she  ate  deer 
meat.  He  threw  away  some  of  the  human  flesh,  because  he  could  not 
eat  it  all.    Again  he  obtained  more  fat  people  and  cooked  them.    He 


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told  his  wife  to  eat  the  flesh  of  the  fat  people.  He  said,  **If  you  do 
not  eat  them,  I  will  kill  you."  He  said,  **I  think  you  have  a  very 
good  husband.  He  always  obtains  plenty  of  meat,  when  he  hunts. 
He  never  misses  a  person  with  his  stone.''  Again  he  returned  with 
a  large  load  of  victims,  whom  he  cooked  for  his  wife.  He  cooked,  and 
he  cooked,  and  he  cooked.  When  it  became  dark  he  danced.  He  was 
so  tall  that  his  head  projected  through  the  smoke  hole  of  the  assembly 
house. 

The  Giant 's  wife  gave  birth  to  two  boy  babies.  Both  of  them  were 
little  giants.  She  wished  to  kill  them,  but  she  feared  that  the  Qiant 
would  avenge  their  deaths.  She  fed  them  and  they  grew.  All  the 
while  she  kept  Chipmunk's  daughter  in  the  pit.  She.  fed  her  con- 
tinually with  deer  meat.    By  the  Giant,  she  bore  two  little  giants. 

When  the  Giant  departed  for  the  day,  she  took  her  daughter  from 
the  pit,  and  held  her  in  her  lap,  while  the  two  little  giants  slept. 
She  cried  all  day,  when  the  Giant  was  away.  She  mourned  for  poor 
Chipmunk.  She  feared  the  Giant,  but  she  could  not  escape,  because 
the  boulders,  which  the  Giant  put  against  the  doors,  were  too  heavy 
for  her  to  push  away.    So  each  day  she  sat  in  the  house  and  cried. 

**You  eat  them.  This  is  the  meat  which  I  cooked  for  you.  You 
eat  them.  This  is  the  best  one.  I  selected  it  for  you."  The  woman 
replied,  **Yes."  Then  the  Giant  danced.  He  danced.  He  danced. 
His  head  went  through  the  smoke  hole,  when  he  danced.  When  he 
felt  happy  he  danced,  his  head  going  through  the  smoke  hole. 

He  told  his  wife,  **Care  for  my  sons.  Don't  lose  them.  Care  for 
my  sons.  Do  not  fear  hunger,  for  I  will  always  bring  you  plenty  of 
meat.  I  am  always  sure  to  obtain  meat  when  I  hunt. ' '  He  went  into 
the  hills  again  in  the  morning  to  capture  more  women  and  boys  and 
men.  He  killed  everybody,  old  people,  young  people,  girls,  and  men. 
He  killed  so  many  that  he  filled  his  basket  in  a  very  short  time.  His 
wife,  however,  had  plenty  of  deer  meat  which  Chipmunk  had  obtained 
for  her. 

Every  night,  when  the  Giant  came  home,  he  danced.  After  he 
had  danced,  he  cooked  the  meat  for  his  wife,  giving  her  old  men  and 
old  women.  He  took  for  himself  the  young  people.  When  he  came 
home,  he  brought  pine  nuts  with  his  victims.  The  old  white-shelled 
pine  nuts,  that  were  worthless,  he  cracked  and  gave  to  his  wife,  **Eat 
these  pine  nuts.  Here  are  plenty  of  pine  nuts.  You  will  not  become 
hungry,  if  you  stay  with  me.  Thus  he  spoke  to  his  wife,  when  he 
came  home  each  night.    He  said  to  her,  **Eat  these  pine  nuts,  for  I 


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perceive  that  you  are  hungry."  His  wife  said,  **Yes."  However, 
she  deceived  him,  for  she  did  not  eat  the  pine  nuts.  When  he  was 
not  looking,  she  threw  them  away.  She  threw  them  away,  when  he 
was  not  looking.  At  the  same  time,  she  made  believe  that  she  ate  the 
pine  nuts.  She  ate  only  pine  nuts  which  Chipmunk  had  obtained  for 
her.  She  did  not  eat  those  which  the  Giant  brought  to  her.  Each  time 
that  the  Giant  went  away,  she  ate  from  her  own  stock  of  pine  nuts, 
which  Chipmunk  had  collected  for  her. 

The  old  women  and  the  fat  women  that  the  Giant  obtained,  he 
brought  to  his  wife;  also  those  women  who  were  pregnant.  He  said 
to  his  wife,  **Eat.  Eat  well."  His  wife  replied,  **Yes,  I  am  eating 
them. ' '    Yet  all  the  time  she  deceived  him. 

Again  he  went  into  the  hills  to  hunt  people.  He  travelled  all  over 
the  country  in  his  search.  When  he  returned,  he  brought  a  large  load 
of  people.  Upon  his  arrival,  he  cooked  the  old  women  for  his  wife. 
Then  he  danced  outside  of  the  assembly  house.  Afterwards  he  danced 
inside.  His  wife  did  not  eat  the  old  women  whom  he  cooked  for  her. 
She  said,  **Yes,  I  am  eating,"  but  she  always  deceived  him.  She 
worried  every  day,  for  fear  that  the  Giant  would  kill  her.  That  which 
he  cooked  for  her  she  put  into  a  hole,  making  believe,  however,  that 
she  ate  it.  Instead,  she  ate  deer  meat.  The  Giant  thought  that  she 
ate  the  persons  whom  he  cooked  for  her. 

The  deer  meat,  which  she  cooked  each  day  while  the  Giant  was 
absent,  she  fed  to  her  daughter  in  the  pit.  Each  day,  when  she  took 
her  daughter  from  the  pit,  she  cried.  She  felt  sorry  for  the  girl, 
because  her  father  had  been  cooked  in  the  fire.  The  thought  of  Chip- 
munk's  sad  end  depressed  her  and  made  her  cry  all  day,  while  the 
Giant  was  away.  When  the  Giant  returned  in  the  evening,  she  hid 
her  daughter  in  the  pit.  She  herself  lay  over  the  pit,  so  that  the 
Giant  would  not  find  her  daughter.  She  sat  over  the  pit,  so  that  the 
Giant  would  not  take  the  girl.  The  two  sons  of  the  Giant  lay  in  the 
comers  of  the  house.  The  Giant  changed  them  from  corner  to  comer, 
when  he  came  home.  The  boys  never  cried.  They  laughed  all  the 
time.    That  is  all  that  they  did. 

Chipmunk's  brothers  below  dreamed  about  him.  One  of  them 
said,  **I  think  I  will  visit  him.  I  will  see  how  he  fares.  I  dreamed 
that  he  was  sick."  So  spoke  one  of  Chipmunk's  brothers  after  he 
dreamed  about  him.  He  told  no  one  that  he  was  leaving,  but  pro- 
ceeded secretly  into  the  mountains.  He  did  not  follow  the  regular 
trail,  but  went  through  the  brush,  passing  through  the  high  moun- 


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tains.    He  spoke  to  no  one  of  his  proposed  visit.    He  did  not  hasten, 
but  travelled  slowly  toward  his  brother's  home. 

At  last  he  arrived  at  Chipmunk's  assembly-house.  He  said  to  his 
sister-in-law,  **I  am  coming.  Why  are  these  large  boulders  against 
the  doorf  Then  his  sister-in-law  answered  him  from  within,  saying, 
**Come  in.  The  Giant  killed  your  brother.  He  closes  the  door  with 
those  large  boulders  each  time  he  goes  out."  Thus  did  his  sister-in- 
law  answer  him,  when  he  arrived  at  her  house. 

Then  he  rolled  aside  the  boulders  at  each  end  of  the  house.  His 
sister-in-law  said  to  him  after  he  entered,  **The  Giant  killed  your 
brother.  Just  see  us.  There  are  the  Giant's  two  sons."  Her  brother- 
in-law  then  inquired  about  her  daughter.  ** Where  is  my  brother's 
girl?"  he  said.  The  woman  replied,  **Shc  is  in  this  hole.  I  did  not 
want  the  Giant  to  see  her."  Thus  spoke  his  sister-in-law,  when  she 
answered  him. 

Chipmunk's  brother  asked  his  sister-in-law  when  the  Giant  would 
return.  She  said,  **  Sometimes  he  returns  after  sundown,  sometimes 
before  sundown.  Today  he  went  far  and  will  not  return  until  to- 
morrow morning." 

Then  her  brother-in-law  told  her  to  crush  some  obsidian.  He  said, 
**You  can  go  home.  The  Giant  has  many  brothers.  If  they  overtake 
you,  and  try  to  catch  you,  while  you  are  on  your  way  home,  throw 
the  crushed  obsidian  in  their  faces.  I  shall  not  go.  I  shall  remain 
here." 

She  crushed  obsidian  and  placed  it  on  a  deer  hide.  After  she 
crushed  it,  her  brother-in-law  told  her  to  start  for  home.  He  warned 
her  especially  not  to  lose  the  obsidian.  **If  they  catch  you,"  he  said, 
**you  can  use  it.  Throw  it  in  their  eyes."  He  then  proceeded  to  dig 
holes  in  different  directions. 

Following  his  advice  she  started.  Meanwhile  he  dug  holes,  one 
toward  the  south,  one  toward  the  east,  one  toward  the  north,  and 
one  toward  the  west.  He  dug  them  so  that  he  might  conceal  himself 
and  dodge  from  one  to  the  other  in  case  he  were  pursued.  He  made 
holes  all  around  the  assembly  house,  both  inside  and  outside.  After 
he  had  finished  digging  the  holes,  he  did  nothing.  He  rested  and 
walked  about  outside  of  the  assembly  house. 

He  thought  about  the  Giant  and  wondered  when  he  would  return. 
He  went  into  the  hills  and  cut  a  manzanita  stick,  sharpening  one  edge 
of  it.    He  worked  upon  it  all  day,  making  it  sharp.    His  sister-in-law 


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told  him  to  be  careful  with  it.  He  asked  her  what  the  Giant  did 
when  he  came  home.  She  told  him  that  the  Giant  always  danced,  and 
that  every  time  he  danced,  his  head  projected  through  the  smoke  hole, 
his  head  projected  through  the  smoke  hole  at  the  top  of  the  house. 
Chipmunk's  brother  said,  **A11  right."  He  finally  finished  sharpen- 
ing the  manzanita  stick,  making  it  very  sharp. 

Then  he  walked  around,  he  walked  around.  While  he  watched  the 
Giant  came  over  the  hill.  He  said  to  himself,  **I  think  that  is  he 
coming  now."  He  stood  outside  and  watched  the  Giant.  As  the 
Giant  approached  the  house,  Chipmunk's  brother  stepped  inside.  The 
Giant  saw  him  and  said,  **  There  is  another  victim.  There  is  another 
victim."  The  Giant  was  glad  that  he  had  another  person  to  kill. 
The  Giant  followed  close  behind  him  into  the  house. 

Chipmunk's  brother  had  killed  the  two  young  giants.  He  gouged 
out  their  eyes  after  he  killed  them  and  threw  their  eyes  into  the  fire, 
putting  one  in  each  corner.  Before  his  sister-in-law  had  left,  he  had 
asked  her  where  the  young  giants  kept  their  hearts.  She  had  told 
him,  **In  the  ankle,"  and  that  is  where  he  hit  them  with  the  stick, 
when  he  killed  them.  After  he  had  thrown  their  eyes  into  the  fire,  he 
went  outside.  The  young  giants  were  in  each  corner  beside  the  fire. 
The  two  young  giants  were  dead. 

Chipmunk's  brother  now  talked  to  the  Giant.  He  asked  him, 
**What  do  you  do  first,  when  you  come  home?"  The  Giant  replied, 
**I  dance.    Just  watch  me  dance." 

Then  Chipmunk's  brother  went  into  his  holes  and  came  forth  in 
different  places.  The  Giant  tried  to  catch  him  and  followed  him 
about,  but  Chipmunk's  brother  was  too  quick  for  him  and  dodged  into 
the  holes.  The  Giant  chased  him  around  the  assembly  house.  Every 
time  that  the  Giant  neared  him,  he  jumped  into  a  hole,  appearing 
again  in  another  part  of  the  house. 

He  told  the  Giant,  **You  cannot  catch  me  unless  you  dance.  After 
you  dance,  I  will  let  you  catch  me.    I  want  to  see  you  dance  first." 

Chipmunk's  brother  stayed  outside,  while  the  Giant  danced.  He 
shouted  at  the  Giant  and  said,  **  Dance  more.  Jump  higher  through 
that  smoke  hole.    I  like  to  see  you  dance." 

The  Giant  did  as  Chipmunk's  brother  told  him.  While  he  danced. 
Chipmunk's  brother  with  his  manzanita  stick  climbed  on  top  of  the 
assembly  house.  Suddenly  he  struck  the  Giant  across  the  neck,  decapi- 
tating him.    The  head  rolled  down  close  to  the  spring  near  the  house 


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and  the  body  of  the  Giant  collapsed  inside  of  the  house.  Chipmunk's 
brother  then  cut  the  Giant  to  pieces  and  scattered  the  flesh  over  the 
trees,  on  top  of  the  rocks,  and  inside  of  the  assembly  house. 

One  of  the  Giant's  brothers  dreamed.  He  dreamed  that  his 
brother  was  obtaining  plenty  of  meat.  He  said  to  the  other  brothers 
of  the  Giant,  **Let  us  visit  our  brother.  He  is  married  now  and 
obtains  plenty  of  meat  every  day." 

Then  a  large  number  of  the  Giant's  brothers  proceeded  to  the 
Giant's  assembly  house.  When  they  arrived  at  the  house,  they  saw 
the  meat  hanging  on  the  trees.  **  Plenty  of  meat,  plenty  of  meat, 
plenty  of  meat.  Our  brother  is  quite  expert  with  his  stone,"  they 
said. 

Then  they  cooked  the  meat  which  they  found  on  the  trees,  not 
knowing  it  was  their  brother's  flesh.  They  thought  that  it  was  the 
flesh  of  various  people  whom  he  had  killed.  Each  of  them  ate  a 
piece.    They  had  all  that  they  wished. 

The  youngest  brother  desired  a  drink,  so  they  searched  for  the 
spring,  which  they  found.  Just  as  the  youngest  one  was  about  to 
drink,  he  noticed  the  head  lying  beside  the  spring.  **We  ate  our 
brother,'  he  said  to  his  older  brothers.  Then  they  all  returned  to  the 
house.    The  youngest  one  said,  *  *  Someone  killed  our  brother. ' ' 

**What  shall  we  cry?"  the  youngest  one  said.  One  of  the  others 
answered,  **Well,  we  will  cry  *oak.'  I  do  not  know  who  killed  our 
brother.  We  do  not  know  whence  the  murderer  came.  Let  us  sleep 
and  dream  about  it." 

After  sleeping,  they  arose.  The  one  who  had  proposed  that  they 
sleep  pointed  to  the  south.  The  others  did  not  believe  that  the  slayer 
of  their  brother  came  from  that  direction.  Each  of  the  others  said, 
**I  have  not  dreamed  about  him  yet.  Let  us  sleep  again."  Again 
they  awoke  and  the  one  who  had  dreamed  said,  **A  man  from  the 
north  killed  our  brother." 

Again  they  slept,  for  they  did  not  believe  each  other.  One  of  them 
awoke  and  awakened  the  rest.  **A  man  from  the  east  killed  our 
brother,"  he  said.    But  they  did  not  believe  him. 

The  youngest  brother,  who  found  the  head  near  the  spring,  started 
to  cry.  The  others  tried  to  stop  him.  He  went  again  to  the  spring 
and  thrust  his  head  into  the  water.  When  he  returned  to  his  brothers, 
he  pretended  that  he  had  cried  more  than  they.  They  thought  that 
the  water  on  him  was  tears.  They  said,  *  *  He  is  the  only  one  who  really 
mourns  for  his  murdered  brother."  Then  they  said,  ** Let's  sleep 
again." 


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1917]  Gifford:  Miwok  Myths  299 

The  youngest  brother  dreamed  and  awakened  the  others.  He 
told  them  that  he  dreamed  that  a  man  from  the  west  had  killed  their 
brother.  He  said,  too,  **Our  sister-in-law  is  on  the  way  to  her  father's 
house.    I  surely  dreamed  it.*' 

They  all  said,  ** Let's  cry."  The  youngest  one  objected,  saying, 
** Let's  sleep  before  we  cry."  Then  he  dreamed  again.  He  dreamed 
that  his  sister-in-law  was  on  the  way  to  her  father's  house. 

**Well,  let's  arise,"  said  the  youngest  brother.  ** Let's  try  to 
catch  our  sister-in-law  before  she  reaches  her  father's  home."  Thus 
spoke  the  youngest  brother.  **We  must  hurry,"  he  said.  ** After 
we  have  made  a  good  start,  we  can  slacken  our  pace."  They  all 
proceeded  on  their  way  shouting. 

Chipmunk's  brother  laughed  after  he  killed  the  Giant.  The 
Giant's  brothers  all  ran  and  Chipmunk's  brother  laughed.  Before 
their  sister-in-law  reached  her  father's  house,  the  Giants  overtook  her. 
One  of  them  said,  **Here  is  our  sister-in-law.  You  catch  her,"  he 
said  to  one  of  his  brothers.  As  one  of  them  seized  her,  she  threw  a 
handful  of  crushed  obsidian  into  their  faces.  They  shouted,  for  she 
had  thrown  it  into  their  eyes.  Each  one  said,  **  Something  is  in  my 
eyes.  Hurry,  remove  it.  Hurry,  remove  it.  Hurry,  remove  it.  Hurry, 
remove  it."  They  examined  each  other's  eyes  for  the  obsidian.  They 
looked  and  looked  and  looked.  While  they  were  examining  each 
other's  eyes,  their  sister-in-law  left  them.  Again  they  pursued  her 
and  overtook  her  before  she  reached  her  father's  house.  They  said 
to  each  other,  ** Catch  her,  catch  her,  catch  her." 

One  of  them  caught  her.  Again  she  threw  the  crushed  obsidian. 
She  threw  it  into  his  face  before  he  caught  her.  **I  have  something 
in  my  eye,"  he  said.  **I  have  something  in  my  eye.  I  have  some- 
thing in  my  eye.  I  have  something  in  my  eye."  Again  they  exam- 
ined each  other's  eyes  to  remove  the  crushed  obsidian.  They  looked 
and  looked  and  looked. 

Again  they  followed  her.  They  said,  ** Let's  hurry.  Let's  catch 
her  before  she  reaches  home.  Hurry.  She  has  her  daughter  on  her 
back."  Then  they  ran.  They  ran  to  catch  her.  Just  as  they  were 
about  to  seize  her,  she  threw  the  crushed  obsidian  in  their  faces  again. 
Each  of  them  said,  **She  has  thrown  something  into  my  eyes."  Then 
while  they  examined  each  other's  eyes,  she  escaped. 

After  they  had  removed  the  obsidian  from  their  eyes,  they  said, 
** Hurry.  Let's  catch  her."  Then  they  ran.  ** Catch  our  sister-in- 
law.    Hurry,"  they  said.    When  they  attempted  to  capture  her  again, 


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she  threw  the  obsidian  in  their  eyes.  **  Something  has  come  into  my 
eyes.  Something  has  come  into  my  eyes.  Something  has  come  into 
my  eyes.  Hurry,  remove  it/'  each  one  said.  ''Hurry,  so  that  we 
may  catch  her."  They  ran  after  her  again.  Every  time  they  ran 
they  shouted.  Once  more  she  threw  the  obsidian  in  their  faces  and 
one  of  them  got  it  in  his  eyes.  Again  she  ran  and  they  pursued  her. 
They  said,  **We  will  catch  her  and  hold  her  this  time.  She  will  soon 
exhaust  her  obsidian."  Again  she  threw  the  obsidian  in  their  faces, 
when  they  tried  to  lay  hands  on  her.  She  threw  it  into  their  eyes. 
Then  they  looked  into  each  other's  eyes  and  removed  the  pieces. 

** Hurry,"  they  said,  **so  that  we  may  catch  our  sister-in-law." 
Then  they  ran.  Once  more  she  threw  obsidian  in  their  eyes,  when  they 
were  about  to  seize  her.  Again  she  ran  and  this  time  they  were  close 
behind  her.  They  shouted  continually,  while  they  ran.  When  they 
attempted  to  seize  her  again,  she  threw  the  crushed  obsidian  in  their 
eyes.  They  looked  in  each  other's  eyes  and  removed  the  obsidian. 
This  delayed  them  and  prevented  them  from  capturing  her.  Again 
they  said,  ** Hurry,  so  that  we  may  catch  our  sister-in-law."  Once 
more  they  caught  her  and  she  threw  the  obsidian  in  their  eyes. 

**She  approaches  her  father's  home.  Hurry,  that  we  may  catch 
our  sister-in-law,"  they  said.  They  ran.  The  woman  had  not  lost 
her  daughter,  while  she  was  running.  When  the  giants  overtook  her 
again,  she  once  more  threw  obsidian  in  their  eyes. 

The  woman  said  to  her  daughter,  **We  will  reach  home  safely. 
We  will  reach  your  grandfather's.  Hurry  and  do  not  become  tired. 
Hurry,  or  they  will  catch  us."  In  the  meantime  the  Giant's  brothers 
were  drawing  closer  to  her.  When  they  went  to  catch  her,  she  again 
threw  the  obsidian  into  their  eyes.  They  examined  each  other's  eyes 
and  removed  the  crushed  obsidian.  She  escaped  from  them  again, 
while  they  were  remo\'ing  it.  She  had  very  little  obsidian  left,  but 
she  was  nearing  her  father's  house.  She  was  approaching  it,  while 
the  Giants  picked  the  obsidian  from  each  other's  eyes.  **We  are  near- 
ing home,"  she  told  her  daughter,  **so  do  not  be  frightened.  Your 
grandfather  (Lizard)  will  save  us  when  we  arrive  there." 

The  giants  ran  close  behind  her,  shouting  as  they  ran.  They 
stopped  frequently  to  dance  and  to  sing.  Then  they  would  run  after 
her  to  catch  her.  When  they  were  about  to  catch  her,  she  threw  the 
crushed  obsidian  at  them. 

She  drew  near  her  father's  house.  The  Giants  ran  after  her,  say- 
ing to  each  other,  *'We  must  catch  her  before  she  reaches  home." 


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1917]  Gifford:  Miwok  Myths  301 

When  they  had  nearly  captured  her,  she  threw  the  crushed  obsidian 
in  their  eyes.  That  was  the  only  way  she  could  escape  from  them. 
At  last  she  reached  the  house. 

She  called  to  her  father  to  open  the  door.  She  said,  **A  Giant 
killed  your  son-in-law.  Hurry,  open  the  door.  The  Giant  ate  your 
son-in-law.''  Thus  she  called  to  her  father.  Then  he  opened  the  door, 
which  was  a  large  rock.  After  his  daughter  had  stepped  inside,  he 
spat  on  the  door  so  that  the  Giant's  brothers  could  not  open  it.  The 
assembly  house  turned  into  rock,  when  he  spat  upon  the  door,  turned 
into  rock  all  around.  The  Giants  encircled  the  house  several  times 
inquiring  for  the  door.  Lizard  did  not  answer  them.  They  finally 
became  tired  and  sat  down.  Then  they  began  to  sing  and  dance. 
The  old  man  asked  his  daughter,  *'Who  are  theyt  Who  are  they?" 
She  replied,  '*They  are  the  Giant's  brothers."  The  old  man,  her 
father,  said,  **Let  the  wind  blow  them  away.  Let  the  wind  blow 
them  away.  Throw  them  away.  I  do  not  want  them  here."  Then 
a  great  wind  came,  but  the  Giant's  brothers  turned  and  blew  the 
great  wind  back. 

Then  the  old  man  in  the  assembly  house  called  a  great  snow. 
The  great  snow  came  and  covered  everything.  **Come  and  cover 
everything,"  said  the  old  man,  when  he  called  the  snow.  After  the 
snow  had  covered  the  Giants,  they  shouted  and  it  melted.  They 
shouted  and  the  snow  melted.  After  the  snow  melted,  the  old  man 
said,  **It  is  strange  that  they  do  not  mind  me.  What  is  the  matter 
with  them?  It  is  strange  that  they  do  not  mind."  Then  he  called 
the  hail.  He  called  the  hail  to  try  and  force  them  to  go  away.  He 
hoped  that  the  hail  would  chase  them  away.  Thus  spoke  Lizard,  when 
he  called  the  hail.  When  the  hail  started,  the  Giant's  brothers 
shouted.  The  hail  ceased  immediately.  Then  Lizard,  the  woman's 
father,  called  for  a  flood.  He  wished  the  water  to  wash  away  the 
Giant's  brothers.  Thus  spoke  Lizard,  when  he  called  for  the  flood 
to  help  him.  The  flood  came  suddenly  and  washed  away  the  Giant's 
brothers,  before  they  had  an  opportunity  to  shout.  They  did  not 
return,  for  they  were  drowned  by  the  water. 

Then  the  woman  told  Lizard,  her  father,  **The  Giant  killed  my 
daughter's  father.  He  killed  him.  The  Giant  killed  him.  He  ate 
him  after  he  killed  him.  When  the  Giant  came,  we  thought  that  it 
was  Chipmunk's  brother  coming  to  tell  us  something.  I  told  Chip- 
munk to  go  and  meet  him,  when  he  shouted.  I  did  not  know  that  it 
was  a  Giant  coming.    Then  Chipmunk  went  to  meet  the  Giant.    When 


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Chipmunk  approached  the  Giant,  he  shouted  to  him  and  asked  who 
he  was.  The  Giant  replied,  *Come  here.  I  am  here.'  Thus  spoke 
the  Giant,  when  Chipmunk  met  him.  Then  the  Giant  said,  'That  is 
my  meat  over  there.  I  caught  him,  caught  him,  meat. '  Thus  spoke  the 
Giant.  We  knew  nothing  about  the  Giant,  but  thought  that  he  was 
Chipmunk's  brother  coming  for  a  visit.  Then  Chipmunk  brought 
the  Giant  home,  brought  the  Giant  home.  He  feared  the  Giant  and 
tried  to  leave  him  in  the  bills,  but  the  Giant  followed  him.  Chip- 
munk's brother  is  there  now.  He  has  taken  his  dead  brother's  place. 
I  do  not  know  how  he  fares.  He  said  to  me,  *You  go  to  your  father. 
I  will  stay  here.  I  will  stay  here  and  take  my  brother's  place.  I  am 
ready  for  another  Giant.'  " 

[The  Giant  made  his  home  on  Table  Mountain,  near  Jamestown, 
Tuolumne  County.] 

4.     THE  MAKING  OF  ARROWS 

**What  shall  we  do,  brother?  What  shall  we  dot  I  would  like  to 
hunt.  I  do  not  know  how  we  are  to  hunt.  I  do  not  know  how  we  are 
to  hunt.  I  do  not  know  how  we  shall  be  able  to  hunt.  I  should  like 
very  much  to  hunt.  I  do  not  know  how  we  can  make  arrows.  We 
have  nothing  with  which  to  cut.  We  know  of  nothing  with  which 
to  cut.  I  do  not  know  how  we  can  hunt.  We  have  nothing  with  which 
to  cut.  We  do  not  know  how  to  cut.  I  would  like  very  much  to  hunt, 
brother.  I  do  not  know  how  we  are  to  arrange  it,  but  we  will  try. 
We  have  nothing  with  which  to  cut.  I  should  like  you  and  me  to  hunt 
together,  brother.    We  have  nothing  with  which  to  hunt." 

**Let  us  throw  our  grandmother  into  the  water.  If  she  does  not 
want  to  go,  we  will  pull  her  in.  We  will  throw  the  old  woman,  our 
grandmother,  into  the  water.  After  you  have  thrown  her  into  the 
water,  pull  her  out  quickly.  Pull  her  out  quickly.  Do  not  keep  her 
in  the  water  long.    Do  not  keep  her  in  the  water  long." 

Then  Dove  went.  Dove  went.  He  threw  his  grandmother  into 
the  water,  threw  her  into  the  water.  After  he  had  thrown  her  into 
the  water,  he  pulled  her  out  quickly.    He  pulled  her  out  quickly. 

Then  Dove  went  to  his  brother  and  said:  **I  threw  her  into  the 
water.  I  have  already  thrown  her  into  the  water.  Come,  I  have 
her." 

His  brother  said  to  him,  **Pull  one  of  her  teeth.  We  will  make 
a  knife  of  it."  Then  he  pulled  one  of  her  teeth,  pulled  one  of  her 
teeth.  After  they  obtained  the  tooth,  they  commenced  to  cut,  com- 
menced to  cut. 


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Then  Prairie  Falcon  said,  **Piill  sinew  from  her  arm.  Pull  sinew 
from  her  leg.  We  shall  then  have  the  cord  for  the  bow."  Thus 
spoke  Prairie  Falcon  to  his  brother. 

Dove  obtained  the  sinew,  as  he  was  bid.  Then  they  started  to 
work  on  the  arrows.  They  did  not  know  how  to  begin.  They  made 
the  arrows  just  by  thinking.  They  made  the  bow.  One  of  them  told 
the  other,  **We  will  try."  They  made  a  good  bow.  They  made  a 
good  bow.  Nobody  knew  what  the  bow  was.  No  one  had  ever  seen 
a  bow. 

After  they  completed  it,  they  looked  at  it.  Prairie  Falcon  said 
to  his  brother,  **I  guess  this  will  be  satisfactory  to  hunt  with."  He 
told  his  brother  to  cut  a  piece  of  yellow  pine.  Thus  spoke  Prairie 
Falcon  to  his  brother,  after  they  had  killed  their  grandmother.  Then 
they  cut  the  yellow  pine  with  a  knife  made  from  their  grandmother's 
tooth. 

Their  grandmother  went  into  the  water  and  cried  and  worried 
about  herself.  She  said,  '*I  did  not  think  my  boys  would  treat  me 
this  way." 

The  two  brothers  finished  making  their  arrows  and  bows.  They 
completed  them.  Prairie  Falcon  said,  ''These  arrows  are  satisfactory'. 
Let  us  try  them."    Thus  spoke  Prairie  Falcon  to  Dove. 

**We  will  see  who  can  shoot  the  farthest."  They  shot  toward  the 
east  end  of  the  world.  The  arrows  struck  in  the  same  place.  The 
arrows  struck  in  the  same  place.  They  did  not  strike  in  different 
places.  They  hit  in  the  same  place.  After  they  had  shot  their 
arrows,  Prairie  Falcon  said,  **Let  us  race.  Let  us  race.  We  will 
run  to  the  place  where  the  arrows  struck.  We  will  see  who  shot  the 
farthest.    We  will  see  who  shot  the  farthest." 

Then  they  ran.  Both  started  at  the  same  time.  Both  started  to- 
gether. They  both  ran  at  the  same  speed.  They  ran  together.  One 
of  them  did  not  gain  on  the  other.  At  last  they  reached  the  arrows. 
They  arrived  at  the  place  where  the  arrows  struck.  Prairie  Falcon 
said  to  Dove,  **You  are  a  pretty  good  runner.  We  both  run  about 
the  same.    Let  us  shoot  again.    Let  us  shoot  again." 

Then  they  shot  toward  the  west  end  of  the  world.  Again  they 
ran  to  the  place  where  the  arrows  struck.  Neither  won  the  race,  for 
they  both  ran  together.  Prairie  Falcon  said  to  Dove,  ''We  run  the 
same.  We  run  the  same.  I  did  not  think  that  you  could  run  so 
fast." 

They  shot  their  arrows  again  toward  the  east.    The  arrows  struck 


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in  one  place.    Then  they  ran.    When  they  arrived  at  the  arrows,  both 
stopped  at  the  same  instant.    They  both  stopped  at  the  same  time. 

They  shot  again  to  the  west  end  of  the  world.  They  shot  toward 
the  west.  Then  they  ran  to  the  place  where  the  arrows  struck.  The 
arrows  struck  in  a  bush.  When  the  brothers  arrived,  they  saw  the 
bush.  One  brother  said  to  the  other,  **Let  us  dig  this  bush.  It  is 
good  to  eat.  Let  us  dig  it."  They  dug  the  bush  from  the  lower  side. 
Then  they  dug,  dug,  dug.  They  were  nearing  the  end  of  the  bush, 
nearing  the  end.  They  ate  the  bush  as  they  dug.  They  ate  while  they 
dug.  The  root  became  thicker  while  they  dug.  They  continued  to 
dig,  continued  to  dig.  The  younger  brother  said  to  the  other,  **Keep 
on  digging.  You  will  find  the  end  pretty  soon.  Keep  on  digging." 
The  older  brother  asked,  **Do  you  see  the  end  yet?"  The  younger 
one  replied,  **I  am  getting  close  to  the  end."  He  continued  to  dig. 
He  continued  to  dig. 

Then  the  grandmother,  who  had  turned  into  Beaver,  said,  *  *  I  will 
have  revenge  upon  those  boys. ' '  She  told  the  water  to  drown  Prairie 
Falcon.  The  water  came,  while  Prairie  Falcon  was  digging,  and 
drowned  him.  Dove  escaped.  He  cried  for  his  brother.  He  rolled 
and  rolled  over  the  hills.  He  cried  for  his  dead  brother.  He  rolled 
and  rolled  around  the  great  mountains.  He  was  scratched  and  bruised 
by  the  rocks  and  the  brush.  He  bled  all  over.  He  mourned  for  his 
brother  and  cried  for  him.  He  said  to  himself,  **I  do  not  know 
what  killed  my  brother."  Thus  he  spoke  to  himself.  He  travelled 
all  over  the  world  crying,  travelled  to  the  places  which  he  and  his 
brother  had  visited  together. 

Dove  met  Spark.  Spark  asked  him,  *  *  What  are  you  doing  ?  What 
are  you  crying  about?  Dove  replied,  '* Something  killed  my 
brother.  I  do  not  know  what  it  was."  Then  Dove  sent  Spark  to 
investigate.  Spark  alighted  close  to  the  old  woman.  The  old  woman 
was  still  crushing  bones.  She  was  still  crushing  bones.  A  small  bone 
flew  out  of  the  mortar.  Spark  seized  it  and  put  it  on  an  arrow.  Then 
he  shot  the  arrow  with  the  bone  point  toward  Dove.  The  arrow  struck 
in  front  of  Dove,  while  he  was  crying.  .  Dove  picked  up  the  arrow 
and  looked  at  the  point.  As  he  was  about  to  remove  the  bone  point, 
it  spoke  to  him.  The  point  turned  into  Prairie  Falcon.  After  the 
bone  arrow-point  transformed  itself  into  Prairie  Falcon,  Prairie  Fal- 
con cried  for  his  brother  Dove,  because  the  latter  had  so  many  wounds 
and  bruises. 

Prairie  Falcon  cried  and  cried  over  his  brother  Dove,  because 


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the  latter  had  bruised  and  hurt  himself  so.  Brother  Dove  was  bleed- 
ing. He  had  no  hair.  Then  Prairie  Falcon  called  the  various  kinds 
of  birds  together.  He  asked  each  to  give  him  one  feather.  He  said, 
'*My  brother  has  no  feathers  on  him.  Do  me  this  favor.  Give  me 
one  feather  apiece."  They  each  gave  him  one  feather.  Then  he 
rehabilitated  his  brother  Dove.  He  still  cried  for  his  brother  Dove, 
for  he  felt  sorry  to  think  that  Dove  had  cut  and  bruised  himself  so 
for  him. 

Then  they  went  all  over  the  world,  searching  for  Dove's  blood  on 
the  rocks,  where  he  had  struck.  Every  time  that  Praire  Falcon  saw 
a  rock  with  his  brother's  blood  upon  it  he  cried,  for  he  knew  that  it 
was  his  brother's  blood  and  that  those  were  the  rocks  which  had  cut 
his  brother. 

Dove  recovered  from  his  bruises  and  cuts  and  was  soon  well  again. 
Dove  said  to  his  brother,  *  *  I  am  well  now.  Worry  about  me  no  more. 
Worry  about  me  no  more.  Do  not  trouble  about  me.  I  do  not  want 
to  lose  you.  See  how  poor  you  look  now."  Thus  spoke  Dove  to  his 
brother,  while  he  was  crying.  This  made  Prairie  Falcon  cry  the 
more. 

Dove  continued.  **I  thought  you  told  me  the  truth,  when  you  said 
that  that  bush  was  good  to  eat.  If  I  had  known  that  you  were  to  be 
taken  away  from  me  so  suddenly,  I  should  not  have  let  you  dig  that 
bush.  That  is  why  I  do  not  want  you  to  bother  with  anything  after 
this.  Our  grandmother  turned  into  a  Beaver  just  as  you  fell,  brother. 
If  we  had  not  attacked  our  grandmother,  we  should  have  had  a  grand- 
mother still."    Thus  spoke  Dove  to  his  brother,  Prairie  Falcon. 

Now  they  had  no  grandmother.  Prairie  Falcon  cried  because  his 
grandmother  had  turned  into  Beaver.  They  both  cried  and  cried 
for  their  grandmother.  They  did  not  know  how  to  get  back  their 
grandmother.  They  went  along  the  river.  They  saw  Beaver  in  the 
riflBe.  They  said,  ** There  is  Beaver."  Beaver  was  their  grandmother. 
They  used  to  take  their  grandmother  everywhere  they  went,  but  they 
lost  their  grandmother  because  of  the  arrows.  At  last  they  aban- 
doned the  search  for  her  and  went  home.  Their  grandmother  had 
turned  into  Beaver. 

Everybody  made  arrows  thereafter.  Dove  cried  for  his  grand- 
mother. Prairie  Falcon  cried,  but  they  made  arrows.  They  lost  their 
grandmother  because  of  the  arrows. 


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5.     PEAIBIE  FALCON 'S  M ABEIAGE 

** Going,  going  to  marry  Prairie  Falcon,'*  Green  Heron  said. 
*'Give  me  a  large  basket.  Give  me  a  basket,  so  that  I  may  give  it  to 
Meadowlark.''  The  two  left  that  night  after  they  had  married  the 
chief.  ** Where  is  my  daughter  going?"  said  Green  Heron.  When 
they  returned.  Coyote  followed  them.  Coyote  said,  **You,  Green 
Heron,  what  will  you  do  when  the  chief  becomes  hungry?*'  Thus 
spoke  Coyote,  when  he  told  them  to  prepare  food  for  the  chief. 

Eagle  told  California  Jay  to  obtain  food.  Then  Coyote  said  to 
Eagle,  **We  go  now  to  hunt  rabbits.**  Coyote  continued  to  Califor- 
nia Jay,  **Yes,  that  is  all  right.  Let's  go.*'  ** Whatever  you  people 
say  is  good,  *  *  said  Eagle  to  Jay.    Then  they  departed. 

Jay  and  Coyote  went  hunting.  Coyote  ran  away  and  hid  behind 
a  rock. 

Green  Heron  told  his  daughters  to  pound  acorns.  They  said, 
**Yes.**  They  went  over  to  the  mortar,  where  they  pounded  acorns. 
The  chief  arose  from  his  bed  to  marry  one  of  the  girls.  He  had  never 
known  any  girl  intimately.  Then  he  went  to  the  assembly  house  and 
told  his  wife  to  pound  acorns  on  the  following  day.  Prairie  Falcon 
told  his  sister  to  take  the  acorns  to  the  girls.  One  of  the  girls,  Meadow- 
lark,  gave  birth  to  a  boy  baby.  After  she  had  given  birth  to  the 
child,  she  pounded  acorns.  The  Eagle  visited  her  while  she  pounded 
acorns.  He  took  her,  Prairie  Falcon's  wife.  **Why  is  that  chief 
deceiving  me  by  taking  my  wife  away  from  me?**  said  Prairie  Falcon, 
and  he  became  very  angry. 

Prairie  Falcon  decided  to  go  away.  He  said  to  his  sister,  **Give 
me  a  bow  and  arrow.  I  am  going  into  the  world."  He  killed  one 
quail  with  an  arrow.  He  took  the  quail  with  him.  He  said,  *'I  do 
not  think  my  sister  eats  anything."  Then  he  travelled  over  the 
world,  along  the  water  towards  the  north.  After  that  he  returned 
home.    He  told  his  sister  to  tell  no  one  where  he  had  been. 

'*I  will  kill  my  wife,  if  she  follows  me.  She  deceived  me,  when 
she  married  me,"  said  Prairie  Falcon.  Then  he  went  around  the 
world,  returning  again  to  his  sister. 

After  returning  to  his  sister,  he  visited  his  sister's  husband, 
Lizard.  Lizard  threw  the  fire  to  him.  Lizard  said  to  his  wife,  **  What 
will  your  brother  do  over  there?"  Then  Prairie  Falcon  said  to  his 
sister,  **I  think  he  does  not  wish  me  to  remain."  *'Hold  back  your 
dogs,**  said  Prairie  Falcon *s  sister  to  Lizard,  for  Lizard  had  rattle- 


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1917]  Oifford:  MiwoJc  Myths  307 

snakes  and  bears  for  dogs.  **I  do  not  want  them  to  bite  me/'  said 
Prairie  Falcon  to  his  sister. 

*'I  go  now  to  the  place  where  my  father  died,"  said  Prairie 
Falcon  to  his  sister.  His  sister  objected,  saying,  **Do  not  go;  remain 
here,''  for  she  feared  for  him.  Their  father  had  died  at  the  place  to 
which  he  was  going.  **No,  I  go.  My  father  went  there  and  I  go,  too," 
said  Prairie  Falcon.  His  sister  then  said,  **Well,  you  may  go,  then. 
Remember,  if  anything  happens  to  you,  that  you  did  not  mind  me, 
when  I  told  you  not  to  go." 

**You  watch  my  wife,  for  she  might  follow  me,"  said  Prairie 
Falcon  to  his  sister.  **If  she  comes,  I  will  kill  her.  She  is  a  pretty 
woman,  but  I  will  kill  her,  nevertheless."  His  sister  said,  **Do  not 
kill  her,  for  she  will  save  your  life  when  you  arrive  at  your  des- 
tination. ' ' 

His  wife  followed  him  all  the  way.  He  looked  back  to  find  that 
she  followed  him.  She  was  coming.  Prairie  Falcon  said  to  his 
brother-in-law.  Lizard,  **  Watch  her  closely,  for  I  shall  take  her.  I 
do  not  think  that  I  shall  kill  her."  Lizard  watched  her  and  Prairie 
Falcon  took  her.  **Yes,  I  am  going,"  said  Prairie  Falcon.  **Do  not 
give  me  that  girl, ' '  he  said  to  Lizard. 

He  went  north.  He  told  his  sister  not  to  tell  his  wife  where  he 
had  gone.  **I  go  to  the  north,"  he  said.  *'I  go  to  the  north.  I  feel 
lonesome."  Thus  he  spoke  to  his  sister,  as  he  was  leaving.  **It  is 
all  right  if  they  kill  me.  I  go  around  the  water.  I  do  not  think  I 
shall  come  back.  I  go  around  the  water.  I  think  that  will  be  the  last 
of  me.    I  do  not  think  that  you  will  see  me  any  more." 

He  changed  his  mind,  after  he  talked  with  his  sister,  and  went  to 
the  south  instead.    He  finally  arrived  at  his  destination. 

Lizard  said  to  his  wife,  **Your  brother  will  be  back,  so  the  fire 
tells  me."    Prairie  Falcon's  sister  said,  *'Our  brother  has  returned." 

Upon  his  return,  Prairie  Falcon  found  that  his  wife  had  started 
for  the  place  to  which  he  had  been.  He  set  out  again  to  overtake 
her.  He  overtook  her  before  she  arrived  at  har  destination.  Then 
they  proceeded  on  their  journey  together.  Prairie  Falcon  said,  **I 
go  to  the  place  where  my  father  died.    I  shall  take  my  wife  with  me." 

He  arrived  there  and  found  that  his  father.  Owl,  still  lived. 
Prairie  Falcon  remained  with  his  father.  His  father  said  to  him, 
after  he  had  stayed  with  him  a  while,  **If  they  want  your  wife,  give 
her  to  them,  because  she  will  save  your  life." 

Prairie  Falcon's  brother-in-law,  Lizard,  told  his  wife  that  her 
brother  had  gone. 


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Prairie  Falcon  told  his  wife  not  to  come  near  him  after  they  had 
arrived  at  their  destination.  **Keep  away  from  me/'  he  said.  Lizard 
threw  the  fire  on  the  ground.  Prairie  Falcon  told  his  father,  **Fire 
comes."  His  wife  saw  the  fire  coming.  Prairie  Falcon  told  his  father 
to  return. 

All  of  the  ground  was  burned  after  Lizard  threw  the  fire.  Prairie 
Falcon  told  his  wife  that  a  large  fire  was  coming.  **We  had  better 
hurry  or  it  will  catch  us. ' '  His  wife  replied  that  she  did  not  believe 
him.  She  pulled  two  hairs  from  herself  and  threw  them  on  the 
ground.  They  became  a  lake.  She  did  this  after  Prairie  Falcon  left. 
She  entered  the  lake  and  stayed  in  the  water,  while  the  fire  burned 
around  it.  She  swam  around  the  lake.  Finally  she  came  out  of  it 
and  went  to  her  father.  Upon  meeting  her  father  (Meadowlark  man), 
she  said,  **We  are  safe  now,  the  fire  has  gone  out.'*  Meadowlark 's 
wife  said  to  him,  **We  go  to  the  place  to  which  Prairie  Falcon  has 
gone.'*  Then  they  went.  They  obtained  a  large  rock,  which  rolled 
upon  the  wife's  leg. 

Prairie  Falcon  told  his  wife  that  they  had  arrived  at  their  desti- 
nation. **They  are  going  to  have  a  game  with  me,"  he  said.  **If 
they  win,  they  will  kill  me. ' ' 

Prairie  Falcon's  father.  Owl,  helped  him.  He  helped  Prairie 
Falcon  in  the  game,  which  they  played.  Prairie  Falcon  called  strong 
winds  from  every  direction  to  help  him  in  the  race.  The  big  wind 
came  as  they  started  the  jumping  contest.  Prairie  Falcon  jumped 
about  before  he  jumped  through  the  hole.  He  jumped  through  the 
hole.  It  snapped  at  him,  but  just  missed  him.  He  said  to  his  wife, 
**We  have  gone  through  one  place  safely.  Now  we  are  going  to  my 
father." 

Prairie  Falcon's  father  dreamed  that  his  son  was  coming.  Prairie 
Falcon's  father  said  that  he  dreamed  that  his  son  was  coming.  **I 
am  going  to  meet  him.  He  is  on  his  way,  coming  to  see  me.  He  is 
coming.    I  think  they  will  kill  him  when  he  arrives  here. ' ' 

The  people  told  him  that  his  son  had  arrived.  **We  can  have  a 
game  with  him,"  they  said.  **He  has  arrived.  He  has  brought  his 
wife  with  him."  Thus  spoke  Chief  Mountain  Sheep  to  his  people. 
Mountain  Sheep  gave  a  festival  in  which  games  were  played. 

Mountain  Sheep  said,  *'We  are  going  to  have  a  big  festival.  We 
are  going  to  have  a  football  game.  Get  Prairie  Falcon's  wife.  Bring 
his  wife.  I  like  his  wife.  He  can  have  my  wife. ' '  They  took  Prairie 
Falcon's  wife  and  brought  another  woman  to  him.     They  held  a 


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festival.  They  told  Prairie  Falcon  that  he  could  have  his  wife  back 
after  the  games  were  over.  Prairie  Falcon  replied,  *'A11  right." 
Then,  upon  second  thought,  he  said,  **No.  I  would  rather  have  my 
wife  with  me.  I  will  send  the  string  of  beads."  Eagle  said,  **A11 
right.    I  will  take  the  beads  over  there. ' ' 

The  other  girl  went  to  Prairie  Falcon,  but  Prairie  Falcon  told  her 
not  to  come  near  him,  told  her  to  stay  away.  She  slept  in  a  different 
place.  Then  she  went  to  Mountain  Sheep  and  told  him  that  Prairie 
Falcon  did  not  sleep  with  her.  Prairie  Falcon 's  wife  went  to  Moun- 
tain Sheep's  house  and  stayed  there  overnight.    Everyone  liked  her. 

Prairie  Falcon  told  Gopher  to  dig  tunnels  in  the  ground  on  Moun- 
tain Sheep's  side  of  the  field,  so  that  he  would  stumble  when  he  ran. 
Then  Gopher  made  tunnels  in  the  ground.  Next  day  they  played 
football.  Eoadrunner  helped  Prairie  Falcon  and  Dove ;  so  did  King- 
bird. They  ran.  Owl  kicked  the  ball;  then  Prairie  Falcon's  side 
won. 

Next  day  they  played  more  games.  Prairie  Falcon  won  the  first 
game  played.  Owl  kicked  the  ball;  from  where  it  landed  Coyote 
kicked  it;  then  Dove.    After  that  they  played  another  game. 

Then  Prairie  Falcon  said  to  his  father,  **Give  me  my  arrows. 
Mountain  Sheep  is  tired.  They  will  kill  me,  father,  if  they  win  the 
game.  I  shall  forestall  them."  Then  he  killed  Mountain  Sheep  with 
arrows.    After  he  had  killed  him,  he  returned  home. 

He  returned  home  to  his  sister.  Then  he  told  his  wife  that  she 
should  bathe.  ** After  that  we  will  go  home,"  he  said.  Owl  bathed 
her.    After  she  had  been  bathed,  they  started  for  home. 

Prairie  Falcon  told  his  sister  not  to  worry.  **I  have  been  over 
to  Mountain  Sheep's  place,"  he  said.  '*That  is  all  for  Mountain 
Sheep.    I  killed  him,  just  as  he  killed  my  father." 

Prairie  Falcon  came  again  to  the  hole  through  which  he  had 
passed.  He  called  upon  the  winds  from  every  direction  to  help  him 
pass  safely  through  it.  He  told  his  wife  to  cling  to  him  tightly,  when 
he  jumped.  His  wife  clasped  him  tightly  about  the  waist.  The  hole 
opened  just  as  he  prepared  to  jump.     Then  he  jumped  through  it. 

When  he  had  passed  to  the  other  side  of  the  hole,  he  said  to  his 
wife,  '*We  are  going  home."  Then  he  went  to  his  sister's  house  again. 
He  told  her  that  he  had  killed  all  of  the  people  on  the  other  side. 

His  sister  told  him  not  to  talk  thus  while  his  brother-in-law 
(Lizard)  was  listening.  Then  Prairie  Falcon  became  angry  and  went 
home.    Then  he  went  beyond  his  home.    He  said  that  he  would  never 


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return  to  that  place  again.  He  took  his  son  with  him.  He  did  not 
sleep  in  his  home,  but  went  beyond  it. 

He  left  his  wife  at  the  assembly  house.  He  told  her  that  he  did 
not  know  whether  he  would  return  or  not.  He  arrived  at  a  large  rock, 
which  was  his  father-in-law's  place.  His  father-in-law  (Green  Heron) 
asked  him  if  he  wanted  anything  to  eat.  He  also  asked  him  if  he 
had  won  in  the  game.  Prairie  Falcon  replied,  **Yes,  I  went  there 
and  killed  the  chief.'' 

He  stayed  at  his  father-in-law's  place  for  two  nights.  Then  his 
father  came  to  take  him  home.  He  told  Prairie  Falcon  that  his  wife 
was  worrying  about  him.  Prairie  Falcon  came  down  from  the  large 
rock  and  talked  with  his  father.  He  told  his  father  that  he  did  not 
desire  to  return.  Then  Dove  and  Coyote  came  behind  him.  They 
told  him  that  they  had  left  one  and  that  they  had  not  found  the 
other  one.  Dove  and  Coyote  were  given  bear  hides  to  sit  upon.  Then 
they  told  him  to  marry  the  girl  with  whom  he  had  been  going.  He 
did  not  reply. 

His  father  asked  him  what  he  ate,  while  he  was  traveling.  He 
told  his  father  that  he  had  nothing  to  eat.  His  father  told  him  that 
he  would  get  him  a  quail,  if  he  would  marry.  *' Quail  is  the  only 
thing  I  ever  eat,"  said  Prairie  Falcon  to  his  father.  His  father  went 
hunting. 

[Prairie  Falcon's  assembly  house  was  at  Goodwin's  ranch  near 
Montezuma  in  Tuolumne  County.  Mountain  Sheep's  village  was  at 
the  south  end  of  the  world.] 

6.     THE  FLOOD 

Prairie  Falcon  told  his  people  to  prepare.  He  said,  ''Get  ready. 
Eagle.  Get  ready.  Flicker.  Get  ready,  Dove.  Get  ready,  Wood- 
pecker. Get  ready,  Quail.  Get  ready.  Kingbird.  Get  ready,  Hum- 
mingbird. We  are  going.  We  are  going.  We  are  going,  going 
toward  the  north.  Hurry,  prepare,  for  we  must  go  at  once,  must 
go  at  once,  must  go  at  once."  Thus  he  spoke,  when  he  told  his  people 
to  prepare.  **We  shall  take  the  people.  We  shall  take  the  people 
to  the  place  where  my  father  always  goes." 

Prairie  Falcon  said  to  Eagle,  *'Tell  everyone.  Eagle.  Tell  every- 
one. Eagle.  Have  your  people  prepare.  Tell  California  Jay  to 
come.  Tell  Coyote  to  come.  Tell  Hummingbird  to  come.  We  will 
go  to  the  top  of  the  great  mountain. ' ' 


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1917]  Gifford:  Miwok  Myths  311 

Eagle  said,  **We  shall  follow  our  chief  to  the  great  mountain. 
We  will  go  there,  so  that  we  may  see  how  the  world  fares.  I  hear 
that  a  flood  approaches.  We  are  all  going  together.  Do  not  say  *I 
shall  stay  home. '  We  are  all  going.  Do  not  say  *  I  am  sick. '  Do  not 
be  lazy.  We  are  all  going,  going  toward  the  north.  We  will  arrive 
there.  We  will  see  different  sorts  of  people. ' '  Thus  spoke  the  chief, 
when  he  told  his  people  to  prepare. 

Prairie  Falcon  said,  '*We  are  all  going.  Do  not  stay  behind. 
Take  Chief  Eagle  for  a  guide.  He  knows  the  way.  Hurry,  the  water 
comes.  Do  not  stay  at  home,  for  you  will  drown.  We  are  all  going. 
We  will  try  to  escape  from  the  flood.*'  Thus  spoke  Prairie  Falcon 
to  Eagle.  He  continued  to  Eagle,  **I  do  not  think  that  the  water 
will  cover  the  great  mountain.  If  we  arrive  there  before  it  overtakes 
us,  I  think  we  shall  be  saved." 

They  hurried.  **The  water  is  just  coming  over  the  bluff,"  said 
Coyote  to  Chief  Prairie  Falcon.  Coyote  saw  the  water  coming  over 
the  bluff.  Flicker  became  frightened  and  fainted.  They  called  Hum- 
mingbird to  save  Flicker's  life. 

Coyote  said,  **I  am  the  only  one  who  will  drown,  as  I  cannot  run 
fast  enough.  One  of  my  legs  is  cut  off."  They  all  went,  except 
Coyote.  He  could  not  walk.  He  stayed  on  a  big  log  as  the  water 
neared  him.  The  water  reached  him  and  he  floated  with  the  log. 
Meanwhile,  the  people  gained  the  mountain  top.  The  water  over- 
whelmed everything,  making  great  caverns  in  the  mountains.  Coyote 
on  his  log  drifted  hither  and  thither  and  finally  stranded  in  a  different 
country.    The  water  subsided  after  drowning  all  human  beings. 

Eagle  said  to  Rattlesnake,  ''The  flood  washed  us  to  this  mountain 
top."  Rattlesnake  repeated  this  to  his  wife,  saying,  *'The  water 
washed  those  people  to  our  mountain. ' ' 

The  water  rose  a  second  time.  It  rose  higher  than  ever,  and  it 
washed  down  the  great  mountain  where  the  Rattlesnakes  lived.  Eagle 
sent  Dove  into  the  air  to  survey  the  water  for  another  mountain, 
where  they  might  take  refuge.  Then  he  sent  Hummingbird  on  a 
similar  quest.  Hummingbird  found  dry  land,  returned,  and  told 
Prairie  Falcon. 

** Hurry,  let  us  go  before  the  water  overtakes  us,"  said  Prairie 
Falcon  to  his  people,  **for  the  water  still  rises."  They  went,  taking 
Rattlesnake  with  them.  On  the  way  Rattlesnake  bit  Flicker,  who  was 
carrying  him.  They  dropped  Rattlesnake  in  the  water,  and  he  had 
to  swim.    He  swam  back  to  his  home,  which  the  water  had  not  quite 


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covered.  After  he  arrived  there,  the  water  rose  higher  and  completely 
covered  the  mountain.  Rattlesnake  was  forced  to  swim  again,  but 
as  he  could  not  find  land,  he  became  exhausted  and  was  drowned. 

Water  flooded  the  entire  world.  At  last  Prairie  Falcon  and  Eagle 
and  their  people  arrived  at  a  piece  of  dry  land.  There  they  found 
green  fruit.  Hummingbird  told  them  not  to  eat  the  fruit.  Then 
they  sent  Dove  to  survey  the  water  and  discover  how  humanity  fared. 
Dove  reported  that  all  human  beings  were  dead. 

Prairie  Falcon  and  his  people  were  starving  upon  their  piece  of 
dry  land.  Prairie  Falcon  again  sent  forth  Dove  and  Hummingbird 
with  orders  to  bring  back  some  earth.  He  told  them  to  obtain  mud. 
He  instructed  Hummingbird  not  to  suck  the  flowers  and  Dove  not  to 
eat  the  weed  seed.  **Do  not  forget  to  bring  mud,''  he  said,  **Do  not 
eat  the  weed  seed  and  do  not  suck  the  flowers."  The  water  had  sub- 
sided. Prairie  Falcon  said,  when  he  sent  Dove  and  Hummingbird, 
**Do  not  forget  to  bring  mud.  Do  not  forget  to  bring  mud."  Thus 
he  spoke  to  Dove  and  Hummingbird.  Then  the  two  went  to  obtain 
mud.  This  occurred  after  all  human  beings  were  dead,  after  they 
had  been  drowned  and  after  the  great  mountains  had  been  changed. 
Then  Dove  and  Hummingbird  went. 

7.     THE  EEPEOPLING  OF  THE  WORLD 

Chief  Eagle  said,  *' Where  is  Coyote?  Where  is  Coyote?  He  must 
try  to  resurrect  the  people.  Where  is  Coyote  ?  He  must  try  to  resur- 
rect the  people.  What  shall  we  do  about  our  dead  people?  Who  is 
going  to  help  us?  Tell  Coyote  to  think."  Thus  spoke  the  chief. 
**Tell  Coyote  to  think  intently.  All  human  beings  are  dead."  So 
said  Eagle  to  Coyote. 

Coyote  said,  *  *  I  do  not  know  how  I  shall  bring  them  back  to  life. ' ' 
Thus  spoke  Coyote,  when  he  answered  Eagle.  **But,"  he  continued, 
'  *  I  will  try  to  bring  them  back.    I  will  try  to  bring  them  back. ' ' 

He  went  to  the  top  of  a  rock  and  slept.  He  dreamed  that  he  saw 
a  skeleton.  Then  he  went  to  the  chief  and  told  him  that  he  had  seen 
a  skeleton  in  his  dream.  The  chief  sent  him  back,  saying,  '*That  may 
help  us.  Go  back  and  sleep  again.  If  you  dream  again  do  not  arise. 
The  skeleton  may  talk  to  you." 

Coyote  said,  **No  one  helps  the  chief.  He  feels  lonely.  He  mourns 
each  day  for  the  dead  Indians."  Then  Coyote  dreamed  of  the  skele- 
ton again.  The  skeleton  awakened  him  and  told  him  to  sing.  The 
skeleton  said,  **If  you  sing,  the  people  will  return." 


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Coyote  sang  in  a  great  cave.  The  skeleton  told  Lesisko  [translated 
as  ** devil"  by  the  interpreter]  that  Coyote  was  singing  in  the  cave. 
Coyote  sang,  *'Come  back,  all  of  you  girls.  Come  back.  Come  back. 
Come  back.  Come  back,  all  of  you  old  people.  Come  back.  Come 
back.  Come  back.  Come  back,  all  of  you  women.  Come  back.  Come 
back.  Come  back.''  Thus  sang  Coyote,  when  he  called  the  people 
back  after  Eagle  asked  him  to  resurrect  them. 

Prairie  Falcon  told  Coyote  to  try  hard  to  bring  about  the  return 
of  mankind.  Coyote  sang  and  cried  for  days  and  nights.  Eagle 
cried.  He  said  to  Prairie  Falcon,  **I  do  not  think  Coyote  will  bring 
your  people  back."  Coyote  said,  **The  skeleton  told  me  that,  if  I 
sang  loudly  each  morning,  some  of  the  people  would  return,  but  not 
all."  Then  Coyote  went  to  the  chief  and  said,  **The  skeleton  told 
me  that  by  singing  loudly  every  morning  some  of  the  people  would 
return,  but  not  all."  The  chief  felt  a  bit  better  after  he  had  this 
word  from  Coyote. 

Coyote  said,  **I  think  that  I  shall  bring  my  people  back.  I  think 
that  I  shall. ' '  Thus  he  spoke,  when  he  talked  with  the  chief.  He  felt 
very  happy,  when  he  said  this  to  the  chief.  Then  he  continued,  **I 
will  go  back  to  the  cave  and  sing. ' ' 

Then  he  sang.  He  sang  in  the  morning.  First  he  brought  one 
old  man  back  to  life.  He  tried  to  talk  to  the  old  man,  but  the  latter 
would  not  answer  him.  The  old  man  did  not  even  shake  his  head. 
Coyote  said,  **I  will  try  some  more  singing." 

Coyote  then  visited  the  chief  and  told  him,  **I  shall  bring  the 
people  back,  but  they  will  not  be  the  same  people.  They  will  be  very 
nearly  the  same  people,  but  they  will  be  a  little  different."  The 
chief  laughed. 

Then  Coyote  ran  around  the  rock  shouting,  ran  around  the  rock 
shouting.  He  felt  glad  that  he  had  resurrected  the  people.  He  said, 
**I  brought  back  my  grandson.  Now  there  are  many  people.  Now 
there  are  many  people.  Now  there  are  many  people.  I  brought 
them  back.    Now  they  are  nearly  the  same  as  they  were  before." 

Then  he  climbed  a  hill.  He  ran  around  the  hills  and  shouted. 
He  went  around  the  hills  and  shouted.  Eagle  said,  **He  has  made 
the  same  people.  Coyote  has  done  well."  Thus  spoke  Chief  Eagle, 
for  he  was  glad  to  see  the  people  alive  again.  Coyote  still  shouted 
and  danced  in  his  joy. 

The  chief  said  to  Hummingbird,  '*Go  back  and  look  at  that  moun- 
tain."   Then  Hummingbird  went.    All  of  the  people  returned.    The 


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314  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

chief  was  glad  to  see  his  people.  He  said  that  the  various  kinds  of 
baskets  must  return.  The  chief  was  glad.  He  said,  **  Coyote  did  it 
all.''  The  chief  told  Chief  Prairie  Falcon,  ** Coyote  secured  the  re- 
turn of  the  people  through  the  help  of  the  skeleton.**  Then  Coyote 
shouted,  because  he  was  glad  that  he  had  brought  back  his  people. 
Thus  spoke  Coyote.    Thus  spoke  Coyote. 

Chief  Eagle  said,  **He  brought  back  the  people."  Coyote  said  to 
Prairie  Falcon,  **We  have  saved  our  people.  They  have  returned  to 
their  places.  I  have  brought  my  people  back. ' '  He  told  no  one.  He 
just  thought  about  it,  when  he  brought  the  people  back.  No  one  told 
him  what  to  do.  When  he  saw  the  people,  he  was  glad.  Coyote  s€dd, 
**I  do  not  know  what  happened  to  us.  I  do  not  know  what  it  was, 
that  killed  our  old  folks.  I  do  not  know  whence  the  water  came." 
Thus  spoke  Coyote,  while  he  was  running. 

Prairie  Falcon  said,  when  he  answered  his  brother,  **Yes,  that  is 
all  right. ' '  Coyote  shouted  and  shouted,  when  he  secured  the  baskets, 
various  sorts  of  baskets,  the  various  sorts  in  which  the  people  cook. 
He  shouted  and  shouted,  after  he  had  brought  back  everything  to- 
gether with  the  people.  He  was  glad  to  have  his  people  again.  Then 
he  stopped  shouting.  He  stopped  shouting.  He  said,  *  *  It  is  all  right. 
It  is  all  right."  But  when  he  spoke  he  shouted  again.  Then  he 
became  accustomed  to  shouting  and  he  still  continues  to  do  so.  Be- 
cause he  was  glad  to  see  the  people,  he  shouted. 


8.     THE  SEABCH  FOE  THE  DEEE 

**  *What  is  the  matter?  What  is  the  matter?  What  is  the  trouble 
that  we  see  no  deer?  Have  any  of  you  seen  their  tracks?  We  do 
not  see  them. '  That  is  what  you  people  say  each  time  that  you  return 
from  hunting.  Mountain  Lion,  you  go  feack  and  look."  Thus  spoke 
a  number  of  the  people  before  daybreak.  **Look  for  the  tracks  of 
the  deer,"  they  said.  **We  did  not  see  their  tracks.  Look  for  their 
tracks,  Eagle.  See  if  you  can  find  them.  Look  for  their  tracks, 
Eagle.  What  shall  we  eat,  if  we  do  not  find  the  deer?"  So  spoke  the 
people. 

** Where  is  Fox?  Where  is  he?  We  want  him  to  find  the  deer. 
You  hunters  search  for  the  deer."  Thus  spoke  the  people  to  their 
hunters. 

All  went  into  the  hills  before  the  sunrise.    Each  person  went  on  a 


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hill.  They  went  on  the  hills  toward  the  north,  but  they  saw  no  deer, 
The  deer  were  in  several  large  caves.  They  did  not  come  forth  in  the 
morning  as  usual.  They  did  not  appear.  The  hunters  searched  daily 
for  them,  but  found  no  tracks. 

The  people  came  together  and  said,  **What  is  the  matter  with  the 
deert  Even  we  cannot  find  their  tracks.''  Pox,  Black  Pox,  Mountain 
Lion,  and  Wild  Cat  held  a  conference.  '  *  Do  not  you  see  deer  tracks  ? ' ' 
they  asked  each  other.  Each  responded,  **No.  No.  I  do  not  see  their 
tracks."  Thus  spoke  each  of  the  hunters.  Thus  spoke  the  hunters 
after  the  deer  went  into  hiding  in  caves  in  the  high  cliffs. 

Then  the  hunters  asked,  ** Where  is  Crow?  Let  him  search  for  the 
deer.    We  must  find  them  soon,  or  we  shall  starve." 

Mountain  Lion  said,  **  Where  is  Poxt  Let  him  try  to  find  the 
deer,  for  the  hunters  have  very  nearly  given  up."  Pox  answered, 
*'I  do  not  think  that  I  can  find  them.  It  is  useless  for  me  to  try. 
None  of  you  hunters  have  found  them,  so  what  is  the  use  of  my 
trying?"  Thus  spoke  Pox  to  the  people.  He  did  not  wish  to  try, 
for  all  the  good  hunters  had  already  tried. 

While  they  were  assembled,  they  asked  Mountain  Lion  if  he  had 
seen  deer  tracks.  The  people  said,  **We  have  seen  no  deer.  We 
see  but  one  track  each  day,  when  we  go  out.  We  see  no  deer,  but  only 
the  tracks."  Thus  spoke  the  people.  The  deer  were  hiding  in  a 
cave.  Each  day  one  deer  came  forth.  The  deer  entered  the  cave  from 
either  end. 

Pox  said,  **I  will  try,  but  I  fear  that  I  shall  find  no  deer."  Thus 
he  spoke,  when  he  left  the  people  in  search  of  the  deer.  He  went, 
intending  to  do  his  best.  He  went  to  the  south  end  of  the  world. 
Then  he  went  around  the  world.  He  went  to  the  place  where  the 
sun  sets.  Then  he  returned  home.  He  told  the  people  that  he  had 
seen  no  deer,  that  he  could  find  none. 

Again  Pox,  together  with  Crow,  journeyed  through  the  hills  in 
search  of  deer.  Pox  returned,  but  Crow  did  not.  Black  Pox  then 
went  out  in  place  of  Pox.  He  went  up  a  mountain  and  stayed  there 
overnight.  Black  Pox  was  unsuccessful,  however,  for  the  next  day 
he  returned  without  having  found  the  deer. 

The  people  said,  *  *  Crow  has  not  returned  yet.  He  must  have  gone 
far.  They  sent  Eagle  and  some  of  the  people  with  him,  saying,  **  You 
men  try  to  find  Crow,  for  he  has  not  returned.  Something  must  have 
happened  to  him."  After  a  while  Eagle  and  his  people  returned 
without  having  found  Crow  or  the  tracks  of  the  deer.     The  people 


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were  starving.  They  had  nothing  to  eat.  Eagle  said  upon  his  return, 
*  *  We  are  starving.    All  that  we  have  is  water. ' ' 

They  next  sent  Wild  Cat  to  search  for  the  deer.  Mountain  Lion 
said  to  the  second  Crow,  **You  go.  See  if  you  can  find  the  deer.  I 
fear  that  if  you  cannot  find  them,  we  shall  die.  We  shall  starve." 
Then  Crow  went.  He  climbed  first  to  the  top  of  a  high  hill.  The 
first  Crow,  his  brother,  had  not  yet  returned.  He  stood  on  the  top 
of  the  high  hill,  which  is  at  the  end  of  the  world.  Then  he  returned. 
He  told  the  people  that  he  could  not  find  his  brother.  Thus  he  spoke, 
when  he  returned. 

The  chief  said  nothing,  for  he  was  worrying,  because  his  people 
were  starving.  The  chief  said  nothing,  but  was  worried.  Finally, 
he  said  to  Mountain  Lion,  *  *  You  go.  Let  us  see  you  go. ' '  Mountain 
Lion  now  went  to  locate  the  deer.  He  followed  along  the  creek.  Upon 
his  return  he  said,  **I  do  not  know  what  is  the  trouble.  I  could  not 
find  them.  I  could  not  even  find  their  tracks.  I  do  not  know  what 
is  the  matter  with  them.  I  do  not  know  what  is  the  matter  with 
Crow.''  **What  is  he  doing  so  long  awayT'  the  people  asked.  **Let 
us  see  you  find  Crow,  * '  they  said  to  Fox. 

Then  Fox  departed,  when  the  people  told  him  to  go.  He  went 
to  a  large  rock.  He  returned  and  told  the  people  that  he  could  see 
no  deer. 

Then  the  people  said  that  they  would  send  the  second  Crow. 
**Let  us  see  you  try,''  they  said.  Then  the  second  Crow  went.  He 
climbed  a  high  mountain  to  the  south.  He  saw  nothing  when  he 
reached  the  summit.  Then  he  returned  and  told  the  chief,  **I  saw 
nothing.  Something  must  have  killed  my  brother.  I  saw  no  deer.  I 
do  not  know  what  is  the  matter  with  them.  Perhaps  they  have  gone 
somewhere.  Perhaps  my  brother  has  followed  them."  Then  Moun- 
tain Quail  went  into  the  hills.  But  he,  too,  returned  and  told  the 
chief  that  he  saw  nothing. 

Then  they  sent  the  second  Crow  again  with  instructions  to  remain 
two  days  in  the  hills  and  to  see  if  he  could  find  his  brother.  Crow 
left  before  sunrise  and  climbed  to  the  top  of  a  high  mountain  before 
the  sun  rose.  The  sun  rose  after  he  reached  the  summit.  Then  he 
looked  down  the  mountain  and  saw  a  large  cave.  After  he  had  seen 
the  cave,  he  went  down  the  mountain  towards  the  water.  After  reach- 
ing the  water,  he  prepared  to  drink.  Then  he  did  not  drink.  He 
returned  home  and  told  the  people  that  he  had  seen  a  cave.  He  said, 
''After  I  discovered  the  cave,  I  went  towards  the  water  down  the 


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1917]  Gifford:  Miwoh  Myths  317 

hill.  I  intended  to  drink.  However,  I  did  not  drink  the  water  after 
I  reached  it.  I  thought  about  my  brother  and  that  is  why  I  came 
home.    I  think  the  deer  are  in  that  cave. ' ' 

Then  the  chiefs  discussed  the  matter  after  Crow  told  them  of 
the  cave.  He  returned  to  the  hill  before  sundown.  Then  he  saw 
the  deer  entering  the  cave  after  sundown. 

The  chiefs  assembled  the  people  and,  while  Crow  remained  on 
the  mountain,  they  gave  a  dance.  All  of  the  people,  all  of  the  hunters, 
assembled.  They  said,  ** Chief  Crow  has  found  the  cave.''  Crow 
sang  while  he  remained  on  the  summit.  He  sang,  *  *  I  bested  the  other 
hunters.  I  found  the  deer.  We  shall  not  starve  now.''  Thus  sang 
Crow  after  he  found  the  deer.  He  returned  and  told  the  chief  about 
the  deer,  told  the  chief  about  them,  when  he  arrived  at  home.  All 
of  the  people  assembled.  Chief  Mountain  Lion  said,  **We  are  saved 
now,  because  we  have  found  the  deer.  I  shall  take  my  son.  I  shall 
put  him  to  the  test."  He  said  that  he  was  going  to  test  the  courage 
of  his  son.  He  placed  his  son  within  the  cave.  He  put  the  people 
all  around  the  cave  in  different  places.  He  closed  the  exits  of  the 
cave.  He  did  not  want  the  deer  to  escape,  so  he  closed  the  exits.  He 
placed  the  people  all  over  the  hills,  so  that  they  might  kill  the  deer 
as  they  came  forth  from  the  cave. 

Wolf  and  Coj^ote  came  to  help  kill  the  deer.  After  Mountain 
Lion  had  ever>i:hing  ready,  he  sent  his  son  inside  of  the  cave  to  kill 
the  deer.  Then  his  son  entered  the  cave.  Young  Mountain  Lion  went 
in  to  show  his  prowess.  His  father  stayed  outside.  Then  young 
Mountain  Lion  commenced  to  fight  with  the  deer,  but  he  fainted  from 
the  heat  within  the  cave.  His  father  entered  and  brought  him  out  and 
laid  him  beside  the  stream.  While  he  was  rescuing  his  son,  the  deer 
escaped.  They  ran  out  on  the  other  side  of  the  cave,  but  encountered 
Wolf.  Wolf  started  to  pursue  them,  but  he  collided  with  a  rock. 
Next  the  deer  encountered  Coyote  further  down  the  hill.  They 
jumped  over  Coyote,  but  he  pursued  them,  until  his  legs  caught  on  a 
rock  and  he  fell  backwards.  Some  of  the  deer  ran  up  the  hill,  where 
there  was  a  band  of  people.  They  ran  over  all  of  the  people  and  no 
one  killed  a  deer.     The  people  were  starving  and  one  of  them  died. 

One  of  them  died  and  the  others  felt  very  weak.  They  did  not 
know  what  to  do  after  the  deer  escaped.  The  chief  said  to  his  people, 
**Let  us  go  home."  Some  of  the  people  said  to  the  chief,  **We  do 
not  think  that  we  shall  reach  home;  we  are  starving."  Then  the 
chief  went  alone.  He  left  his  son  beside  the  creek,  left  him  there 
singing. 


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318  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

While  proceeding  along  the  creek,  the  chief  met  Skunk.  Skunk 
asked  the  chief  to  stop  for  a  while.    Then  Skunk  said  to  the  chief, 

*  *  Let  me  ride  on  your  back.  I  will  dance  on  your  back.  * '  The  chief 
was  not  agreeable.  He  said,  **You  had  better  walk.  I  am  not  strong 
enough  to  carry  you.  I  am  starving.  My  people  are  dying.  * '  Skunk 
said,  *'Do  not  say  that.  If  you  say  that  I  shall  die.  Give  me  a  ridt- 
on  your  back  and  I  will  do  you  a  favor." 

Then  the  chief  heard  from  the  second  Crow.  The  Indians  were 
dying  daily,  starving  to  death,  as  they  had  nothing  to  eat.  The  chief 
said  to  Skunk,  ''I  am  going.    I  am  going."    Skunk  besought  again, 

*  *  Let  me  ride  on  your  back.  Then  I  will  save  some  of  your  people. ' ' 
The  chief  replied,  **Come  on,  then."  They  went.  Skunk  riding  on 
the  chief's  back. 

The  people  were  dying  rapidly.  Crow  said,  **The  chief  is  return- 
ing. ' '  The  chief  was  coming.  The  chief  told  Skunk  to  hang  on  tight. 
He  said,  **I  am  going  to  wade  this  river."  Skunk  said,  '*I  do  not 
care  if  all  your  people  die,  so  long  as  I  get  this  ride  on  your  back 
across  the  river."     The  chief  became  angry  when  Skunk  said  that. 

*  *  Get  on,  we  are  going  to  cross  the  river, ' '  said  the  chief.  When  they 
reached  the  middle  of  the  river,  the  chief  pretended  to  stumble.  He 
fell  down  and  Skunk  lost  his  hold.  Skunk  drowned.  The  chief  went 
on  across  the  river. 

As  soon  as  he  had  crossed  the  river,  he  looked  up  the  hill.  He 
saw  the  first  Crow  descending  the  hill  with  a  load  of  deer.  Crow 
told  the  chief,  **I  killed  many  deer  on  the  creek."  The  chief  told 
Crow  that  all  of  the  people  had  died.  **That  is  Skunk's  fault,"  said 
the  chief.  *  *  He  told  me  he  would  save  my  people. ' '  Crow  said,  *  *  Your 
remaining  people  will  be  saved,  for  we  have  plenty  of  meat  now. 
Thus  spoke  Crow  to  the  chief,  when  he  met  him  on  the  bank  of  the 
river. 

9.  SALAMANDEB  AND  CHIPMUNK 
Salamander  said  to  Chipmunk,  **Let  me  go  to  see  my  house.  This 
same  thing  has  been  here  for  a  long  while.  My  son-in-law  has  been 
in  this  condition  all  the  time.  I  could  not  get  the  big  deer.  I  tried 
my  best  to  kill  him.  I  tried  and  tried  to  break  his  neck.  I  could  not 
break  it  and  he  escaped  from  me.  I  could  not  kill  that  big  deer.  He 
escaped  from  me.  I  could  not  take  that  big  deer.  I  could  not  take 
him.  It  frightened  me,  when  I  could  not  take  him.  I  tried.  I  tried 
to  break  his  neck.     You  had  better  tell  my  son-in-law." 


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1917]  Gifford:  Miwok  Myths  319 

Chipmunk  said,  **My  father  is  lost,  is  lost,  is  lost  because  of  Sala- 
mander's troubles.'*  Thus  spoke  Chipmunk,  when  he  started  to 
search  for  his  father.  They  were  a  long  time  finding  his  father's 
tracks.  They  found  only  old  tracks  on  the  rocks.  When  he  found  his 
father's  tracks  on  the  rocks  he  cried.  He  said,  **I  do  not  think  my 
brother  knows  that  his  father  is  lost."  So  spoke  Chipmunk  to  his 
son.    He  tried  to  find  more  tracks,  but  could  not. 

They  crossed  the  creek  and  sought  his  father's  tracks  there.  Across 
the  creek  he  saw  a  large  deer  which  he  followed  a  long  distance  up 
the  creek. 

There  he  met  two  women.  He  stopped  when  he  saw  them 
approaching.  He  tried  to  leave  the  trail.  Then  he  stopped.  He  did 
not  want  to  go  farther.  **Let  us  catch  him,"  the  women  said,  **He 
is  going  to  pass  near  us.    We  will  not  let  him  pass." 

Chipmunk  said,  **Get  away,  please.  I  am  searching  for  my 
father."  He  tried  his  best  to  push  the  two  women  from  the  path,  but 
they  would  not  move.  Again  he  tried  to  pass  between  them,  but  they 
would  not  leave  the  trail.  He  did  not  want  to  do  it,  but  again  he 
tried  to  go  between  them.    Then  they  caught  him. 

They  called  to  their  father  to  come  down  the  mountain  and  help 
to  take  him  up.  **  Father,  we  have  caught  a  man,  who  is  looking  for 
his  father.  He  has  been  searching  and  has  had  nothing  to  eat  for 
ten  days."  Then  their  father  came  to  help  them  take  their  prisoner 
home.  **Keep  your  father  away  from  me,"  Chipmunk  said  to  the 
girls.    "I  do  not  want  him  to  come  near  me." 

*  *  I  think  this  is  my  last  chance  to  attempt  to  escape  from  you  girls. 
I  wonder  if  my  brothers  know  that  I  am  going  to  be  lost.  This  is  my 
own  fault.  I  should  not  have  been  caught,  if  I  had  not  been  looking 
for  my  father.    I  think  they  did  the  same  thing  to  my  father. ' ' 

The  girls  called,  **  Father,  throw  a  rope,  throw  a  rope.  We  have 
caught  our  man."  Thus  they  called  to  their  father  when  they  wanted 
him  to  throw  them  a  rope.  Thus  they  called,  when  they  caught  Chip- 
munk and  when  they  told  their  father  to  throw  a  rope. 

**He  is  my  man,  sister.  He  is  my  man,"  the  younger  sister  said 
to  the  older.  The  younger  one  shouted  again  to  her  father,  **  Throw 
that  rope.  Hurry.  We  have  our  man.  We  have  our  man.  I  do 
not  know  what  we  shall  feed  him."  Thus  spoke  the  younger  Deer  girl, 
when  she  turned  into  a  real  woman. 

**  Throw,  and  throw,  and  throw  that  rope,  father.  I  have  my  man. 
Mine.    My  man.    Father,  father,  throw  that  rope.    We  must  bring 


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320  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

him  up  there.  I  do  not  know  what  I  shall  feed  him.  I  do  not  know 
what  he  eats. ' ' 

Their  father  said,  **My  children,  my  children.  My  poor  girls  have 
caught  their  man.  I  do  not  know  where  they  found  him.*'  Thus  he 
spoke,  when  he  threw  the  rope.  He  was  glad  to  hear  his  daughter 
tell  him  to  throw  the  rope.  He  said,  *  *  I  do  not  know,  I  do  not  know,  I 
do  not  know  what  they  will  feed  him."  Thus  spoke  the  old  man  to 
his  daughters.  He  was  glad  to  have  a  son-in-law,  for  he  was  becoming 
old.  Thus  sang  old  Deer.  He  continued,  **I  do  not  know  where,  I 
do  not  know  where,  I  do  not  know  where  they  will  keep  him.  I  do 
not  know  where  they  will  keep  my  son-in-law. ' '  So  spoke  the  old  man, 
when  he  saw  his  son-in-law.  Thus  he  spoke,  thus  he  spoke,  when  he 
felt  glad  that  his  daughters  were  considering  marriage.  He  was  so 
happy  over  his  son-in-law,  that  he  danced  and  sang. 

*'I  have  my  man.  I  have  my  man,''  the  girls  said,  when  they 
talked  to  their  father  and  told  him  to  throw  them  the  rope.  **I  want 
to  bring  him  up  there.  Throw  me  the  rope,  father.  I  do  not  know 
what  I  shall  feed  him,  when  I  get  him  up  there.  I  have  all  sorts  of 
things  for  him  to  eat,  but  I  do  not  know  what  he  eats.'*  Thus  the}' 
spoke  after  they  caught  Chipmunk,  after  they  caught  him,  while  he 
was  travelling  everywhere.  **  Father,  throw  that  rope.  Throw  it. 
I  am  going  to  catch  my  man."  Thus  she  spoke,  when  she  told  her 
father  to  throw  the  rope.  **I  have  my  man,"  she  said,  when  she 
talked  to  her  father  at  the  top  of  the  sky. 

**Let  us  search  for  our  brother,"  said  Brown  Bird  to  Tuyipitina 
[another  bird].  He  spoke  thus  while  he  sang  in  the  middle  of  the 
water.  Thus  spoke  Brown  Bird,  when  he  chased  the  deer  after  he 
had  missed  Chipmunk.  **6et  ready,"  he  said,  **We  will  search  for 
our  brother. ' '  Then  Brown  Bird  and  Tuyipitina  went.  They  alighted 
on  the  horn  of  a  deer  and  remained  there.  Brown  Bird  alighted  on 
the  horn  a  bit  higher  than  Tuyipitina.  **We  have  obtained  the  deer 
for  which  our  brother  has  searched, ' '  said  Brown  Bird  to  Tuyipitina. 
The  deer  ran  with  Brown  Bird  and  Tuyipitina.  The  two  of  them  could 
not  hold  him.  Brown  Bird  said,  **Let  us  go,  let  us  go."  This  hap- 
pened in  the  night. 

Chipmunk  said,  **I  do  not^know  who  has  captured  me.  I  do  not 
know  where  they  will  take  me.  I  do  not  know  where  they  will  take 
me. ' '  Thus  he  spoke  as  the  girls  tied  him.  Thus  he  spoke  while  they 
tied  him  with  the  rope.  He  thought  that  it  was  to  be  his  last  time 
upon  earth.    *'I  do  not  know  if  anyone  will  find  me,"  he  said.    **It 


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1917]  Gifford:  Miwok  Myths  321 

is  Salamander's  fault  that  I  am  caught.  If  I  escape  I  shall  even  the 
score  with  Salamander/'  Thus  he  spoke  after  they  took  him  to  the 
sky. 

He  did  not  know  how  to  escape.  When  he  arrived  there,  he  saw 
many  deer.  He  was  surprised  to  see  so  many  deer.  He  sang.  He 
sang  there.  He  sang.  He  did  not  know  where  he  was.  He  was 
afraid  after  they  brought  him  there. 

They  cooked  and  cooked,  cooked  many  kinds  of  seeds  such  as  we 
[the  Miwok]  eat.  The  girls  said,  as  they  were  about  to  feed  him, 
**Tell  them  to  cook  one  kind  of  seed  for  him.''  Chipmunk  did  not 
want  to  eat  seeds.  There  were  all  sorts  of  seeds,  but  he  did  not  want 
them.  They  tried  to  feed  him  many  kinds  of  seeds.  In  despair  the 
girls  said  to  each  other,  *  *  I  do  not  know  what  he  likes  to  eat. ' '  They 
did  not  know  what  he  liked  to  eat. 

One  of  the  girls  told  the  deer,  **Here  is  this  one,  who  always 
searches  for  us."  All  of  the  deer  looked  at  Chipmunk.  **I  do  not 
know,  I  do  not  know,  I  do  not  know  what  we  shall  feed  him,"  said  one 
of  the  Deer  girls.  **I  fear  we  shall  starve  him."  Thus  they  spoke, 
when  they  gave  him  the  seed  to  eat. 

*'Take  it  away  from  me.  Do  not  place  it  near  me,"  said  Chip- 
munk, for  the  seed  did  not  smell  good  to  him.  They  did  not  put  the 
seed  near  him.  Chipmunk  said,  **You  girls  might  just  as  well  let  me 
eat  your  father.  I  am  getting  hungry.  I  might  just  as  well  eat  your 
father.  I  shall  eat  your  father.  There  is  no  use  trying  to  save  him. 
The  old  man.  is  pretty  poor,  but  I  shall  eat  him  just  the  same. ' ' 

*  *  Our  father  is  across  the  way, ' '  said  the  girls.  * '  Let  me  see  how 
I  can  shoot  with  my  bow  and  arrow, ' '  said  Chipmunk.  Then  he  began 
to  sing  and  old  Deer  became  fat.  Old  Deer  became  so  fat  that  he 
could  scarcely  walk.  Chipmunk  continued  singing.  That  was  all  he 
did.  Finally  he  arose.  He  took  one  arrow  with  him.  Then  he  knelt, 
the  two  girls  holding  him.  He  shot  old  Deer  with  the  arrow.  Deer 
was  old,  but  he  was  fat. 

One  girl  on  each  side  held  him  after  he  killed  their  father.  They 
watched  him,  as  he  removed  the  fat  and  hide  from  old  Deer.  He 
intended  to  make  garments  of  the  hide. 

**That  is  the  way  they  treat  us,"  said  the  girls  as  they  watched 
Chipmunk  slrinning  their  father.  All  of  the  deer  were  watching 
Chipmunk.  Chipmunk  tried  to  keep  the  girls  away  from  their 
father's  body.  He  said,  **Keep  away,  girls.  Keep  away.  You  might 
step  in  the  blood  of  your  father." 


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**I  do  not  know  where  I  shall  go,  after  I  have  eaten  this  Deer/' 
said  Chipmunk.  **If  I  do  not  leave  this  place,  I  think  I  must  kill 
more.'*  Thus  spoke  Chipmunk  to  himself.  **I  shall  try  my  best  to 
leave  this  place." 

Chipmunk's  older  brother  searched  for  him.  He  travelled  all 
over  the  world,  travelled  to  the  edge  of  the  world,  looking  for  his 
brother.  His  older  brother  said,  while  he  searched  for  him,  "I  do 
not  know  what  has  happened  to  my  brother.  I  find  him  nowhere.*' 
Meanwhile  Chipmunk  ate  the  deer.  The  other  deer  stood  about 
watching  him.  He  ate  and  sang  at  the  same  time,  while  his  brother 
searched  for  him  all  over  the  world. 

Chipmunk's  older  brother  said,  **My  brother,  my  brother.  I  do 
not  know  where  he  has  gone.*'  Thus  he  spoke  as  he  travelled  about 
the  world  in  search  of  Chipmunk.  He  travelled  night  and  day  with- 
out food  in  search  of  his  brother. 

At  last  he  arrived  at  the  place  where  the  Deer  women  had  cap- 
tured Chipmunk.  His  leg  became  entangled  in  some  of  the  rope  which 
they  had  dropped  when  they  tied  Chipmunk.  He  knew  what  had 
happened  to  his  brother,  when  he  found  the  rope.  He  cried  and  he 
cried,  when  he  discovered  what  had  happened  to  his  brother.  **I 
fear  they  killed  my  brother  after  they  took  him  up  there,''  he  said. 
He  cried,  he  cried,  and  he  cried.  He  did  not  know  how  to  climb  to 
the  sky,  where  his  brother  had  been  taken.  While  he  cried,  he  said, 
**I  shall  try  to  climb  somehow.  If  I  reach  that  place,  I  will  put 
the  deer  to  sleep. 

He  went  there  in  the  night,  crying  all  the  way  while  he  climbed. 
He  found  his  brother.  He  said,  **  We  are  going  home.  We  are  going 
home."  When  he  spoke  thus,  he  cried  anew.  Then  Chipmunk  cried, 
when  he  saw  his  brother  cry. 

Chipmunk  told  his  brother  to  cry  no  more,  **For,"  he  said,  **I 
am  still  safe."  His  older  brother  sang,  while  he  put  the  deer  to 
sleep.  *'We  are  going.  We  are  going.  Get  ready,"  he  said.  He 
brought  a  bow  and  arrows.  Then  he  said  to  his  younger  brother, 
**You  get  on  one  end  of  this  arrow.  We  are  going."  Then  he  shot 
two  arrows.  His  brother  hung  to  one  and  he  hung  to  the  other.  The 
arrows  struck  at  their  home.    Thus  he  brought  his  brother  back. 

He  continued  to  cry  after  he  had  brought  his  brother  home.  He 
said  to  him,  **You  had  better  stay  home.  You  had  better  stay  home. 
Never  hunt  again."  Thus  he  spoke  to  his  brother  and  it  made  his 
brother  cry.    ** Don't  ever  go  into  the  hills  again."    Thus  he  spoke 


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1917]  Oifford:  Miwoh  Myths  323 

to  his  younger  brother,  Chipmunk.  ** Don't  ever  go  into  the  hills 
again.  Do  not  go  into  the  hills  any  more.  They  might  catch  you 
again."    Thus  spoke  the  older  brother  to  Chipmunk. 

Chipmunk  said,  *'I  was  caught  because  of  Salamander.  AH  of 
this  trouble  is  his  fault.  Salamander  got  me  into  this  trouble.  I 
will  have  revenge  upon  him,  when  I  reach  home."  He  was  crying, 
as  he  walked  toward  his  house.  He  sang  also  as  he  walked  toward 
his  house.  He  said  to  himself,  **When  I  enter  my  house,  I  shall  build 
afire." 

Salamander  lay  beside  the  fire.  Chipmunk  said  to  him,  **I  shall 
kill  you.  I  shall  throw  you  into  the  fire.  You  might  just  as  well  take 
your  last  breath  now."  Thus  he  spoke  to  Salamander  after  he  had 
built  the  fire.  He  lifted  him  to  throw  him  into  the  fire.  He  said  to 
Salamander,  **You  are  the  fellow  who  deceived  me.  You  told  me 
that  you  saw  large  deer.  You  may  just  as  well  take  your  last  breath 
on  this  spot."  Thus  he  spoke  when  he  threw  Salamander  into  the 
fire.    Thus  he  sang  after  he  had  thrown  Salamander  into  the  fire. 

Chipmunk  said,  **I  shall  leave,  leave  this  place.  I  shall  stay  here 
no  longer."  Thus  he  spoke,  when  he  left.  **I  shall  never  return  to 
this  place.  I  am  going,  I  am  going  to  my  home.  I  am  going  to  my 
home  to  eat  that  which  I  always  eat."  While  he  proceeded  home- 
ward, he  sang  about  the  food  which  he  would  eat  in  his  home.  **I 
am  going  home,  I  am  going  home,"  he  said,  as  he  journeyed  up  the 
mountains  toward  his  home.  Thus  he  sang,  as  he  journeyed  toward 
his  home.  Thus  he  spoke,  as  he  walked  up  the  trail  toward  his 
home.  Thus  he  sang,  as  he  went  over  the  trail  at  night.  He  looked 
for  large  deer  as  he  went  home  in  the  night.  He  arrived  at 
home  about  sunrise,  reaching  the  house  where  dwelt  his  brother  and 
his  sister.  He  said  to  himself,  **I  have  reached  home.  I  am  now 
with  my  brother  and  sister.  Now  I  am  safe.  I  shall  worry  no  more. ' ' 
He  was  glad  to  be  home. 


10.    LIZAED  AND  FOX 

Lizard  said,  **I  am  going  to  see  the  worms."  **Do  not  come  near 
me.  Do  not  come  near  me,"  said  Worm.  '*You  do  not  smell 
good,  * '  Lizard  said,  when  he  saw  Worm.  *  *  Keep  away  from  me.  Keep 
away  from  me.  Do  not  come  near  me.  Keep  away  from  me.  Keep 
away  from  me.  I  do  not  want  that  grass  after  it  is  cooked.  It  does 
not  smell  good."    Worm  was  on  the  fire.    **I  did  not  like  him  after  I 


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had  a  good  look  at  him,"  said  Lizard.  He  said  that  from  the  top 
of  a  big  log.  He  did  not  like  to  drink  water.  He  did  not  want  to 
drink  water.  Water  did  not  smell  good.  **Keep  away.  Keep  away, 
Tarantula.  That  grass  smells  bloody,''  Lizard  said.  He  spoke  thus, 
because  he  did  not  like  grass. 

Thus  spoke  Lizard  when  he  sang  about  his  food  below.  **I  am 
going  below,*'  said  Lizard,  **I  go  there  to  eat  worms.  Then  I  will 
return  and  see  where  Fox  is  going  to  hunt. '  Thus  sang  Lizard  from 
the  top  of  the  log. 

Lizard  did  not  like  seed.  He  did  not  like  grass.  Thus  he  sang 
from  the  top  of  the  log.  When  Tarantula  brought  him  food,  he  said, 
**Keep  away  from  me.  Keep  away  from  me.  I  do  not  like  grass.  I 
would  rather  eat  worms  below."  Thus  sang  Lizard  about  his  food 
below. 

Tarantula  asked  Lizard,  **Why  don't  you  like  the  food  that  I 
eat?"  Lizard  replied,  **It  does  not  smell  good  to  me.  I  am  going. 
I  am  going.    The  ground  is  damp  below." 

**Be  sure  to  return,"  said  Tarantula,  **for  Fox  is  going  to  hunt." 
**I  go  below  to  eat  worms,"  said  Lizard,  **I  shall  return."  Thus 
spoke  Lizard  when  he  was  starving.  **I  am  going  below,  then  I  will 
return.  There  is  no  food  for  me  here."  Tarantula  said,  **You  must 
surely  return,  because  Fox  is  preparing  to  hunt  in  the  hills." 

Fox  was  preparing  to  hunt.  He  said,  * '  I  wonder  if  Mountain  Lion 
is  ready?  Are  all  of  you  hunters  ready?  Mountain  Quail  may  go 
with  us.  Skunk  may  go  with  us.  Coyote  may  go  with  us.  Wolf  may 
go  with  us.  We  are  going  to  hunt  deer.  Put  Skunk  on  the  lower  side 
of  the  hill.  Dove  may  go  with  us.  Hummingbird  may  go  with  us. 
They  may  all  run  on  the  hill.    Crow  may  go  with  us." 

**I  shall  kill  a  large  deer,"  said  Mountain  Lion,  when  Fox  told 
him  that  he  might  hunt.  Mountain  Lion  continued,  **  Confine  Night 
Hawk,  for  he  is  likely  to  steal  from  us,  if  we  leave  the  camp.  I  am 
going  ahead.  I  know  where  the  big  deer  stay.  Do  not  take  Night 
Hawk  with  you,  because  he  might  take  a  whole  deer  in  his  mouth. 
I  shall  kill  a  large  deer  for  us.  I  shall  kill  no  small  deer,"  boasted 
Mountain  Lion.  So  spoke  Mountain  Lion,  when  he  prepared  to  hunt 
for  the  large  deer.  He  said,  *  *  I  am  going  into  the  hills  ahead  of  the 
rest,  to  get  a  large  deer  for  us." 

Mountain  Quail  said,  **I  will  break  the  neck  of  the  large  deer. 
I  will  break  the  neck.  I  will  break  it,  I  will  break  it."  Thus  spoke 
Mountain  Quail  before  he  started.    He  continued,  **You  people  can- 


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not  enter  the  brush.  I  will  enter  the  brush.  I  fear  nothing.  I  do 
not  think  that  you  people  are  brave  enough  to  enter  the  brush.  I 
shall  enter  the  brush  between  those  large  mountains.  I  shall  break 
his  neck.  I  shall  break  his  neck,  when  I  meet  him  in  the  brush,  when 
I  meet  the  large  deer  in  the  brush.  I  think  that  the  rest  of  you  are 
not  brave  enough  to  enter  the  brush  between  those  great  mountains. 
I  am  the  one  who  always  enters  the  brush."  So  spoke  Mountain 
Quail,  while  he  travelled  toward  the  brush  between  those  great  moun- 
tains. '*I  am  going  into  that  brush.  I  think  you  people  are  afraid 
to  enter  that  brush,  for  fear  that  you  might  meet  a  bear. ' '  So  spoke 
Mountain  Quail. 

Bald  Eagle  said,  **I  am  going  too.  I  shall  kill  a  large  deer  also. 
I  do  not  think  you  people  can  find  a  large  deer.  I  do  not  think  you 
can  fan  the  large  deer.  I  do  not  think  you  can  fan  the  large  deer. 
When  I  fan  him,  I  shall  put  him  to  sleep.  Then  I  shall  kill  him.  You 
tried  to  get  ahead  of  me  by  leaving  me  behind.  You  must  think  that 
I  am  too  old.  I  shall  fan  the  big  deer  with  my  two  wings,  from  both 
sides  of  the  hill.  From  both  sides  I  will  fan  him  with  my  two  wings. 
I  am  going.  I  am  going  to  help  you  find  the  deer.  I  know  where  the 
deer  stay.  I  will  find  them  before  you  do.  I  shall  fan  the  large  deer 
with  my  two  wings.  When  I  see  one  I  shall  put  him  to  sleep.  I 
shall  fan  him.  I  shall  fan  him.*'  Thus  spoke  Bald  Eagle,  when  he 
prepared  to  hunt,  when  he  told  the  Mountain  Lion  to  prepare.  Thus 
he  spoke.  Thus  he  spoke.  **I  am  going.  You  people  stay  on  each 
side  of  the  creek  and  I  will  fan  him  with  both  wings  from  the  middle. ' ' 

Wolf  said,  **I  shall  chase  him  until  I  run  him  down.  I  shall  chase 
the  fawns,  which  sneak  away  from  the  big  ones.  If  they  escape  from 
you  hunters,  I  will  chase  them."  So  spoke  Wolf,  as  he  prepared  to 
hunt  with  Mountain  Lion.  **I  will  run  them  over  the  hills.  Just 
watch  me.  I  will  collect  the  deer  in  one  place.  I  will  run  from  sun- 
down until  sunrise,  so  that  you  hunters  can  kill  them  while  I  sleep. 
I  will  gather  them  in  the  night.  Then  when  you  start,  send  Skunk 
to  me.  If  they  escape  from  you,  awaken  me  and  I  will  pursue  them 
until  I  capture  them,"  said  Wolf. 

Coyote  said,  *  *  I  shall  be  there  when  the  deer  run.  I  shall  eat  them, 
while  they  run.  There  is  no  use  of  you  hunters  running,  while  I  am 
there.  You  know  that  I  am  a  good  runner.  If  the  deer  get  away 
from  you,  I  shall  chase  them.  I  shall  chase  them.  I  shall  chase  them. 
I  shall  chase  them.  I  shall  chase  them  whether  the  ground  is  rough 
or  smooth.    I  shall  capture  them  just  the  same."    So  spoke  Coyote 


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before  the  party  set  out.  **I  will  bite  the  leg  of  the  deer  while  he 
runs.    The  deer  will  have  no  chance  to  escape,"  said  Coyote. 

**I  shall  go  with  you,  for  I  can  find  the  deer  in  any  place.  I  can 
find  them  anywhere.  I  know  how  to  find  them.  I  shall  look  down 
from  the  hills  just  before  sunrise.  I  can  find  more  deer  than  all  of 
3'^ou.  I  will  eat  nothing  but  deers'  eyes,''  said  Crow,  for  he  was  very 
fond  of  them.  **When  we  hunt,  I  shall  find  the  deer  for  you.  I 
know  how  to  find  them.  When  we  return,  all  that  you  need  give  me 
are  the  deers'  eyes.  Perhaps  you  do  not  believe  that  I  can  find  deer. 
I  can  find  the  deer  before  sunrise  or  after  suitdown.  Eagle  thinks 
that  he  is  the  only  one  who  can  find  deer.  I  shall  go  with  you.  I 
shall  find  those  deer  for  you.    I  excel  Eagle  in  finding  deer.'* 

Fox  prepared  the  men  to  hunt.  He  said,  **We  are  going.  Qet 
ready.  Get  ready.  Get  ready.  Mountain  Quail.  Get  ready,  Eagle. 
Get  ready,  Coyote.  Get  ready,  Wolf.  Awaken  Skunk,  prepare  him, 
for  he  must  walk  on  the  side  of  the  hill.  Keep  track  of  Night  Hawk. 
Keep  him  hidden,  for  he  is  likely  to  swallow  a  whole  deer."  So  spoke 
Fox,  when  he  became  the  head  chief  and  when  he  prepared  his  people 
for  the  hunt.  **  Gather  Mountain  Lion,  Coyote,  and  Wolf  on  one  side 
of  the  hill  in  an  open  place.    They  are  good  hunters. " 

Black  Fox  said,  **I  always  go  into  the  difficult  places.  I  am 
going,  too.  I  am  going  into  the  middle  of  the  brush,  when  we  hunt. 
I  shall  scent  the  deer  from  there.  I  shall  enter  the  deep  canyons  and 
look  for  their  tracks."  So  spoke  Black  Fox.  Mountain  Lion  warned 
him,  **You  must  be  careful,  when  you  enter  the  hills."  **I  fear  noth- 
ing," Black  Fox  retorted.  **I  will  enter  the  thickest  brush.  I  will 
enter  the  brush  and  drive  out  the  deer."  So  spoke  Black  Fox  to 
Fox.  Fox  said  that  he  was  ready  to  start  whenever  his  men  were. 
**You  must  keep  the  big  deer  separate,"  he  said  to  Black  Fox.  Black 
Fox  said,  **I  shall  start  ahead  and  enter  the  hills.  When  you  are 
ready,  send  Mountain  Quail  to  awaken  me. ' ' 

Skunk  said,  **Just  watch  me  hunt.  I  am  going  out  to  kill  deer. 
I  get  them  from  both  sides.  After  yoti  have  separated  the  large  deer, 
tell  me  where  they  are  and  I  will  eject  my  fluid  upon  them.  I  will 
kill  them  all.  I  will  make  the  fluid,  which  I  eject  upon  them,  very 
strong.  But  I  want  someone  to  carry  me,  because  I  cannot  walk  fast. 
I  will  have  a  load  on  me,  anyway.  I  want  to  be  sure  to  get  a  number 
of  deer  with  my  fluid.  From  the  north  side,  I  will  eject  my  fluid. 
From  the  west  side,  I  will  eject.  From  the  east  side,  I  will  eject. 
From  the  south  side,  I  will  eject.    After  you  have  gathered  the  deer. 


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cany  me  to  the  place  where  they  are.  I  will  take  my  son-in-law 
with  me.    I  will  dance  on  the  top  of  a  small  rock,  singing  my  song. ' ' 

Dove  said,  **I  shall  eat  seed  before  I  go.  I  shall  eat  seed  before  I 
go.  I  shall  run.  I  shall  run  after  I  eat  the  seed.  You  people  cannot 
run.  You  stay  in  the  brush.  *'  Thus  spoke  Dove  to  Chief  Fox.  **If 
a  deer  escapes  from  you,  I  shall  capture  him,*'  continued  Dove.  **If 
you  people  eat  the  deer,  I  shall  eat  the  seed.  I  shall  help  you  to 
obtain  the  deer.''  When  Dove  was  ready,  he  said,  *'Let  us  go.  Let 
Hummingbird  come  with  me."  Dove  took  Hummingbird  with  him, 
when  he  went  ahead  of  the  rest  of  the  part.  He  said  to  Humming- 
bird, **Let  us  race.  We  will  see  who  kills  a  deer  first.  Let  us  race. 
Let  us  race. ' '    Hummingbird  accepted  the  challenge. 

Hummingbird  said,  **When  I  ran  a  race  with  Dove,  I  travelled 
quite  fast.  We  were  just  about  even  at  the  end.  I  will  try  to  eat 
the  seeds  that  Dove  eats.  I  will  also  eat  flowers.  I  shall  run  another 
race  with  him.  I  shall  run  a  race  with  him  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
I  shall  not  go  only  to  the  middle  of  the  world  in  my  race  with  Dove. 
I  shall  race  him  to  the  end  of  the  world.  When  he  and  I  race,  it 
is  a  tie.  I  shall  run  a  race  to  the  end  of  the  world.  If  he  ties  me 
again,  then  he  and  I  will  travel  together  for  all  time.  If  he  ties  me, 
he  and  I  will  return  and  help  Fox  to  kill  the  deer.  He  and  I  eat  the 
seeds  and  flowers.    Let  him  try  the  flowers  and  I  will  try  the  seeds." 

Fox  said,  **Tell  Hummingbird  not  to  get  in  the  middle.  Tell 
him  not  to  get  in  the  middle.  The  men  had  better  not  travel  too  fast 
at  first,  for  they  will  have  plenty  of  running  after  we  enter  the  hills. ' ' 
So  spoke  Chief  Fox,  when  he  prepared  his  hunters.  He  said  to  Moun- 
tain Lion  and  to  Eagle,  **Get  ready.  Take  up  certain  stations,  where 
the  deer  come  out."  He  told  Wolf  to  take  his  station  near  a  place 
where  the  deer  always  come  out.  **Dove  and  Hummingbird  are  to 
run  first,"  he  told  Chief  Mountain  Lion.  Chief  Fox  told  his  men 
to  get  ready,  when  he  prepared  to  hunt  deer.  **I  see  that  all  of  you 
are  willing  to  hunt, ' '  he  said. 

Brown  Wren  said,  **  Coyote  and  I  shall  race.  I  do  not  think  that 
Coyote  can  beat  me  running.  When  I  come  home,  I  will  race  with 
California  Jay.  I  will  see  how  fast  Jay  can  run.  Jay  and  I  will  try 
each  other  in  a  shooting  contest,  to  see  who  is  the  better.  Jay  and  I 
will  shoot  at  each  other  with  arrows  to  see  who  can  jump  about  the 
quicker.  If  he  excels  me  at  jumping,  then  perhaps  he  can  hit  me. 
I  shall  shoot  four  arrows  and  he  will  shoot  four.  I  shall  give  him  the 
first  shot.    Then  I  will  shoot  at  him.    I  do  not  know  who  will  be  next 


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in  the  running  of  races.  I  fear  that  Jay  will  not  get  out  of  the 
way  in  time,  when  I  use  my  arrow." 

California  Jay  said,  **I  do  not  think  that  you  can  hit  me.  You 
can  try  and  try.  Thus  I  will  sing,  when  I  dodge  your  arrows.  Thus 
I  will  do,  when  I  tire  you.  I  do  not  believe  that  you  can  hit  me.  I 
eat  nothing  but  acorns.  That  is  what  makes  me  so  lively.  If  I  am 
seated,  when  the  deer  come  out  of  the  brush,  I  am  not  going  to  arise. 
I  will  kill  the  deer  without  arising.  Thus  I  will  handle  the  deer,  when 
they  come  out  of  the  brush.  Are  you  a  good  dodger  ?  Are  you  a  good 
dodger?  You  are  going  to  fight  me  with  the  arrow,"  he  said  to  Brown 
Wren.  '*I  shall  dodge  you  while  I  am  seated.  I  shall  dodge  you 
while  I  am  seated.  I  do  not  think  that  you  can  hit  me  after  I  have 
arranged  my  hair.  You  can  try.  You  can  try,  but  you  will  find 
that  I  am  a  good  dodger. ' ' 

Turkey  Vulture  said,  **That  is  the  way  I  shall  do,  when  I  put  the 
deer  to  sleep.  Thus  shall  I  do.  Thus  shall  I  do.  I  shall  look  for  the 
deer  in  the  hills.  Thus  shall  I  do,  when  I  hunt  them  in  the  brush. 
You  will  find  them,  when  the  blood  turns  into  a  rainbow.  Then  you 
will  find  them.  I  shall  do  my  best.  I  shall  do  my  best  to  be  the  first 
to  obtain  a  deer.  If  I  find  dead  deer  after  you  return  home,  I  shall 
eat  them."  Thus  spoke  Turkey  Vulture.  Thus  he  spoke,  as  they 
journeyed  into  the  hills  and  as  he  looked  for  dead  animals  in  the 
hills.  He  continued,  **I  find  the  dead  animals  from  the  high  moun- 
tains. When  I  see  the  blood,  I  shall  come  and  tell  you.  When  I  look 
for  deer,  I  wheel  in  one  place.  When  the  sun  rises,  you  will  see 
the  blood  turn  into  a  rainbow. ' '    So  spoke  Turkey  Vulture  to  Fox. 

Turtle  said,  '*I  will  obtain  water  for  the  men  when  they  are  in 
the  hills.  I  will  obtain  water  for  them,  when  they  hunt.  I  will  obtain 
water  to  wash  the  intestines.  I  will  carry  water  for  the  hunters.  I 
always  carry  water.  I  do  not  have  to  hunt  with  the  men."  Thus 
spoke  Turtle,  as  he  returned  to  the  water.  *'I  shall  get  no  deer.  I 
shall  get  no  deer,'  he  said.  Turtle  always  carried  water  for  the 
hunters.  He  always  carried  water.  He  knows  how  to  carry  water. 
He  sings  all  the  while,  that  he  carries  water.  All  that  he  does  is  to 
sing  beside  the  water.    He  sings  that  he  is  to  carry  water. 

Fox  told  his  hunters  to  go  and  they  all  departed.  All  of  the  deer 
passed  by  Fox.  All  of  the  deer  passed  by  Fox.  He  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  them,  but  just  watched  them.  The  deer  scattered.  Each  of 
the  other  hunters  obtained  one.  Most  of  the  deer  passed  by  Fox.  He 
just  watched  them  until  the  last  came.    As  the  last  one  approached, 


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he  put  his  arrow  in  the  bow  and  shot  it.  The  arrow  passed  through 
the  deer  and  penetrated  all  of  the  deer  that  were  in  line.  In  four 
gulches  were  four  different  deer  that  Fox  killed.  That  many  deer  he 
obtained  with  one  arrow.  The  feat  showed  that  Fox  was  a  better 
hunter  than  the  others. 

Then  Skunk  visited  his  son-in-law  (Fox),  while  they  skinned  the 
deer.  He  said  to  his  son-in-law,  *  *  May  I  ride  on  top  of  the  pack,  when 
you  carry  itf  Thus  spoke  Skunk  to  his  son-in-law.  His  son-in-law 
replied,  **You  will  be  too  heavy  on  top  of  the  deer.  I  have  all  that 
I  can  carry  without  you."    So  said  Fox  to  Skunk. 

Skunk  became  angry.  He  said  to  his  son-in-law,  ** Don't  say  that 
to  me.  If  you  don 't  carry  me,  I  will  eject  my  fluid  upon  you. ' '  Fox 
retorted,  ** Don't  say  that  to  me.  I  will  kill  you.  Don't  eject  your 
fluid  upon  me.  If  you  do,  I  will  kill  you.  I  will  kill  you  with  an 
arrow."  ** Don't  say  that,"  said  Skunk.  **I  do  not  wish  to  die. 
There  is  no  one  here  to  help  me,  if  you  shoot  me  with  an  arrow. ' ' 

Fox  said  to  Skunk,  **  Night  Hawk  has  the  largest  deer  in  his  mouth. 
Hurry,  help  me  skin  this  deer,  or  Night  Hawk  will  get  them  all.  Be- 
fore we  started  I  told  you  to  leave  Night  Hawk  home."  Fox  went 
to  prevent  Night  Hawk  from  eating  the  largest  deer.  Night  Hawk 
told  Fox  that  he  had  nothing  in  his  mouth.  *  *  The  only  thing  I  have 
in  my  mouth  is  something  which  belongs  to  my  uncle.  I  have  nothing 
of  yours  in  my  mouth."  So  said  Night  Hawk,  when  Fox  threatened 
to  kill  him.  Fox  threatened  to  kill  him,  if  he  did  not  return  the 
deer.  While  Fox  was  talking  to  Night  Hawk,  Skunk  skinned  the 
deer. 

11.     VALLEY  QUAIL'S  ADVENTUBES 

**I  am  going  to  visit  my  father,"  said  young  Valley  Quail,  **I 
am  going  up  the  mountain  to  visit  my  father.  Give  me  my  father's 
*  poison.'  "  His  father's  **  poison"  consisted  of  yellow  jackets  and 
other  stinging  insects,  which  he  kept  in  a  bag.  **I  am  going  up  the 
mountain,"  said  young  Quail. 

He  tried  his  father's  poison.  He  said  to  himself,  **I  will  try  it  and 
discover  how  my  father  uses  it."  That  is  what  young  Quail  said 
when  he  saw  the  deer.  He  saw  a  large  band  of  deer.  Then  he 
opened  his  bag  of  yellowjackets.  When  he  opened  it,  they  flew  to 
the  deer  and  killed  them.  He  killed  all  of  the  deer  in  trying  his 
father's  poison. 

**No  one  will  bother  me,"  said  young  Quail.  Then  he  went  up 
the  mountains  through  the  deep  canyons  and  forests. 


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He  found  Coyote.  Coyote  saw  him  and  asked  him  what  he  carried 
in  the  bag.  He  told  Coyote  that  he  carried  his  father's  poison.  Coy- 
ote did  not  believe  him  and  told  young  Quail  that  he  was  too  small  to 
carry  poison.  *  *  I  think  you  have  something  good  to  eat  in  that  bag, ' ' 
said  Coyote.  Young  Quail  retorted,  **No,  I  have  nothing  good  to  eat. 
If  I  open  this  bag,  you  will  die.  I  am  taking  this  poison  to  my 
father." 

Coyote  was  not  satisfied,  but  begged  young  Quail  to  open  the  bag. 
Quail  became  angry  and  gave  Coyote  the  bag,  telling  him  to  open 
it  and  eat  what  he  found  within.  When  Coyote  opened  it,  the  j^ellow- 
jackets  flew  out  and  stung  him  to  death.  Then  young  Quail  called  his 
poison  back  into  the  bag.  All  of  the  yellowjackets  entered  the  bag 
at  his  request.    He  proceeded  upon  his  way. 

Next  he  met  a  bear.  He  said  to  himself,  *  *  I  do  not  know  what  I  am 
going  to  do  with  that  bear.  I  do  not  think  my  poison  will  kill  him. 
I  will  try  it,  anyhow.''  So  saying,  he  opened  the  bag.  The  yellow- 
jackets  flew  to  the  bear,  to  a  number  of  bears  under  the  trees.  The 
yellowjackets  killed  all  of  the  bears.  Then  young  Quail  recalled 
them. 

He  did  not  know  which  way  to  go  after  the  yellowjackets  had 
returned  to  the  bag.  He  was  very  tired,  but  he  said,  **I  will  continue 
on  my  way."  Proceeding  farther,  he  found  a  mountain  lion  in  a 
large  tree.  He  did  not  know  what  to  do  when  he  saw  the  mountain 
lion.  He  said,  *' Mountain  lion  will  eat  me,  I  fear."  Then  he  sat  on 
a  rock.  He  feared  to  pass  the  tree  in  which  the  mountain  lion  sat. 
He  said  to  himself,  **I  think  I  shall  not  reach  my  father's  place.  I 
fear  this  mountain  lion  will  kill  me.  I  do  not  know  what  to  do.  I 
think  that  this  animal  in  the  tree  is  the  one  my  father  has  always 
warned  me  about.  I  think  this  is  a  mountain  lion,  the  kind  that 
slaps  people.  I  fear  that  I  cannot  kill  him,  but  I  will  try."  He 
turned  loose  his  yellowjackets.  They  killed  the  mountain  lion.  After 
he  had  killed  the  mountain  lion,  he  recalled  his  yellowjackets. 

**That  is  the  way  I  will  do  to  anything  that  attempts  to  hurt  me." 
Then  he  proceeded  upon  his  way.  He  found  a  spring  between  two 
large  rocks.  Just  as  he  stooped  to  drink  he  saw  a  mountain  sheep. 
He  said  to  himself,  **  Mountain  sheep  is  all  that  my  father  eats.  I 
think  that  I  will  try  to  kill  this  one."  Then  he  opened  his  bag. 
The  yellowjackets  flew  to  the  mountain  sheep  and  stung  him  to  death. 
He  went  over  to  look  at  the  mountain  sheep  after  he  had  killed  him. 
The  mountain  sheep,  being  dead,  was  unable  to  attack  him.  Young 
Quail  called  his  yellowjackets  into  the  bag  and  went  on  his  way. 


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1917]  Gifford:  Miwok  Myths  331 

After  he  had  gone  a  distance,  he  found  a  rattlesnake.  **I  do  not 
know  what  I  shall  do  with  him/'  said  young  Quail.  **I  think  this  is 
rattlesnake,  of  which  my  father  has  told  me.  At  any  rate,  I  will 
try  to  kill  him."  So  saying  he  opened  the  bag  and  sent  the  yellow- 
jackets  to  the  rattlesnake.  After  they  had  killed  the  rattlesnake,  he 
called  them  back,  called  them  back. 

After  his  yellowjackets  had  re-entered  the  bag,  he  journeyed  until 
he  came  to  the  immense  rattlesnake  Hamaua.  **I  do  not  know  what  I 
shall  do  now.  Hamaua  reaches  almost  a  quarter  of  the  distance  to 
my  father's  place.  I  fear  he  will  kill  me  here.  I  do  not  know  what 
to  do.  I  do  not  know  what  I  shall  do.  I  will  try  to  kill  him  with 
my  father's  poison.  Then  he  released  the  yellowjackets.  They  killed 
Hamaua.  After  he  killed  Hamaua,  he  said,  **My  father  always  takes 
the  skin  of  Hamaua.  I  think  I  will  take  it  too. ' '  He  skinned  Hamaua. 
After  he  had  taken  the  skin,  he  called  the  yellowjackets  back. 

Then  he  continued  up  the  mountain.  He  saw  another  mountain 
sheep  much  larger  than  the  one  which  he  had  already  killed.  **I 
think  I  will  kill  that  one.  I  think  I  will  try  to  kill  him.  That  is  a 
mountain  sheep,  for  which  my  father  always  searches." 

He  next  met  a  band  of  black  bears.  He  became  so  frightened  that 
he  climbed  a  tree.  **I  will  try  to  kill  them,"  he  said,  **but  I  fear  that 
I  cannot."  Then  he  opened  his  bag  and  released  his  yellowjackets. 
They  pursued  the  bears  and  made  them  run.  Then  they  killed  all 
of  the  bears.  After  they  had  killed  the  bears,  he  called  them  back  into 
the  bag  and  then  continued  up  the  mountain. 

At  last  he  arrived  at  his  father's  house.  His  father  asked,  **Who 
brought  yout"  Young  Quail  replied,  **I  came  alone.  I  felt  lonely 
below.    I  worried  every  day  about  you. ' ' 

His  father  asked  him  if  he  had  not  seen  something  coming  up 
the  road.  Young  Quail  replied,  **I  killed  many  things."  His  father 
asked  him  if  he  had  seen  Hamaua.  Then  his  father  asked  him  if  he 
had  skinned  Hamaua.  He  told  his  father  that  he  had.  Young  Quail 
said,  **You  always  told  me  to  test  those  yellowjackets,  when  I  came 
to  see  you.  I  tried  them  and  killed  everything  that  I  saw.  I  brought 
this  poison  to  you." 

His  father  asked  him  what  he  proposed  to  do  with  the  yellow- 
jackets, asked  him  if  he  wanted  them  for  himself.  **If  you  want  to 
try  my  poison,  you  may  do  so,"  his  father  said.  Young  Quail  then 
proceeded  up  the  mountain  beyond  his  father's  home.  He  found  a 
bear  and  killed  it  in  the  usual  way.  His  father  watched  him.  At  first 
his  father  said,  **I  do  not  know  how  he  will  do  it."    Then  young  Quail 


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332  Vniveraity  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

turned  loose  his  yellowjaekets.  His  father  laughed  and  asked  him  if 
that  was  what  he  did  as  he  came  up  the  road.  **Who  taught  youf 
asked  his  father.  **How  do  you  recall  the  yellowjaekets  f  Young 
Quail  replied,  **I  recall  them.  Nobody  taught  me.  I  learned  by  my- 
self.   You  did  not  teach  me.'' 

Then  his  father  stopped  questioning  him  and  told  him  that  he 
might  do  whatever  he  pleased.  Young  Quail  replied,  **I  will  return 
tomorrow  the  same  way  that  I  came.  I  just  came  up  to  see  how  you 
were  faring,  so  that  I  might  stop  worrying  about  you."  His  father 
said,  **A11  right,  you  may  return,  but  I  would  rather  keep  you  here 
with  me.  However,  I  suppose  you  like  it  better  below.  All  right, 
you  may  go  tomorrow.'*  Young  Quail  said,  **But  I  will  return  to 
see  you.  I  will  go  back  the  same  way.  I  shall  arrive  home  sometime 
if  nothing  happens  to  me  on  the  way." 

[The  story-teller  said  that  young  Quail  started  from  his  camp  on 
the  west  side  of  the  San  Joaquin  River  and  visited  his  father,  who 
lived  high  in  the  Sierra  Nevada.] 


STORIES  BY  WILLIAM  FULLER 

12.     THE  THEFT  OF  FIRE 

Lizard  saw  the  smoke.  He  said :  *  *  Smoking  below,  smoking  below, 
smoking  below,  smoking  below.  My  grandmother  starts  a  fire  to  cook 
acorns.    It  is  very  lonely." 

Flute-player  (Mouse)  was  sent  down  the  mountains  into  the  valley 
to  secure  the  fire.  Flute-player  departed,  taking  with  him  two  flutes. 
He  finally  arrived  at  the  assembly  house  from  which  the  smoke  was 
issuing.  He  found  it  crowded,  but  he  was  welcomed  and  the  people 
persuaded  him  to  play.    He  played  and  he  played. 

Then  they  put  a  feather  mat  over  the  smoke  hole  at  the  top  of  the 
house  and  shut  the  feathers  in  the  door.  They  closed  the  door  with 
the  feather  dress.    They  told  the  doorkeeper  to  close  the  door  tight. 

Flute-man  played  continuously.  The  people  fell  asleep  and  snored. 
Flute-player  remained  awake  and  played.  Finally,  he  concluded  that 
all  were  fast  asleep.  He  arose  and  took  two  coals  from  the  fire,  plac- 
ing them  in  his  flute.  Then  he  put  two  coals  in  the  second  flute.  He 
proceeded  to  the  door,  cut  loose  the  feathers,  passed  out,  and  started 
homeward. 


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The  people  awoke  to  find  him  gone  and  with  him  the  fire.  Hail 
and  Bain  were  sent  in  pursuit,  for  they  were  the  two  swiftest  travellers 
among  the  valley  people.  Hail  went,  but  Flute-man  heard  Hail  and 
Rain  coming,  so  he  threw  one  of  his  flutes  under  a  buckeye  tree. 
Rain  asked  him  what  he  had  done  with  the  fire.  **  You  stole  our  fire," 
Rain  said.  Flute-player  denied  it.  Then  Rain  returned  home.  The 
placing  of  the  flute,  with  the  coals  in  it,  under  the  buckeye  tree 
resulted  in  the  fire  always  being  in  the  buckeye. 

When  Rain  started  back,  Flute-man  took  his  fire  from  under  the 
buckeye  and  again  proceeded  homeward.  He  arrived  at  home  safely 
and  brought  the  fire  into  the  assembly  house.  He  told  the  people  that 
Rain  had  taken  one  flute  with  coals  in  it.  He  said,  '^Rain  took  one 
flute  from  me.    I  have  only  one  left.*' 

The  chief  told  Flute-player  to  build  a  fire,  and  the  latter  pro- 
duced the  coals  from  his  remaining  flute.  A  large  fire  was  made. 
It  was  then  that  people  lost  their  language.  Those  close  to  the  fire 
talked  correctly.  The  people  at  the  north  side  of  the  assembly  house 
talked  brokenly.  Those  at  the  south  side  talked  altogether  different; 
so  did  those  at  the  west  side  and  at  the  east  side.  This  was  because 
of  the  cold. 

Coyote  brought  entrails  and  threw  them  on  the  fire,  extinguishing 
it.  The  people  became  angry  and  expelled  Coyote,  telling  him  to  re- 
main outside  and  to  eat  his  food  raw.  That  is  why  Coyote  always 
eats  his  meat  uncooked. 

13.    BEAR  AND  THE  FAWNS 

** Sister-in-law,  let  us  hunt  grass,''  said  Bear.  **Let  us  go,''  said 
Deer.  After  they  had  gone  a  distance.  Bear  said,  **Let  me  louse  your 
head.    Let  me  bite  the  lice."    Bear  bit  Deer  so  that  she  died. 

Deer  had  told  her  Fawns  before  she  left  that  a  bag  hung  in  the 
house.  She  told  the  Fawns:  **If  your  aunt,  Bear,  harms  me,  bites 
me,  that  bag  will  fall  from  where  it  hangs."  The  bag  fell.  Then 
the  Fawns  saw  their  aunt  returning.  After  she  entered  the  house, 
they  started  to  search  her  basket.  She  said  to  them  crossly,  **  You  are 
always  looking  for  something  to  eat.  You  are  always  hungry.  Keep 
away  from  that  basket."  They  kept  searching,  however,  and  found 
their  mother's  liver.    They  cried,  ** Liver,  liver." 

Later  the  Fawns  and  the  Bear  Cubs  played  in  a  hole  [sweat 
house t],  fanning  smoke  into  each  other's  faces.  First  the  Cubs 
fanned  the  Fawns.     **When  we  call,  you  must  stop  fanning,"  said 


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the  Fawns.  After  the  Fawns  had  been  smoked,  they  told  the  Cubs 
to  enter.  The  Fawns  then  fanned  the  Cubs  in  the  hole.  The  smoke 
became  too  dense  and  the  Cubs  called  to  the  Fawns  to  cease.  They 
only  fanned  the  harder  until  the  Cubs  were  suffocated. 

** Mother,  mother,  liver;  mother,  mother,  liver;  mother,  mother, 
liver,'*  cried  the  Fawns.  Their  aunt,  Bear,  said,  **What  is  the  use  of 
talking  about  your  mother.  She  is  camping  for  the  men."  The 
Fawns  only  cried  the  more,  ** Mother,  mother,  liver.'*  '*Stop  saying 
that,  or  I  shall  bite  you,"  said  Bear.    **Your  mother  is  still  camping." 

** Grandchildren,  for  whom  are  you  searching?"  said  the  Lizard. 
The  Fawns  replied,  **  Grandfather,  we  are  hunting  for  our  mother. 
Grandfather,  will  you  show  us  the  door  of  your  house  t  Our  aunt 
wants  to  kill  its.  Mother,  mother,  mother,  mother.  Grandfather,  let 
us  in  on  the  east  side  of  your  house,  on  the  south  side."  Their  grand- 
father finally  let  them  in. 

Bear  arrived  at  Lizard's  house  after  the  latter  had  taken  in  the 
Fawns.  She  called,  **  Nieces,  where  are  yout  I  am  looking  for  you. 
Please  let  me  in  quickly. ' '  She  tried  to  enter,  asking  repeatedly  where 
the  door  was  located.  They  told  her  to  go  to  the  top  of  the  house. 
**The  door  is  right  on  top  of  the  house,"  they  said. 

Meanwhile  they  heated  a  stone  in  the  fire.  They  said  to  Bear: 
**Open  your  mouth  wide  and  come  down  through  the  smoke  hole." 
As  Bear  entered  with  her  mouth  open,  they  shoved  the  red-hot  stone 
down  her  throat.  She  died  in  agony,  being  burned  to  death  from 
within. 

14.     YAYALI,  THE  GIANT 

** Where  are  you,  grandchild?  Where  are  you,  grandchild! 
Where  are  you  t  Where  are  you  ?  Yes.  Yes.  I  am  lost.  Where  are 
you  t  This  way.  Where  are  you,  grandchild  t  Someone  comes.  Look 
out.    Get  ready.    Prepare  yourself,  for  Yayali  comes." 

The  people  broke  cones  from  the  tops  of  the  pine  trees  and  bundled 
these  together.  As  Yayali  started  to  climb  the  declivity  where  the 
people  had  taken  refuge,  they  set  fire  to  the  bundles  of  pine  cones 
and  threw  them  into  Yayali 's  burden  basket.  They  threw  the  burn- 
ing cones  into  the  basket.  Yayali  became  so  hot  that  he  tumbled. 
** Which  way  shall  I  fall?"  he  asked.  They  told  him  to  fall  to  the 
north. 

[The  Giant  met  his  death  near  Columbia,  Tuolumne  County.  The 
informant  has  seen  white  rocks  near  Columbia,  reputed  to  be  the 
bleached  bones  of  the  Giant.] 


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ABSTRACTS 

1.  The  Theft  of  Fire.  Geese  and  others  gather  in  an  a88embl7  house  in  the 
hiUs.  Thej  lack  fire.  Lizard  discovers  fire  emerging  from  an  assembly  house  in 
the  vallej.  Flute-plajer  (Mouse)  goes  to  steal  fire.  He  finds  the  entrances  of 
the  assembl7  house  guarded  by  Bear,  Battlesnake,  Mountain  Ldon,  and  Eagle. 
He  enters  through  the  smoke  hole  by  cutting  the  feathers  of  Eaglets  wing.  He 
fills  with  fire  four  flutes  with  which  he  escapes.  On  the  homeward  journey  he  is 
pursued  by  Rain  and  Hail.  Hail  catches  him,  but  Flute-player  has  concealed 
his  flutes  in  the  water  and  denies  having  the  fire.  He  is  met  by  Coyote, 
who  has  become  impatient.  After  his  arrival,  Flute-player  plays  his  flutes  on 
top  of  the  asseml^y  house,  dropping  coals  through  the  smoke  hole.  Coyote 
interrupts  him  before  he  finishes.  Because  of  the  interruption,  some  people 
receive  no  fire.  Those  in  the  middle  of  the  assembly  house  receive  fire,  cook  their 
food,  and  talk  correctly.  Those  on  the  sides  (distant  tribes)  receive  none,  eat 
raw  food,  and  talk  differently. 

2.  Bear  and  the  Fawns,  Bear  invites  her  sister-in-law,  Deer,  to  gather  clover. 
They  louse  each  other.  Bear  kills  Deer  by  biting  her  neck,  eats  her,  and  takes 
home  the  liver  in  a  basket  of  clover,  which  she  gives  to  Deer's  two  daughters. 
The  Fawns  recognize  the  liver  and  decide  to  escape.  They  take  with  them  their 
mother's  baskets,  awls,  and  brushes,  which  they  throw  off  the  trail  as  they  flee. 
As  Bear  pursues,  these  objects  whistle  and  decoy  her  from  the  trail.  The 
Fawns  cross  a  river  on  the  stretched  leg  of  their  grandfather.  Daddy  Longlegs. 
When  Bear  crosses,  he  withdraws  his  leg  and  she  falls  in  the  river.  The  Fawns 
reach  the  assembly  house  of  Lizard,  another  grandfather,  who  shelters  them 
and  heats  two  white  stones.  On  Bear's  arrival  she  is  told  to  enter  through  the 
smoke  hole  with  her  mouth  open  and  eyes  closed.  Lizard  then  throws  the  hot 
stones  down  her  throat.  After  her  death,  he  dresses  her  hide  and  cuts  it.  The 
larger  piece  he  gives  to  the  older  Fawn,  the  smaller  piece  to  the  younger.  He 
tells  them  to  run  and  discover  the  sound  they  make.  The  smaller  hide  makes 
the  louder  noise.  When  they  run  against  a  tree,  the  younger  Fawn  shatters  it 
more  completely.    Lizard  send  the  Fawns  above  and  they  become  Thunders. 

3.  Yayalif  the  Giant,  The  Giant  enters  the  hills  in  search  of  human  victims. 
Chipmunk,  imagining  that  his  wife's  brother  approaches,  answers  the  Giant's 
calls.  As  he  brings  the  Giant  to  his  assembly  house  the  latter  kills  him  with  a 
stone  from  his  burden  basket.  Chipmunk  is  eaten  by  the  Giant,  who  marries 
his  widow.  She  hides  Chipmunk's  daughter  in  a  pit,  feeding  her  venison.  The 
woman  pretends  to  eat  the  human  flesh  and  pine  nuts  obtained  by  the  Giant, 
but  in  reality  eats  only  venison  and  pine  nuts  obtained  by  Chipmunk.  She  gives 
birth  to  two  giants. 

Chipmunk's  brother  dreams  of  him  and  visits  him.  He  finds  the  doors  of 
Chipmunk's  house  blocked  with  boulders  to  prevent  the  escape  of  Chipmunk's 
widow.  Chipmunk's  brother  prepares  to  kill  the  Giant.  He  digs  holes  and 
sharpens  a  manzanita  stick.  He  sends  his  sister-in-law  to  her  father.  She  takes 
her  daughter  and  a  deer  skin  of  crushed  obsidian.  The  Giant  returns  and  tries 
to  capture  Chipmunk's  brother,  who  escapes  by  jumping  into  his  holes.  He  tells 
the  Giant  that  he  will  allow  himself  to  be  captured  after  the  Giant  dances.  From 
the  roof  he  decapitates  the  Giant,  whose  head  projects  through  the  smoke  hole 
when  he  dances. 


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The  Giant's  brothers,  following  a  dream,  visit  their  brother's  house  and 
unknowingly  eat  his  flesh  which  Chipmunk's  brother  has  scattered  about  on  trees 
and  rocks.  The  youngest  Giant  discovers  his  brother's  head.  Following  dreams, 
the  Giants  pursue  Chipmunk's  widow,  who  escapes  repeatedly  by  throwing  crushed 
obsidian  in  their  eyes.  She  reaches  the  house  of  Lizard,  her  father,  who  spits 
on  the  house  and  turns  it  to  stone.  He  calls  upon  the  wind,  the  snow,  the  hail, 
and  the  flood  to  destroy  the  Giant's  brothers.  They  blow  back  the  wind,  melt 
the  snow  by  shouting,  and  stop  the  hail  by  shouting.     The  flood  drowns  them. 

4.  The  Making  of  Arrows.  Two  brothers,  Prairie  Falcon  and  Dove,  decide 
to  hunt,  but  lack  weapons.  They  throw  their  grandmother  into  the  water,  taking 
her  tooth  for  a  knife  and  pulling  sinew  from  her  limbs.  They  make  a  bow  and 
arrows.  Their  grandmother  enters  the  water  and  becomes  Beaver.  The  two 
brothers  have  a  contest,  shooting  twice  to  the  east  end  of  the  world,  and  twice 
to  the  west  end.  The  arrows  strike  together.  The  brothers  race  to  them,  both 
running  at  the  same  speed.  The  second  time  that  they  shoot  west  the  arrows 
strike  in  a  bush,  the  root  of  which  they  eat  while  digging. 

Their  grandmother  causes  the  water  to  drown  Prairie  Falcon.  Dove  rolls 
about  the  country  crying  for  his  dead  brother  and  bruising  and  cutting  himself. 
He  meets  Spark,  whom  he  sends  to  visit  the  old  woman,  who  is  crushing  bones. 
A  small  bone  flies  forth  which  Spark  seizes  and  places  on  an  arrow.  He  shoots 
it  to  Dove,  who  picks  it  up.  The  point  transforms  itself  into  Prairie  Falcon, 
who  cries  over  his  brother  Dove's  injuries.  The  various  birds  contribute  one 
feather  apiece  with  which  Dove  is  rehabilitated.  The  brothers  travel  about  the 
world  visiting  the  rocks  which  bruised  Dove.  They  fail  to  secure  the  return  of 
their  grandmother,  who  remains  in  the  river  as  Beaver.  Thenceforth  all  people 
make  arrows. 

5.  Prairie  Falcon* s  Marriage.  Chief  Prairie  Falcon  marries  Green  Heron's 
daughter,  also  Meadowlark.  Chief  Eagle  takes  Meadowlark.  Prairie  Falcon  in 
anger  travels  about  the  world.  He  threatens  to  kill  his  unfaithful  wife  if  she 
follows  him,  but  changes  his  mind  when  his  sister  says  that  his  wife  will  save 
his  life.  Returning,  he  visits  his  sister,  who  tells  her  husband,  Lizard,  to  restrain 
his  dogs,  which  are  rattlesnakes  and  bears. 

Prairie  Falcon  starts  for  the  place  where  his  father  died.  He  wife  follows. 
He  goes  south.  Upon  his  return  he  flnds  that  his  wife  has  followed  him,  so  he 
sets  out  to  overtake  her.  Together  they  visit  his  father.  Owl.  Lizard  throws 
flre,  causing  a  conflagration.  Prairie  Falcon  escapes  by  flight.  His  wife 
escapes  by  pulling  two  hairs,  which  become  a  lake,  in  which  she  submerges  her- 
self. Aided  by  the  winds,  Prairie  Falcon  and  wife  pass  through  a  hole  which 
closes  and  opens.  At  his  father's  village,  he  finds  that  Chief  Mountain  Sheep's 
people  wish  to  play  games  with  him,  the  loser  to  forfeit  his  life.  Chief  Moun- 
tain Sheep  demands  the  loan  of  Prairie  Falcon's  wife  and  sends  in  exchange 
another  woman  with  whom  Prairie  Falcon  declines  to  sleep.  Prairie  Falcon 
objects  to  sending  his  wife  to  Mountain  Sheep's  house,  and  in  vain  offers  a 
string  of  beads  in  lieu  of  her. 

Gopher  aids  Prairie  Falcon  by  digging  tunnels  on  Mountain  Sheep's  side  of 
the  field.  Following  football  games  which  Prairie  Falcon  wins,  he  shoots  Moun- 
tain ^eep. 

He  tells  his  sister  that  he  killed  the  people  at  the  other  village.  She  tells 
him  not  to  speak  thus  in  the  presence  of  Lizard.  Prairie  Falcon  is  offended 
and  leaves  home,  going  to  his  father-in-law.  Green  Heron,  and  remaining  two 
days.  His  father.  Dove,  and  Coyote  urge  him  to  marry  a  girl  with  whom 
he  has  been  going. 


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.  1917]  Gifford:  Miwok  Myths  337 

6.  The  Flood,  Chiefs  Prairie  Falcon  and  Eagle  and  their  people  take  refuge 
upon  a  high  mountain  to  escape  a  flood.  Coyote  is  unable  to  go  because  he  has 
lost  a  leg.  He  escapes  by  clinging  to  a  log.  On  the  mountain  dwells  Battlesnake. 
The  waters  rise  higher,  necessitating  a  second  flight.  Flicker  carries  Battlesnake, 
who  bites  him.  Battlesnake  is  dropped  and  drowns.  The  refugees  find  a  piece 
of  dry  land.  The  entire  world  is  flooded.  Prairie  Falcon  sends  forth  Dove  to 
discover  if  human  beings  survive.  Later  Prairie  Falcon  sends  forth  Dove  and 
Hummingbird  to  bring  mud.    He  tells  them  not  to  eat  seeds  or  suck  flowers. 

7.  The  Bepeopling  of  the  World,  Following  the  flood  there  are  no  human 
beings.  All  have  drowned.  Chief  Eagle  asks  Coyote  to  resurrect  mankind. 
Coyote  does  so  by  singing  many  days,  following  the  advice  of  a  skeleton  which 
appears  in  a  dream. 

8.  The  Search  for  the  Deer.  The  deer  hide  themselves  in  various  caves  in 
the  mountains.  The  people  starve.  The  hunters,  Mountain  Lion,  Fox,  Wild  Cat, 
Black  Fox,  and  Crow,  search  in  vain  for  deer.  Crow  does  not  return.  Others 
search  for  him.  A  second  Crow,  brother  of  Crow  who  fails  to  return,  searches 
for  him  and  for  the  deer.  From  a  mountain  top  he  discovers  the  deer  in  a  cave. 
The  people  surround  the  cave  and  young  Mountain  Lion  enters  to  start  the 
slaughter.  He  faints  from  the  heat  and  his  father.  Chief  Mountain  Lion,  rescues 
him.  AH  deer  escape.  Some  people  die  of  starvation.  None  return  home  be- 
cause weak  with  hunger.  Chief  Mountain  Lion  proceeds  homeward  alone.  He 
meets  Skunk,  who  demands  a  ride  on  his  back,  agreeing  to  save  the  lives  of  some 
of  the  people.  The  Chief  gives  him  a  ride.  Skunk  tells  the  Chief  that  he  does 
not  care  if  all  of  the  people  die,  so  long  as  he  rides  across  the  river.  The  chief 
pretends  to  stumble.  Skunk  falls  into  the  river  and  drowns^  Across  the  river 
the  chief  meets  the  first  Crow  descending  a  hill  with  deer.  The  remaining 
people  are  saved. 

9.  Salamander  and  Chipmunk.  Salamander  tells  Chipmunk  that  he  failed  to 
obtain  a  big  deer.  Chipmunk  sets  out  in  search  of  his  father.  He  meets  two 
Deer  women,  who  capture  him  and  take  him  to  the  sky.  Their  father  throws 
ropes  to  them  with  which  to  lash  Chipmunk.  Chipmunk  refuses  to  eat  seed. 
He  kills  their  father  after  fattening  him  by  singing.  Two  of  Chipmunk's 
brothers.  Brown  Bird  and  Tuyipitina,  search  for  him  in  vain.  His  older  brother 
climbs  to  the  sky  and  rescues  him.  The  two  brothers  escape  by  clinging  to 
arrows  which  strike  at  their  home.  At  home  Chipmunk  builds  a  fire  into  which 
he  throws  Salamander,  whom  he  blames  for  his  troubles. 

10.  Lizard  and  Fox,  Lizard  goes  below  to  eat  worms.  Tarantula  tells  him 
to  be  sure  to  return,  as  Fox  is  to  hunt.  Fox  assembles  the  hunters.  Each  boasts 
of  his  prowess  and  of  what  he  intends  to  do  in  the  deer  himt.  Mountain  Lion, 
Mountain  Quail,  Bald  Eagle,  Wolf,  Coyote,  Crow,  Skunk,  Dove,  Hummingbird, 
Brown  Wren,  California  Jay,  and  Turkey  Vulture  participate  in  the  hunt.  Turtle 
promises  to  carry  water  for  the  hunters.  Fox  orders  that  Night  Hawk  be  left 
home,  for  fear  that  he  might  swallow  the  largest  deer  whole.  Baces  between 
Dove  and  Hummingbird  and  an  arrow-dodging  contest  between  Brown  Wren 
and  Jay  are  discussed. 

Each  hunter  obtains  one  deer.  Fox  waits  until  the  last  deer  are  passing. 
With  one  arrow  he  kills  four  deer  in  four  canyons.  While  they  skin  the  deer, 
Skunk  visits  his  son-in-law,  Fox,  and  asks  that  he  be  allowed  to  ride  on  top  of 
the  pile  which  Fox  is  to  carry.  While  Skunk  and  Fox  threaten  to  shoot  each 
other  with  their  fluid  and  arrows  respectively.  Night  Hawk  takes  the  largest  deer 
in  his  mouth.    When  accused  of  theft  by  Fox,  Night  Hawk  denies  it. 


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338  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12  . 

11.  Valley  QuaU*8  Adventures,  Young  Valley  Quail  yisits  his  father  in  the 
mountains.  He  carries  in  a  bag  his  father 's  ' '  poison, ' '  which  consists  of  yellow- 
jackets  and  other  stinging  insects.  At  his  bidding  the  insects  kill  various  animals. 
Coyote  insists  that  he  has  food  in  his  bag.  Quail  allows  Coyote  to  open  it  and 
the  insects  sting  him  to  death.  Other  creatures  killed  are  deer,  bears,  mountain 
lions,  mountain  sheep,  rattlesnakes,  an  immense  fabulous  rattlesnake  named 
Hamaua,  and  black  bears.  Valley  Quail 's  father  is  surprised  that  his  son  arrives 
safely.  His  son  demonstrates  his  use  of  the  poison.  He  plans  to  return  on 
the  following  day. 

12.  The  Theft  of  Fire,  A  brief  version  of  1,  also  accounting  for  buckeye  fire 
drill. 

13.  Bear  and  the  Fawns.    A  brief  version  of  2,  plus  suffocation  of  Bear  Cubs. 

14.  Yayalif  the  Giant.  A  very  brief  version  of  3,  in  which  Giant  is  burned 
to  death. 


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ETHNIC  GROUPS 
(Referred  to  in  the  text) 

1.  Mohave. 

2.  Luisefio. 

3.  Southern  Tokuts,  Tanebnani. 

4.  Southern  Yokuts,  Yaudanchi. 

5.  Kawaiisu. 

6.  Tlibatulabal. 

7.  Central  Miwok. 

8.  Northern  Paiute. 

9.  Washo. 

10.  Southeastern  Wintun. 

11.  Eastern  Porno. 

12.  Yuki. 
18.  Yurok. 


14.  Karok. 

15.  Hupa. 

16.  Wivot. 

17.  Chimariko. 

18.  Costanoan. 

19.  Salinan. 

20.  Chumash. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  PUBLICATIONS 

IN 

AMERICAN    ARCHAEOLOGY   AND    ETHNOLOGY 

Vol.  12,  No.  9,  pp.  339-396  May  28,  1917 


CALIFORNIA  KINSHIP  SYSTEMS 


BY 

A.  L.  KROEBER 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introductory    340 

Mohave  340 

General  Features  347 

Luisefio 348 

General  Features  . ^ ~ 351 

Yokuts    352 

Relations  of  Miwok  and  Yokuts - ^ 356 

Northern  Paiute  358 

Marriage — - — 361 

Washo  '• ~ 362 

Relations  to  Northern  Paiute 363 

Relations  to  Other  Systems 364 

Tiibatulabal  and  Kawaiisu ~ 366 

Shoshonean   Systems   366 

Wintun   ~ - 368 

General  Features  369 

Porno  ^ - ^ - 370 

General  Features  and  Relations 371 

Yuki    ^ -. 372 

General  Features  and  Relations 373 

General  Features  375 

Three-Step  Relationship  _ 376 

Classification  of  the  California  Systems 378 

Kinship  and  Type  of  Culture » —  380 

Kinship  and  Social  Institutions 382 

Summary    385 

Theoretical  Considerations  ^ 385 


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340  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

INTRODUCTORY 

The  following  systems  of  relationship  designation  were  collected 
at  intervals  during  the  last  fifteen  years,  but  mostly  before  1908,  in 
the  course  of  various  field  studies  of  the  California  Indians.  They 
are  in  most  cases  unsupported  by  genealogies  or  concrete  records; 
probably  the  majority  of  the  lists  are  not  wholly  exhaustive;  and  in 
a  few  instances  the  data  may  not  be  entirely  correct.  I  have  long 
hesitated  to  publish  this  material.  But  it  happens  to  represent  all 
ethnic  provinces  and  parts  of  the  state,  except  the  northeastern  corner, 
and  therefore  permits  of  distributional  inferences ;  and  it  furnishes  a 
basis  for  the  consideration  of  certain  theoretical  problems ;  in  addition 
to  which,  information  on  kinship  in  California  has  become  a  need  in 
wider  comparative  studies.  I  therefore  present  the  data,  trusting 
that  they  will  be  of  service  in  spite  of  their  imperfections. 

MOHAVE 

The  Mohave  system  is  an  elaborate  one.  It  contains  a  considerable 
number  of  terms;  and  the  principles  according  to  which  these  are 
applied  are  sometimes  complex.  N-  or  ny-  denotes  **my.'*  A  faint 
initial  h-,  of  the  same  meaning,  has  been  omitted  from  most  words  not 
beginning  with  n-. 

Parent  Class 
N-akut-ky  father  of  a  male. 
N-a*ai-k,  father  of  a  female. 
N'tai-kf  mother. 

H-uma-i-chy  man's  son.    Compare  humarOf  child. 
Vuchif  man's  daughter. 
Ith'aUf  woman's  son  or  daughter. 

Iki-ch-ky  man's  stepfather;  reciprocally, »  man's  stepson;  also,  father's  mother's 
brother,  mother's  mother's  brother,  and  reciprocally  a  man's  sister's  child's 


1  Reciprocity  is  logical  or  concepttial  between  terms  that  are  complementary 
in  meaning;  as,  Mohave  namoik,  mother's  younger  sister,  and  inoik,  woman's 
older  sister's  child.  Reciprocity  is  verbal  only  in  Zufii  nannay  grandfather  ami 
grandson,  because  the  complementary  concept  to  grandfather  is  not  grandsou 
but  man's  grandchild.  Reciprocity  is  conceptual  and  verbal  in  Yokuts  t^uta^ 
mother's  mother  and  woman's  daughter's  child.  Reciprocity  is  conceptual  and 
approximates  verbal  completeness  in  Luiseno  tu\  mother's  mother,  and  tu'-Tmii. 
woman's  daughter's  child,  in  which  -mai  is  a  diminutive.  Terms  which  are 
conceptually  and  verbally  reciprocal  may  be  designated  as  self-reciprocal. 
Conceptual  reciprocity  without  verbal  identity  is  commonest  between  relatives 
separated  by  one  generation,  most  frequently  in  the  uncle  class,  but  also  in  the 
parent  and  parent-in-law  groups.  Verbal  reciprocity,  identical  or  derivative, 
is  usual  only  between  relatives  that  are  of  the  same  generation  or  separated  by 
two  or  more  generations,  especially  those  in  the  grandparent  and  brother-in-law 


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1917]  Kroeber:  California  Kinship  Systems  341 

child;  also  a  man's  younger  brother's  son's  son  and  a  woman's  younger  sister's 
son's  son;  also  a  man's  son's  son's  son,  and  father's  father's  father's  father, 
that  is,  great-great-grandson  and  great-great-grandfather  reciprocal  in  the  male 
line.  Iki-ch-h  is  a  term  used  chiefly  by  males  of  males;  it  never  denotes  a 
person  of  one's  own  generation;  and  it  always  implies  remote  kinship — a  lineal 
relative  four  generations  distant,  a  collateral  relative  two  generations  away,  or 
a  man  one  generation  removed  who  is  not  a  blood  relative  at  all. 

A  man 's  stepmother  and  a  woman 's  stepson  are  denoted  by  unyif  whose  full 
range  of  meanings  is  given  under  terms  of  the  parent-in-law  class.  What  a 
woman  calls  her  step-parents,  or  what  either  a  man  or  a  woman  calls  a  step- 
daughter, I  did  not  learn. 

Brother  Class 

Inchien-k;  older  brother;  older  sister;  father's  younger  brother;  woman's 
father's  sister's  son  or  mother's  brother's  son,  that  is,  male  cross-cousin  of  a 
woman;  man's  father's  father's  father's  younger  brother's  son's  son's  son, 
that  is,  a  man's  male  third  cousin  in  the  pure  male  line  of  descent,  sprung  from 
the  younger  of  two  brothers;  also,  a  man's  son's  son's  son,  that  is,  his  great- 
grandson  in  the  male  line.  The  last  two  meanings  are  evidently  connected, 
since  third  cousins  are  great-grandchildren  of  brothers. 

Isvrich-kf  younger  brother;  man',3  older  brother's  son  (and  daughter!);  man's 
male  third  cousin  in  the  male  line,  sprung  from  the  older  of  a  pair  of  brothers; 
father's  father's  father.  In  the  last  two  senses  isu-ich-k  is  reciprocal  to 
inchien-k. 

Inya-ky  younger  sister;  man's  father's  sister's  daughter  or  mother's  brother's 
daughter,  that  is,  female  cross-cousin  of  a  man,  reciprocal  to  the  corresponding 
usage  of  inchien-k, 

Oyavakiau-kf  man's  paternal  half  brother  or  half  sister. 

Tav*alyvi-kf  man's  maternal  half  brother  or  half  sister. 

If  any  separate  terms  for  a  woman's  half  brothers  and  sisters  occur,  they 
have  not  been  recorded. 

Grandparent  Class 

N-apau-k,  father's  father. 

N-akweu-k,  mother's  father. 

N-akau-kf  mother's  mother;  also  her  sister. 

N-amau-kf  father's  mother;  also  her  sister;  also  the  father's  father's  sister. 
If  the  last  meaning  is  not  an  error,  the  generic  meaning  of  n-amau-k  is:  female 
relative  of  grandmother  generation  on  the  father's  side.  It  might  be  inferred 
that  n-akweu-k  analogously  denoted  males  two  generations  older  on  the  mother's 
side;  but  the  relationship  of  mother's  mother's  brother  is  expressed  by  iki-ch-k^ 
whose  primary  meaning  seems  to  be  step-father. 

A*ava-kf  son's  child,  and  therefore  reciprocal  to  n-apau-k  and  n-omau-k 
jointly;  also,  a  woman's  father's  brother's  son;  man's  father's  brother's  son 
or  daughter;  woman's  brother's  or  sister's  son's  child. 


classes,  but  occasionally  between  brothers  and  sisters  also.  The  foregoing,  at 
least,  are  the  tendencies  in  California,  with  exceptions  occurring  chiefly  in  the 
extreme  southern  part  of  the  state.  On  the  whole,  the  distinction  seems  to  be 
adhered  to  in  other  regions  also,  but  precisely  to  what  degree  remains  to  be 
determined.  Reciprocity  that  is  verbal  but  not  conceptual  is  very  rare  or 
wanting  in  California.  In  general,  therefore,  it  may  be  stated  that  reciprocity 
is  always  conceptual  in  this  area  and  frequently  verbal  also. 


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342  University  of  Calif omia  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

Ah]co*o-tc,  woman's  daughter's  child,  reciprocal  to  n-dkau-k;  also,  woman's 
mother's  sister's  son  and  man's  mother's  sister's  son  or  daughter;  woman's 
sister's  daughter's  son;  and,  presumably,  hj  analogy  with  a'au-va-k,  any  child 
of  any  nephew  of  a  woman,  though  this  wider  meaning  was  not  recorded. 

Ahkyo-k,  man's  daughter's  child,  reciprocal  of  n-akweu-k.  It  is  not  certain 
that  this  term  is  distinct  from  the  last. 

There  is  a  curious  change  of  generations  implied  in  the  primary  or  simplest 
meanings  of  the  terms  used  to  denote  relatives  beyond  the  grandfather.  Thus 
in  the  pure  male  line: 

Grandfather,  n-apau-k,  is  father's  father. 

Great-grandfather,  isu-ich-k,  is  younger  brother. 

Great-great-grandfather,  iki-ch-k,  is  stepfather  or  grandfather's  brother. 

Uncle  Class 

N-avi-kf  father's  older  brother;  also,  father's  father's  younger  brother;  also, 
of  two  male  second  or  fourth  cousins  related  wholly  in  the  male  line,  the  de- 
scendant of  the  younger  brother  calls  the  descendant  of  the  older  brother  by 
this  term,  reciprocally  to  it;et-A;/but  as  between  third  cousins  the  corresponding 
terms  are  isu-ich-k  and  inchien-k. 

The  father's  younger  brother  is  called  one's  own  older  brother. 

N-athi-k,  mother's  older  sister. 

N-amoi-k,  mother's  younger  sister. 

N-akwi-kf  mother's  brother. 

N-api-k,  father's  sister. 

Ivet-k,  man's  younger  brother's  child  or  woman's  younger  sister's  child,  and 
thus  reciprocal  to  n-avi-k  and  n-athi-k  jointly;  also,  male  second  or  fourth  cousin 
related  wholly  in  the  male  line  and  descended  from  the  older  of  two  brothers — 
reciprocal  in  this  sense  to  n-avi-k. 

A  man 's  older  brother 's  child  is  called  isu-ich-k,  * '  younger  brother, ' '  recip- 
rocal to  inchien-k  J  older  brother  or  father's  younger  brother. 

Inoi-k,  woman's  older  sister's  child,  reciprocal  to  n-amoi-k. 

Evany-fCf  man's  sister's  child,  reciprocal  to  n-akwi-k. 

Emarepi-kf  woman's  brother's  child,  reciprocal  to  n-api-k. 

Parent-in-Law  Class 

Nya-halye*au-k,  man's  daughter's  husband,  wife's  father;  that  is,  self- 
reciprocal  term  for  father-in-law  and  son-in-law  used  by  males  only. 

Unyi-k  expresses  all  remaining  relationships  in  this  class,  besides  several 
others.  It  denotes:  woman's  father-in-law;  woman's  son-in-law;  mother-in-law; 
daughter-in-law;  husband's  brother  or  sister;  brother's  wife;  man's  stepmother; 
woman 's  stepson. 

Itmumavenya,  said  to  mean  ' '  who  eats  with  you, ' '  is  used  in  place  of  unyi-k 
after  the  death  of  the  connecting  relative,  at  least  in  the  cases,  and  they 
constitute  the  majority,  when  this  person  was  a  male. 

Brother-in-Law  Class 

Amily-k,  wife's  brother,  man's  sister's  husband;  that  is,  self -reciprocal  term 
used  by  brothers-in-law.  This  term  is  also  used  by  men  to  denote  the  husband 
of  any  collateral  female  relative. 

Inya-huvi-kf  wife's  sister;  woman's  sister's  husband.    Self -reciprocal. 


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1917]  Kroeher:  California  Kinship  Systems  343 

The  remaining  four  of  the  eight  relationships  in  this  class  are  expressed  by 
the  blanket  term  unyi-k.  The  Mohave  make  the  general  statement  that  a  man 
calls  any  female  relative  by  marriage  unyi-Jc,  and  is  so  called  by  her.  This  is 
nearly  true:  the  only  exception  is  inya-huvi-Jc. 

All  affinities  by  marriage  are  expressed  by  the  foregoing  four  terms,  whose 

range,  however,  is  very  unequal,  as  a  summarization  reveals: 

-,  ,  ^,  -  (of  his  own  generation  amily-k; 

Male  connections  of  a  man^    .        ,,       ^  ,.  t  , 

)or 


another  generation  nya-halye^au-lc, 
A  woman 's  husband  and  her  sister  call  each  other  inya-hum-k. 
All  other  male  connection  of  a  woman 
All  other  female  connections  of  a  man 
All  female  connections  of  a  woman 


.unyi-k, 
Htishand  and  Wife 


Ichu-ichf  husband. 
Nya-ha'dka-ch,  wife. 


Cousins 

I  obtained  three  terms  for  cousins: 

Dhohumi-k,  man's  father's  brother's  son. 

Chasumav-k,  woman's  mother's  sister's  daughter. 

Chakava-kf  man's  father's  sister's  son  or  mother's  brother's  son;  that  is,  a 
self -reciprocal  term  between  male  first  cross-cousins. 

The  Mohave  terminology  for  cousins  is  as  interesting  as  it  is  complex. 
Besides  the  foregoing  three  specific  terms,  there  are  four  others  from  the 
brother  and  grandchild  classes;  but  parent  and  uncle  terms,  which  are  found  in 
certain  other  Californian  languages,  and  among  a  number  of  Eastern  tribes,  are 
not  employed.    The  following  tabulation  brings  together  all  the  data. 


imale,  dho 
female,  a 


Children  of  Brothers 
dhohumi-k; 


Male  calls  s^       i       »        7  i     vu 

— 1_    ^  *ava-kf  son 's  child. 

Cmale,  a*ava-k; 

j female,  not  obtained;  analogy  suggests  a'ava-k. 


Children  of  Sisters 
ds 

male,  ahko*o-k; 


Cmale,  ahko'o-k,  daughter's  child; 
i  female,  ahko'o-k. 

Female  calls  <  ^       ,       , 

i  female,  chasumav-k. 

Children  of  Brother  Call  Children  of  Sister 

_-  ,        „   (male,  chakava-k; 
Male  calls  ^^       ,      .        , 

i  female,  %nya-k,  younger  sister. 


_       ,        „   (male,  \nchten-k. 

Female  calls  K       ,      . 

i  female,  f 


older  brother; 


Children  of  Sister  Call  Children  of  Brother 


,,  ,        „   (male,  chakava-k; 
Male  calls  ^'-       ,  , 

J  female,  tnya-k, 

^       ,        „  (male,  inchien-k; 
Female  calls  K       .     . 
/female,  f 


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344  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Ardh.  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

Briefly,  the  children  of  brothers  call  each  other  "son's  child,"  except  that 
a  special  term  is  used  when  both  are  males;  and  the  children  of  sisters  call  each 
other  ''daughter's  child,"  except  that  another  special  term  is  used  when  both 
are  females.  Gross-cousins  of  opposite  sex  denominate  each  other  ''younger 
sister"  and  "older  brother,"  according  to  sex;  the  "younger"  and  "older" 
seem  quite  fixed  irrespective  of  the  actual  ages  of  the  persons  or  the  age  or  sex 
of  their  parents;  that  is,  a  man's  female  cross-cousin  is  always  his  younger 
sister,  and  a  woman 's  male  cross-cousin  is  always  designated  as  a  brother  older 
than  herself.  Male  cross-cousins  denominate  each  other  by  a  special  term.  For 
female  cross-cousins  there  is  unfortunately  no  information.  The  basis  of  this 
remarkable  plan  is  that  cross-cousins  call  each  other  brothers  and  sisters,  parallel 
cousins  designate  each  other  as  grandchildren,  and  specific  cousin  terms  are 
restricted  to  the  cases  in  which  all  the  persons  involved  in  the  relationship  are 
of  the  same  sex  or  in  which  the  children  of  brother  and  sister  are  of  the  same  sex. 

The  terminology  used  between  remoter  cousins  is  equally  extraordinary. 
This  has  been  obtained  only  for  the  male  descendants  of  two  brothers. 

Brothers  Older      Younger 

I  I 

First  cousins  1  2 

I  I 

Second  cousins        3  4 

I  ,  I' 

Third  cousins  5  6 

I  I 

Fourth  cousins        7  8 

1  calls  2:  dhohumi-k; 

2  calls  1:  dhohumi-k. 

3  calls  4:  ivet-ky  man's  younger  brother's  child; 

4  calls  3:  navikf  father's  older  brother. 

5  calls  6:  inchien-k,  father's  younger  brother; 

6  calls  5:  isu-ich-k,  man's  older  brother's  child. 

7  calls  8:  tret-fc,  man's  younger  brother's  child; 

8  calls  7:  navi-k,  father's  older  brother. 

Fifth  cousins,  it  may  be  surmised,  call  each  other  like  third  cousins. 

All  these  terms  are  conceptually  reciprocal. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  actual  age  of  any  cousin  is  immaterial.  The 
terminology  is  fixed  by  the  respective  ages  of  the  brothers  from  whom  the 
reckoning  starts. 

On  this  basis,  and  the  assumption  that  uncle-nephew  terminology  is  to  be 
employed,  it  seems  natural  that  the  allotment  of  names  between  second  cousins 
is  on  the  plan  that  the  descendant  of  the  older  brother  is  the  "uncle";  but  it 
is  surprising  that  between  third  cousins  it  is  the  descendant  of  the  same  older 
brother  who  is  reckoned  the  nephew. 

The  explanation  may  be  in  the  fact  that  inchien-k  means  older  brother  as 
well  as  father's  younger  brother,  and  that  therefore  I  apply  to  my  father's 
brother  (if  he  is  the  junior)  the  same  term  which  he  applies  to  my  father. 
Something  of  the  idea  inhering  in  this  terminology  appears  to  have  been 
extended  along  the  descending  line  of  cousins,  with  the  result  that  whatever 
my  cousin  of  my  own  generation  calls  me,  I  call  his  father  or  my  son  calls  him, 


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1917]  Kroeder :  Calif omia  Kinship  Systems  345 

for  inchien-k  or  navi-Jc;  whereas  for  isu-ich-k  and  ivet-k,  my  father  calls  him  or  I 
call  his  son  whatever  he  calls  me.    Thus: 


y  >o, 

1  >  y   :  inchien-k 

5>6, 

6  >  4   :  inchien-k 

4>3, 

5  >  4   :  navi-k 

6>5, 

5  >  8   :  isu-ich-k 

7>8, 

6  >  7   :  ivet-k 

and,  it  may 

be  suspected, 

2>3 

:  ivet-k  as  3  >  4 

9>  8 

:  navi-k  as  8  >  7 

Eeciprociiy 

Eeciprocity  is  very  strongly  developed  in  the  Mohave  system.  It 
is  manifest  in  practically  every  class  of  terms. 

Self-reciprocal,  that  is,  reciprocal  both  conceptually  and  verbally, 
are  iki-ch-k,  with  a  wide  variety  of  meanings,  but  all  falling  into  pairs 
that  are  exactly  complementary;  unyi-k,  of  which  exactly  the  same 
can  be  said;  the  three  other  terms  for  connections  by  marriage: 
nya'halye'aU'k,  amily-k,  and  inya-huvi-k;  the  three  specific  cousin 
terms;  and  a'ava-k  and  ahko'o-k  as  used  between  cousins. 

Conceptual  reciprocity  without  verbal  identity  occurs  in  the  terms 
used  between  parents  and  children ;  between  grandparents  and  grand- 
children; between  all  uncles  or  aunts  and  their  nephews  and  nieces, 
and  between  brother  and  sister  terms  as  used  by  cross-cousins.  The 
only  irregularity  is  that,  in  the  grandparent  class,  a'ava-k,  son's  child, 
is  reciprocal  to  both  n-apau-k  and  n-amau-k;  and  similarly  in  the 
uncle  class,  ivet-k  to  n-avi-k  and  n-athi-k. 

The  only  terms  that  are  not  reciprocal  are  the  three  for  brothers 
and  sisters,  when  used  in  that  fundamental  and  unextended  sense; 
and  possibly  those  for  half  brothers  and  sisters. 

A  similar  degree  of  reciprocal  expression  seems  to  pervade  the 
kinship  system  of  the  Papago  of  southern  Arizona.  Except  for  Yurok 
and  Wintun,  all  known  systems  in  California  are  more  or  less  recip- 
rocal ;  but  none  are  so  extreme  in  this  respect  as  Mohave. 

Relation  to  Clan  System 
The  Mohave  possess  a  clan  system  similar  to  that  of  several  other 
Yuman  tribes.  It  is  patrilinear,  exogamic,  and  totemic,  though  its 
totemism  is  veiled:  the  clans  themselves  have  no  names,  but  all  the 
women  of  one  clan  bear  the  same  name,  which  carries  a  totemic 
implication  or  connotation. 


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346  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Aro^i,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

I  am  unable  to  discern  in  the  kinship  terminology  any  definite 
reflection  of  the  division  into  exogamic  units.  The  cousin  nomen- 
clature is  an  example.  With  unilateral  descent,  if  the  children  of 
brothers  are  of  the  same  clan,  the  children  of  sisters  must  normally 
be  of  different  clans;  yet  the  actual  terminology  is  exactly  parallel. 
The  children  of  brother  and  sister,  again,  must  necessarily  belong  to 
different  clans;  yet  it  is  only  these  that  cousins  brother-sister  names 
are  applied. 

The  frequency  with  which  the  sex  of  an  intermediate  relative  is 
denoted  by  Mohave  terms  may  seem  an  indication  of  the  unilateral 
reckoning  of  descent  in  the  clan  system.  But  this  is  offset  by  the 
instances  in  which  collateral  kindred  are  not  merged  in  lineal,  as  is 
often  supposed  to  be  the  normal  practice  where  exogamic  groups 
prevail. 

The  partrilinear  reckoning  of  the  Mohave,  on  the  other  hand,  may 
have  led  to  their  making  certain  distinctions  among  males  that  are 
not  made  for  females.  Thus  there  are  two  words  for  father,  only  one 
for  mother;  a  man  uses  different  words  to  denote  his  son  and  his 
daughter,  a  woman  only  one.  The  primary  meaning  of  the  generic 
term  iki-ch-k  seems  to  be  stepfather,  whereas  the  only  word  for  step- 
mother is  unyi-k,  whose  fundamental  denotation  is  a  female  affinity 
or  the  affinity  of  a  woman.  The  terms  of  the  parent-in-law  and 
brother-in-law  classes  reveal  a  marked  asymmetry  in  favor  of  males. 
There  are  two  words  denoting  the  male  affinities  of  males,  and  only 
two  to  express  the  three  times  as  numerous  female  affinities  of  females 
and  those  between  males  and  females. 

The  terms  which  my  informant,  who,  although  a  man,  was  assisted 
by  several  women,  failed  to  mention  are  in  every  case  those  used  by 
women  or  applied  to  them:  stepdaughter;  woman's  step-parent; 
woman's  half-brother  or  sister;  woman's  female  cross-cousin;  second 
or  remoter  cousin,  either  female  or  descended  wholly  or  partly  from 
females.  Since  all  the  parallel  terms  for  males  were  usually  volun- 
teered, it  appears  that  the  Mohave  think  and  express  themselves  first 
in  terms  of  male  lineage. 

There  are  only  two  cases  of  the  finer  distinction  being  drawn  on 
the  female  side.  The  daughter's  son  and  her  daughter  are  distin- 
guished, the  son's  children  classed  together.  There  is  a  term  for 
mother's  younger  as  well  as  mother's  older  sister,  but  the  father's 
younger  brother  is  merged  in  one's  own  older  brother,  and  the  same 
for  the  reciprocals. 


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GENERAL  FEATURES 

Apart  from  the  overwhelming  inclination  toward  reciprocity,  the 
distinctive  features  of  the  Mohave  kinship  system  are  the  following: 

Relatives  of  the  most  diverse  generations  are  denoted  by  the  same 
terms.  This  is  not  on  the  plan  of  many  American  systems  that  if  I 
call  a  relative,  such  as  an  uncle,  by  a  certain  name,  I  apply  the  same 
name  to  his  son,  grandson,  and  so  on  ad  infinitum,  that  is,  to  my 
cousin,  cousin  once  removed,  and  the  latter 's  descendants;  or  that  the 
word  for  grandfather  is  simply  made  to  include  the  great-grand- 
father. The  principle  or  principles  followed  in  Mohave  remain  rather 
obscure;  but  the  one  point  emerges  with  certainty,  that  the  Mohave 
are  normally  at  pains  to  use  terms  of  the  most  clearly  discrete  signifi- 
cance as  to  generation,  for  their  kin  of  adjacent  generations.  Thus 
first  cousins  are  called  grandchildren,  not  uncles;  the  great-grand- 
father is  denominated  younger  brother ;  and  so  forth.  It  would  seem 
that,  the  wider  the  leap,  the  more  satisfactory  the  terminology;  pos- 
sibly because  an  element  of  confusion  is  thereby  minimized.  In  fact, 
it  might  almost  be  said  that  it  is  only  in  a  technical  and  narrow  sense 
of  the  word  that  there  is  ignoring  of  generations. 

As  regards  the  distinction  of  collateral  from  lineal  relatives,  the 
Mohave  are  unusually  precise  at  several  points.  Parallel  uncles  and 
aunts  are  not  merged  with  the  father  and  mother,  nor  nephews  and 
nieces  with  children.  Three-fourths  of  all  cousins  are  designated  by 
terms  other  than  brother  and  sister. 

Sex  of  the  intermediate  relative  is  specified  in  practically  all  words 
into  which  this  factor  can  enter:  grandparents  and  grandchildren; 
terms  of  the  uncle  and  aunt  class;  cousins;  and  half  brothers  and 
sisters.  Some  may  see  in  this  prevalence  an  influence  of  the  clan 
system.  To  me  it  seems  rather  associated  with  the  tendency  toward 
reciprocity. 

Expression  of  both  the  sex  of  the  speaker  and  the  sex  of  the  relative 
denoted  tends  to  lead  to  a  great  multiplicity  of  terms  if  consistently 
carried  out  in  a  reciprocating  system,  especially  in  the  grandparent 
and  uncle  terms.  The  Mohave  solve  the  problem  in  the  usual  way: 
they  express  one  category  in  the  terms  applied  to  the  younger  rela- 
tives, the  other  category  in  those  for  the  older  relatives.  Both  factors 
are  specified  in  the  self-reciprocal  terms  of  the  stepfather,  cousin, 
parent-in-law,  and  brother-in-law  classes,  and  in  those  used  between 
a  father  and  his  children;  whereas  the  term  for  older  brother-sister. 


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348  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

the  word  unyi-k,  and  a  few  of  the  nephew-niece  and  grandchild  desig- 
nations— especially  if  their  extended  meanings  be  included — are  wholly 
indeterminate  as  to  sex. 

The  distinction  of  absolute  age  within  one  and  the  same  generation 
follows  an  irregular  course.  It  occurs  between  brothers  and  sisters; 
is  lacking  for  half  brothers  and  sisters  when  these  are  specified  as 
such ;  is  made  for  parallel  uncles  and  aunts  and  disregarded  for  cross 
ones,  and  the  same  for  their  reciprocals;  is  wholly  wanting  among 
first  cousins;  but  always,  though  indirectly  indicated,  so  far  as  the 
evidence  goes,  for  remoter  cousins. 

Affinities  by  marriage  are  never  merged  with  blood  kin.  Iki-ch-k 
would  be  an  exception  if  the  stepfather  relationship  were  counted  as 
belonging  to  the  former  group. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  development  of  terminology  for  the 
several  natural  groups  of  kindred,  salient  features  of  the  Mohave 
system  are  the  consolidation  of  designations  for  marriage  connections 
into  a  very  few  words,  and  the  development  of  an  elaborate  nomen- 
clature for  cousins,  including  at  least  three  specific  terms  in  a  total 
of  seven  or  eight  employed  for  first  cousins. 

LUISENO 

The  Luiseno  are  of  Shoshonean  stock,  but  live  in  an  entirely 
different  social  environment  in  their  southern  California  home  from 
the  distantly  allied  Tiibatulabal  and  Kawaiisu  of  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
whose  kinship  systems  have  been  described  by  Mr.  E.  W.  Gifford,* 
and  from  the  still  more  remote  Northern  Paiute  treated  of  in  the 
present  paper. 

The  Luiseno  terms  are  not  used  in  their  absolute  forms  as  here 
given.  In  actual  speech  they  occur  only  with  possessive  prefixes,  such 
as  no-,  **my.''    The  ending  -mat  is  a  diminutive. 

The  system  has  been  recorded  independently  and  without  dis- 
crepancies of  moment  by  the  late  P.  S.  Sparkman  and  myself.  The 
former's  list  of  remote  and  extended  applications  of  terms  is  some- 
what fuller. 

Parent  Class 

Na\  father. 

YOy  mother. 

Ka-mai,  son. 

Shwa-maif  daughter. 


2  Present  series,  xii,  219-248,  1917. 


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1917]  Kroeher:  California  Kinship  Systems  349 

Brother  Class 
Posh,  older  brother. 
Eesj  older  sister. 
Petf  younger  brother. 
Pit,  younger  sister. 

Grandparent  Class 

Ka\  father's  parent;  also,  brother  of  the  father's  father  and  sister  of  the 
father's  mother;  also,  woman's  father-in-law,  and,  reciprocally,  man's  daughter- 
in-law;  also,  woman's  duughter-in-law;  also,  man's  brother's  son's  wife  and 
woman's  sister's  son's  wife,  that  is,  parallel  nephew's  wife.3 

Ka'-maiy  reciprocal  to  ka*  so  far  as  this  denotes  persons  of  the  grandparent 
generation;  that  is,  son's  child,  man's  brother's  son's  child,  woman's  sister's 
son's  child. 

Kwa,  mother's  father;  mother's  father's  brother. 

Kwa-maif  reciprocal  to  kwa;  that  is,  man's  daughter's  child,  man's  brother's 
daughter's  child. 

Tu',  mother's  mother;  mother's  mother's  sister. 

Tu*-mai,  reciprocal  to  tu* ;  that  is,  woman's  daughter's  child,  woman's  sister's 
daughter's  child. 

Piwi  or  piwaif  great-grandfather  or  great-grandmother,  apparently  in  any 
lineage. 

Piivi-maif  reciprocally,  any  great-grandchild. 

Sosa,  great-great-grandparent  or  great-great-grandchild. 

Yuto,  a  person  removed  one  generation  farther  than  the  sosa. 

Taula,  one  generation  more  distant  than  yuto,  that  is,  great-great-great-great- 
grandparent  or  child. 

The  terms  for  ancestors  or  descendants  from  three  to  six  generations  removed 
are  evidently  convenient  devices  for  expressing  the  lapse  of  generations,  and 
little  else.  They  completely  ignore  the  factor  of  lineage  which  is  denoted  in 
the  grandparent  terms;  are  sexless;  and,  it  may  be  surmised,  are  applied  indis- 
criminately to  lineal  and  collateral  kindred.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know 
their  etymologies. 

KeJc,  grandmother's  brother;  grandfather's  sister;  reciprocally,  man's  sister's 
grandchild,  woman's  brother's  grandchild;  also,  man's  brother's  or  woman's 
sister's  child's  spouse.  Specific  terms  for  kindred  removed  by  three  steps  of 
relationship — other  than  of  the  speaker's  own  generation  or  three  generations 
lineally  removed  from  him — are  rare  the  world  over.  This  particular  term  is 
so  far  unparalleled  in  California. 

Uncle  Class 
KmUf  kamu  (nu-kmu,  cham-kamu)^  father's  older  brother. 
Kmu-maif  kamu-mai,  reciprocal,  man's  younger  brother's  child. 
Mash,  father's  younger  brother;  also,  stepfather. 

Mai-maiy  or  me,  reciprocal,  man's  older  brother's  child;  also,  man's  stepchild. 
Nosh,  mother's  older  sister. 

Nosh-mai  or  nos-mai,  reciprocal,  woman's  younger  sister's  child. 
Yos-mai  (evidently  from  yo,  mother),  mother's  younger  sister;  stepmother. 
Kuli'mai,  reciprocal,  woman's  older  sister's  child;  woman's  stepchild. 
Tash,  mother's  brother. 


3  Sic,  in  the  data  available,  although  this  signification  overlaps  one  of  those 
given  for  kek  below,  namely,  parallel  nephew-niece 's  spouse. 


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350  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Aroh,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

Mela  (compare  mai-mai,  mc),  reciprocal,  man's  sister's  child. 

Pa-mai,  father's  sister. 

Ali-mai  or  ala-mai,  reciprocal,  woman's  brother's  child. 

Parent-in-Law  Class 

Kwa  pa-nay  man's  father-in-law;  man's  son-in-law.  Self -reciprocal.  The 
literal  meaning  is  "my  daughter's  child  its  father."  The  term  therefore  really 
denotes  the  son-in-law,  and  its  apparently  absurd  application  to  the  father-in- 
law  must  be  due  to  a  conventional  extension  under  the  influence  of  the  tendency 
toward  reciprocity. 

Tt* 'pa-na,  man's  mother-in-law;  woman's  son-in-law.  Self -reciprocal.  Liter- 
ally, daughter's  child's  father.  The  secondary  application  is  again  to  the  older 
person.    An  extended  meaning  is  woman's  sister's  son-in-law. 

A  woman  calls  her  father-in-law  ka*,  paternal  grandparent.  Possibly  this 
stands  for  "my  child's  father's  parent."  The  father-in-law  in  turn,  and  the 
mother-in-law  also,  apply  the  same  term  ka'  to  their  daughter-in-law. 

A  woman  calls  her  mother-in-law  ka' shungal,  "father's  parent  woman," 
or,  "father-in-law  woman."  It  is  not  certain  that  the  qualifying  shungal  is 
always  added. 

Na-hwaf  parent  of  child-in-law  (like  Yokuts  makshif  Miwok  maksi) .  The  term 
is  also  said  to  be  applied  to  children -in-law;  and  to  "the  nephew's"  parent-in- 
law.  The  latter  meaning  seems  inconsistent  with  the  prevailing  Luiseno 
principles  of  designating  kindred. 

Brother-in-Law  Class 

Tolma,  woman's  brother's  wife  or  husband's  sister;  that  is,  a  self -reciprocal 
term  between  sisters-in-law.  Exactly  equivalent  to  Mohave  inya-huvi-k.  The 
etymology  may  possibly  be  from  to 'ma,  wife. 

Mespa-na,  all  other  brother-in-law  and  sister-in-law  relationships;  that  is, 
woman 's  brother-in-law  and  any  immediate  affinity  of  a  man  in  his  own  generation. 
There  is  no  independent  word  mes  in  modern  Luisefio.  Me  or  mai-maif  reciprocal 
to  mashf  denoting  a  man 's  older  brother 's  child,  cannot  be  considered  the  source, 
for  me  pana,  *  *  my  older  brother 's  child 's  father, ' '  would  only  be  a  meaninglessly 
roundabout  way  of  saying  "older  brother."  The  derivation  must  therefore 
be  from  mela,*  man's  sister's  child.  Melapana,  man's  sister's  child's  father, 
would  therefore  denote  a  man's  sister's  husband.  Evidently  the  phrase  was 
then  used  reciprocally  for  wife's  brother;  and  finally  extended  to  include  the 
other  relationships  which  it  denotes. 

Husband  and  Wife 
Kung,  husband. 

PewOf  husband,  literally,  "partner"  or  "mate." 
Shnga-kif  wife,  from  shunga-l,  woman. 
To'm^f  wife. 

Akif  co-wife.  At  least  in  address,  however,  "older  sister"  or  "younger 
sister"  is  usually  substituted  when  the  personal  relation  is  amicable. 

Cousins 
Parallel  cousins  are  brothers  and  sisters.    Whether  they  are  older  or  younger 
depends  upon  the  respective  ages  of  their,  parents,  not  of  themselves. 
Ukshum  or  yuksum,  any  cross-cousin. 


*  Perhaps  the  same  stem  me  plus  noun  ending  -la,  -I;  and  mes  for  mesh  in 
composition  (compare  nosh  and  nos-mai),  mesh  being  me  plus  another  frequent 
noun-ending  -sh  or  -cha. 


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GENERAL  FEATURES 

The  Luiseno  system  closely  parallels  that  of  the  Mohave.  There 
is  the  same  dominant  inclination  toward  exact  reciprocity,  made  even 
more  striking  by  a  greater  prevalence  of  verbally  reciprocal  terms. 
The  tendency  affects  practically  all  the  terms  of  the  grandparent, 
uncle,  parent-in-law,  and  brother-in-law  classes  in  both  languages; 
Mohave  adds  parents,  and  Luiseno  cousins.  Another  fundamental 
common  feature  is  the  limitation  of  terms  to  designate  connections 
by  marriage.  The  Mohave  plan  is  the  use  of  a  very  few  self -reciprocal 
words  of  narrow  range  plus  one  term  that  covers  all  other  aflSnities. 
The  Luiseno  appear  to  employ  no  radical  words  at  all  for  aflSnities 
(the  special  term  for  woman's  sister-in-law  is  very  likely  a  derivation 
from  **wife''),  except  the  somewhat  generic  nakwa,  but  help  them- 
selves out  with  circumlocutory  phrases  which  are  as  purely  descriptive 
as  the  corresponding  English  ones ;  or  by  boldly  extending  the  meaning 
of  terms  for  blood  kindred.  The  degree  to  which  the  various  factors 
entering  into  kinship  are  given  expression  by  the  two  tribes  is  also 
very  nearly  the  same.  And,  finally,  there  are  special  resemblances, 
as  in  the  separation  of  parallel  uncles  and  aunts  into  those  older  and 
younger  than  the  parent,  whereas  cross-uncles  and  aunts  are  not  so 
distinguished.  The  one  important  divergence  is  in  the  terminology 
for  cousins,  in  which  the  two  systems  follow  radically  different 
methods. 

Among  special  peculiarities  of  Luiseno  is  the  employment  of 
literally  self-contradictory  phrases  of  transparent  meaning  for  many 
connections  by  marriage,  as  the  obvious  result  of  the  reciprocal  in- 
fluence. This  trait  has  some  analogues  in  Northern  Paiute,  though 
there  it  takes  the  form  of  a  wrong  implication  of  sex  and  the  cause 
appears  to  be  mere  simplifying  assimilation.  In  both  instances,  how- 
ever, it  is  purely  descriptive  terms  that  are  logically  misused.  This 
point  is  of  considerable  theoretical  interest.  If  aflSnity  terms  which 
on  their  face  denote  one  thing,  and  that  alone,  are  used  in  other 
senses  from  merely  psychological  causes,  such  as  tendencies  toward 
reciprocal  or  simplified  expression,  the  presumption  is  that  terms  for 
blood  kindred  are  also  sometimes  radically  altered  from  their  original 
meaning  under  the  stimulus  of  similar  causes  without  any  accom- 
panying change  in  form  of  marriage,  kind  of  descent,  or  social  insti- 
tutions. The  only  difference  is  that  transparent  descriptive  terms 
allow  us  to  prove  without  doubt  that  the  extension  or  alteration  of 


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352  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

meaning  has  taken  place  in  a  particular  case,  whereas  when  we  are 
confronted  with  unanalyzable  stem-words  the  same  sort  of  evidence 
can  rarely  be  brought.  But  a  very  high  probability  must  remain  that 
a  certain  proportion  of  even  the  most  elementary  and  important  terms 
of  relationship  the  world  over  have  derived  their  present  significance 
from  causes  not  connected  with  form  of  marriage  or  descent. 

Other  unusual  traits  of  the  Luiseiio  system  are  the  occurrence  of 
terms  for  lineal  relatives  three  to  six  generations  distant ;  for  the  whole 
class  of  cross-cousins  as  a  unit;  for  a  child-in-law *s  parent;  and  for 
collateral  cross-relatives  of  the  grandparent  generation.  All  of  these 
evince  a  distinct  feeling  for  specific  relationships  removed  by  three 
steps  of  kinship,  whereas  most  other  Indians  cover  such  remote  re- 
lationships by  applications  of  terms  for  nearer  kindred.  Again  we 
face  a  feature  of  kinship  designation  that  is  the  reflection  of  an 
abstract  idea. 

In  making  the  seniority  of  brother-sister  cousins  depend  on  the 
parents'  ages  the  Luiseiio  follow  a  practice  that  is  adhered  to  by  a 
number  of  American  tribes  but  which  in  the  present  state  of  knowledge 
is  unique  in  California. 


YOKUTS 

The  following  system  is  that  of  the  Yaudanchi  tribe,  belonging  to 
the  Tule-Kaweah  group  of  the  Foothill  division  of  the  Yokuts."  Terms 
in  parentheses  are  from  the  Yauelmani,  who,  though  fairly  near 
neighbors  of  the  Yaudanchi  and  in  frequent  association  with  them, 
speak  a  dialect  of  the  Valley  division.  Both  tribes  are  from  the 
southern  range  of  Yokuts  territory  and  in  contact  with  Shoshonean 
tribes,  such  as  the  Tubatulabal  and  Kawaiisu.  Yokuts  systems  have 
been  collected  by  Mr.  Qifford  from  the  Tachi,  at  about  the  center  of 
the  area  of  the  stock,  and  the  Qashowu  and  Chukchansi  in  the  north ; 
but  these  are  as  yet  unpublished. 

Parent  Class 
Natetf  father;  vocative:  opoyo.     (Yauelmani,  in  reference,  nopop.) 
Nazhozhf  mother;  vocative:  ishaya,     (Yauelmani,  in  reference,  no*om,) 
The  initial  syllable  in  n-  in  these  words  appears  to  be  a  prefix,  originally 
meaning  **my,"  which  has  become  crystallized;  while  the  stem  of  natet,  nopop, 
and  nazhozh  seems  to  have  been  reduplicated  and  then  reduced. 
Buchongy  son;  man's  brother's  son.     {Butson.) 


B  Present  series,  ii,  240,  1907. 


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Ahid,  daughter;  but  also  child.  A  man's  brother's  daughter,  and  a  woman's 
sister 's  child  of  either  sex,  are  called  ahi,  which  is  of  course  from  the  same  stem. 
That  there  is  no  confusion  in  my  notes  appears  from  the  objective  cases  of  the 
two  words:  ahda  and  ahia. 

Brother  Class 

Nibech,  older  brother.     {Nibech.) 

Ne'esh,  younger  brother. 

Na'at,  older  sister.     (Na'at.) 

No*otf  younger  sister.     (No*ot.) 

An  old  possessive  prefix  appears  to  have  become  incorporated  in  these  words 
also. 

Hukozhy  brother  or  sister  of  opposite  sex  from  speaker,  irrespective  of  age. 
Self-reciprocal. 

Grandfather  Class 
Enashf  any  grandfather;  any  grandchild  of  a  man.     (Enes,) 
T*uta,  mother's  mother;  woman's  daughter's  child.    {Kamits,  mother's  mother; 

ts*utsa,  woman's  daughter's  child.) 

Bap\  possibly  pap«,  father's  mother;  woman's  son's  child.     (Bapa,) 
Hitwaiu  (t  palatal),  great-grandfather;  man's  great  grandchild.    This  word 

also  means  *' ghost";   but  the   reciprocal  usage  indicates  that,  whatever  its 

original  meaning,  it  is  also  employed  as  a  definite  term  of  relationship. 

MoJcoiotf  great -grandmother;  woman's  great-grandchild.    This  term  must  be 

derived  from  mokoi,  whose  present  meaning  is  mother's  sister. 

Uncle  Class 

Eomoyish,  father's  brother.     (Komoyis.) 

Mokoi,  mother's  sister.     {Mokoi.) 

Agash  or  akash,  mother's  brother.     (Akash.) 

Guiha,  father's  sister.     (Nusus.) 

Chayahf  man's  sister's  child:  reciprocal  of  agash.     {Tsayah.) 

Napash,  woman's  brother's  child;  reciprocal  of  guiha.     (Napas.) 

Ahi,  woman's  sister's  child:  reciprocal  of  mokoi;  also,  a  man's  brother's 
daughter.  Except  that  a  man  calls  his  brother's  son  buchong,  that  is,  son,  ahi 
therefore  denotes  all  parallel  nephews  and  nieces,  and  is  reciprocal  in  meaning 
to  komoyish  and  mokoi  together.  Its  connection  with  ahid,  daughter,  has  already 
been  mentioned.  (The  Yauelmani  equivalent  is  not  entirely  clear.  It  may  be 
butson,  son  or  child  in  general.) 

Father-in-Law  Class 
Nahamishf  father-in-law.     (Nahamis.) 
Ontip,  mother-in-law.     {Ontip.) 

Napatum,  son-in-law;  also,  sister's  husband.     (Napatim.) 
Onmid,  daughter-in-law.     {Onmil.) 
Makshi,  parent  of  child-in-law.    Self-reciprocal. 

Brother  in-Law  Class 
Nip 'ex,  wife's  brother.     {Nipi.) 
Onpoi,  husband's  brother,  wife's  sister.     (Onpoi.) 


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Itwap;  brother's  wife;  also,  husband's  sister.  (Yauelmani,  itwap,  with  the 
same  meaning,  except  that  a  woman  calls  her  brother's  wife  kitmnits,) 

For  sister's  husband,  see  napatumy  above. 

Informants  mentioned  that  one  married  an  onpoi  on  the  death  of  one 's  spouse. 
The  two  meanings  of  the  term  are  not  reciprocal,  however.  Itwap  and  napatum 
are  both  reciprocal  to  onpoi^  and  both  denote  other  relationships  as  well. 

Husband  and  Wife 
Yiwin,  wife,  and  yuwenich,  husband,  are  both  from  the  stem  yiw,  appearing 
with  the  formative  suffix  -in  as  the  verb  *'to  marry";  as,  yewin-ji,  "he  married." 
Yuwenich  means  **the  marrier."  Neither  term  seems  to  be  used  in  address. 
The  Yauelmani  are  said  to  refer  to  the  wife  as  moJci :  compare  Yaudanchi  moJcoi, 
mother's  sister. 

Death  of  Connecting  Belative 
The  following  terms  for  affinities  by  marriage  are  altered  upon  the  death  of 
the  connecting  relative: 

ontip  becomes  unitipi; 
napatum  becomes  napitimi; 
onmid  becomes  onimidi; 
onpoi  becomes  unipiyi. 
The  alteration  is  by  a  process  that  has  several  analogues  in  Yokuts  grammar. 
A  suffix  -i  is  added  which  shifts  the  accent  a  syllable  farther  from  the  head  of 
the  word  and  changes  the  vowels  of  all  but  the  initial  syllable.     The  idea  of 
severance  of  relationship  is  expressed  in  several  neighboring  Shoshonean  lan- 
guages ;8  but  the  means  here  described  is  peculiar  to  the  genius  of  Yokuts.'^ 


Reciprocity 

All  five  terms  of  the  grandfather  class  are  exactly  self-reciprocal. 
In  the  uncle  class  there  is  no  trace  of  verbal  reciprocity.  The  cross 
uncle  and  aunt  terms,  however,  each  have  a  conceptual  reciprocal. 
The  reciprocals  for  parallel  uncle  and  aunt  are  the  words  for  children, 
or  terms  derived  from  them.  In  the  parent-in-law  and  brother-in-law 
classes  there  are  no  reciprocals,  except  for  makshi,  parent  of  a  child- 
in-law.  A  woman  calls  her  husband's  sister  itwap  and  is  so  called  by 
her ;  but  the  word  is  also  used  by  a  man  for  his  brother's  wife.  More- 
over, in  Yauelmani,  husband 's  sister  remains  itwap,  but  the  reciprocal 
is  kitwinits,  if  the  recorded  data  are  not  confused.  It  is  therefore 
necessary  to  conclude  that  the  Yokuts  entertain  little  more  feeling 
than  we  for  reciprocity  in  the  brother-in-law  class  which  is  so  favorable 
for  the  expression  of  this  idea. 

That  the  word  for  great-grandfather  means  ** ghost,*'  that  is, 
*'dead  person,"  ensures  that  it  was  first  applied  to  the  aged  relative 

6  Present  series,  xn,  241,  1917. 

7  Present  series,  n,  178,  201,  1907. 


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1917]  Kroeber:  Calif omia  Kinship  Systems  355 

and  that  its  reciprocal  meaning  of  great-grandchild  is  secondary. 
This  example  renders  it  probable  that  the  other  reciprocal  terms  in 
this  class  are  also  children's  terms  which  their  grandparents  re- 
bestowed  on  the  little  ones.  The  generic  southern  Yokuts  term  for 
mother's  mother  and  a  woman's  daughter's  child  is  i'uta.^  In  Yauel- 
mani,  however,  the  mother's  mother  is  called  kamits.  But  as  the 
presumably  secondary  reciprocal  remains  ts'utsa,  it  must  be  concluded 
that  the  Yauelmani  once  used  this  term  also  with  the  meaning  of 
mother's  mother  which  it  possesses  among  the  other  Yokuts,  and  that 
kamits  was  subsequently  introduced.  A  change  of  social  institutions 
cannot  be  invoked  as  explanation,  because  no  custom  of  marriage, 
descent,  or  kin  function  can  possibly  be  involved.  Any  condition  of 
Yokuts  society  that  permitted  the  Yaudanchi  Vutor-t'uta  terminology 
would  be  equally  well  served  by  the  Yauelmani  kamits-ts^utsa  termin- 
ology. The  situation  is  simply  that  one  tribe  adheres  to  its  original 
usage  of  a  single  self-reciprocal  word,  while  the  other  has  come  to 
employ  two  terms  that  are  exactly  complementary.  There  is  nothing 
to  prevent  this  process  of  enlargement  of  the  series  of  terms,  or  the 
contrary  one  of  reduction,  from  having  gone  on  indefinitely  while  the 
accompanying  society  remained  identical.  It  is  entirely  conceivable, 
for  instance,  that  the  Yauelmani  might  in  time  have  come  to  use  not 
only  six  but  ten  words  in  the  grandparent  class  in  place  of  the  original 
five;  or  that,  on  the  other  hand,  they  might  have  added  verbal  to 
conceptual  reciprocity  in  the  words  of  the  uncle  group,  and  thereby 
diminished  their  number  from  seven  to  four.  The  final  outcome  of 
such  a  process  would  be  a  Yauelmani  system  of  nomenclature  thor- 
oughly different  at  many  points  from  its  original  form  and  from  that 
of  allied  peoples,  without  any  change  of  social  system  and  merely 
through  a  change  of  psychological  attitude  as  expressed  in  speech. 

Much  the  same  can  be  inferred  from  ahid  and  ahi,  two  terms 
scarcely  differentiated  in  sound  and  the  first  of  wavering,  the  second 
of  asymmetric  and  therefore  probably  also  fluctuating  meaning. 
Either  the  Yaudanchi  once  called  their  parallel  nieces  ** daughters" 
outright,  and  later  began  to  differentiate  between  these  two  kinds  of 
relatives  by  altering  the  term  when  applied  to  one  of  the  two ;  or  they 
once  possessed  a  special  term  for  parallel  niece  (or  for  a  woman's 
parallel  nephew-niece)  and  later  replaced  this  by  the  word  for 
daughter  (or  child),  the  old  sense  of  distinctness  of  the  niece  from 
the   daughter  however   remaining  sufficiently   strong  to   prevent   a 

8  Compare  Paleuyami  djudja,  present  series,  ii,  267,  268,  1907. 


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356  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

wholly  unmodified  employment  of  the  word  *' daughter*'  for  the 
relationship  of  niece.  In  the  one  event  we  are  confronted  by  an 
incipient  dissimilation,  in  the  other  by  an  incomplete  assimilation  of 
terms.  If  now  we  assume  that  the  cause  of  this  change  was  an 
alteration  in  the  social  organization  of  the  Yaudanchi,  such  as  a  drift 
to  or  from  the  levirate,  for  instance,  it  follows  either  that  this  social 
alteration  was  also  halting  and  incomplete,  which  is  likely  to  be 
diflScult  to  corroborate  by  independent  evidence  in  the  case  of  a  prim- 
itive tribe,  and  therefore  to  remain  a  purely  speculative  opinion ;  or, 
if  the  change  in  social  conditions  was  fulfilled,  the  change  in  nomen- 
clature lagged  behind  and  now  reflects  the  social  evolution  only 
brokenly. 


RELATIONS  OP  MIWOK  AND  YOKUTS 

The  Central  Miwok  system  has  been  presented  and  analyzed  in 
full  by  Mr.  E.  W.  Gifford.®    Its  special  peculiarities  appear  to  be  three. 

First,  there  are  five  terms  for  three-step  affinities  by  marriage — 
pinuksa,  kumatsa,  moe,  haiyeme,  maksi — which  denote  such  persons 
as  the  wife's  mother's  brother,  a  woman's  sister's  son's  wife,  and  the 
husband's  brother's  wife.  The  word  maksi  has  the  same  significance 
as  Yokuts  makshi,  and  is  interesting  as  a  case  of  outright  transfer  of 
a  kinship  term  from  one  language  to  another.  As  it  is  one  of  a  class 
in  Miwok,  but  so  far  as  known  stands  alone  in  Yokuts,  the  latter  people 
are  likely  to  have  been  the  borrowers.  It  is,  however,  necessary  to 
bear  in  consideration  that  in  as  much  as  I  did  not  ordinarily  attempt 
to  secure  terms  of  this  type  of  rather  remote  and  indirect  relationship, 
there  is  a  possibility  that  they  may  actually  occur  in  several  of  the 
systems  here  presented  from  which  they  now  appear  to  be  lacking. 

Second,  the  grandparent  class  is  much  reduced  in  Miwok.  There 
are  only  the  three  terms :  grandfather,  grandmother,  grandchild.  The 
grandmother's  brother  is  a  grandfather,  and  so  on. 

Third,  the  system  is  rather  asymmetrical.  The  father's  brother 
is  a  father,  but  there  are  two  terms  for  the  mother's  sisters.  There 
is  one  reciprocal  to  father's  sister,  two  to  mother's  brother.  There 
is  one  word  denoting  parents-in-law,  two  for  children-in-law.  Olo  is 
the  brother's  wife,  irrespective  of  sex,  but  there  are  two  reciprocals 
for  husband's  brother  and  husband's  sister. 


»*' Miwok  Moieties,''  present  series,  xii,  139-194,  1916. 


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The  differences  from  Yokuts  are  not  serious.  The  Yokuts  self- 
reciprocal  word  for  brother-sister  of  opposite  sex  is  lacking.  The 
terms  of  the  grandparent  class  differ  in  not  being  reciprocal  at  all  in 
Miwok,  whereas  in  Yokuts  they  are  self-reciprocal.  The  Yokuts  great- 
grandparent  terms  are  not  represented.  Yokuts  generally  has  con- 
ceptually reciprocal  terms  for  parallel  as  well  as  for  cross  relatives 
of  the  uncle  class ;  Miwok  merges  these  parallel  relatives  in  the  parent 
class,  except  for  the  mother's  sisters.  Yokuts  distinguishes  and  Miwok 
combines  the  father-in-law  and  mother-in-law.  Yokuts  possesses  four 
terms  and  Miwok  five  in  the  brother-in-law  class,  and  the  allotment 
to  these  of  the  eight  logically  possible  relationships  is  mostly  different, 
]VIiwok  proceeding  on  the  principle  that  such  terms  are  conceptually 
reciprocal  without  being  self -reciprocal,  and  that  the  sex  of  the  spouse 
is  always  denoted  while  that  of  the  brother-sister  is  left  indeterminate, 
whereas  the  Yokuts  classification  is  more  random.  The  cousin  termin- 
ology, on  which  Mr.  Gifford  has  full  and  interesting  data,  can  unfor- 
tunately not  be  compared  on  account  of  lack  of  Yokuts  data. 

Reciprocity  is  nearly  equally  developed  in  the  two  systems,  the 
Yokuts,  however,  favoring  it  rather  for  blood  kin  and  the  Miwok  for 
the  less  numerously  recognized  connections  by  marriage.  Both  systems 
evince  much  less  reciprocity  than  either  Luiseno  or  Mohave. 

The  Miwok  men  marry  their  mother's  brother's  daughters,  but 
Mr.  Gifford  concludes  very  convincingly  that  the  original  form  of 
marriage  is  that  of  a  man  to  his  wife's  brother's  daughter,  because 
twelve  Miwok  kinship  terms  are  in  accord  with  this  type  of  marriage 
and  none  with  cross-cousin  marriage.  Unfortunately  it  is  not  known 
whether  the  southern  Yokuts  marry  either  of  these  relatives ;  nor  can 
anything  be  predicted  in  the  matter  because  the  full  significations  for 
most  of  the  Yokuts  terms  corresponding  to  the  twelve  in  question  have 
not  been  obtained. 

Another  matter  that  is  of  logical  bearing  on  the  Miwok  and  Yokuts 
systems  is  an  exogamic,  patrilinear  moiety  organization.  The  northern 
and  central  Yokuts  possess  this  organization  in  a  form  much  like  that 
of  the  Central  Miwok.  For  the  southern  Yokuts,  from  whom  the 
kinship  terms  here  presented  were  collected,  its  existence  seems  im- 
probable. It  is  very  doubtful,  however,  whether  this  organization 
has  seriously  influenced  kinship  terminology.  Of  twenty-nine  Miwok 
terms  used  by  a  man,  twelve  refer  to  his  own  moiety,  nine  to  the 
opposite,  and  eight  do  not  indicate  moiety;  for  a  woman,  the  corre- 
sponding figures  are  fourteen,  seven,  and  nine. 


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358  University  of  Colifomia  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

For  the  sake  of  comparison,  I  abstract  from  Mr.  Gifford's  paper 
the  full  set  of  designations  for  first  cousins,  arranged  in  the  same 
order  as  in  my  list  for  the  Mohave,  who  are  the  only  tribe  here  dealt 
with  for  whom  the  corresponding  data  are  available.^®  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  two  classifications  are  as  unlike  as  they  well  could  be, 
and  are  clearly  determined  by  very  different  principles. 

Children  of  Brothers 

(male,  tachi,  chale,  older  and  younger  brother; 

/female,  tete,  kole,  older  and  younger  sister. 

„       -        „   (male,  tachi,  chale; 
Female  calls  K       ,     ^  ^     ,   , 
/female,  tete,  hole. 

Children  of  Sisters 

Male  calls  i"'*^^'*'^'**''''^^^' 
)  female,  tete,  kole. 

Female  calls Ir^'/^f^'M*'" 
•  /female,  tete,  kole. 


Children  of  Brother  Call  Children  of  Sister 
I,  iipsa,  man's  a 
tie,  lupuha,  mai 
male,  angsi,  son; 


Cmale,  iipsa,  man's  sister's  son; 
/female,  lupuha,  man's  sister's  daughter. 


Female  calls  <.       ,      .  j^       u^ 

(female,  tune,  daughter. 


Male  calls 


Children  of  Sister  Call  Children  of  Brother 
male,  kaka,  mother's  brother; 
female,  anisii,  mother's  younger  sister,  stepmother. 


Female  calls  K       *  .'  .. 

female,  antsu 


NORTHERN  PAIUTE 

This  system  was  secured  from  Gilbert  Natches,  a  Northern  Paiute, 
or,  by  Shoshone  designation,  Paviotso,  of  Pyramid  Lake  Reservation, 
Nevada.  The  terms  are  presented  in  their  stem  forms,  although  they 
are  rarely  if  ever  used  without  a  possessive  prefix  or  in  composition. 
After  certain  of  these  elements,  such  as  i-,  **my,"  initial  k,  t,  p,  change 
to  almost  fricative  g,  d,  b.  The  accent  is  invariably  on  the  second 
syllable ;  except  in  hai'i,  where  it  is  borne  by  the  diphthong,  and  in 
dtsi.  The  vowels  of  syllables  following  the  accent  are  unvoiced  or 
whispered.     The  character  e  does  not  carry  the  usual  value  of  this 


10  Except  the  Luiseno,  whose  terminology  is  according  to  a  thoroughly  dis- 
similar but  very  simple  principle,  and  the  Northern  Paiute,  who  use  only  brother- 
sister  terms. 


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1917]  Kroeher:  Calif  omia  Kinship  Systems  359 

letter,  but  represents  a  mixed  vowel  occurring  in  all  Shoshonean 
languages  and  often  written  ii. 

Parent  Class 
Na,  father. 
Pia,  mother. 
Tua,  son. 
Pade,  daughter. 

Brother  Class 

Pabi'i,  older  brother. 

Wanga'a,  younger  brother. 

Eama'a,  older  sister. 

Peni'iy  younger  sister. 

All  first  cousins  are  called  brothers  and  sisters,  whether  cross  or  parallel. 
Whether  they  are  called  older  or  younger  depends  on  their  actual  age,  not  on 
the  ages  of  the  respective  parents. 

Grandparent  Class 

Kenu'u,  father's  father;  and,  reciprocally,  a  man's  son's  child. 

Togo* Of  mother's  father;  and,  reciprocally,  a  man's  daughter's  child. 

Mu'a,  mother's  mother;  and,  reciprocally,  a  woman's  daughter's  child. 

Hutsx\  father's  mother;  and,  reciprocally,  a  woman's  son's  child. 

Mebi  't  was  given  as  father 's  father 's  mother,  and  reciprocally  as  a  woman 's 
son 's  son 's  child.  It  probably  has  a  wider  meaning.  It  enters  into  composition 
with  other  terms  to  denote  certain  connections  by  marriage.  In  these  com- 
pounds it  appears  to  designate  relationship  less  than  three  generations  remote. 

Uncle  Class 

HaiH,  father's  brother. 

Pidu'Uf  mother's  sister;  also  mother's  co-wife,  even  if  not  related  in  blood. 

Atsi,  mother's  brother. 

Pahwa,  father's  sister. 

All  these  are  used  alike  for  the  older  and  the  younger  brother  or  sister  of 
the  parent.  Each  has  an  exact  reciprocal,  which  is,  however,  entirely  different 
in  sound. 

Ema,  man's  brother's  child,  reciprocal  of  hai'i, 

Mldo'o,  woman's  sister's  child,  reciprocal  of  pidu'u;  also,  child  of  a  co-wife, 
even  if  unrelated  in  blood. 

Nanakwe,  man's  sister's  child,  reciprocal  of  atsi. 

Mido*o,  woman's  brother's  child,  reciprocal  of  pahwa, 

I  suspect  that  mido*o,  woman's  sister's  child,  and  mido'o,  woman's  brother's 
child,  are  the  same,  especially  since  I  recorded  both  as  accented  on  the  second 
syllable,  which  is  according  to  rule  if  the  first  vowel  is  short,  whereas  a  long 
initial  syllable  carries  the  accent.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  mido*o  has  been 
extended  from  woman's  sister's  child  to  denote  also  her  brother's  child,  re- 
placing a  former  adatsi,  which  survives  in  composition  in  the  name  which  a 
woman  applies  to  her  brother's  wife. 


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360  University  of  California  Puhlications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

Parent-in-Law  Class 

Yahi,  father-in-law;  mother-in-law. 

Togo-nna,  son-in-law.  This  word  means  literally  ''father  of  the  child  of 
the  daughter  of  a  man,'*  and  logically  is  therefore  usable  only  by  males;  but 
it  is  employed  by  women  also,  who  have  no  other  designation  for  a  son-in-law. 

Kenu-pia,  daughter-in-law.  Again  a  man's  term  used  by  women  also:  ''mother 
of  the  child  of  the  son  of  a  man."  The  word  is  a  true  compound,  kenu'-pia, 
not  kenu"upia\ 

Hebi-yani,  literally  '  *  woman 's  son 's  son 's  child 's  father-in-law, '  *  or  "  father 's 
father's  mother's  father-in-law,"  was  recorded  with  the  meanings  of  father- 
in-law's  father,  father-in-law's  mother,  and  father-in-law's  paternal  grand- 
mother. In  the  last  instance  the  compound  denotes  one's  wife's  great -grand- 
mother, whereas  hebi  itself  denotes  one's  own  great -grandmother.  I  infer  that 
hebi-yahi  is  applicable  to  a  considerable  range  of  affinities  by  marriage,  its  first 
element  denoting  that  the  person  denoted  is  two  or  three  generations  older,  and 
the  second  element  having  about  the  force  of  our  "in-law";  much  as  we  might 
describe  an  old  lady  as  our  "  great-grandmother-in-law. " 

UcbiH  togo-nna — an  epithet  of  two  words,  not  a  compound — was  given  as 
the  reciprocal  of  hebi-yahi,  specifically  used  by  a  woman  for  her  son's  son's 
son-in-law — her  great-grandson-in-law. 

Brother-in-Law  Class 

Adatoi,  wife's  brother;  man's  sister's  husband.  Self -reciprocal.  Also  used 
between  men  as  a  friendly  term  of  address  when  no  relationship  exists. 

Adatsi-piaf  husband's  sister;  woman's  brother's  wife.  Self -reciprocal.  The 
word  means  ' '  mother  of  the  adatsi. ' '  If  the  term  was  first  used  for  the  brother 's 
wife,  adatsi  must  be  an  old  name  for  a  woman's  brother's  child.  This  inter- 
pretation is  supported  by  the  fact  that  the  actually  employed  designation  for 
a  woman's  brother's  child  is  probably  the  same,  and  certainly  nearly  the  same, 
as  for  a  woman's  sister's  child — a  uniting  of  relationships  not  in  accord  with 
the  plan  of  the  remainder  of  the  Northern  Paiute  system.  If,  however,  adatsi-pia 
was  first  used  for  the  husband 's  sister,  then  adatsi  must  have  meant  husband 's 
sister's  child.  In  support  of  this  interpretation  is  the  similarity  of  adatsi — 
probably  composed  of  a  stem  ada  and  the  diminutive  suffix  -tsi — to  adatoi.  This 
word  adatoi  denotes  a  man's  brother-in-law;  but  its  former  meaning  may  have 
been  wider;  since  my  informant  stated  that  sisters-in-law  sometimes  called  each 
other  adatoi f  jokingly  he  thought.  If  adatoi  ever  meant  brother-in-law  or  sister- 
in-law  in  general,  its  connection  with  adatsi  could  hardly  be  doubted:  adatoi 
being  the  brother-in-law,  adatsi  would  be  the  "little  brother-in-law,"  that  is, 
the  brother-in-law's  son,  or  a  junior  relative  of  the  husband,  such  as  his  sister's 
son;  and  the  adatsi-pia,  his  mother,  would  in  the  latter  case  be  the  husband's 
sister. 

It  is  difficult  to  decide  between  these  two  explanations.  Yet,  whichever  is 
right,  or  if  it  be  a  third,  the  term  adatsi-pia  is  descriptive  and  could  originally 
not  have  applied  to  both  the  persons  to  whom  it  is  now  applied;  for  there  is  no 
group  of  relatives  to  whom  two  sisters-in-law  can  both  be  mothers.  The  term 
therefore  once  belonged  to  one  of  these  relationships  and  has  been  extended  to 
include  the  other,  as  it  is  now  self -reciprocal,  presumably  through  the  operation 
of  the  inclination  toward  reciprocity.  If  this  tendency  is  strong  enough  to 
cause  a  change  of  meaning  of  exactly  descriptive  terms  until  they  become  self- 
contradictory,  its  potential  influence  must  be  great,  and  should  suffice  to  bring 
about  even  more  considerable  alterations  of  ordinary  non-descriptive  terms. 


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1917]  Kroeher:  California  Kinship  Systems  361 

whose  scope  is  readily  extensible  by  analogy  or  metaphor  without  the  production 
of  a  transparent  logical  clash. 

NenaiH,  husband's  brother;  woman's  sister's  husband. 

Husa-na-piOf  wife's  sister;  man's  brother's  wife.  The  latter  must  be  the 
original  meaning,  the  former  its  extension — again  etymologically  inexact,  unless 
double  marriage  of  brother  and  sister  to  sister  and  brother  had  been  the  rule. 
HiLsa  denoting  a  man's  brother's  child,  the  huza-na-pin  is  of  course  his  brother's 
wife. 

NenaiH  and  huza-na-pia  are  mutually  reciprocal,  while  the  two  other  terms 
of  this  class,  adatoi  and  adatsi-piaf  are  each  self-reciprocal.  A  different  grouping 
of  the  four  meanings  expressed  by  7ienai  'i  and  huza-na-pia  would  have  made  these 
also  self -reciprocal.  As  it  is  undeniable  that  extensions  or  alterations  of 
meaning  have  taken  place  in  this  class  of  terms,  it  is  reasonable  to  consider 
why  these  changes  did  not  operate  in  the  direction  of  consistency,  that  is,  of 
uniform  self -reciprocity.  The  reason  seems  to  be  that  in  such  case  nenaiH  and 
huza-na-pia  would  each  have  denoted  both  males  and  females.  Under  the 
existing  system  of  Northern  Paiute,  however,  each  of  its  four  terms  of  this 
class  refers  only  to  men  or  only  to  women,  to  wit;  man's  brother-in-law,  woman's 
sister-in-law,  woman's  brother-in-law,  man's  sister-in-law.  Reciprocity  must 
from  its  very  nature  interfere  with  the  consistency  with  which  certain  conceptual 
factors  entering  into  relationship  (such  as  generation,  sex  of  the  speaker,  and 
sex  of  the  relative)  are  expressed;  and  the  reverse  is  equally  true.  In  the 
uncle  and  grandparent  classes  of  Northern  Paiute  terms,  where  the  reciprocity 
is  complete — although  only  logical  in  one  case  and  verbal  as  well  in  the  other — 
the  consistency  of  employment  of  the  three  conceptual  factors  or  categories  is 
thoroughly  violated.  In  the  brother-in-law  class,  on  the  other  hand,  complete 
uniformity  of  reciprocal  expression  is  not  attained,  but  every  term  is  exact  in 
its  denotation  of  sex  of  the  person  referred  to  as  well  as  the  sex  of  the  speaker. 

Husband  and  Wife 

Kuma,  husband. 

Nodekwa,  wife. 

The  terms  of  address  were  not  recorded. 

Woho,  co-wife.  A  woman  says  i-woho',  "my  co-wife,"  in  reference,  but 
addresses  her  as  ^-bea'a,  ''my  friend,"  if  they  are  not  sisters.  As  an  address, 
%-woho  is  an  insult.  Na-wo'ho  is  used  when  a  man's  two  wives  are  meant:  na- 
is  a  reciprocal  prefix, 

MARRIAGE 

The  Northern  Paiute  deny  cross-cousin  marriage,  though  ray 
informant  attributed  it  to  the  Shoshone  on  their  east,  who,  he  said, 
will  marry  their  paJiwa's  daughter.  This  may,  however,  be  only  the 
expression  of  an  opinion  of  the  loose  morality  of  the  latter  pepole, 
since  Gilbert  also  mentioned  that  the  Shoshone  married  their  parallel 
cousins,  which  is  scarcely  possible.  The  brother-sister  terminology  for 
cross-cousins  among  the  Paiute  confirms  their  denial  of  the  practice 
by  themselves. 

Even  first  cousins  once  removed  and  second  cousins  cannot  marry 
among  Gilbert's  people.     This  is  certain  for  parallel  cousins;  but 


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362  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Ardh.  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

unfortunately  my  records  do  not  allow  me  to  assert  the  same  rule 
positively  for  second  cross-cousins,  although  I  believe  it  applies. 

First  half  cousins,  on  the  other  hand,  can  and  do  marry.  I  secured 
an  instance  of  the  children  of  two  half  brothers  marrying.  Such 
half  cousins  were  common  among  the  Northern  Paiute  as  the  result 
of  polygamous  marriages  by  men.  There  seems  to  have  been  even 
some  encouragement  of  half  cousin  marriage,  as  favoring  a  peaceable 
and  permanent  union;  although  if,  as  often  happened,  the  half 
brothers  lived  in  remote  localities,  a  marriage  of  their  children  was 
likely  to  be  terminated  by  the  return  of  one  of  them  to  the  old  home 
when  ties  of  blood  and  association  called. 

Geography  was  otherwise  a  factor  of  importance  in  these  matters, 
on  account  of  the  varying  degree  of  acquaintance  which  it  imposed. 
My  informant's  father  and  the  latter 's  half  brother,  who  lived  apart, 
arranged  a  marriage  between  a  son  of  the  former  and  the  daughter 
of  the  latter.  The  girl  was  willing,  but  the  young  man,  having  pre- 
viously visited  at  her  home,  had  got  to  calling  her  **  sister, '^  and 
refused  to  marry  her  on  that  ground.  He  had  known  her  too  long, 
he  said. 

A  man  might  marry  a  woman  and  her  daughter — ^his  stepdaughter, 
of  course.    This  is  a  common  practice  of  most  of  the  California  Indians. 


WASHO" 

The  stems  of  the  Washo  terms  of  relationship  are  used  with  pos- 
sessive prefixes,  such  as  di-,  my,  urn-,  your,  da-,  his.  A  few  words 
replace  di-  by  di-m-,  la-,  or  1-,  urn-  by  mi-m-  or  m-. 

Parent  Class 
Koif  father. 
La,  mother. 
MalolOy  parents. 
Nganif  son. 
Ngamu,  daughter. 
N gaming f  child. 

Brother  Class 
At%  older  brother. 
Isa,  older  sister. 
BeyUf  younger  brother. 
Wits*uk,  younger  sister. 

Cousins  are  older  or  younger  brothers  and  sisters  according  to  their  own  ages, 
not  those  of  their  parents. 


J 1  Present  series,  iv,  309,  1907. 


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1917]  Kroeher:  CoXifomia  Kinship  Systems  363 

Grandparent  Class 
BabOf  father's  father,  man's  son's  child. 
Elel,  mother's  father. 
Elelif  man's  daughter's  child. 
Ama,  father's  mother,  woman's  son's  child. 
Gu,  mother's  mother. 
Guyi,  woman's  daughter's  child. 

Uncle  Class 
Etishi,  father's  brother;  reciprocal,  masha. 
Da,  mother's  brother;  reciprocal,  magu. 
Ya,  father's  sister;  reciprocal,  shemuk, 
Sha'sha,  mother's  sister. 

Masha,  man's  brother's  child;  reciprocal,  ettshi. 
Magu,  man's  sister's  child;  reciprocal,  da. 
Shemuk,  woman's  brother's  child;  reciprocal,  ya. 

The  term  for  woman's  sister's  child  was  not  obtained  with  certainty.  It 
may  be  shemuk.    See  below. 

Parent-in-Law  Class 
Ayuk,  parent-in-law. 
Bu-angali  ("lives  with"),  son-in-law. 
Eyesh,  daughter-in-law. 

Brother-in-Law  Class 

Vladut,  man's  sister's  husband,  wife's  brother.    Self -reciprocal. 

Di-ngaming  de'-eushi  (**my  child's  father's  brother"),  husband's  brother. 

Di-magu da-koi  ("my  sister's  child's  father"),  woman's  sister's  husband. 
This  phrase  does  not  necessarily  prove  that  magu  is  the  term  which  a  woman 
applies  to  her  sister's  child:  in  Northern  Paiute  there  are  analogous  cases  of  a 
woman  using  a  man's  term  in  descriptive  phrases  of  this  type. 

TH-mash  da-la  ('  *  my  brother 's  child 's  mother  ") ,  man 's  brother 's  wife.  This 
phrase  was  also  obtained  for  wife's  sister,  but  the  latter  meaning  is  in  need  of 
corroboration. 

Yangil,  woman's  brother's  wife,  husband's  sister.    Self -reciprocal. 

Husband  and  Wife 
Bu-meli,  husband  {meli,  "to  make  a  fire"). 
(M)laya,  wife. 
The  vocative  terms  are  not  known. 

Beciprocity 
Beciprocity  is  consistently  verbal  and  conceptual  in  the  grandfather  class, 
and  conceptual  only  in  the  uncle  class;  it  is  not  expressed  in  terms  for  relatives 
by  marriage  except  in  one  brother-in-law  and  one  sister-in-law  term. 


RELATIONS  TO  NORTHERN  PAIUTE 
The  Washo  and  the  Northern  Paiute  are  the  only  tribes  of  those 
here  considered  who  live  east  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.     Both  extend 


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364  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Ardh.  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

from  Nevada  into  eastern  California.  Their  customs  are  little  known, 
but  appear  to  be  similar,  though  the  languages  are  utterly  distinct. 
Their  kinship  systems  are  practically  identical. 

Parent  class:  father,  mother,  son,  (laughter.  Washo  adds  a  derivative  for 
child  and  a  term  for  parents. 

Brother  class:  older  and  younger  brother  and  sister. 

Grandparent  class:  paternal  and  maternal  grandfather  and  grandmother,  each 
used  reciprocally  in  the  same  form,  except  that  two  Washo  grandchild  terms 
add  a  suffix.    Paiute  has  also  a  term  for  great -grandmother. 

Uncle  class:  four  terms  for  parallel  and  cross  uncle  and  aunt,  and  four  exact 
conceptual  reciprocals,  which,  however,  bear  no  likeness  in  sound.  In  both  languages 
there  is  some  doubt  whether  there  is  a  distinct  term  for  woman 's  sister  ^s  child. 

Cousins:  all  are  denominated  brothers  or  sisters,  seniority  depending  on  their 
actual  age. 

Parent-in-law  class:  parent-in-law,  son-in-law  (a  descriptive  term),  daughter- 
in-law  (descriptive  in  Paiute  only). 

Brother-in-law  class:  man's  brother-in-law,  self-reciprocal;  woman's  sister- 
in-law,  self-reciprocal  (descriptive  in  Paiute  only);  man's  brother's  wife  or 
wife's  sister  (descriptive);  husband's  brother  or  woman's  sister's  husband, 
denoted  by  a  single  non-descriptive  word  in  Paiute  and  by  two  separate  de- 
scriptive terms  in  Washo. 

The  two  systems  could  not  well  be  more  similar.  Two  alternative 
interpretations  are  open.  Either  we  must  assume  that  Washo  and 
Northern  Paiute  institutions  are  identical  and  that  institutions  are 
perfectly  reflected  in  kinship  terminology;  or  we  must  admit  that 
these  two  systems  have  attained  their  practical  identity  under  the 
partial  or  dominating  influence  of  similar  ways  of  thinking,  that  is, 
that  mental  or  linguistic  causes  have  been  operative. 

RELATIONS  TO  OTHER  SYSTEMS 
The  Washo  are  in  contact  with  the  Miwok ;  and  the  Washo-Paiute 
system  is  not  very  different  from  the  Miwok- Yokuts  one — certainly 
much  more  similar  to  it  than  to  either  the  Wintun  or  the  Mohave- 
Luiseno  type  of  terminology.  The  greatest  difference  is  in  the  cousin 
nomenclature,  which  could  not  well  be  more  diverse.  The  Miwok 
terms  of  the  grandparent  class  are  also  dissimilar:  non-reciprocal 
grandfather,  grandmother,  and  grandchild  versus  a  scheme  of  four 
self -reciprocal  terms  each  expressing  the  sex  of  the  intermediate  rela- 
tive.^ ^    Miwok,  however,  seems  exceptional  in  this  point.    The  southern 


12  It  is  a  striking  circumstance  that  the  Miwok  disregard  this  consideration, 
although  its  observance  would  bring  their  nomenclature  into  closer  consonance 
with  their  social  scheme  of  descent,  whereas  the  Washo  and  Northern  Paiute, 
who  are  not  known  to  possess  moieties,  discriminate  according  to  the  factor. 
If  terminology  mirrors  sociology,  the  Miwok  should  distinguish  paternal  grand- 
parent and  maternal  grandparent  instead  of  grandfather  and  grandmother. 


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1917]  Kroeher:  Calif omia  Kinship  Systems  365 

Yokuts,  although  geographically  more  distant  than  the  Miwok,  use 
terms  of  the  exact  Washo-Paiute  type.^^  The  Miwok  must  therefore 
be  regarded  as  occupying  a  distinctly  anomalous  position  in  their 
grandparent-grandchild  terminology.  This  is  borne  out  by  the  fact 
that  the  Wintun,  Pomo,  and  Yuki,  who  tend  to  merge  grandchildren 
in  children  or  nephew-nieces,  and  therefore,  like  the  Miwok,  express 
no  reciprocity  in  this  class,  nevertheless  generally  distinguish  paternal 
from  maternal  grandparents.  To  the  south,  the  Mohave  and  Luiseno 
express  both  lineage  and  at  least  conceptual  reciprocity ;  and  the  same 
seems  to  have  been  the  practice  of  the  Salintos  and  Chumash,  so  far 
as  the  fragmentary  evidence  allows  judgment.  The  divergence  of 
the  Miwok  system  from  that  of  the  Washo  and  Northern  Paiute  at 
this  point  is  therefore  not  characteristic  of  type,  but  due  to  a  Miwok 
peculiarity. 

At  most  other  points  Washo  and  Miwok  correspond  fairly,  or 
about  as  well  as  Miwok  and  southern  Yokuts.  The  parent  and  brother 
classes  are  substantially  identical.  The  uncle  class  differs  in  that  the 
Miwok  merge  parallel  relatives  in  parents,  except  for  the  mother's 
sisters,  among  whom  they  distinguish  seniority.  This  seems  another 
Miwok  specialization,  since  Yokuts  is  more  similar  to  Washo.  The 
parent-in-law  class  is  similar  in  that  the  father-in-law  and  mother-in- 
law  class  are  merged  and  that  there  is  no  reciprocity.  The  brother- 
in-law  relatives  are  differently  classified ;  but  the  force  of  this  diverg- 
ence is  weakened  by  the  marked  difference  of  Yokuts  from  both.  The 
Miwok  terms  for  three-step  connections  by  marriage,  finally,  are  unrep- 
resented in  both  Washo  and  Northern  Paiute;  but  this  class  seems 
again  to  present  a  Miwok  individuality,  being  lacking,  or  practically 
so,  in  all  other  Californian  systems,  as  far  as  we  know.  Just  so,  the 
descriptive  terms  of  Washo  and  Northern  Paiute  are  an  evident 
peculiarity,  since  they  are  found  only  among  the  Luiseno  and  not 
among  any  nearer  tribes  in  California. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  while  Washo  and  Northern  Paiute  form 
an  exceedingly  intimate  group,  they  also  have  tolerable  affiliations  to 
south  central  California.  They  are  certainly  at  least  as  near  and 
probably  nearer  to  Miwok- Yokuts  than  these  are  to  Luiseno-Mohave. 
On  the  other  hand,  Miwok  evinces  a  number  of  specializations  from 
which  southern  Yokuts  is  free;  the  latter  on  the  whole  is  therefore 
more  similar  than  Miwok  to  the  Nevadan  systems. 


13  Except  that  there  is  only  term  for  grandfather,  though  this  remains  self- 
reciprocal. 


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366  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 


TUBATULABAL  AND  KAWAIISU 

Mr.  Qiflford  has  described^*  the  systems  of  these  two  Shoshonean 
tribes  of  the  southern  Sierra  Nevada,  neighbors  of  the  southern  Yokuts. 
They  are  similar  to  each  other  and  in  general  type  very  close  to 
Northern  Paiute.  The  chief  diflferenees  from  the  latter  are  the 
following : 

Kawaiisu  has  terms  for  great-grandfather,  son,  mother,  and  daughter — 
diminutives  from  the  stems  for  older  and  younger  brother  and  sister.  Tiiba- 
tulabal  has  a  word  for  great-grandparent  apparently  borrowed  from  the  Kawaiisu 
one  for  great-grandfather,  and  employs  a  diminutive  thereof  as  a  reciprocal. 

Kawaiisu  applies  its  terms  for  cross  uncle  and  aunt  only  to  the  younger 
brother  or  sister  of  the  parent.  The  father's  older  brother  is  classed  with  the 
father,  the  mother's  older  sister  with  the  mother.  The  Tiibatulabal  scheme  is 
like  the  Northern  Paiute  one. 

Both  languages,  like  adjacent  Yokuts,  alter  the  terms  for  connections  by 
marriage  after  the  death  of  the  intermediate  relative.  The  means  employed 
are  suffixes.  In  addition,  Tiibatulabal  possesses  a  special  term  hoki,  used  be- 
tween grandparents  and  grandchildren  after  the  death  of  the  father  or  mother. 

Both  languages  possess  special  terms  applied  only  to  the  blood  father  and 
the  blood  mother  before  the  loss  of  any  child. 

Tiibatulabal  expresses  *  *  son ' '  and  ' '  daughter  "  by  a  single  word  and  * '  younger 
brother"  and  "younger  sister"  by  one. 

The  Kawaiisu  terms  of  the  brother-in-law  class  tally  exactly  with  those  of 
Northern  Paiute.  The  Tiibatulabal  ones  are  doubtful.  No  one  of  Mr.  Gifford  's 
half  dozen  informants  yielded  them  alike.  Not  one  of  the  lists  reduces  to  the 
Kawaiisu  scheme  even  when  the  number  of  terms  is  reduced  from  five  to  four 
by  counting  two  as  a  single  one.  Mr.  Qifford  suggests  Yokuts  influence  on  the 
Tiibatulabal  system  on  this  point,  and  I  have  no  doubt  he  is  right.  But  I 
have  been  equally  unable  to  make  the  arrangement  of  any  of  his  informants 
fit  the  Yaudanchi  or  Yauelmani  plan.  There  are  only  two  conclusions  that 
suggest  themselves.  Either  the  Tiibatulabal  system  has  broken  down  at  this 
point  in  the  last  sixty  years  under  American  and  Mexican  contact,  or  original 
Shoshonean  and  subsequent  Yokuts  influences  have  mingled  and  reduced  the 
Tiibatulabal  scheme  to  a  transitional  and  inconsistent  stage.  Possibly  the  latter 
condition  existed  first  and  caused  an  unusual  lack  of  resistance  under  the  effect 
of  our  civilization. 


SHOSHONEAN  SYSTEMS 

These  systems  collected  by  Mr.  Qiflford,  with  two  others  recorded 
by  Dr.  Sapir  and  included  in  full  in  the  same  study,  and  Luiseno  and 
Northern  Paiute,  make  six  that  are  available  from  the  Shoshonean 
family  and  allow  a  broader  comparison  than  has  been  possible  here- 


"  Present  series,  xii,  219-248,  1917. 


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1917] 


Kroeber:  Cclifomia  iinship  Systems 


367 


tofore.     I  give  first  the  words  used  to  express  several  of  the  more 
elementary  relationships. 

SHOSHONEAN  STEMS  OF  SIMILAR  MEANING 


Northern 

t 

Uintah 

Kaibdb 

Paiute 

Kawaiisu 

Ute 

Paiute 

TUhatulahal  LuiseHo 

Father                   na 

kugu,  1 

muwu 

*moa 

moa 

kumuy  ana^ 

na' 

Mother                  pia 

mawii, 

piyu' 

^  pie 

piya 

iimii,  abu* 

yo 

Older  sister           hama'a 

pachi 

michi 

patsi- 

kuchi 

kes 

Father's  father    kenu'u 

kuno 

conu 

aka 

ka'* 

Mother 's  mother  mu  *a 

kagu 

kagu 

kahu 

utsu 

tu' 

Mother's  father  togo'o 

togo 

togu 
shina-nchi' 

toho» 

agist 

kwa 

Mother's  brother  a-tsi 

shinu 

1 

kali 

tash 

Father's  sister     pahwa 

paha 

pa 

r 

pauwa 

pa-mai 

Parent-in-law        yahi 

yehe 

yai-chi 

wasu-mbis 

(descriptive)' 

Son-in-law              (descrip- 

mono 

muna-chi 

mona-tsi 

wiini 

(descriptive) 

tive) 

^  Blood  parent  before  loss  of  any  child. 

*  Younger  brother  of  the  mother. 
*Any  grandfather. 

*  Fathers'  parent. 

B  A  woman  says  ka',  father's  parent. 


It  is  clear  that  the  stems  that  are  used  to  denote  the  same  relation- 
ship are  very  variable.  The  Kawaiisu,  Uintah  Ute,  and  Kaibab  Paiute 
idioms  are  all  of  the  Ute-Chemehuevi  division  and  very  close  to  one 
another.  They  may  be  said  to  differ  only  dialecticaily.  Northern 
Paiute  belongs  to  the  same  Plateau  branch  of  the  family,  but  deserves 
to  be  reckoned  as  a  distinct  language.  Nearly  half  of  its  stems  for 
kindred  are  different.  Tiibatulabal  and  Luiseiio  are  linguistically 
somewhat  remote  from  the  others,  but  certainly  no  more  than  Greek 
is  from  Latin  or  German  from  Slavic ;  yet  the  majority  of  their  stems 
are  new. 

Analogous  results  appear  when  the  procedure  is  reversed  and  the 
meanings  of  identical  stems  are  compared. 

Tua,  tuwUf  toway  tuwa  means  son  in  aU  four  of  the  Plateau  dialects;  tumu 
is  son  or  daughter  in  Tiibatulabal. 

NamaH,  nami  is  younger  sister  in  Kawaiisu,  Ute,  and  Kaibab  Paiute;  nalawi 
is  younger  brother  or  sister  in  Tiibatulabal. 

Shinu  is  mother's  brother  in  Kawaiisu,  shina-nchi  mother's  younger  brother 
in  Ute,  shina-  male  cousin  in  Kaibab. 

Mawu  is  mother's  older  sister  in  Ute,  mawii  mother's  older  sister  or  mother 
who  has  not  lost  a  child  in  Kawaiisu,  mangwuH-  female  cousin  in  Kaibab. 

Piyu  in  Kawaiisu  denotes  only  the  mother  who  has  not  lost  a  child;  in  the 
other  three  Plateau  dialects  the  term  pta,  pie,  piya  means  mother,  without  being 
so  limited. 

Luiseno  tu\  mother's  mother,  appears  to  correspond  to  Plateau  togo'o,  togo, 
togu,  toho,  which  always  denotes  the  mother's  father. 


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368  University  of  California  Puhlioations  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

Luiseno  ka*,  father's  father  or  father's  mother,  seems  to  be  from  the  stem 
of  Kawaiisu  kagu,  Vie  kagu,  Kaibab  kahu,  all  of  which  denote  the  mother's 
mother;  while  Luiseno  kwa,  mother's  father,  perhaps  is  the  etymological  equiv- 
alent of  Plateau  kenu'u,  kuno,  konu,  father's  father.  These  correspondences  are 
not  certain,  and  perhaps  they  should  be  interchanged;  but  if  they  hold  either 
way,  there  has  been  a  specific  alteration  of  meaning. 

These  two  comparisons  in  conjunction  make  it  clear  that  terms  of 
relationship  have  a  history  quite  like  that  of  all  other  words.  They 
alter  in  meaning,  become  obsolete,  drop  out  of  usage  altogether,  and 
new  stems,  which  originally  had  another  significance,  come  to  take 
their  places.  If  kinship  terms  are  more  conservative  than  most  other 
parts  of  a  language's  vocabulary,  the  difference  is  merely  one  of 
degree.  Whether  they  are  more  conservative  is  a  subject  neither  for 
reasoning  nor  for  assumption,  but  a  problem  of  fact  to  be  established 
by  purely  philological  comparison.  In  short,  kinship  terms  are  an 
integral  part  of  the  tongues  in  which  they  occur  and  are  therefore 
subject  to  linguistic  influences  like  all  other  words.  This  being  so, 
they  cannot  be  a  perfect  nor  even  a  reliable  mirror  of  institutions. 


WINTUN 

I  secured  an  outline  of  the  Southeastern  Wintun  system  as  used 
in  the  vicinity  of  Colusa.  It  is  so  extraordinary  that  I  include  it 
for  comparative  purposes,  although  Mr.  Qifford  subsequently  obtained 
fuller  and  better  verified  lists  from  several  parts  of  the  Southeastern 
and  Southwestern  Wintun  territory.  It  appears  that  I  have  missed 
one  or  two  terms ;  but  the  skeleton  of  the  system  as  here  presented  is 
substantially  correct. 

Wintun  terms  are  used  with  possessive  affixes,  but  differ  so  much 
for  the  first  and  second  persons  that  it  is  desirable  to  give  both  forms. 
In  general,  *'my''  is  -chu,  and  **your''  is  mat-. 

Parent  Class 
tan-chUf  ma-tan,  father,  father's  brother. 
na-kUf  ma-niny  mother,  mother's  sister. 
techUf  mat-mutle,  son,  daughter,  man's  brother's  child,  woman's  sister's  child. 

Brother  Class 
lal)a-chUf  mat-lahen,  older  brother. 
otuU'ChUj  mat-usun,  older  sister. 
tlan-chu,  ma-tlan,  younger  brother  or  sister. 
The  method  of  application  of  brother-sister  terms  to  cousins  was  not  learned. 


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1917]  Kroeher:  California  Kinship  Systems  369 

Grandparent  and  Uncle  Class 

apa-chu,  mat-apan,  mother's  brother,  mother's  father,  father's  father,  great- 
grandfather. 

ama-ku,  mat-aman,  father's  si8ter,i5  mother's  mother;  presumably  also  great- 
grandmother. 

saJcan-chUf  mat-sakan,  father's  mother.io 

tai-chu,  ma-tai,  woman's  brother's  childis  or  man's  sister's  child,  that  is, 
any  cross  nephew  or  niece;  also,  any  grandchild;  presumably  also  any  great- 
grandchild. 

Father-in-Law  Class 
tes-ha  or  tes-win,  ma-tes,  parent-in-law  or  child-in-law.    Tes-win,  which  seems 
to  contain  the  stem  for  *' person"  (cf.  Wintun,  Patwin),  is  used  only  for  the 
son-in-law;  tes-ha  denotes  the  daughter-in-law  and  either  parent-in-law.    In  the 
second  person  the  suffixes  disappear  and  the  terms  are  identical. 

Brother-in-Law  Class 
tiran-chUf  ma-tiran,  sister's  husband. 
boksen-chUf  mat-boksen,  brother's  wife. 
nai-tleiif  ma-tlen,  spouse's  brother  or  sister. 


GENERAL  FEATURES 

The  extreme  condensation  of  this  remarkable  system  would  tend 
to  prevent  any  considerable  reciprocity.  In  fact,  there  is  none  dis- 
cernible, unless  the  two  forms  from  the  stem  tes  be  looked  upon  as  a 
single  self-reciprocating  term. 

The  uncle  class  has  been  totally  merged  in  the  parent  and  grand- 
parent classes.  This  may  be  a  carrying  further  of  the  Miwok  principle 
by  which  the  parallel  uncle  is  called  father.  However,  Miwok  does 
not  merge  cross-uncles  with  grandparents,  nor  cross-nephews  with 
grandchildren,  whereas  there  is  some  inclination  toward  the  classing 
together  of  nephews  and  grandchildren  among  the  Pomo  and  Yuki 
who  are  near  neighbors  of  the  Wintun.  The  latter  people  seem  there- 
fore to  have  used  the  simplifying  tactics  peculiar  to  the  systems  on 
both  sides  of  themselves. 

The  Wintun  also  agree  with  the  Miwok  in  naming  only  one  grand- 
father, but  with  the  Pomo  and  Yuki  in  distinguishing  the  paternal 
from  the  maternal  grandmother,  if  there  is  no  error  about  sakan-chu. 

The  Wintun  brother-in-law  terms  correspond  with  the  Miwok  ones, 
except  that  there  is  only  a  single  equivalent  to  three  of  the  latter: 


IB  Mr.  Gifford's  informants  gave  the  term  for  older  sister  as  denoting  the 
father 's  sister,  and  for  younger  sister  as  denoting  a  woman 's  brother 's  child. 

i«  This  term  was  not  obtained  by  Mr.  Giflford,  whose  informants  included  the 
father's  with  the  mother's  mother  under  ama-ku.  Sakan-chu  must  therefore  be 
considered  doubtful. 


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370  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

wokli,  kolina,  and  apasti.  Porno,  however,  is  still  more  similar  to 
Miwok,  the  terms  having  the  same  signification  throughout  except 
that  there  is  a  single  term  instead  of  kolina  and  apasti. 

It  therefore  seems  that  there  are  certain  tendencies  of  terminolog- 
ical classification  more  or  less  common  to  the  Miwok,  Wintun,  and 
Pomo,  and  several  in  which  they  differ ;  and  that  Wintun  utilizes  any 
of  these  methods  that  aid  reduction  of  nomenclature.  The  result  is 
a  system  even  more  compact  that  the  English  one,  and  as  free  from 
reciprocity,  but  constructed  on  utterly  different  principles. 


POMO" 

Parent  Class 

E,  father;  Tiarikf  my  father;  address:  harika, 

Te,  mother;  nik,  mj  mother;  address:  nika, 

Ghawe-l-ipf  son;  any  grandson;  anl  nephew  except  a  man's  sister's  son.  This 
term  seems  connected  with  hawi,  boy,  and  mt-p,  he.  Address:  harika,  as  for 
father. 

Ghawe-l-etf  daughter;  any  granddaughter;  any  niece  except  a  man's  sister's 
daughter.  Evidently  connected  with  hawi,  boy,  and  mi-t,  she.  Address:  nika, 
as  for  mother. 

Esh,  son  or  daughter,  presumably  also  grandchild,  nephew,  or  niece.  A  term 
of  endearment  or  ceremonial  usage.    In  address:  esha. 

Brother  Class 
Mehy  older  brother;  address:  meha. 
Deh,  older  sister;  address:  deha. 
Duhats,  younger  brother  or  sister;  address:  duhatsa. 

Grandfather  Class 

Madili,  father 's  father ;  address,  the  same.  This  word  denotes  also  the  father 's 
father's  father.  Among  the  Eastern  Pomo  south  of  Clear  Lake,  it  includes  the 
father's  older  brother;  but  this  is  not  so  among  the  people  on  the  north  side  of 
the  lake. 

Mats,  father's  mother;  address:  matsa, 

Gach,  mother's  father;  also  his  brother  and  liis  father.  This  inclusion  of 
the  great-uncle  (or  aunt)  and  great-grandparent  seems  to  apply  to  all  Pomo 
grandparent  terms.    In  address,  gacha. 

Ghats,  mother's  mother;  address:  ghatsa. 

There  are  no  terms  for  grandchildren.  The  words  chiefly  employed  are  the 
*'boy"  or  "child"  derivatives  used  for  son  and  daughter,  it  is  said;  but  a 
reciprocation  by  the  grandparents  to  the  grandchildren  is  not  unknown.  In 
this  case  the  reciprocity  seems  to  be  exact,  i.e.,  madili  denotes  a  man's  son's 
son  or  daughter,  and  so  on. 


17  Eastern  dialect,  of  Clear  Lake.    See  present  series,  xi,  320-346,  1911. 


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1917 J  Kroeber:  Cnlifomia  Kinship  Systems  371 

Uncle  Class 
Kehf  father's  brother,  also  stepfather;  in  address,  keha.    On  the  death  of  a 

married  man  his  brother  generally  married  the  widow.    His  step-children,  however, 

continued  to  call  him  keh,  not  hariJc,  father.     See  madili,  above. 
Weh,  father's  sister;  address:  weha, 

Tsets,  mother's  brother;  address:  tsetsa.    The  reciprocal  is  dah. 
Tuts,  mother's  older  sister;  address:  tutsa, 
Sheh,  mother's  younger  sister,  stepmother;  address:  sheha, 
Dah,  man's  sister's  child,  boy  or  girl;  in  address,  daha.    This  is  the  reciprocal 

of  tsets.    It  is  said  to  be  the  only  term  of  nephew-niece  type  in  Pomo,  son  or 

daughter  being  used  in  all  other  cases. 

Father-in-Law  Class 

Sha,  father-in-law,  mother-in-law. 

Dimot,  son-in-law.  This  word  is  said  to  denote  one  who  supplies  or  gives 
in  return  for  favors,  and  can  be  used  of  a  woman  who  visits  her  lover  more  or 
less  regularly. 

Shomits,  daughter-in-law. 

On  account  of  a  species  of  the  parent-in-law  taboo,  these  three  terms  are 
not  used  in  address,  but  the  plural  demonstrative  pronoun,  hibek,  "those"  or 
**they,"  is  substituted.  Or,  at  greater  length,  a  father-in-law  may  be  addressed 
as  butsigi  hibek,  *'old  man  those";  a  mother-in-law  as  daghara  hibek,  *'old  woman 
those":  a  child-in-law  as  esh-bek,  ''child  those."  Even  in  reference  to  the 
relatives  in  question  the  plural  hibek  can  be  added.  The  brothers,  fathers, 
uncles,  etc.,  of  the  parents-in-law  are  also  addressed  in  this  polite  way;  and 
presumably  the  old  people  apply  the  form  of  deference  to  their  children -in-law 's 
brothers  and  sisters.  If  the  spouse  dies,  the  former  parents  and  children-in-law 
continue  to  address  one  another  as  if  he  or  she  were  still  living.  If  the  marriage 
is  broken  off,  they  revert  to  normal  singular  forms. 

Brother-in-Law  Class 

God,  sister's  husband;  also  his  brother,  and,  it  seems,  his  sister.  In  address, 
goda. 

Mi,  brother's  wife;  also  her  sister,  and,  it  seems,  her  brother. 

Ha,  wife's  brother  or  sister.    Reciprocal  to  god. 

Ghar,  husband's  brother  or  sister.    Reciprocal  to  mi. 

Brothers-in-law  and  sisters-in-law  are  addressed  directly,  without  pluralizing 
circumlocution. 

Husband  and  Wife 
Baili,  husband;  also  kak,  "man";  in  address,  butsigi,  "old  man." 
Dat,  wife;  also  da,  "woman";  in  address,  daghara,  "old  woman." 
Giashi  is  a  vocative  term  of  endearment  used  reciprocally  by  husband  and  wife. 

GENERAL  FEATURES  AND  RELATIONS 

With  the  Pomo  we  encounter  a  reversion  from  the  extreme  re- 
duction of  the  Wintun  system.  There  is  a  marked  tendency  to  class 
juniors  under  as  few  designations  as  possible;  and  this  suffices  to 
prevent  any  great  development  of  reciprocity.    Four  terms,  however, 


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372  University  of  Calif omia  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

reappear  for  grandparents,  and  there  are  specific  uncle-aunt  desig- 
nations ;  so  that  in  this  point  we  are  back  at  the  general  Calif ornian 
practice  common  to  Washo,  Northern  Paiute,  Yokuts,  and  Tiibatu- 
labal.  The  distinction  of  the  mother's  sisters  according  to  age  is  too 
widespread  in  the  region  to  be  regardable  as  a  specific  Miwok  re- 
semblance. The  brother-in-law  terms  equal  the  Miwok  ones,  at  least 
in  involved  plan,  and  express  conceptual  reciprocity.  The  special 
three-step  terms  of  the  Miwok  are  unrepresented,  terms  of  two-step 
relationship  being  extended  to  cover  them,  as  apparently  by  most  the 
tribes  of  California.  Conceptual  reciprocity  is  found  in  the  one  word 
of  the  nephew  class ;  and  there  is  an  incipient  or  obsolescent  tendency 
toward  self-reciprocity  in  the  grandparent  group.  In  short,  the  Pomo 
system  shares  some  of  the  individualized  traits  of  the  Wintun  and 
Miwok  plans,  but  in  other  respects  is  on  a  generic  Californian  basis. 


YUKI 

I  failed  to  secure  either  a  complete  or  a  wholly  consistent  Yuki 
system.  Dr.  S.  A.  Barrett,  while  on  a  visit  to  Bound  Valley  Reser- 
vation, undertook  to  supply  the  deficiencies ;  but  his  material  proved 
insufficient  for  entire  clearness,  and  showed  apparent  contradictions 
in  the  terms  for  the  same  classes  of  kindred  in  which  I  had  encoun- 
tered difficulties,  namely,  uncles,  aunts,  nephews,  nieces,  and  grand- 
children. I  suspect  a  factor  of  classification  to  be  involved  here  which 
both  our  inquiries  failed  to  reach.  The  data  on  these  groups  of 
relatives  must  therefore  be  used  with  reserve. 

Parent  Class 
K'un,  father. 
JBT'an,  mother. 
K'il-(i),  son,  daughter. 

Brother  Class 
K*ich,  older  brother,  older  sister. 
La'n,  younger  brother. 
Mu*nj  younger  sister. 

Uncle  Class 
KaiHf  father's  brother,  stepfather. 
Kikan,  mother's  older  brother. 
AiH,  mother's  younger  brother. 

Pa^chet  and  p*oyam  were  both  obtained  for  father's  sistei 
Nai**t,  mother's  sister,  probably  older. 


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1917]  Kroeber:  California  Kinship  Systems  373 

Ka^shf  mother's  sister,  probably  younger;  stepmother. 

Difficulty  and  confusion  were  experienced  in  securing  these  terms  from 
informants.  The  possibility  must  be  reckoned  with  that  some  of  the  terms 
differ  radically  as  they  are  used  in  reference  or  address;  or  that  other  factors 
are  involved. 

ChaH-ka^j  man's  brother's  child,  woman's  sister's  child,  that  is,  parallel 
nephew  or  niece;  or,  as  it  might  be  defined,  potential  stepchild. 

Ipima  or  ipimich-ka**,  man's  sister's  child. 

Kup  was  obtained  with  the  same  meaning;  it  may  be  a  term  of  address  only. 

Omsa-ka^,  woman's  brother's  child.  Some  informants  add  woman's  sister's 
child,  and  man's  sister's  daughter,  but  this  seems  unlikely. 

Grandparent  Class 

Osh,  father's  father. 

Pit,  mother's  father. 

Pop,  father's  mother. 

Titf  mother's  mother. 

Asam-ap-kaf*f  son 's  child. 

Asam-chaH-ka^ f  am-chaH-ka^,  daughter's  child.  Evidently  from  chaH-ka**, 
parallel  nephew-niece. 

Informants  were  not  wholly  consistent  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  two  grand- 
child terms. 

Parent-in-Law  Class 
OH-am,  parent-in-law. 
Wit(-i),  son-in-law. 
Kim(-a)f  daughter-in-law.    Sut-am  was  obtained  with  the  same  meaning. 

Brother-in-Law  Class 

La^ya^f  wife's  brother. 

Chat,  wife's  sister,  brother's  wife. 

Ta^shity  husband's  sister,  husband's  brother,  sister's  husband. 

Chat  and  ta^shit  are  reciprocal;  that  is,  any  woman  called  chat  says  ta'^shit 
to  the  man  or  woman  so  addressing  her.  The  reciprocal  of  la^^ya^,  however,  is 
also  ta^shit. 

These  terms  were  obtained  identically  by  Dr.  Barrett  and  myself,  and  may 
therefore  be  relied  upon. 

GENERAL  FEATURES  AND  RELATIONS 
In  spite  of  the  imperfection  of  the  record,  it  can  probably  be 
inferred  that  the  Yuki  system  is  once  more  of  the  generic  Central 
Califomian  type.  The  resemblance  of  grandchild  and  nephew  terms 
indeed  is  evidence  of  some  influence  of  the  inclinations  that  have 
shaped  the  Wintun  system  and  in  part  that  of  the  Porno.  But  the 
terminology  for  uncles  and  aunts,  that  for  grandparents,  and  an 
apparently  moderate  degree  of  conceptually  reciprocal  expression — 
self -reciprocal  terms  have  not  been  found — ^indicate  that  the  Yuki 
system  is  sprung  from  the  same  basis  as  that  which  has  originated  the 
systems  of  the  Washo,  Northern  Paiute,  and  Yokuts. 


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374  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 


YUROK 

All  terms  were  obtained  with  one  of  the  sufiixes  ne-  or  n-,  my,  he- 
or  k',  your,  and  we-  or  u-,  his,  her.  There  are  also  suffixes,  especially 
'Osh,  which  are  not  part  of  the  stem.  Most  of  the  terms  are  verified 
by  information  independently  obtained  by  Dr.  T.  T.  Waterman. 

Father  Class 

Ne-pshets,  u-pshits,  father.  The  term  of  address  is  tot,  but  we-tot-osh,  his 
father,  was  also  obtained.  The  difference  between  the  two  stems  is  not  clear. 
It  is  not  one  of  sex  of  the  speaker. 

We-ts-eko  or  u-kok-osh,  mother.    In  address:  kok. 

There  are  no  words  meaning  son  or  daughter.  N-oukshu  is  "my  child,*' 
ne-megwahshe  *  *  my  boy  "  or  * '  son, ' '  ne-weryernerksh  *  *  my  girl ' '  or  * '  daughter. ' ' 

Brother  Class 

Ne-mitS'Osh  or  ne-mit-oshf  older  brother. 

Ne-pin-osh,  older  sister. 

Kits-pe%  older  brother  or  sister.    Probably  from  pe^Un,  large. 

Tseihkenif  ne-eihk-eUy  younger  brother  or  sister.     Tseihkeni  means  **  small. " 

Tsits  or  chich,  vocative,  and  ne-choch-osh,  first  person,  were  obtained  by  Dr. 
Waterman  as  meaning  younger  brother  or  sister. 

Nepa%  brother,  male  cousin,  or  more  distant  male  relative  of  a  man. 

Ne-weyitSf  sister,  female  cousin,  or  more  distant  female  relative  of  a  man. 

Ne-laif  brother,  male  cousin,  or  more  distant  female  relative  of  a  woman. 
Dr.  Waterman  gives  an  apparent  contraction:  let. 

The  first  five  of  these  terms,  which  refer  to  age,  and  the  last  four,  which 
express  sex,  overlap.  The  former  have  more  or  less  exact  equivalents  in  all 
the  Californian  languages.  The  latter  are  of  a  much  rarer  tjrpe,  but  similar 
terms  recur  among  the  neighboring  Karok,  so  that  a  secondary  development  local 
to  northwestern  California  may  be  involved. 

Grandparent  Class 

Ne-pits-osh,  grandfather,  as  in  English,  that  is,  both  the  father's  father  and 
the  mother's  father. 

Ne-kuts-oshf  grandmother. 

Ne-k'ep-eUf  grandchild.  Also  used  for  nephew  and  niece,  in  addition  to  the 
terms  specifically  denoting  these  relationships. 

Uncle  Class 

Ne-ts-im-osh,  father's  brother;  mother's  brother;  that  is,  *' uncle"  as  in 
English. 

Ne-tul-oshf  mother's  sister;  father's  sister;  that  is,  "aunt"  as  in  English. 

NC'k-tsum,  brother's  or  sister's  son,  that  is,  "nephew"  as  in  English. 

Ner-ramets,  brother's  or  sister's  daughter,  that  is,  "niece"  as  in  English. 

All  four  of  these  terms  are  also  used  for  relatives  of  the  cousin  class,  which  see. 

Ne-k*ep-eUf  grandchild,  is  sometimes  also  employed  for  nephews  and  nieces. 
I  base  this  statement  on  concrete  cases  within  my  experience.  Conversely,  I 
have  had  nepits-osh,  grandfather,  translated  as  mother's  brother,  and  ne-tul-oshf 


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1917]  Kroeber:  California  Kinship  Systems  375 

aunt,  as  father's  mother;  but  I  have  no  cases  to  support  these  definitions  and 
they  may  be  errors. 

Cottsins 
First  cousins  can  apparently  be  designated  by  the  four  generic  brother-sister 
terms  that  lack  age  reference.  My  examples,  however,  yield  the  terms  for 
nephew,  niece,  and  uncle,  to  which,  presumably,  the  one  for  aunt  must  be  added. 
The  principle  determining  which  of  two  cousins  is  the  *  *  uncle  "  or  * '  aunt ' '  and 
which  the  ** nephew"  or  "niece**  is  not  altogether  certain,  but  appears  to  be 
absolute  age.  The  selection  of  terms  is  not  dependent  on  cross  or  parallel  cousin- 
ship. 

Parent-in-Law  Class 

Ne-par-eu,  father-in-law. 

Ne-ts-iwin,  mother-in-law. 

Ne-tS'ne*uk-osh,  son-in-law. 

Ne-keptsum,  daughter-in-law. 

Ne-kwa,  father-in-law  or  mother-in-law  of  one's  son  or  daughter.  Self- 
reciprocal.  Dr.  Waterman 's  informant  makes  this  term  include  all  connections 
by  marriage  more  remote  than  parents,  children,  brothers,  and  sisters-in-law. 

Ne-ts-ker,  any  relative  by  marriage  after  death  of  the  connecting  member. 

Brother-in-law  Class 

Ne-tei,  wife's  brother;  man's  sister's  husband.  Self -reciprocal:  man's  brother- 
in-law. 

Ni-ts-niUf  husband's  sister;  woman's  brother's  wife;  man's  brother's  wife; 
wife's  sister;  in  short,  any  sister-in-law. 

Ni-ts-no^o,  husband's  brother;  woman's  sister's  husband;  that  is,  woman's 
brother-in-law. 

Changes  for  Death 
Dr.  Waterman  reports  the  following  terms  for  deceased  relatives: 
Ne-me-niHyun,  **my  dead  grew-up-together, "  deceased  brother  or  sister. 
Ne-me-tsameyotl,  dead  uncle. 

Ne-me-k-t8um,  or  kotl n-oukshu,  "dead  my-child,"  deceased  nephew. 
Ne-me-pets-eu,  dead  grandfather. 
Ne-me-ke-kts-eUf  dead  grandmother. 


GENERAL  FEATURES 

The  Yurok  system  stands  quite  apart  from  any  other  yet  recorded 
in  California.  The  failure  to  distin^ish  between  grandparents, 
grandchildren,  uncles,  aunts,  nephews,  and  nieces  according  to  their 
male  or  female  lineage  seems  extraordinary  after  acquaintance  with 
the  kinship  reckonings  of  the  other  Califomians.  Civilized  influences 
can  not  be  thought  of  in  this  connection,  for  if  there  is  any  tribe  in 
the  state  that  preserved  the  substance  of  its  old  life  intact  until 
recently  it  is  the  remote  Yurok. 


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376  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

Separation  of  relatives  in  the  male  and  female  line  is  so  frequently 
accompanied  by  a  development  of  true  reciprocal  expression  in  Cali- 
fornia, in  the  Great  Basin  region,  and  in  the  Southwest  that  the  two 
phenomena  must  be  taken  in  connection.  As  might  be  anticipated, 
the  Yurok  evince  little  feeling  for  reciprocity,  not  only  in  the  kinship 
classes  just  mentioned  but  in  the  other  group  which  lends  itself  readily 
to  reciprocal  formulation,  the  relatives  by  marriage.  This  is  the  more 
remarkable  because  in  the  Oregon  region,  as  instanced  by  the  Takelma 
and  the  Chinook,  systems  of  California-Plateau-Southwestem  type 
seem  again  to  prevail.  It  is  necessary  to  look  as  far  as  the  Coast 
Salish,  or  the  tribes  of  the  eastern  United  States,  before  terminologies 
of  the  general  plan  of  the  Yurok  one  are  again  encountered.  As  the 
Yurok  are  Algonkin,  the  interesting  problem  is  raised  whether  it  is 
possible  that  they  have  brought  the  outlines  of  an  ancient  system 
with  them  from  their  presumable  eastern  source  of  origin,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  maintaining  the  same  for  an  undoubtedly  long  period  in 
an  entirely  different  cultural  setting. 

This  query  can  be  answered  only  after  we  know  the  kinship  systems 
of  the  tribes  immediately  adjacent  to  the  Yurok :  the  fellow  Algonkin 
Wiyot;  the  Athabascan  Hupa,  Tolowa,  and  Chilula;  and  the  Hokan 
Karok.  It  may  prove  that  we  have  to  deal  with  a  surviving  and  re- 
invigorated  importation;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  with  a  new  local 
development  due  to  obscurer  causes. 

The  two  or  perhaps  three  classes  of  brother-sister  designations  in 
Yurok  are  very  interesting,  but  more  must  be  known  concerning  the 
distribution  of  the  phenomenon,  as  well  as  of  the  etymology  of  the 
words  in  question,  before  a  satisfactory  interpretation  is  possible. 


THREE-STEP  RELATIONSHIP 

Kindred  removed  by  three  steps  of  relationship,  such  as  the  great- 
grandfather or  brother-in-law's  parent,^^  can  of  course  be  designated 
in  all  languages,  either  by  compounds,  by  more  or  less  descriptive 
additions,  or  by  mere  extension  of  meaning  of  the  terms  denoting 
nearer  kin.  Some  systems,  however,  contain  specific  designations  for 
certain  three-step  relations — like  English  ** cousin.'*  Such  terms 
average  two  or  three  in  number  in  the  Californian  systems,  but  their 
frequency  as  well  as  their  meanings  vary  greatly  according  to  language. 


i«  I  count  the  brother,  sister,  and  wife  as  one  step  removed. 


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1917]  Kroeher:  Cclifomia  Kinship  Systems  377 

The  commonest  three-step  term  is  the  self-reciprocal  one  denoting 
the  parent  of  a  child-in-law.  This  forms  part  of  the  Luiseno,  Kawaiisu, 
Tiibatulabal,  Yokuts,  Miwok,  and  Northern  Paiute  systems.  These 
are  all  found  in  southern  and  central  California  or  Nevada.  If  the 
gaps  in  our  knowledge  were  filled,  the  distribution  of  terms  with  this 
meaning  would  probably  be  found  to  be  continuous.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  an  area  in  north  central  California  in  which  specific 
terms  for  the  child-in-law 's  parent  have  not  been  found.  In  this 
area  are  the  Wintun,  Pomo,  Yuki,  and  perhaps  Washo.  For  some  of 
these  information  may  be  imperfect ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  area 
may  extend  much  farther  northward.  Mohave  is  also  not  known  to 
possess  a  term  of  this  significance.  This  may  be  due  to  mere  over- 
sight in  recording,  or  to  proximity  of  the  Mohave  to  the  Pueblo 
Indians,  who  do  without.  In  the  northwest,  however,  the  relationship 
is  expressed  in  Yurok,  though  possibly  the  primary  meaning  of  the 
term  is  more  general. 

Great-grandparents  and  great-grandchildren  are  next  most  fre- 
quently denoted.  Again  Mohave  stands  out  from  a  central  and 
southern  group,  which  consists  of  Luiseno,  Kawaiisu,  Tiibatulabal, 
Yokuts,  and  Northern  Paiute.  The  terminology  in  most  of  these  is 
obviously  secondary :  derivatives  from  words  meaning  brother  or  sister, 
mother's  sister,  and  ghost  occur.  Sex  is  sometimes  denoted  and  some- 
times not ;  the  number  of  terms  varies  from  one  to  four.  In  Luiseno 
there  are  terms  for  ancestors  as  far  removed  as  the  sixth  generation. 
Miwok,  the  three  north  central  systems,  and  Yurok  lack  words  of  this 
class,  ancestors  or  descendants  of  the  third  generation  being  merged 
in  those  of  the  second.    Mohave  uses  outright  brother  terms. 

Specific  cousin  terms  are  restricted  to  the  extreme  south.  Luiseno 
possesses  one  for  cross-cousins,  Mohave  three  or  four  narrowly  limited 
words  for  particular  kinds  of  parallel  and  cross-cousins. 

Luiseno  is  the  only  language  known  to  have  a  term  for  grand- 
mother's brother  or  grandfather's  sister.  Several  other  relationships 
are  included,  but  they  are  all  three  step. 

Miwok,  finally,  has  specialized  in  developing  four  terms  to  denote 
kindred  of  relatives-in-law :  haiyeme,  kumatsa,  moe,  pinuksa. 

The  peculiar  Miwok  terms  may  possibly  be  connected  with  a  type 
of  kin  marriage  that  is  best  known  among  this  group;  though  the 
correlation  remains  to  be  established.  The  cousin,  great-grandparent, 
and  child-in-law 's  parent  terms,  on  the  other  hand,  fail  quite  clearly 
to  correlate  in  their  distribution  with  any  social  practices.    The  last 


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378  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arc^.  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

might  be  thought  to  be  associated  with  parent-in-law  taboo ;  but,  while 
still  imperfectly  known,  the  spread  of  this  custom  seems  to  run  with- 
out relevance  to  that  of  the  term.  It  is  therefore  difficult  to  avoid 
the  conclusion  that  the  occurrence  of  all  these  classes  of  terms  is  due 
to  a  merely  conceptual  attitude — a  habit  of  mind  or  manner  of  thought 
which,  originating  among  one  people,  was  often  gradually  imitated  by 
others. 


CLASSIFICATION  OP  THE  CALIFORNIAN  SYSTEMS 

The  twelve  systems  that  have  been  analyzed  fall  spontaneously 
into  three  classes.  The  first  comprises  the  Mohave  and  Luiseno,  both 
in  southern  California.  The  second  consists,  in  the  present  state  of 
knowledge,  of  Yurok  alone.  The  third  includes  all  the  remainder, 
from  the  Yuki  in  the  west  and  north  to  the  Northern  Paiute  in  the 
east  and  the  Yokuts  and  Kawaiisu  in  the  south.  The  geographical 
distribution  of  these  three  types,  which  have  been  established  solely 
on  the  basis  of  what  seems  to  be  their  inherent  nature,  coincides  with 
the  distribution  of  types  of  native  civilization  generally  accepted  for 
California;  in  other  words,  the  three  primary  culture  areas — ^the 
Southern,  the  Northwestern,  and  the  Central. 

Within  the  central  group  of  kinship  systems  a  generic  and  a 
specialized  subtype  are  distinguishable.  The  former  is  represented 
by  Yokuts;  by  Northern  Paiute  and  Washo,  which  must  be  treated 
as  a  unit ;  by  Tubatulabal  and  Kawaiisu ;  and  probably  by  Yuki.  No 
two  of  these  systems  are  alike,  but  their  differences  are  particularities 
of  comparatively  little  moment  as  against  their  similar  features.  All 
of  them  are  peripheral  in  the  territory  in  which  they  occur.  As  the 
center  of  this  tract  is  approached  marked  divergences  begin  to  appear 
on  the  one  side  among  the  Pomo  and  on  the  other  with  the  Miwok, 
until,  in  the  heart  of  the  area,  among  the  southern  Wintun,  the 
specializing  tendencies  reach  their  height. 

The  characteristics  of  the  southern  Californian  type  of  kinship 
are  an  enormous  development  of  reciprocal  expression,  and  a  striking 
reduction  of  the  terms  denoting  connections  by  marriage.  Perhaps 
equally  important  intrinsically  is  the  consistent  recognition  of  the 
factor  of  lineage,  as  expressed  terminologically  in  the  distinction  of 
cross  and  parallel  relatives;  but  this  is  not  an  exclusive  southern 
peculiarity.    All  of  these  traits  seem  typical  also  of  the  systems  of  the 


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Southwest,  with  which  region  southern  California  has  many  cultural 
correspondences. 

The  central  Californian  type,  in  its  generic  and  presumably 
original  form,  is  marked  by  consistent  reciprocity  within  the  grand- 
parent and  uncle  classes  of  terms,  but  little  at  other  points;  by  the 
distinction  of  cross  and  parallel  relatives  throughout ;  and  by  a  fairly 
elaborate  development  of  nomenclature  for  connections  by  marriage, 
parents-in-law,  however,  being  denoted  by  a  single  term.  This  type 
of  system  seems  to  extend  with  but  little  variation  across  the  Great 
Basin,  whose  Shoshonean  inhabitants,  it  may  be  added,  are  culturally 
somewhat  affiliated  with  the  central  Californians. 

The  specialized  southern  Wintun  subtype  is  characterized  by  an 
extreme  merging  of  relationships  into  one  another,  and  a  consequently 
small  number  of  terms.  This  tendency  has  completely  wiped  out  two 
of  the  three  traits  typical  of  the  generic  central  form  of  system :  the 
reciprocity  and  the  abundance  of  affinity  designations.  The  third 
feature,  the  consciousness  of  kind  of  lineage  as  expressed  in  difference 
of  terms  for  parallel  and  cross  kindred,  remains  in  vigor  only  in  the 
uncle  class.  Perhaps  the  salient  trait  of  the  system  is  the  merging 
of  near  lineal  with  near  collateral  relatives  as  a  consequence  of  the 
general  reduction  in  terminology.  The  Miwok  and  Pomo  follow  the 
Wintun  scheme  less  radically,  and  add  certain  characteristics  of  their 
own  which  must  be  looked  upon  as  local  individualizations. 

The  northwest  Californian  type,  finally,  if  Yurok  may  be  regarded 
as  indicative  of  such  a  one  and  is  not  merely  representative  of  its 
own  particularity,  disregards  the  distinction  of  cross  and  parallel 
relatives  and  reveals  virtually  no  impulse  toward  reciprocal  expression. 
The  Yurok,  to  put  it  differently,  come  much  nearer  ourselves  and  the 
majority  of  Plains  Indians  than  do  any  central  or  south  California 
people  in  thinking  in  nearly  every  instance  of  the  sex  of  the  denoted 
relative*®  and  only  rarely  of  the  sex  of  the  intermediate  one.^*^ 

There  are  some  scattering  data  on  several  tribes  not  formally 
treated  here.  In  general,  these  indicate  systems  of  the  type  prevailing 
in  the  region  of  each  tribe. 

The  available  Costanoan  data^*  are  in  contradictory  shape,  but  it 


i»  English,  in  95  per  cent  of  cases;  Arapaho,  Dakota,  Pawnee,  90;  Yurok,  85; 
other  Californians,  60  to  80. 

20  English,  0  per  cent;  the  three  Plains  tribes,  10  to  30;  Yurok,  20  (wholly 
among  connections  by  marriage);  Wintun,  about  the  same;  other  Californians, 
40  to  60. 

21  Present  series,  xi,  437,  471,  1916. 


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380  University  of  Calif omia  Publications  in  Am,  Aroh.  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

is  clear  that  there  was  some  merging  of  nephews  and  grandsons  and 
probably  of  uncles  and  grandparents;  in  other  words,  a  definite 
aflSliation  with  the  Wintun  subtype. 

Salinan,  from  whose  two  dialects  thirty-four  terms  of  relationship 
have  been  preserved,*^  though  very  variously  rendered,  does  not  show 
this  trait.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  conceptual  without  verbal 
reciprocity  in  the  grandparent  and  uncle  classes.  Indications  there- 
fore point  to  Salinan  belonging  to  the  generic  central  type. 

Chumash^^  is  also  central  in  character,  with  some  leanings  toward 
the  southern  type,  as  manifested,  for  instance,  in  distinct  words  used 
for  '*son"  by  father  and  mother.  The  primary  distinction  among 
grandparents  appears  to  be  on  the  basis  of  lineage,  and  among  brothers 
and  sisters  on  the  ground  of  seniority,  the  denotation  of  sex  being 
wanting  or  incidental.  In  the  uncle  class  there  are  indications  of 
four  terms  for  seniors  and  four  for  juniors,  exactly  reciprocal  but 
verbally  distinct.  The  father-in-law  and  mother-in-law  are  denoted 
by  one  word. 

For  the  Northwest,  there  are  scraps  from  three  languages.  Wiyot, 
if  the  translations  of  its  half  dozen  known  terms  may  be  trusted,^* 
is  of  Yurok  type.  Hupa^*^  may  have  grandfather  and  grandmother 
terms  of  English  and  Yurok  type,  but  the  uncle-aunt  nomenclature 
is  likely  to  be  generic  Californian.  Chimariko,^®  finally,  gives  no 
evidence  of  leaning  to  Yurok  methods.  Uncertain  as  these  meager  data 
are,  they  hint  that  Yurok  is  representative  of  a  specific  California- 
Algonkin  rather  than  a  Northwestern  Californian  type. 

KINSHIP  AND  TYPE  OF  CULTURE 
A  theoretical  inference  emerges  from  the  distributional  coinci- 
dence of  types  of  kinship  systems  and  types  of  culture  in  California. 
The  correspondence  can  scarcely  be  accidental  and  meaningless.  The 
type  of  culture  must  therefore  be  regarded  as  having  helped  to  shape 
the  kinship  system.  Now,  the  three  Californian  cultures  differ  but 
little  in  specific  content.  Nearly  all  the  arts  and  ideas  of  one  tribe 
recur  among  all  the  others.  An  inspection  of  a  balanced  museum 
collection  from  the  various  groups  in  the  state  invariably  yields  the 
impression  of  great  uniformity,  except  as  to  finer  detail ;  and  reviews 


22  Same,  x,  169-172,  1912. 

23  Same,  ii,  42,  1904,  and  a  few  unpublished  notes  from  Santa  Barbara. 

24  Same,  ix,  407,  1911. 

25  Same,  in,  15,  1905. 

26  Same,  v,  352,  363-370,  1910. 


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1917]  Eroeber:  California  Kinship  Systems  381 

of  the  immaterial  elements  of  civilization  have  always  led  to  the  same 
conclusion.  There  are  distinctive  customs  and  practices:  slavery  and 
plank  houses  in  the  northwest,  masks  and  moieties  in  the  central 
region,  sand  paintings  and  emergence  myths  in  the  south ;  but  relative 
to  the  totality  of  cultural  facts  such  peculiarities  are  few. 

What,  then,  constitutes  the  reality  and  the  essence  of  the  cultural 
types  prevailing  in  the  three  regions?  Obviously,  if  it  is  not  the 
substance  of  culture,  it  is  its  form ;  if  not  the  discrete  elements  in  any 
important  degree,  then  their  organization.  An  art  or  a  custom  may 
be  practiced  both  in  the  south  and  in  the  northwest,  but  its  emphasis 
or  weighting  be  quite  diverse,  its  associations  and  therefore  its  sig- 
nificance be  thoroughly  distinct.  In  short,  the  values  of  closely 
similar  material  are  notably  different.  This  is  true  of  course  of  all 
cultural  types  as  determined  by  history  and  ethnology  and  framed 
in  culture  areas  or  cultural  periods.  But  in  a  compact  and  restricted 
territory  such  as  California  constitutes,  the  similarity  of  the  civil- 
izationai  material  has  an  opportunity  to  be  so  high  as  to  reach  sub- 
stantial identity;  and  its  formal  and  associational  individualizations 
become  proportionally  evident. 

These  organizations  or  values  of  cultural  content  are  in  their 
nature  general  and  relative  as  compared  with  the  more  discrete  and 
directly  given  cultural  material.  They  are  also  more  definitely 
*' mental,'*  more  ** psychic."  When  therefore  we  find  cultures  as 
wholes  underlying  kinship  systems  we  must  conclude  that  the  latter 
have  each  been  considerably  influenced  by  the  associational  complex 
that  we  may  denominate  the  ** psyche''  of  its  culture,  that  is,  the 
ways  of  thinking  and  feeling  characteristic  of  the  culture.  In  this 
sense,  then,  we  must  recognize  the  influence,  upon  systems  of  kinship 
designation,  of  factors  that,  for  want  of  another  term,  may  be  called 
psychological. 

Exactly  the  same  conclusions  are  reached  from  an  examination 
of  the  subtypes  within  the  central  Californian  culture.  The  recog- 
nition within  this  culture  area  of  a  generalized  fringe,  a  more  definitely 
organized  core,  and  a  highly  specialized  nucleus  in  the  region  of  the 
southern  Wintun,  can  be  established  for  the  ceremonial  aspects  of 
religion,  for  instance,  exactly  as  for  kinship  systems.  The  remoter 
and  mountain  tribes  are  addicted  only  to  uncorrelated  and  unspecial- 
ized  practices,  which  nevertheless  must  be  accepted  as  representing  the 
basis  of  the  religion  of  the  entire  area.  Inside,  within  the  great  valley, 
a  definite  ceremonial  organization  prevails;  and  this  in  turn  appears 


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382  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

to  reach  its  greatest  development,  and  to  have  received  most  of  its 
formative  impulses,  from  the  peoples  near  the  center  of  this  valley, 
notably  the  southern  Wintun.  In  the  matter  of  religion,  the  dis- 
tinctive achievement  of  the  Wintun  took  the  outward  form  of  an 
elaboration;  as  regards  kinship  system,  of  a  simplification.  But  in 
both  the  ritualistic  elaboration  and  the  terminological  simplification 
there  is  involved  a  stronger  adherence  to  an  ideal  scheme,  more  con- 
sequential carrying  out  of  a  consistent  set  of  concepts,  more  order  and 
organization,  in  short,  a  more  developed  revelation  of  ** mental''  or 
rather  cultural  activity.  It  would  be  absurd  to  posit  the  Wintun 
esoteric  religious  society  and  its  impersonations  of  gods  as  the  deter- 
mining cause  of  the  abnormal  Wintun  system  of  kinship  nomen- 
clature. But  it  is  undeniable  that  they  are  parallel  manifestations 
of  the  same  manner  or  degree  of  ** psychic*'  or  civilizational  operation 
in  culture. 

KINSHIP  AND  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  but  few  clear  indications  of  an 
association,  regional  or  otherwise,  between  types  of  kinship  systems 
and  types  of  social  institutions  pure  and  simple,  that  is,  practices 
connected  with  marriage,  descent,  personal  relations,  and  the  like; 
and  equally  few  instances  of  particular  traits  of  kinship  nomenclature 
according  with  specific  institutions.  Unfortunately,  society  is  as  yet 
perhaps  the  least  understood  aspect  of  the  native  culture  of  California. 
But  we  know  something ;  and  practically  all  the  available  information 
points  in  the  direction  of  the  conclusion  just  stated. 

The  Mohave  and  Luiseno  systems  have  been  seen  to  be  similar. 
Yet  the  Mohave  are  organized  into  clans,  whereas  among  the  Luiseno 
there  are  only  halting  and  somewhat  doubtful  approaches  to  clans, 
according  to  the  most  recent  information  secured  by  Mr.  E.  W.  Giflford. 

In  central  California  a  system  of  hereditary  moieties  is  found 
among  the  interior  Miwok,  all  the  more  northerly  Yokuts,  the  western 
Mono,  and  probably  the  Salinans;  and  again  in  parts  of  southern 
California.^^  It  may  have  prevailed  among  a  few  other  tribes,  but 
its  further  extension  can  not  have  been  very  great.  It  is  not  known 
to  have  existed  among  the  Wintun,  Pomo,  Yuki,  Washo,  Northern 
Paiute,  or  southerly  Yokuts.  The  distribution  both  of  types  of  kinship 
systems  and  of  special  traits  of  kinship  designation  fails  to  agree  with 

27  According  to  information  secured  by  Mr.  E.  W.  Gifford  and  embodied  in 
a  paper  soon  to  appear  from  his  pen  in  the  present  series  of  publications. 


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1  917]  Kroeher:  Cdifomia  Kinship  Systems  383 

t  he  distribution  of  these  moieties.  If  there  were  any  considerable 
c  ausal  correlation,  the  Miwok  should  form  a  unit  as  against  the  Wintun, 
t  le  Porno,  the  Washo,  the  southern  Yokuts,  and  the  other  tribes  of 
clentral  California;  whereas  it  appears  from  the  previous  discussion 
tpat  the  relations  of  these  systems  are  quite  otherwise. 
/  In  the  northwest,  it  is  difficult  to  recognize  any  specific  social 
factors  that  might  be  correlated  with  the  peculiar  system  of  this 
region,  or  at  least  of  the  Yurok.  There  is  extant  for  this  area  Dr. 
Goddard's  excellent  monograph  on  the  Hupa,  and  I  have  undergone 
repeated  association  with  the  Yurok  themselves,  with  the  opportunity 
of  seeing  much  of  their  intimate  life;  yet  I  cannot  name  a  single 
strictly  ** social'*  aspect  of  their  culture  which  is  not  closely  similar 
to  the  corresponding  institutions  of  all  the  other  Indians  of  the  state, 
with  the  lone  exception  of  the  fact  that  northwestern  marriage  is  a 
definite  purchase  and  the  wife  true  property.  With  the  best  endeavor 
I  cannot,  however,  devise  a  satisfying  connection  between  this  phe- 
nomenon and  the  peculiarities  of  Yurok  terminology  for  relatives. 
It  might  be  said  that  the  purchase  obliterates  the  personality  of  the 
wife  and  merges  her  in  the  husband,  so  that  the  distinction  of  paternal 
and  maternal  relatives  follows  as  a  consequence.  But  I  cannot  wholly 
persuade  myself  that  the  Yurok  mind  works  along  this  channel,  even 
in  its  deepest  unconsciousness;  and  there  is  the  contrary  argument 
that  if  the  wife  is  a  chattel  and  only  the  husband  a  person,  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  mother  and  the  father,  and  their  respective 
relatives,  might  be  conceived  of  as  being  emphasized. 

The  parent-in-law  taboo  is  in  force  over  considerable  parts  of 
central  California :  among  the  Yokuts,  Miwok,  Pomo,  and  presumably 
Southern  Wintun,  of  the  groups  here  treated.  It  is  not  practiced 
by  the  Yurok,  Yuki,  Tiibatulabal,  Kawaiisu,  Luiseno,  or  Mohave,  and 
probably  not  by  the  Paiute  and  Washo.  The  custom  might  be  cor- 
related with  the  Wintun  subtype  of  kinship  system;  but  the  corre- 
spondence does  not  seem  very  exact. 

The  taboo  of  the  name  of  the  dead,  and  of  any  allusion  to  them, 
is  universal  in  California,  and  the  various  tribes  adhere  to  the  ob- 
servance with  much  the  same  scrupulousness  and  emotional  intensity ; 
yet  devices  for  avoiding  or  altering  the  designations  of  affinities  by 
marriage  after  the  decease  of  the  person  connecting  them  seem  to  vary 
considerably.  Of  course  such  devices  ensure  only  a  formal  compliance 
with  the  taboo  precept ;  in  substance  they  can  be  regarded  as  just  as 
potential  for  emphasizing  the  remembrance  of  the  death.     In  fact. 


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384  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  r»   2 

I 

we  cannot  be  sure  that  such  is  not  their  true  subconscious  functioili. 
It  would  seem  therefore  that  such  terminological  devices  may  proA  e 
to  be  the  product  of  several  interacting  and  perhaps  conflicting  cu  I- 
tural  attitudes. 

Where  customary  marriage  of  relatives  prevails,  it  would  see^  u 
likely  to  have  some  influence  on  kinship  systems.  This  seems  to  l^ 
the  chief  reason  for  the  undoubted  correspondences  of  terminolo^ 
and  social  practice  in  certain  parts  of  Australia  and  Oceania ;  exogamy, 
descent,  and  marriage  classes  appearing  to  be  involved,  whereas  a 
theoretically  or  actually  prescribed  marriage  to  certain  kindred  is  the 
true  shaping  factor.  With  such  marriage,  definite  and  prescribed 
personal  or  functional  relations  between  non-marrying  relatives  may 
be  associated  as  a  concurrent  influence.  In  California,  however,  we 
hear  very  little  of  specifically  determined  relations  between  kindred ; 
and  other  than  the  universal  levirate,  and  its  reverse,  marriage  with 
the  wife's  sister,  the  only  form  of  marriage  of  kindred  recorded  is 
the  cross-cousin  wedlock  of  the  Miwok  and  some  neighboring  groups. 
Mr.  Gifford  has  shown  very  convincingly  by  analysis  of  circumstantial 
evidence  that  Miwok  cross-cousin  marriage,  which  does  not  accord 
with  the  Miwok  designations  of  kindred,  is  a  secondary  result  of  the 
marriage  of  a  man  to  his  wife's  brother's  daughter.  This  form  of 
marriage,  and  the  marriage  of  the  brother's  widow  or  the  wife's  sister, 
are  reflected  in  Miwok  nomenclature  to  the  extent  that  a  dozen  kinship 
terms  are  in  thorough  accord,  in  their  full  range  of  meanings,  with 
each  of  the  practices.  It  is  thus  clear  that  certain  forms  of  what 
might  be  described  as  statutory  marriage  have  helped  to  shape  and 
color  kinship  terms  among  the  Miwok;  and  the  same  condition  may 
be  expected  to  prevail  among  other  tribes. 

The  marriage  to  the  wife's  brother's  daughter  I  am  disposed  to 
regard  as  a  local  modification,  under  the  influence  of  the  moiety 
system,  of  the  widespread  Calif ornian  custom  of  marrying  the  wife's 
daughter.  Where  there  are  moieties,  the  wife's  daughter  must  be 
of  the  same  exogamous  division  as  her  stepfather  and  therefore  in- 
eligible to  him;  the  wife's  cross-niece,  that  is,  her  brother's  daughter, 
is  the  nearest  relative  available  to  take  her  place.  Over  most  of 
California,  accordingly,  it  is  marriage  to  the  wife's  daughter,  the 
wife's  sister,  and  the  brother's  widow  that  would  have  to  be  examined 
as  potential  influences  upon  the  kinship  system.  There  are  a  number 
of  indications  that  this  influence  has  been  realized.  Such,  for  instance, 
is  the  designation  of  the  mother's  younger  sister  and  the  stepmother 


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1P17]  Kroeher :  Calif  omia  Kinship  Systems  385 

by  a  single  word.  On  the  whole,  however,  my  material  is  so  much 
less  complete  than  Mr.  Gifford's  Miwok  data,  especially  in  lacking 
most  of  the  remoter  meanings  of  the  recorded  terms,  that  any  intensive 
examination  of  the  degree  of  correlation  on  these  points  would  be 
prematurely  unsatisfactory. 

To  return  once  more  to  general  social  structure,  it  is  highly  prob- 
able that  all  differences  in  the  formal  organization  of  society  are 
superficial  in  California.  Most  tribes  lack  any  such  formal  scheme; 
and  where  it  exists,  as  among  the  Miwok  and  the  Mohave,  it  rests 
lightly  upon  the  whole  cultural  fabric.  Its  points  of  contact  with 
the  civilizational  complex  are  few,  its  impressions  of  the  lightest. 
This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  organizations  like  that  of  the  Miwok 
remained  undiscovered  for  many  years.  On  a  reasonably  wide  view, 
accordingly,  society  appears  to  be  substantially  the  same  in  type  in 
all  parts  of  California;  in  contrast  with  which  condition,  kinship 
systems  display  a  rather  profound  diversity. 

SUMMAEY 
In  fine,  types  of  kinship  classification  exhibit  so  close  a  distri- 
butional correlation  with  types  of  culture  as  complex  wholes,  that  it 
must  be  concluded  that  these  cultural  wholes  have  been  influential  in 
determining  the  fundamentals  of  kinship  systems.  The  characteristics 
of  such  culture  wholes  consist  in  associations  or  relations  rather  than 
in  content;  and  it  is  the  formalizing  or  ** psychic"  impulses  implied 
in  these  associations  or  relations  that  accordingly  have  largely  shaped 
kinship  terminology.  On  the  other  hand,  specific  social  structure  on 
the  whole  shows  very  little  correlation  with  kinship  classification  in 
California.  At  one  or  two  points  a  specific  element  of  culture  content, 
especially  prescribed  marriage  between  relatives,  has  unquestionably 
affected  kinship  terminology  at  specific  points,  without,  however,  ap- 
pearing to  affect  its  fundamental  plan  consequentially. 


THEORETICAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

Some  years  ago  I  tried  to  substantiate  a  conviction  that  the  custo- 
mary discrimination  between  **classificatory''  and  ** descriptive'*  kin- 
ship systems  was  erroneous  and  misleading;  that  a  truer  and  more 
useful  distinction  between  these  two  kinds  of  consanguineal  termin- 
ology could  be  found  through  a  consideration  of  the  differences  of 
method  employed  by  various  nations  in  handling  certain  groups  of 


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386  University  of  California  Puhlioations  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

concepts,  in  short,  through  an  analysis  of  psychological  factors;  and 
that  in  general  such  psychological  factors  were  chiefly  determinative 
of  kinship  designations.^® 

This  position  has  been  reviewed  and  combatted  by  Dr.  W.  H.  R. 
Rivers  in  his  admirable  little  book,  Kinship  and  Social  Organizatian,^^ 
devoted  to  the  thesis  that  kinship  nomenclature  is  shaped  chiefly  by 
social  institutions.  Nearly  every  one  who  has  subsequently  discussed 
the  matter  in  print  has  wholly  or  largely  endorsed  the  view  of  Dr. 
Rivers. 

I  must  admit  that  my  essay  is  characterized  by  some  over-state- 
ments. I  do  not  wish  and  have  never  wished  to  maintain  so  sweeping 
and  unqualified  a  proposition  as  that  terms  of  relationship  reflect 
psychology  wholly  and  sociology  not  at  all.  When  it  is  the  custom 
among  a  people  for  a  man  to  marry  his  mother's  brother's  daughter, 
and  also  the  custom  for  him  td  call  his  father-in-law  his  mother's 
brother,  it  would  be  dogmatic  and  a  waste  of  time  to  argue  against 
the  very  high  probability  of  the  two  practices  being  connected. 

In  regard  to  what  may  be  construed  as  a  retraction,  I  will  only 
urge  that  the  view  which  I  was  criticizing,  and  which  Dr.  Rivers  has 
come  to  rescue,  had  been  practically  unquestioned  for  nearly  forty 
years,  and  had  attained  considerable  vogue  even  outside  of  specific 
ethnological  circles.  It  had  also  been  held  without  any  real  exami- 
nation of  the  validity  of  its  involved  assumptions.  That  in  venturing 
into  opposition  I  was  led — in  one  or  two  of  several  recapitulations 
of  my  position — into  an  unnecessary  curtness  of  expression,  was  there- 
fore perhaps  natural.  What  is  more  to  the  point,  I  believe  it  to  be 
a  matter  of  little  moment  to  the  real  issue. 

The  underlying  aspects  of  this  issue  are  touched  upon  in  the  last 
paragraph  of  both  Dr.  Rivers'  essay  and  mine.  In  this  conclusion 
I  deplored  the  inclination  of  modern  anthropology  to  **seek  specific 
causes  for  specific  events,"  and  maintained  that  ** causal  explanations 
of  detached  anthropological  phenomena  can  be  but  rarely  found  in 
other  detached  phenomena."  Dr.  Rivers,  on  the  contrary,  affirms 
that  kinship  nomenclature  presents  a  case  **in  which  the  principle  of 
determinism  applies  with  a  rigor  and  definiteness  equal  to  that  of  any 
of  the  exact  sciences. "  He  avows  as  his  chief  object  the  demonstration 
that  the  forms  of  kinship  designation  have  been  determined  by  social 
conditions;  and  concludes  that  **only  by  attention  to  this  aim  [det^r- 

28  Journ.  Boy.  Anthr.  Inst.,  xxxix,  77-84,  1909. 
2»  London,  Constable  &  Co.,  1914. 


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1917]  Eroeber:  Calif omia  Kinship  Systems  387 

ministic  proofs]  throughout  the  whole  field  of  social  phenomena  can 
we  hope  to  rid  sociology  of  the  reproach,  so  often  heard,  that  it  is  not 
a  science ;  only  thus  can  we  refute  those  who  go  still  further  and  claim 
that  it  can  never  be  a  science.  * ' 

Dr.  Rivers  thus  maintains  and  I  deny  that  social  science  is  a  true 
science.  If  I  understand  him  correctly,  he  is  interested  in  why  things 
are,  I  primarily  in  how  they  are.  His  steadfast  motive  is  to  explain 
social  phenomena,  whereas  I  deliberately  limit  my  purpose  to  char- 
acterizing them.  Without  a  recognition  of  this  diversity  of  conception 
of  the  aim,  and  therefore  the  method  of  ethnology,  the  essential  re- 
lation between  the  views  held  by  Dr.  Rivers  and  myself  in  regard  to 
the  comparatively  small  question  of  kinship  designations  can  not  be 
thoroughly  and  significantly  apprehended. 

Prom  the  one  point  of  view,  an  intrinsic  interest  inheres  in  any 
group  of  social  phenomena  as  such.  If  they  are  analyzed,  it  is  chiefly 
that  they  may  be  more  fully  apperceived ;  if  they  are  synthesized  with 
others,  it  is  because  the  phenomena  themselves  become  more  truly 
known  in  proportion  as  their  relations  to  the  whole  of  civilization  are 
visible  and  realized..  T()^the_otheratlitude  of  investigation,  phenomena 
are  only  a  starting  point.  This  method  seeks  abstractions ;  it  deter- 
mines causes  and  effects.  However  frequently  it  returns  to  actual 
phenomena,  it  perpetually  uses  these  only  as  a  ladder  by  which  to 
mount  to  higher  and  wider  generalizations.  Dr.  Rivers  maintains 
that  a  non-deterministic  ethnology  is  not  science.  I  do  not  consider 
an  ethnology  which  professes  ability  to  explain  much  of  culture  to  be 
ethnology. 

On  .this  general  distinction  of  purpose  hinge  the  differences  of 
opinion  as  to  kinship  terms.  From  Lewis  H.  Morgan  to  Dr.  Rivers, 
generic  stages  of  social  development  or  broad  principles  have  been 
sodght ;  and  kinship  systems  as  a  rule  have  been  only  pegs  on  which 
to  hang  theories  concerning  such  stages.  Whatever  value  my  paper 
may  or  may  not  have  had,  it  did  not  share  this  aim,  and  represents  a 
genuine  attempt  to  understand  kinship  systems  as  kinship  systems. 
The  concepts  or  categories  with  which  the  essay  operates  are  not  new. 
All  of  them  may  be  found  distinguished,  for  instance,  in  the  work  of 
Dr.  Boas.  But  a  systematic  and  comparative  application  of  them  led 
to  the  recognition  that  the  current  divisions  of  systems  into  **classi- 
ficatory'*  and  ** descriptive''  was  misleading  in  that  it  did  not  refer 
to  the  most  essential  features  of  our  systems  as  contrasted  with  those 
of  so-called  savages.    I  then  attempted  to  show  that  a  deeper  classi- 


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388  University  of  California  Publioati<ms  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

fication,  and  therefore  interpretation,  could  be  based  on  an  analysis 
of  the  use  to  which  the  categories  are  put  by  various  nations.  Bight 
or  wrong,  serviceable  or  not,  this  was  at  least  an  effort  at  construction, 
and  therefore  the  essential  part  of  the  essay,  as  appears  from  the  fact 
that  three  of  the  four  propositions  in  the  summary  are  devoted  to 
this  interpretation.  It  is  exceedingly  significant  that  these  proposi- 
tions have  been  entirely  ignored  by  Dr.  Rivers,  and  by  nearly  every 
one  else  who  has  been  concerned  with  the  subject ;  whereas  my  fourth 
proposition,  which  was  essentially  negative  in  that  the  primacy  which 
it  awarded  to  psychological  over  social  determinants  assailed  the  cur- 
rent method  of  utilizing  kinship  designations  for  social  reconstructions 
— this  negative  proposition  aroused  sufficient  interest  to  cause  Dr. 
Rivers  to  devote  considerable  part  of  a  book  to  it.  I  am  confident 
that  if  the  main  argument  of  my  essay  had  been  the  unfolding  of  a 
theory — t  causal  hypothesis — instead  of  an  endeavor  merely  to  realize 
phenomena  better  and  facilitate  their  being  understood  still  more  truly 
in  the  future,  it  would  not  have  been  passed  over  in  silence. 

The  particular  form  which  ethnological  th^wizing  has  most  fre- 
quently taken  has  been  the  foriuulation  of  scheme?^  of  development  of 
institutions,  with  a  special  predilection  for  schemes  of  development 
of  those  institutions  that  are  concerned  with  marrii^ge  and  descent. 
For  the  elaboration  of  such  schemes,  kinship  terminologies  are  plaus- 
ibly promising.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  if  kinship  terminology  does 
not  consistently  mirror  the  organization  of  society,  an  important 
buttress  for  such  theoretical  reconstructions  falls.  It  was  logically 
necessary  for  Dr.  Rivers  to  write  Kinship  and  Social  Ort^anization 
before  writing  the  History  of  Melanesian  Society,  If  the  contention 
that  kinship  systems  are  determined  by  psychological  factors  is  only 
partly  correct,  one  of  the  most  serviceable  methods  of  reconstructing 
former  stages  of  society  is  eliminated.  I  can  and  do  without  prejudi<»e 
avow  sociological  determinants  beside  **  psychological  *'*°  ones — for  that 


»o  I  regret  the  term  '  *  psychological, ' '  and  should  use  another  were  it  not 
that  its  avoidance  now  might  seem  an  evasion  of  the  issue  raised  by  me  seven 
years  ago,  and  by  some  would  certainly  be  construed  as  an  admission  that  I  had 
shifted  the  basis  of  my  contention.  I  do  not  mean,  and  have  never  meant,  that 
terms  of  relationship  can  be  explained  directly  from  the  constitution  of  the 
human  mind.  They  are  social  or  cultural  phenomena  as  thoroughly  and  com- 
pletely as  institutions,  beliefs,  or  industries  are  social  phenomena,  and  I  am  in 
absolute  accord  with  Dr.  Bivers'  conviction  that  social  phenomena  can  be 
understood  only  through  other  social  phenomena.  In  common  with  most  anthro- 
pologists, I  hold  any  attempt  to  derive  cultural  facts  directly  from  the  nature 
of  human  mentality  to  be  illusory.  Culture  and  all  its  parts  are  a  content. 
They  are  framed  and  limited  indeed  by  mentality.  But  the  endeavor  to  express 
the  nature  of  the  content  through  the  nature  of  the  mechanism  of  mentality  is 
as  vain  as  it  would  be  to  explain  the  quality  of  a  substance  in  terms  of  its  form. 


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1917]  Kroeber:  (kdifomia  Kinship  Systems  389 

matter,  economic  and  religious  ones  also.  Dr.  Rivers  cannot  concede 
** psychological"  influences  beside  his  sociological  ones,  because  there- 
with his  supposed  recording  instrument  or  index  becomes  inaccurate. 
He  is  establishing  positive  determinations  of  causality,  or  at  least  of 
sequence,  and  cannot  admit  variable  and  undeterminable  factors  into 
his  calculations. 

The  real  question  regarding  kinship  designations  therefore  is  not 
the  literal  one  of  whether  the  terminology  is  wholly  of  psychological 
or  of  institutional  origin.  Nor  does  it  very  seriously  concern  the 
relative  strength  of  each  of  these  influences  as  a  general  proposition. 
It  would  be  as  silly  to  quarrel  about  that  as  to  argue  whether  there 
are  more  flat  or  more  round  objects  in  the  world.  In  such  matters 
each  case  must  be  considered  separately  and  no  principle  is  involved. 
The  true  immediate  issue  is  whether  kinship  terminologies  are  deter- 
mined so  thoroughly  by  institutions  that  they  can  be  reliably  used  to 
construct  hypothetical  schemes  as  to  institutions,  or  whether  their 
determinants  are  so  frequently  non-institutional  that  they  cannot  be 


or  to  approach  an  understanding  of  the  sense  of  written  words  through  a  study 
of  the  pen.  When,  therefore,  I  spoke  and  now  speak  of  terms  of  relationship 
as  conditioned  by  ' '  psychological ' '  factors,  I  have  in  mind  the  sort  of  factors 
to  which  a  philologist  might  properly  ascribe  the  presence  of  a  grammatical  dual 
in  a  language.  These  factors  would  obviously  be  comparatively  vague  and 
abstractable.  In  a  sense  they  would  be  characterizable,  like  everything  in 
speech,  as  directly  expressive  of  a  manner  of  thought — not  of  course  a  spon- 
taneous outgrowth  of  the  pure  human  mind  uninscribed  by  culture,  but  rather, 
as  it  were,  a  more  general  and  conditioning  aspect  of  cultural  content.  Dr. 
Rivers  ^  views,  on  the  other  hand,  I  should  compare — if  I  may  without  prejudice 
use  an  unflatteringly  crude  comparison  which  nevertheless  I  believe  to  be  true 
in  spirit — to  the  explanation  of  the  grammatical  dual  in  speech  as  due  to  the 
prevalence  of  dualistic  philosophy,  or  the  institution  of  non-pluralistic  marriage, 
that  is,  monogamy.  When  I  state  that  the  use  of  identical  terms  for  such 
relatives  as  the  father-in-law  and  grandfather,  or  the  brother-in-law  and  brother 
in  some  languages,  is  to  be  understood  as  *  *  due  to ' '  the  fact  that  these  relation- 
ships possess  several  categories  of  kinship  in  common,  this  abstract  similarity 
is  obviously  not  the  ultimate  or  whole  cause,  since  this  interpretation  leaves 
unexplained  the  fact  that  in  most  languages  these  relationships  are  denoted  by 
distinct  terms.  That  one  language  employs  certain  categories  of  kinship  classi- 
fication and  slights  others,  and  another  language  employs  and  slights  different 
ones,  is  itself  obviously  a  cultural  or  social  phenomenon;  but  it  is  precisely 
these  varying  tendencies  of  languages  and  nations  toward  the  use  of  the  cate- 
gories that  I  denominate  "psychological**  factors.  Perhaps  "sociological** 
would  have  been  a  better  word,  though  probably  liable  to  misinterpretation  in 
other  ways.  If  Dr.  Rivers  or  any  one  else  can  replace  my  "psychological** 
with  a  less  elusive  term,  I  shall  be  sincerely  grateful  to  him.  Meanwhile  I  can 
only  continue  to  use  the  word,  and  trust  that  what  is  here  said  in  regard  to  its 
significance  will  be  suflScient  to  prevent  confusion,  and  to  relieve  me  of  the 
suspicion  of  wishing  to  revert  to  the  methods  of  mid-Victorian  ethnologists. — 
The  words  "social**  and  "sociological**  are  also  capable  of  two  constructions. 
In  the  wider  sense,  of  course,  they  are  equivalent  to  "cultural**  or  "civil- 
izational.**  In  the  sense  in  which  Dr.  Rivers  uses  them,  or  I  employ  them  in 
discussing  his  views,  their  significance  is  much  narrower,  and  they  are  sub- 
stantially equivalent  to  ' '  institutional, ' '  with  prime  reference  to  marriage,  laws 
of  descent,  and  personal  functions. 


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390  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Aroh.  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

utilized  in  such  endeavors.  And  behind  this  lies  the  larger  ultimate 
question  whether  specific  social  phenomena  of  any  kind  can  be  assigned 
as  the  sole  specific  causes  or  ** determining''  causes  of  other  social 
phenomena;  or  whether  the  nearest  possible  approach  to  ** explaining"' 
phenomena  such  as  kinship  systems  lies  in  tracing  the  features  of  the 
involved  ** psychic''  or  cultural  activities  common  to  them  and  other 
phenomena. 

On  the  immediate  problem,  indications  that  influences  other  than 
social  institutions  enter  into  kinship  nomenclature  have  already  been 
presented  in  various  parts  of  the  descriptions  and  analyses  of  specific 
California  systems  that  constitute  the  first  and  larger  portion  of  the 
present  paper.  In  the  section  devoted  to  a  classification  of  these 
systems,  further  instances  of  the  frequent  dominance  of  **  psycholog- 
ical" over  narrowly  social  determinants  have  been  adduced,  as  well  as 
some  evidence  that  the  shaping  influences  are  generic  impulses  rather 
than  specific  phenomena,  so  that  the  ultimate  question  may  also  be 
considered  as  answered. 

The  case  seems  therefore  established  on  the  basis  of  concrete  data 
which  need  not  be  recited;  but  it  may  be  worth  while  to  add  some 
broader  considerations. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  the  obvious  fact  that  we  approach  kinship 
systems  through  the  terminologies  in  which  they  are  expressed  con- 
stitutes them  a  part  of  speech,  and  it  is  therefore  impossible  to  under- 
stand how  the  serious  claim  can  be  advanced  that  they  should  be 
withdrawn  entirely  from  subjection  to  those  psychological  and  lin- 
guistic influences  which  shape  all  language.  All  words  necessarily 
classify  according  to  certain  principles  which  usually  are  not  more 
than  half  conscious.  There  is  no  conceivable  reason  why  terms  of 
relationship  should  be  an  exception,  and  no  evidence  that  they  are. 
When  we  find  that  one  nation  frequently  introduces  the  idea  of  the 
sex  of  the  speaker  into  its  kinship  terminology  and  another  nation 
fails  entirely  to  do  so,  it  is  obvious  that  their  classifications  have  been 
made  according  to  a  different  conceptual  principle ;  or,  to  put  it  other- 
wise, that  the  involved  psychology'^  is  different.  Now  it  is  of  course 
possible  to  meet  this  situation  with  the  explanation  that  the  psychology 
itself  indeed  differs,  but  that  it  diverges  exclusively  under  the  influence 
of  social  institutions.  This  attitude  is  certainly  logically  possible,  but 
I  think  it  will  be  generally  granted  that  it  is  such  an  extreme  attitude 


81  The  word  *  *  psychology  *  *  is  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  discussed  in 
note  30. 


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1917]  Kroeber:  California  Kinship  Systems  391 

that  the  probability  of  its  universal  or  even  general  truth  is  slight,  and 
that  the  burden  of  proof  is  clearly  upon  those  who  hold  this  view. 

We  have  in  English  the  curious  habit  of  designating  an  oyster  or 
a  lobster  as  a  ** shell  fish/'  The  word  **fish''  unquestionably  calls 
up  a  concept  of  a  smooth,  elongated,  free-swimming  water  animal  with 
fins.  The  only  conceivable  reason  why  a  flat  and  sessile  mollusk  with- 
out any  of  the  appendages  of  a  fish,  or  a  legged  and  crawling  animal 
of  utterly  different  appearance,  should  be  brought  in  terminology  into 
the  class  of  fishes  is  the  fact  that  they  both  live  in  the  water  and  are 
edible.  Now  these  two  qualities  are  only  a  small  part  of  those  which 
attach  to  the  generic  concept  that  the  word  **fish"  carries  in  English; 
and  yet  the  wide  discrepancy  has  not  prevented  the  inclusion  of  the 
two  other  animals  under  the  term.  All  speech  is  full  of  just  such 
examples,  and  no  one  dreams  of  explaining  the  multitudinous  phe- 
nomena of  this  kind  by  reference  to  social  institutions,  former  phil- 
osophies, or  other  formulated  manifestations  of  non-linguistic  life, 
or  of  reconstructing  the  whole  of  a  society  from  a  vocabulary.  Such 
endeavors  in  ** linguistic  palaeontology"  have  indeed  been  made;  but 
the  general  consensus  is  that  while  they  undoubtedly  contain  some 
truth,  they  are  on  the  whole  of  little  value  because  the  interaction  of 
social  and  linguistic  influences  is  too  indeterminate,  and  each  of  these 
sets  of  influences  too  variable,  to  allow  of  any  positive  conclusions 
being  attained  except  possibly  now  and  then  on  special  points. 

If,  for  instance,  it  were  argued  that  English  classes  the  oyster  and 
lobster  with  fish,  and  that  other  languages,  perhaps  German  and 
Chinese,  class  them  with  turtles,  because  the  English  are  an  insular 
nation  that  subsists  on  an  abundance  of  sea  food,  whereas  the  Germans 
and  Chinese  are  essentially  inland  peoples,  the  explanation  would 
strike  nearly  every  one  as  extremely  far-fetched.  In  addition,  the 
conflicting  contention  could  be  set  up  that  a  maritime  and  fish-eating 
people  could  be  expected  to  be  far  more  discriminating  in  their  desig- 
nation of  sea  animals  than  an  interior  people.  It  seems  to  me  that 
some  of  the  explanations  of  kinship  systems  on  the  basis  of  social 
custom  are  substantially  of  a  type  with  this  example. 

2.  It  is  extremely  important  to  guard  against  subjective  selection 
of  interpretation  in  a  field  of  such  delicate  refinement  as  kinship 
nomenclature.  When  among  ourselves  a  minister  of  religion  or  a 
socialist  orator  addresses  his  audience  as  ** brothers'*  we  say  that  the 
speakers  are  indulging  in  metaphor.  When  we  refer  to  our  brother-in- 
law  as  ** brother''  we  are  merely  slovenly  familiar  or  intimately  in- 


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392  Vnvversity  of  California  Tublicationa  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

correct.  On  the  other  hand,  when  a  so-called  savage  names  his  father's 
brother  ** father,"  we  immediately  tend  to  have  recourse  to  the  levirate 
as  explanation;  when  he  designates  his  cousin  as  ** brother/'  we  think 
of  this  as  a  survival  of  group  marriage ;  and  when  he  calls  the  members 
of  his  clan  ** brothers,"  we  are  inclined  to  assert  that  in  his  nation  the 
family  of  blood  kindred  is  entirely  merged  in  clan  organization.  We 
forget  too  often  that  uncivilized  people  are  as  likely  as  we  to  indulge 
in  figures  of  speech  and  in  short-cuts  of  expression.  They  would  be 
very  inhuman  if  they  did  not.  But,  of  course,  the  more  we  can  reduce 
them  to  the  level  of  machines,  automatically  operating  according  to  a 
few  simple  principles,  the  more  convenient  do  they  become  as  an 
instrument  with  which  to  unravel  theoretical  speculations. 

3.  An  influence  that  is  wholly  terminological,  and  therefore  at  once 
** psychological"  and  linguistic,  is  the  impulse  toward  reciprocal  de- 
notation or  form  of  kinship  terms.  It  is  evident  on  wholly  abstract 
grounds  that  this  must  materially  affect  the  systems  into  which  it 
enters.  The  moment  a  term  implies  sex  and  has  an  exact  reciprocal, 
it  is  clear  that  the  reciprocal  must  express  the  sex  of  the  speaker,  and 
not  that  of  the  relative,  so  that  a  variant  principle  is  introduced ;  or 
else  both  terms  must  denote  both  categories,  which  means  that  the 
number  of  distinct  terms  is  duplicated  or  quadruplicated.  The  latter 
is  a  result  that  most  languages  evidently  shrink  from,  and  the  former 
course  is  usually  followed.  In  either  case,  however,  there  is  a  distinct 
shaping  of  the  system  as  a  result  of  the  reciprocating  tendency. 

When  a  Papago,  whose  system  is  thoroughly  pervaded  by  reci- 
procities, has  words  meaning  **  older  brother  or  sister"  and  ** younger 
brother  or  sister,"  which  are  reciprocal,  instead  of  our  non-reciprocal 
** brother"  and  ** sister,"  it  is  as  clear  that  this  part  of  his  nomen- 
clature reflects  the  ** psychological"  tendency  toward  reciprocity,  as 
that  terming  the  father-in-law  '* mother's  brother"  reflects  a  social 
institution  when  it  is  customary  to  marry  a  cross-cousin. 

The  use  of  descriptive  phrases  instead  of  radical  words  to  denote 
connections  by  marriage  is  again  a  ** psychological"  trait.  In  French, 
the  son-in-law  and  daughter-in-law  are  denoted  by  distinctive  stems, 
the  parents-in-law  by  circumlocutory  ones  analogous  to  those  of  Eng- 
lish. German  follows  the  English  plan,  except  for  retaining  some 
obsolescent  radicals.  The  same  tendency  has  become  operative  in  all 
three  languages,  but  with  varying  degrees  of  completeness.  This  is 
simply  a  philological  phenomenon  entirely  parallel  to  the  fact  that 
the  plural  of  **ox"  has  remained  **oxen"  instead  of  becoming  *'oxes." 


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1917]  Kroeher:  California  Kinship  Systems  393 

No  one  would  dream  of  arguing  that  French,  English,  or  German 
marital  customs  must  be  different  because  the  kinship  terms  in  question 
are  formed  on  a  different  plan.  And  so  when  Luiseno  and  Northern 
Paiute  and  Papago  use  circumlocutory  expressions  for  many  connec- 
tions by  marriage,  and  Mohave  and  Yokuts  and  Tiibatulabal  and 
Miwok  do  not,  there  is  also  a  distinctive  difference  of  system  without 
any  reason  for  an  assumption  of  a  corresponding  difference  in  social 
organization. 

This  influence  of  reciprocity  is  particularly  clear  when  circumlo- 
cutions and  reciprocal  expression  are  combined.  A  Papago  woman 
calls  her  son-in-law  moih-ok,  that  is,  ok  or  father  of  her  mo$.  a  woman's 
daughter's  child.  The  son-in-law  calls  her  the  same.  There  is  no 
form  of  marriage  or  social  institution  that  will  explain  why  an  old 
woman  should  be  called  the  father  of  anybody's  granddaughter,  why 
the  man  referring  to  her  should  speak  of  himself  as  a  femaley  and  why 
he  should  designate  her  the  parent  of  his  daughter's  child  when  it  is 
her  daughter  that  has  the  child  and  he  himself  is  without  grand- 
children. It  is  clear  that  there  is  nothing  at  the  bottom  of  this  usage 
but  a  strong  tendency  to  call  a  connection  what  the  connection  calls 
oneself,  operating  upon  a  stock  of  descriptive  terms.  There  is  no 
inconvenience  or  confusion  in  speaking  of  one's  mother-in-law  as  some- 
body's father;  for  in  doing  so  a  man  uses  a  woman's  term;  which 
combination,  by  exclusion,  exactly  specifies  the  lady  referred  to.  From 
our  literal  point  of  view,  the  Papago  is  absurdly  illogical  in  this  matter. 
But  he  is  practical,  since  his  procedure  not  only  isolates  the  person 
in  question  as  thoroughly  as  ours  but  allows  him  to  employ  the  reci- 
procity to  which  he  is  accustomed  and  which  satisfies  a  habitual  psychic 
need. 

4.  In  most  discussions  of  kinship  systems  the  innermost  kernel  is 
hardly  touched  upon.  Relatives  only  one  step  removed  are  neglected 
for  those  two  and  three  steps  distant.  We  hear  much  of  the  fact  that 
cousins  are  called  brothers,  but  little  of  the  entirely  different  methods 
of  distinguishing  brothers.  A  great  deal  is  made  of  the  circumstance 
that  the  father's  brother  is  often  merged  in  the  father,  terminologi- 
cally,  but  very  little  attention  is  paid  to  whether  parents  are  desig- 
nated by  four  terms  or  by  two  or  by  one.  The  mother's  brother's 
daughter  is  far  more  important  in  most  kinship  discussions  than  the 
sister.  In  short,  the  most  fundamental  and  primary  relationships  are 
disregarded  because  the  remote  ones  lend  themselves  to  readier  cor- 
relation with  social  institutions.     Some  nations  have  one  word  for 


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394  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

older  brother-sister  and  one  for  younger  brother-sister;  others  one 
word  for  brother-sister  of  the  same  sex  as  the  speaker  and  one  for 
brother-sister  of  different  sex ;  and  still  others  one  word  for  male  and 
one  for  female  brother-sister;  in  short,  various  peoples  express  re- 
spectively only  age,  relative  sex,  and  absolute  sex  in  this  class  of  kin- 
ship; while  still  others  express  them  in  different  degrees  and  combi- 
nations. Surely  if  there  is  anything  of  consequence  in  kinship  it  is 
these  nearest  of  relationships,  and  diversity  of  terminological  classi- 
fication is  as  extreme  for  them  as  for  any  other  group  of  kindred. 
Yet  because  they  do  not  lend  themselves  to  theoretical  reconstructions 
of  marriage  systems,  they  have  been  passed  over  in  almost  complete 
silence.  Dr.  Rivers  is  therefore  more  sanguine  than  accurate  when 
he  states  in  the  conclusion  of  his  book  that  not  only  the  general  char- 
acter but  every  detail  of  systems  of  relationship  has  been  demon- 
strated as  determined  by  social  conditions.  The  parts  of  systems  that 
correlate  with  social  conditions  have  indeed  been  correlated  by  him ; 
but  those  parts  that  do  not  correlate  have  for  the  most  part  not  even 
been  considered. 

5.  Finally,  it  is  not  only  theoretically  conceivable  but  an  actual 
fact  that  terminology  has  at  times  influenced  marriage  institutions. 
This  is  as  it  should  be,  for  in  the  wider  sense  of  the  word  terminology  is 
as  much  a  social  phenomenon  as  marriage,  and  an  a  priori  denial  that 
any  class  of  social  phenomena  is  capable  of  affecting  any  other  class 
is  certainly  unjustifiable.  In  Roman  Catholic  nations,  as  Andrew 
Lang  has  pointed  out,  the  god-father  does  not  marry  the  god-daughter. 
Here  there  is  no  kinship  at  all ;  but  the  mere  name  has  resulted  in  a 
taboo  of  wedlock.  If  civilized  European  people  can  take  their  meta- 
phors so  seriously  as  this,  it  is  likely  that  rude  heathens  represented 
as  living  in  a  world  of  symbolism  have  sometimes  done  so. 

It  may  be  suspected,  for  instance,  that  the  Chinese  prohibition  of 
marriage  between  persons  of  the  same  family  name  is  due  to  a  similar 
secondary  scrupulousness,  instead  of  being  a  survival  of  an  ancient 
clan  system,  as  it  is  customary  to  state.  Of  course  what  is  wanted 
in  a  situation  like  this  one  is  not  a  conviction  that  this  or  that  inter- 
pretation is  true,  but  a  substantiated  case  made  out  by  a  sinologue 
who  commands  knowledge  of  his  subject  as  well  as  critical  faculty. 
Yet  the  instance  is  not  without  suggestiveness  as  it  stands. 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  every  one  should  expect  customs  to  shape 
names  more  frequently  than  names  shape  customs.  Those  who  are 
ready  to  recognize  a  variety  of  factors  as  entering  into  terminology 


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1917]  Kroeber:  Calif  arrUa  Kinship  Systems  395 

can  admit  this  disproportion  cheerfully.  But  those  who  are  bound 
to  schemes  of  rigorous  and  exclusive  explanation  through  social  insti- 
tutions can  not  permit  the  introduction  of  even  the  rarer  instances 
of  priority  of  terminology  without  fatally  dulling  the  edge  of  their 
working  tool. 

If  the  issue  were  primarily  the  narrower  one  of  the  preeminence 
of  so-called  psychological  and  so-called  social  influences  on  kinship 
systems,  I  should  still  lay  more  stress  on  the  former  influence,  because, 
after  all,  kinship  systems  are  terminologies,  terminologies  are  classi- 
fications, and  classifications  are  reflections  of  ** psychological''  pro- 
cesses— just  as  I  should  expect  religious  phenomena  to  be  influenced 
chiefly  by  other  religious  phenomena  and  only  in  a  lesser  degree  by 
social,  economic,  or  technical  factors.  I  also  construe  the  evidence  as 
actually  bearing  out  this  interpretation.  Yet  I  am  ready  to  concede 
freely  that  ''social'*  influences — and  religious  and  economic  ones — 
have  entered  in  some  measure  into  kinship  systems,  at  times  to  a 
considerable  degree  even.  (But  back  of  this  aspect  of  the  problem 
lies  the  basic  issue :  whether  kinship  terminology  is  determined  rigidly 
by  specific  social  phenomena  of  only  one  kind,  and  can  therefore  be 
utilized  for  constructive  causal  explanations  of  societies;  or  whether 
all  classes  of  social  phenomena  can  and  do  interact  on  such  termin- 
ology, and  the  infinitely  variable  play  of  the  variable  factors  forbids 
any  true  determinations  of  causality  of  a  sweeping  character.)  Two 
irreconcilable  methods  of  prosecuting  ethnology-  and  history  here  con- 
front each  other.  It  is  the  magnitude  of  this  conflict  of  ideals  that 
gives  some  dignity  and  perhaps  consequence  to  the  question  of  kinship 
terminology,  which  otherwise  would  be  but  a  technical  if  not  a  trivial 
problem.J 

I  am  aware  that  the  causal  and  deterministic  method  has  in  its 
favor  the  appearance  of  far  greater  productivity,  and  that  it  often 
tempts  with  immediate  profit.  It  can  give  the  public  the  hard  and 
fast  formulations  and  the  definitely  final  reasons  for  which  the  public 
hungers.  It  is  also  assured  of  a  warmer  recognition  from  scientists — 
natural  scientists — who,  unable  to  follow  each  historical  situation  in 
detail,  tend  nevertheless  to  see  in  this  method  a  welcome  extension  of 
their  tried  methods  to  new  fields. 

But  I  am  convinced  as  I  am  of  few  things  that  this  method  as  it 
has  been  and  is  practiced  in  ethnology  is  vain;  that  its  results  are 
illusory  in  proportion  as  they  are  plausible;  and  if  ever  cultural 
phenomena  are  subject  to  causal  and  deterministic  analysis,  it  will 


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396  University  of  California  Puhlioations  in  Am.  Aroh.  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

be  in  ways  and  with  results  utterly  different  from  the  methods  and 
conclusions  in  vogue  today.  It  is  from  this  conception  that  I  have 
approached  the  problem ;  and  ungratefully  negative  as  the  conclusions 
may  seem,  I  believe  that  the  evidence  bears  them  out. 

Dr.  Rivers  has  rendered  service  to  ethnology  paralleled  by  few 
men.  He  has  made  valuable  contributions  to  the  critical  methods  of 
recording  material.  He  has  amassed  noteworthy  data,  and  has  boldly 
and  imaginatively  attacked  them  without  recourse  to  interpretation 
by  physical  and  organic  factors,  and  steeled  himself  no  less  against 
the  more  insidious  temptation  to  explain  culture  in  immediate  terms 
of  spontaneous  psychology.  There  are  those  who  wish  that  he  might 
return  to  the  path  so  brilliantly  blazoned  in  the  earlier  Todas  rather 
than  continue  in  that  pursued  in  the  History  of  Melanesian  Society. 
But  all  students  of  ethnology,  those  who  differ  as  well  as  they  who  agree 
with  his  arguments,  must  be  grateful  to  him  for  the  consistency  of 
his  presentation,  his  courage,  the  directness  with  which  he  has  met 
problems,  and  the  precision  with  which  he  has  defined  them.  In  the 
present  question  the  ultimate  verdict  must  be  left  to  others:  I  shall 
be  satisfied  if  I  have  helped  to  clear  the  issue  to  the  same  degree  on 
one  side  as  Dr.  Rivers  has  cleared  it  on  the  other. 

Transmitted  October  11,  1916. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  PUBLICATIONS 

IN 

AMERICAN   ARCHAEOLOGY  AND   ETHNOLOGY 

Vol.  12,  No.  10,  pp.  397-441,  8  text-flgures  July  6,  1917 


CEREMONIES  OF  THE  POMO  INDIANS 

BY 

S.  A.  BARRETT 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction  '. 397 

Ceremonial  organization  398 

Officials  399 

General  Features  of  the  Porno  Oeremoniee 401 

Invitations    to    Ceremonies 402 

The  Ghost  or  Devil  Ceremony 403 

Stephen  Powers  on  the  Ghost  Dance 404 

The  Ghost  Ceremony  Proper ~ —  406 

Fire  Eating  „ - 418 

The  Purification  Rite _ 421 

Summary  of  the  Principal  Features  of  the  Ghost  Ceremony 422 

The    Guksu    Ceremony 423 

The  Scarifying  Ceremony - ^ 425 

Stephen  Powers  on  the  Guksu  Ceremony 427 

Completion  of  the  Guksu  Ceremony 429 

Treatment  of  Disease ~...  430 

Dances    431 

Dances  in  which  Men  and  Women  Participated 433 

Dances  in  which  only  Men  performed 438 

Dances  in  which  only  Women  performed 439 

Additional  Dances  440 

The  Messiah  Cult _ 440 

Conclusion    ^ 441 

INTRODUCTION 

It  has  been  at  least  twenty  years  since  the  last  of  the  Pomo  cere- 
monies was  held  in  a  truly  aboriginal  fashion.  Elaborate  ceremonies 
of  a  more  recently  introduced  ** Messiah"  cult  were  held  as  late  as 
perhaps  fifteen  years  ago,  but  these  ** Messiah'*  ceremonies  contain 
only  a  few  features  common  to  the  indigenous  tribal  observances. 


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398  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Aroh.  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

Dances  are  even  yet  to  be  seen  in  connection  with  some  celebrations, 
principally  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  but  there  now  remains  so  little  that 
is  really  primitive  about  these  that  they  are  virtually  worthless  to 
the  student.  Information  obtained  through  direct  observation  is  at 
present,  therefore,  impossible,  and  we  must  depend  for  our  knowledge 
of  Pomo  ceremonies  and  ceremonial  organization  upon  the  statements 
of  the  older  men,  and  particularly  those  concerned  with  such  matters 
in  former  days.  From  such  sources  rather  full  information  con- 
cerning some  of  the  ceremonies  and  dances  is  obtainable,  but,  under 
the  circumstances,  it  is  impossible  to  secure  exhaustive  data  concerning 
all  of  them.  In  many  instances  informants  recall  only  a  few  of  the 
details  of  a  given  ceremony  or  dance.  Sometimes  only  its  name  is 
remembered.  Doubtless  even  the  recollection  of  some  ceremonies  and 
dances  has  been  lost. 

During  a  residence  in  the  Pomo  region  from  1892  to  1904  the 
existing  vestiges  of  some  of  these  Pomo  ceremonies  were  observed 
whenever  possible,  but  no  attempt  at  a  systematic  collection  of  data 
on  the  subject  was  made  until  1903  and  1904,  when  this  work  was 
undertaken  in  conjunction  with  the  collection  of  Pomo  myths,  as  part 
of  the  investigations  of  the  Ethnological  and  Archaeological  Survey 
of  California,  maintained  by  the  Department  of  Anthropology  of  the 
University  of  California  through  the  generosity  of  Mrs.  Phoebe  A. 
Hearst.  This  information  was  obtained  from  informants  of  three 
Pomo  dialects — Northern,  Central,  and  Eastern.  Where  a  native  term 
is  used  in  the  following  pages,  therefore,  the  dialect  is  indicated  by 
N,  C,  or  E,  in  parentheses  directly  after  it.  The  phonetic  system 
employed  is  fully  explained  in  '*The  Ethno-Qeography  of  the  Pomo 
Indians.''^ 


CEREMONIAL  ORGANIZATION 

The  ceremonial  organization  of  the  Pomo  was  very  loose.  There 
was  no  secret  society  of  importance,  as  there  was  among  the  Maidu 
and  presumably  among  the  neighboring  Wintun,  and  no  organized 
priesthood  vested  with  control  over  ceremonies.  The  ordinary  chiefs, 
however  (or  ** captains,"  as  they  are  more  often  called),  were  promi- 
nently concerned  with  all  ceremonies,  and  there  were  other  officials  in 
charge  of  particular  rites.  We  may  begin  therefore  by  mentioning 
the  various  officials  in  the  order  of  their  importance. 


1  Present  series,  vi,  pp.  51-54. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians  399 

OFFICIALS 

As  has  been  elsewhere  pointed  out,*  the  social  organization  of  the 
Porno  is  based  primarily  upon  blood  relationship,  the  blood  relatives 
who  resided  in  a  definite  village  grouping  themselves  into  a  political 
unit  under  the  leadership  of  an  hereditary  *  *  captain. ' '  Usually  several 
of  these  consanguineal  units  comprise  a  village,  and  their  captains 
form  its  governing  body.  From  among  these  the  people  elect  a  head 
captain.  Not  even  the  head  captain  has  absolute  authority,  nor  has 
any  captain  important  judicial  power,  or  power  to  inflict  punishment. 
In  short,  the  function  of  the  captain  is  primarily  that  of  adviser  to 
the  group.  The  special  duties  of  the  head  captain  in  olden  times  were 
to  welcome  and  entertain  visitors  from  other  villages,  and  to  meet  in 
council  with  the  other  captains  concerning  matters  of  general  public 
welfare,  and  to  arrange  for  and  preside  over  ceremonies. 

What  may  be  termed  an  honorary  captainship  was  accorded  any 
man  who,  through  his  wealth  or  his  prowess  as  a  hunter,  made  him- 
self very  popular  by  providing  large  quantities  of  food  and  numerous 
feasts  for  the  people.  A  similar  honorary  office,  that  of  female  captain, 
da'  xalik  (E),  was  based  upon  a  woman's  popularity,  which  depended 
in  turn  on  her  good-heartedness  and  her  fame  as  a  cook.  Neither  of 
these  honorary  offices,  however,  was  hereditary.  In  spite  of  the  am- 
biguous nature  of  the  office,  incumbents  were  accorded  great  respect 
at  ceremonies  and  other  public  functions. 

The  other  officials  had  duties  almost,  if  not  quite,  exclusively  con- 
nected with  ceremonies  and  had  nothing  directly  to  do  with  govern- 
mental affairs.  We  may  recognize  the  fire-tenders,  the  head  singers, 
the  chorus  singers,  the  dnimmers,  and  the  masters  of  ceremonies.  Such 
offices  were  considered  very  honorable  and  were,  as  a  rule,  hereditary. 
This  was  particularly  true  of  the  offices  of  fire-tender,  head  singer, 
and  drummer,  in  which  the  succession  followed  precisely  the  same 
rules  as  did  the  chieftainship. 

The  fire-tenders,  called  me'dze  (N)  and  la'imoc  (E),  were  officials 
of  very  great  importance.  Connected  with  each  of  the  large,  semi- 
subterranean  ** dance-houses'*'*  there  were  two  fire-tenders,  who 
saw  to  all  matters  concerning  the  fire  and  the  preparation  of  the 
dance-house  except  actually  procuring  the  firewood.     All  the  men 


2*' The  Ethno-Geography  of  the  Porno  and  Neighboring  Indians,"  present 
series,  vi,  pp.  15-17. 

8  An  article  by  the  present  writer  called  '  *  Porno  Buildings, ' '  in  the  Holmes 
Memorial  Volume^  fully  describes  these  structures,  which  were  erected  especially 
for  ceremonial  purposes  and  which  formed  the  religious  centers  of  Pomo  villages. 


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400  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

participating  in  the  ceremony  were  supposed  to  bring  wood,  which 
they  placed  just  outside  the  dance-house.  One  of  the  fire-tenders 
then  carried  it  up  and  dropped  it  through  the  smoke-hole,  while  the 
other  stacked  it  in  ricks  in  the  proper  places  within  the  house.  As 
remuneration  for  their  labor,  they  received  the  beads  which  were 
thrown  at  the  dancers*  by  the  people  during  the  ceremony  and  which 
were  swept  up  when  the  dance-house  was  cleaned. 

The  head  singer,  called  ke'  kai  tea  (C)  and  ke'uya  (E),  was  a  man 
of  great  importance  in  ceremonies,  though  he  was  very  inconspicuous. 
It  was  his  duty  to  plan  previously  the  proper  sequence  of  the  dances 
and  songs,  and  it  was  also  his  duty  to  start  all  songs  and  to  carry  the 
air.  The  head  singer  had  to  possess  a  very  good  voice,  and  had  to 
make  it  his  business  to  know  the  songs  for  the  various  ceremonies. 
Now  and  then  he  was  at  a  loss  for  the  proper  song  for  a  particular 
occasion.  He  was  allowed  to  consult  some  other  singer,  or,  upon 
occasion,  he  might  ask  for  suggestions  from  the  audience.  Any  one 
who  knew  a  song  which  fitted  the  occasion  might  come  to  the  head 
singer  and  sing  it  for  him  in  an  undertone,  until  he  caught  it  and 
was  ready  to  lead  in  the  singing.  As  a  rule  he  kept  time  with  a  split- 
stick  rattle,  or  a  rattle  made  of  cocoons. 

The  chorus  or  burden-singers,  called  skam  (E),  gave  volume  to 
the  music  and  marked  time  with  their  split-stick  rattles,  hai  mitamitaka 
(N).  Their  usual  burden  was  **he,  he,  he,  he,  .  .  .'*  sung  in  a  heavy 
monotone. 

The  dnimmers,  called  tsilo'gauk  (E),  tsilo'tca  (C),  and  tsilo' 
matutsi  (E),  were  always  two  in  number,  and  as  a  rule  they  took  turns 
in  playing  the  large  wooden  drum  which  was  set  in  the  ground  at  the 
rear  of  the  dance-house,  and  which  was  beaten  by  the  stamping  of 
the  feet.  The  office  of  drummer  was  considered  one  of  the  most 
important,  and  second  only  to  that  of  fire-tender. 

The  master  of  ceremonies,  called  xabe'dima  (E),  xabe' gauk  (E), 
and  he'lima  (C),  started  and  stopped  all  songs  and  dances  by  certain 
signals.  ,  The  participants  in  the  dance  usually  maintained  certain 
positions,  but  the  master  of  ceremonies  ran  about  from  place  to  place 
supervising  the  activities  and  giving  directions  as  required.     His 


*  The  reason  for  the  throwing  of  the  beads  is  as  follows:  Pomo  custom 
prescribes  a  period  of  mourning  lasting  one  year.  If  a  dancer  so  far  forgets 
his  sorrow  as  actively  to  participate  in  a  ceremony  of  this  kind  before  the 
expiration  of  the  prescribed  mourning  period  after  the  death  of  a  friend  or 
relative  some  atonement  is  required.  It  is  customary  under  such  circumstances 
for  some  one  in  the  audience  to  throw  some  loose  shell-beads  at  the  dancer,  these 
being  evidently  intended  as  an  offering  to  the  spirits  and  having  nothing  directly 
to  do  with  the  dancer  himself. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians  401 

presence  was  absolutely  necessary  at  all  ceremonies,  and  without  him 
a  dance  could  not  proceed.  He  acted  under  the  general  direction  of 
the  head  captain,  but  that  official  himself  never  served  as  master  of 
ceremonies.  Very  rarely  did  the  same  individual  serve  as  master  of 
ceremonies  and  head  singer.  While  as  a  rule  the  drummers  and  the 
singers  wore  no  special  dress  for  ceremonial  occasions,  the  masters 
of  ceremonies  were  almost  always  painted  and  dressed  according  to 
different  requirements  for  each  ceremony  (see  below).  They  were 
usually  among  the  dancers  who  impersonated  supernatural  beings. 

GENERAL  FEATURES  OF  POMO  CEREMONIES 

A  ceremony  always  centered  about  the  dance-house,'  and  lasted 
four  nights,  or  some  multiple  of  four,  beginning  usually  soon  after 
sunset.  In  the  case  of  the  ** ghost  ceremony,'*  which  began  at  sunrise, 
the  preceding  night  was  spent  in  performing  other  dances.  Such 
ceremonies  were  made  up  of  a  varying  number  of  dances. 

There  was  usually  no  prescribed  sequence,  but  the  ceremony  took 
the  name  of  the  dance  which  was  its  special  feature,  though  this  need 
not  necessarily  open  the  ceremony.  In  a  few  instances  it  was  recog- 
nized that  certain  dances  should  be  performed  together. 

A  ceremony  consisted  of  (1)  an  introductory  procedure,  accom- 
panied by  more  or  less  ritual,  such  as  the  initiation  of  the  children 
through  the  gu'ksu  ceremony  (see  below,  p.  425)  ;  (2)  a  series  of 
dances;  (3)  a  series  of  speeches  by  officials  and  men  of  importance 
concerning  the  religious  life  or  other  matters  of  public  interest;  (4)  a 
final  purification  rite;  and  (5)  various  feasts,  particularly  one  held  in 
the  morning  after  the  final  night  of  the  ceremony. 

There  were  certain  special  ceremonies,  such  as  the  gu'ksu  cere- 
mony, in  which  a  definite  opening  procedure  was  required,  but  after 
this  almost  any  desired  dance  might  be  held  at  any  time,  day  or  night, 
throughout  the  duration  of  the  ceremonial  period.  The  procedure  of 
the  final  night  of  the  ceremony  was  also  usually  fixed. 

The  principal  ceremonies  of  the  Pomo  were : 

The  xahlu'igax  xaikilgaiagiba*  (the  **ghost"  or  *'devir'  ceremony). 

The  kallmatoto  xaikilgaiaglba  (the  thunder  ceremony). 

The  gu'ksu  xaikilgaiaglba. 

The  da'ma  xaikilgaiaglba. 


5 For  a  description  of  this  large  semi-subterranean  structure  see  "Pomo 
Buildings, ' '  by  the  present  author  in  the  Holmes  Anniversary  Volume. 
«  These  words  are  in  the  Eastern  Pomo  dialect. 


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402  University  of  California  Puhiioations  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

INVITATIONS  TO  CEREMONIES 

The  captains  of  the  village  discussed  with  other  important  men 
the  question  of  holding  a  ceremony,  just  as  they  discussed  other 
matters  relating  to  the  general  public  good.  Having  agreed  upon  the 
date  and  other  details,  the  head  captain  usually  walked  through  the 
village  delivering  an  oration,  as  was  customary  upon  occasions  of 
importance,  in  which  he  announced  to  the  people  the  decision  of  their 
captains.  This  oration  might,  however,  be  delivered  as  he  stood  before 
the  door  of  his  own  house  or  before  the  door  of  the  dance-house. 

Invitations  were  then  sent  to  the  people  of  other  villages  to  attend 
the  ceremony.  This  was  done  by  means  of  a  special  invitation 
string.  Wormwood  or  willow  sticks  about  two  inches  in  length  were 
tied,  each  separately,  into  a  short  string,  the  number  of  sticks  being 
equal,  according  to  some,  informants,  to  the  number  of  days  inter- 
vening before  the  ceremony  was  to  begin,  usually  not  fewer  than  two 
or  more  than  eight.  Other  informants  stated  that  this  number  was 
equal  to  these  intervening  days  plus  the  number  of  days  during  which 
the  ceremony  was  to  be  held.  For  instance,  if  a  four-day  ceremony 
was  to  begin  four  days  hence,  these  being  the  usual  numbers  in  both 
instances,  eight  sticks  were  tied  into  the  invitation  string.  According 
to  another  informant,  if  the  number  of  sticks  was  from  two  to  five, 
the  guests  were  invited  for  the  first  of  two  or  more  ceremonies.  If 
six  or  more  sticks  were  present,  they  were  to  come  for  a  later  ceremony. 
This  latter,  however,  seems  to  be  rather  improbable.  To  one  end  of 
the  string  was  tied,  as  an  ornament,  a  small  section  of  forehead-band 
made  of  yellow-hammer  feathers.  This  string  might  be  presented  as 
such,  but  frequently  it  was  tied  to  the  end  of  a  wand  about  two  feet 
long.  Its  general  name  among  the  Central  Pomo  was  haidel.  Before 
sending,  it  was  called  ha'icbu ;  after  it  had  been  sent  out,  it  was  termed 
ha'idakau. 

A  messenger  took  this  string  or  wand  to  the  captain  of  the  village 
invited  and,  if  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  make  a  journey  of  any 
considerable  length,  he  broke  off  a  stick  for  each  day  of  his  journey. 
According  to  most  informants,  he  simply  delivered  the  string  to  the 
head  captain  of  the  invited  village  and  immediately  returned  home 
with  the  message  of  acceptance  from  that  village.  According  to  one 
informant,  however,  he  remained  as  the  guest  of  the  head  captain,  and 
himself  broke  a  stick  each  day  from  the  invitation  string  and  finally 
conducted  the  visitors  to  the  ceremony. 

As  a  rule,  visitors  arrived  at  least  one  day  before  the  ceremony 


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1917]  Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians  403 

began,  but  they  never  entered  the  village  itself  until  the  morning  of 
the  first  ceremonial  day,  making  camp  meanwhile  at  some  convenient 
spot  within  a  short  distance.  The  visitors  collected  a  present  of  a 
considerable  number  of  shell  beads,  which  was  carried  by  their  head 
captain  as  he  led  them  into  the  village.  Some,  at  least,  of  the  younger 
men  among  the  visitors  attired  themselves  in  their  dance  costumes 
and  danced  into  the  village,  usually  following  a  little  apart  from  the 
rest  of  their  people. 

As  soon  as  the  visitors  appeared  in  sight,  a  watchman,  stationed 
on  the  roof  of  the  dance-house,  gave  notice  to  the  head  captain,  who 
was  inside.  He  at  once  came  out  and,  taking  a  position  directly  in 
front  of  the  dance-house,  delivered  a  short  oration  inviting  the  visitors 
to  enter  and  making  them  welcome.  As  the  visitors  entered  each 
group  was  assigned  to  its  particular  position  in  the  dance-house,  and 
all  seated  themselves  with  their  head  captain,  captains,  fire-tenders, 
and  other  officials  in  front.  When  the  head  captain  of  the  host  village 
finally  entered  the  dance-house,  which  was  not  until  after  all  the 
visitors  had  taken  their  seats,  he  was  called  by  the  visiting  head  captain 
to  their  position.  The  visiting  head  captain  then  made  a  short  speech 
of  presentation  and  gave  the  beads  to  the  host  head  captain,  who 
made,  in  return,  a  second  and  more  lengthy  speech  of  welcome.  He 
then  took  these  beads  to  his  own  house,  and  they  were  later  divided 
among  his  people.  A  present  of  equal  value  was  returned  to  the 
visitors,  either  immediately  or  at  some  time  before  the  close  of  the 
ceremony. 

This  formality  of  welcome  over,  some  dance  might  be  held  at  once 
or  the  guests  and  hosts  might  enjoy  a  general  visit.  If  one  of  the 
secret  ceremonies  was  to  be  held,  all  the  women  and  children  and  the 
uninitiated  men  retired  from  the  dance-house  before  it  commenced. 


THE  GHOST  OR  DEVIL  CEREMONY 

This  ceremony  was  perhaps  the  most  important  of  the  four-day 
ceremonies  of  the  Pomo.  It  was  usually  held  in  the  spring  and  was 
witnessed  only  by  properly  initiated  men,  never  by  women  or  children. 
The  uninitiated  men,  as  well  as  the  women  and  children,  were  much 
afraid  of  these  dancers  and  kept  a  very  respectful  distance  when  they 
entered  the  village.  This  was  due  to  the  belief  that  to  approach  closely 
would  produce  serious  illness. 

Such  esoteric  ceremonies  are  unusual  among  the  Pomo,  though 


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404  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

they  occur  among  other  California  tribes.  As  examples  might  be 
mentioned  the  Hesi  ceremony  among  the  Wintun  and  Maidu,  especially 
among  the  Maidu,  who  have  a  definite  secret  society. 

STEPHEN  POWERS  ON  THE  GHOST  DANCE 

The  ghost  dance  of  the  Pomo  has  been  attributed  by  Powera^  to 
a  secret  society.  In  speaking  of  the  subject  of  chastity  among  the 
Pomo,  he  describes  a  ** devil-raising''  ceremony  conducted  by  what  he 
terms  a  ** secret  society'*  which  had  several  branches  in  the  various 
Pomo  villages.  His  description  of  this  ceremony  is  given  from  infor- 
mation obtained  by  him  from  an  old  resident  closely  connected  with 
the  Indians  of  the  region  in  early  days,  and,  while  his  assumptions  and 
deductions  are  in  many  respects  incorrect,  it  is  plainly  a  description 
of  the  ghost  dance. 

After  speaking  of  the  **  secret  society  .  .  .  whose  simple  purpose 
is  to  conjure  up  infernal  terrors  and  render  each  other  assistance  in 
keeping  their  women  in  subjection,"  Powers  says:^ 

Their  meetings  are  held  in  an  assembly -house  erected  especially  for  the 
purpose,  constructed  of  peeled  pine-poles.  It  is  painted  red,  black,  and  white 
(wood  color)  on  the  inside  in  spiral  stripes  reaching  from  the  apex  to  the  ground. 
Outside  it  is  thatched  and  covered  with  earth.  When  they  are  assembled  in  it 
there  is  a  doorkeeper  at  the  entrance  who  suffers  no  one  to  enter  unless  he  is 
a  regular  member,  pledged  to  secrecy.  Even  Mr.  Potter,  though  a  man  held  in 
high  honor  by  them,  was  not  allowed  to  enter,  though  they  offered  to  initiate 
him,  if  he  desired.  They  do  not  scruple  to  avow  to  Americans  who  are  well 
acquainted  with  them,  and  in  whose  discretion  they  have  confidence,  that  their 
object  is  simply  to  "raise  the  devil,"  as  they  express  it,  with  whom  they 
pretend  to  hold  communication;  and  to  carry  on  other  demoniacal  doings,  accom- 
panied by  frightful  whooping  and  yelling,  in  order  to  work  on  the  imaginations 
of  the  erring  squaws,  no  whit  more  guilty  than  themselves. 

Once  in  seven  years  these  secret  woman-tamers  hold  a  grand  devil-dance 
(cha-du-el-keh),  which  is  looked  forward  to  by  the  women  of  the  tribe  with 
fear  and  trembling  as  the  scourging  visit  of  the  dreadful  Yu-ku-ku-la  (the 
devil).  As  this  society  has  its  ramifications  among  the  many  Pomo  tribes,  this 
great  dance  is  held  one  septennium  in  one  valley,  another  in  another,  and  so  on 
through  the  circuit  of  the  branch  societies. 

Every  seven  years,  therefore,  witnesses  the  construction  of  an  immense 
assembly -house  which  is  used  for  this  special  occasion  only.  I  have  seen  the 
ruins  of  one  which  was  reared  in  Potter  Valley  somewhere  about  the  year  1860. 
The  pit,  or  cellar,  which  made  a  part  of  it  was  circular,  sixty-three  feet  in 
diameter  and  about  six  feet  deep,  and  all  the  enormous  mass  of  earth  excavated 
from  it  was  gouged  up  with  small,  fire-hardened  sticks  and  carried  away  in 
baskets  by  both  men  and  women,  chiefiy  men.    It  was  about  eighteen  feet  high 


7  Contr.  N.  A.  Ethn.,  in,  158-160,  1877. 

8  Loc.  cit. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians  405 

in  the  center,  and  the  roof  was  supported  on  five  posts,  one  a  center  pole  and 
four  others  standing  around  it,  equidistant  from  it  and  the  perimeter  of  the  pit. 
Timbers  from  six  to  nine  inches  in  diameter  were  laid  from  the  edge  of  the  pit 
to  the  middle  posts,  and  from  these  to  the  center  pole.  Over  these  were  placed 
grass  and  brush,  and  the  whole  was  heavily  covered  with  earth.  Allowing  four 
square  feet  of  space  to  each  person,  such  a  structure  would  contain  upward  of 
seven  hundred  people.  In  their  palmy  days  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of 
Indians  attended  one  of  these  grand  dances. 

When  the  dance  is  held,  twenty  or  thirty  men  array  themselves  in  harlequin 
rig  and  barbaric  paint  and  put  vessels  of  pitch  on  their  heads;  then  they  secretly 
go  out  into  the  surrounding  mountains.  These  are  to  personify  the  devils.  A 
herald  goes  up  to  the  top  of  the  assembly-house  and  makes  a  speech  to  the 
multitude.  At  a  signal  agreed  upon  in  the  evening  the  masqueraders  come  in 
from  the  mountains,  with  the  vessels  of  pitch  flaming  on  their  heads,  and  with 
all  the  frightful  accessories  of  noise,  motion,  and  costume  which  the  savage 
mind  can  devise  in  representation  of  demons.  The  terrified  women  and  children 
flee  for  life,  the  men  huddle  them  into  a  circle,  and,  on  the  principle  of  fighting 
the  devil  with  fire,  they  swing  blazing  firebrands  in  the  air,  yell,  whoop,  and 
make  frantic  dashes  at  the  marauding  and  bloodthirsty  devils,  so  creating  a 
terrific  spectacle,  and  striking  great  fear  into  the  hearts  of  the  assembled 
hundreds  of  women,  who  are  screaming  and  fainting  and  clinging  to  their 
valorous  protectors.  Finally  the  devils  succeed  in  getting  into  the  assembly- 
house,  and  the  bravest  of  the  men  enter  and  hold  a  parley  with  them.  As  a 
conclusion  of  the  whole  farce,  the  men  summon  courage,  the  devils  are  expelled 
from  the  assembly-house,  and  with  a  prodigious  row  and  racket  of  sham  fighting 
are  chased  away  into  the  mountains. 

After  all  these  terrible  doings  have  exercised  their  due  effect  upon  the 
wanton  feminine  mind,  another  stage  of  the  proceedings  is  entered  upon.  A 
rattlesnake  was  captured  some  days  beforehand,  its  fangs  were  plucked  out, 
and  it  was  handled,  stroked,  fed,  and  tamed,  so  that  it  could  be  displayed  with 
safety.  The  venerable,  white-haired  peace-chief  now  takes  his  station  before 
the  multitude,  within  the  great  assembly-house,  with  the  rattlesnake  before  him 
as  the  visible  incarnation  of  the  dreadful  Yukukula.  Slowly  and  sonorously 
he  begins,  speaking  to  them  of  morality  and  feminine  obedience.  Then  warming 
with  his  subject,  and  brandishing  the  horrid  reptile  in  his  hand  full  in  the  faces 
and  over  the  heads  of  his  shuddering  auditors,  with  solemn  and  awful  voice  he 
warns  them  to  beware,  and  threatens  them  with  the  dire  wrath  of  Yukukula  if 
they  do  not  live  lives  of  chastity,  industry,  and  obedience,  until  some  of  the 
terrified  squaws  shriek  aloud  and  fall  swooning  upon  the  ground. 

Referring  again  to  the  ** devil  dance,''  as  practiced  among  the 
Gualala,  Powers  says:® 

In  the  midst  of  the  ordinary  dances  there  comes  rushing  upon  the  scene  an 
ugly  apparition  in  the  shape  of  a  man,  wearing  a  feather  mantle  on  his  back 
reaching  from  the  armpits  down  to  the  mid-thighs,  zebra-painted  on  his  breast 
and  legs  with  black  stripee,  bearskin  shako  on  his  head,  and  his  arms  stretched 
out  at  full  length  along  a  staff  passing  behind  his  neck.  Accoutered  in  this 
harlequin  rig,  he  dashes  at  the  squaws,  capering,  dancing,  whooping;  and  they 
and  the  children  flee  for  life,  keeping  several  hundred  yards  between  him  and 
themselves.  If  they  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  touch  even  his  stick,  aU  their 
children  will  perish  out  of  hand. 


9  Op.  cit.f  pp.  193-194. 


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406  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

THE  GHOST  CEREMONY  PROPER 

The  dancers  were  of  two  classes,  the  ordinary  ghost-dancers,  or 
** devils,*'  called  xahluigak  (E),  and  the  ** ash-devils,''  or  fire-eaters, 
called  no  xahluigak  (E).  The  former  danced  almost  exclusively 
during  the  day,  and  the  latter  at  night,  though  these  regulations  were 
not  quite  absolute.  The  ash-devils  were  always  present  at  the  ghost 
ceremony  and  during  the  ghost  dance  proper  they  served,  in  a  way, 
as  sergeants-at-arms  and  as  clowns. 

According  to  some  informants,  a  new  dance-house  was  especially 
built  for  each  ghost  ceremony.  Other  informants  did  not  particularly 
mention  this  fact  and  it  seems  probable  that  in  more  recent  times, 
after  the  ceremonial  procedure  of  the  Pomo  had  become  somewhat  lax, 
this  rule  was  not  observed,  and  the  same  dance-house  may  have  been 
used  for  more  than  one  ghost  ceremony,  and  for  other  ceremonies  as 
well. 

In  this  ceremony  the  dancers  impersonated  the  spirits  of  the  dead, 
as  is  indicated  by  the  speech  of  the  chief  devil-dancer  made  just  before 
disrobing.^®  The  dance  is  said  to  have  had  its  origin  in  mythical  times 
when  the  birds  and  mammals  had  hiiman  attributes.  The  Pomo 
account  is  as  follows: 

Hawk,  the  captain  of  a  village,  was  killed  by  Vulture.  After  being  absent 
from  the  village  for  some  time  Hawk  suddenly  returned,  came  into  the  dance- 
house,  and  sat  down  in  front  of  the  center  pole,  at  its  foot.  A  ceremony  was 
about  to  begin,  and  the  people  noticed  nothing  out  of  the  ordinary  about  Hawk 
and  were  perfectly  wiUing  to  allow  him  to  participate  in  the  dancing.  Meadow- 
lark,  however,  noticed  an  odor  about  Hawk  which  showed  that  he  had  just 
returned  from  the  realm  of  the  dead.  With  his  characteristic  garrulity,  he 
commenced  to  chatter  about- the  improprieties  of  mortals  dancing  with  dead 
people.  Hawk  was  a  chief  and  one  of  an  important  family  and  felt  especially 
offended  at  these  reflections  upon  him  and  left  at  once,  never  again  returning 
to  the  village.  According  to  one  version  of  the  myth,  Meadowlark  had,  in  those 
days,  a  long  tail  like  most  other  birds.  His  action  upon  this  occasion,  however, 
so  enraged  the  other  members  of  the  village  that  some  one  struck  at  him  with 
a  fire  poker  which  happened  to  be  near  at  hand.  Meadowlark  was  able  to  dodge 
the  blow,  but  the  poker  clipped  off  a  large  part  of  his  tail.  He  has,  therefore, 
had  only  a  stub  of  a  tail  since  that  day.  The  people  then  fell  to  discussing 
what  could  be  done  to  atone  in  some  way  for  this  insult  to  Hawk.  A  number 
of  men  immediately  went  out  into  the  woods  and  dressed  themselves  as  the 
devil-dancers  now  do,  returning  to  the  village  to  personate  the  spirits  of  the 
departed.  From  this  mythical  source  has  descended  the  present-day  ghost  or 
devil  ceremony. 

The  ceremony  was  directly  under  the  supervision  of  the  chief 
^'gulfsti  doctor,"  and  it  was  he  who  safeguarded  the  ghost-dance 


10  See  below,  p.  414. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians  407 

paraphernalia  during  the  long  interval  between  ceremonies.  The 
ghost-dancers  and  the  ash-devils  were  actually  assisted  in  dressing  by 
the  gu'ksu  doctors. 

The  dress  of  the  ghost-dancer  proper  was  quite  elaborate.  Each 
ghost-dancer  repaired  to  some  secluded  place  in  the  woods  or  brush, 
preferably  back  in  the  hills  about  the  village,  where  he  dressed.  This 
going  into  seclusion  to  dress  is  called  tstima'kabek  in  the  Eastern 
Pomo  dialect.  He  first  rubbed  his  body  with  chewed  angelica  root, 
at  the  same  time  making  a  prayer  for  long  life,  good  health,  and 
prosperity  for  himself,  his  fellow  dancers,  and  the  people  of  the  village. 
He  also  made  a  prayer  to  a  certain  supernatural  being^^  to  lend  him 
a  striped  skin.  He  next  painted  his  body  with  white,  red,  and  black 
paints.  A  man  might  paint  his  body  entirely  one  color.  The  upper 
half  of  the  body  might  be  of  one  color,  while  the  lower  half  was  of 
another.  The  same  difference  in  color  might  obtain  between  the  right 
and  the  left  sides,  and  bands  and  stripes  might  also  be  freely  used. 

Before  finally  finishing  the  painting  of  the  face  and  arms,  however, 
the  remainder  of  the  attire  was  put  on.  This  included,  for  the  head, 
(1)  a  head-net  with  which  to  confine  the  hair;  (2)  a  down-filled  head- 
net;  (3)  a  feather  tuft  on  top  of  the  head;  (4)  a  yellow-hammer  quill 
forehead-band  fastened  at  the  top  of  the  forehead,  passing  back 
through  the  parted  feather-tuft  and  hanging  down  the  back;  and  (5) 
a  fillet  of  pepperwood  leaves.  The  remainder  of  the  costume  consisted 
of  a  short  girdle  of  pepperwood  branches  worn  about  the  waist  and, 
if  desired,  a  similar  adornment  about  the  neck. 

The  ash-devils,  or  fire-eaters,  dressed  more  simply.  According  to 
some  informants,  they  were  entirely  nude  Except  for  a  coat  of  blue 
paint.  According  to  others,  their  attire  was  somewhat  more  elaborate. 
The  face  was  painted  red,  black,  or  white,  two  colors  never  being  used 
together.  The  legs  were  painted  white,  then  scratched  with  the  finger- 
nails so  as  to  remove  some  of  the  paint  and  produce  longitudinal 
stripes.  The  hair  was  bound  up  with  the  usual  head-net  into  which 
a  single  black  feather  was  inserted,"  or  a  feather  tuft  was  attached 
to  it.  As  a  screen  or  mask  before  the  face,  the  dancer  also  wore  a 
fringe  of  green  twigs  further  to  disguise  his  identity.  Otherwise  he 
was  completely  naked. 


11  The  exact  identity  of  this  supernatural  being  could  not  be  determined  from 
informants. 

12  According  to  one  informant,  two  feathers  instead  of  one  were  worn  by 
these  dancers.  These  were  placed  so  that  they  projected  laterally  from  the 
forehead. 


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408  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Aroh.  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

When  everything  was  in  readiness  in  the  village,  the  head  captain 

sent  out  a  messenger  to  notify  the  dancers.    When  the  latter  were 

ready  to  enter  the  village,  a  small  fire  was  built  in  the  hills  to  give 

notice  of  the  fact.    They  made  their  first  entry  just  about  daybreak 

on  the  first  day.    A  crier,  who  was  always  one  of  the  captains  or  a 

fire-tender  detailed  to  this  duty,  took  his  position  on  the  roof  of  the 

dance-house  just  below  the  smoke-hole,  where  he  gave  the  ghost  call 

**ye  .  .  /'  four  times.    At  once  answering  calls  were  heard  from  the 

ghost-dancers  in  their  several  locations,  for  they  had  scattered  to  a 

number  of  different  places,  each  man  by  himself,  or  in  groups  of 

not  more  than  two  or  three  individuals.    The  ghost  response  was  a 

loud  'Svaiiwa'i,''  repeated  four  times.     If  the  ghost-dancers  were 

sufficiently  close  together,  this  was  given  by  their  leader  only.    The 

crier  continued  his  calling  until  one  or  more  of  the  dancers  appeared 

on  the  outskirts  of  the  village.    They  came  running  in,^^  each  carrying 

in  his  hands  two  bunches  of  grass  or  twigs  a  foot  or  so  in  length,^* 

behind  which  he  at  times  pretended  to  hide.    Each  suddenly  stopped 

as  he  came  in  sight  of  the  dance-house  and  stood  for  a  moment  with 

outstretched  arms.     Thereupon  the  crier  shouted,  **o,  5, 5,  o,'*  after 

which  he  delivered  an  invocation  to  the  ghost-dancers,  asking  them  to 

come  running  into  the  village  bringing  health  and  happiness  to  the 

people.    This  invocation  was  as  follows: 

napd'  putsa'l  giwa'le 

village  healthy  run  to 


ma'yawala 
girls 

kale  putsa'l 
healthy 

giwa'le 
run  to 

xa'xalik 
chiefs 

putsa'l 
healthy 

giwa'le 
run  to 

da'xalik 
chieftainesses 

putsa'l 
healthy 

giwa'le 
run  to 

kawi'k 
children 

putsa'l 
healthy 

giwa'le 
run  to 

Then,  according  to  one  informant,  all  the  people  who  were  assem- 
bled in  the  dance-house  shouted,  while  the  drummer  beat  rapidly  for 
a  minute  or  two.     The  head  singers  took  their  cocoon  rattles  and 


i«  One  informant  stated  that  each  dancer  was  ablaze  on  his  back,  head,  and 
arms,  and  that  smoke  issued  from  his  mouth.  This  accords  with  Power's  state- 
ments, quoted  above. 

1*  According  to  one  informant,  some  of  these  dancers  carried  stones,  long 
sticks,  or  even  snakes  with  which  to  frighten  the  spectators.  Note  also  Power's 
reference  to  the  use  of  the  rattlesnake  in  the  ghost  dance,  quoted  above. 


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intoned  a  song  as  they  marched  outside  to  meet  the  dancers.    After 
singing  outside  for  a  short  time,  they  re-entered  the  dance-house. 

The  dancers  then  came  running  in,  making  a  loud  noise  produced 
by  a  voiced  expulsion  of  breath  through  the  relaxed  but  closed  lips, 
**bu  .  .  /'  and  ran  to  a  point  about  one  hundred  yards  directly  in 
front  of  the  dance-house  door  (see  fig.  1).  While  the  dancers  were 
running  into  the  village,  the  singers  sang  the  following  song: 

yohiya',  yohiya',  yohiya', 
yohiya',  yohiya',  yohiya', 
yohikoli  kole,  yohikoli  kole. 
(Bepeat  indefinitely.) 


I 


I 


I 


\  / 

\ 
\ 
\     \ 

\        \^    /  ^ 


/ 


y 


\ 


\/ 


/\ 


/ 


Fig.  1  Fig.  2 

Fig.  1 — Paths  of  the  ghost-dancers  as  they  enter  the  village,  and  their  cere- 
monial course  before  the  dance-house. 

Fig.  2 — ^Positions  taken  and  course  traveled  by  ghost-dancers  in  approaching 
dance-house. 


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410  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

Meantime  the  crier  and  the  dancers  continued  their  respective  cries. 
The  head  ghost-dancer  always  dressed  at  a  place  north  (i.e.,  in  the 
rear)  of  the  dance-house,  so  that  in  entering  the  village  he  ran  past 
the  dance-house  to  take  up  his  position.  Here  he  bowed  very  low,  and 
quickly  dropped  his  arms  with  the  bunches  of  grass  above  mentioned, 
at  the  same  time  crying  **we  .  .  ."  He  then  trotted  perhaps  twenty 
feet  in  one  direction,  where  he  repeated  this  motion  and  cry,  and  then 
to  a  point  an  equal  distance  in  the  opposite  direction  from  his  central 
position,  repeating  the  same  motion  and  cry  there.  This  he  did  four 
times,  finally  stopping  in  the  middle  of  the  forty-foot  line  thus  blocked 
out,  and  directly  in  front  of  the  dance-house  door.  The  next  dancer 
to  enter  the  village  might  come  from  any  direction.  He  ran  toward 
the  head  dancer  and  crossed,  if  possible,  in  front  of  him,  though  if 
necessary  he  passed  behind  him.  In  this  case  the  head  dancer  turned 
around  so  as  to  face  the  runner.  The  newcomer  began  to  pass  back 
and  forth  along  the  line,  making  the  motions  and  cries  as  above 
described.  He  then  took  up  his  position  at  one  side  or  the  other  of 
the  chief  dancer.  These  dancers  were  at  liberty  to  laugh,  talk,  and 
play  at  will.  Frequently  they  performed  various  comical  antics,  such 
as  pretending  to  be  stung  by  wasps,  aiid  doctoring  one  another. 

The  crier  continued  his  calls  until  finally  the  leader  of  the  dancers 
walked  along  a  zigzag  path  to  a  position  about  one-quarter  of  the 
distance  between  the  line  of  dancers  and  the  dance-house  (see  fig.  2). 
Here  he  halted  and  cried  **wui'  ..."  after  which  the  crier  at  the 
dance-house  called  all  the  initiated  men  of  the  village  to  assemble. 

There  was  a  fixed  restriction  against  the  presence  of  the  uninitiated 
in  this  assembly.  One  informant  maintained  that  the  ceremony,  as 
held  in  his  locality  (the  coast  of  the  Central  Pomo  area),  required  that 
four  posts  be  set  up,  each  at  a  distance  of  several  yards  from  the 
dance-house,  as  is  shown  in  figures  1  and  2,  the  imaginary  lines  from 
post  to  post  forming  an  inclosure  for  the  dance-house  and  its  imme- 
diate vicinity,  within  which  none  but  the  initiated  dared  venture. 

The  singers  and  others  officially  concerned  with  the  dance  came 
from  within  the  dance-house  and  formed  two  lines,  one  on  each  side 
of  the  outer  door  of  the  tunnel,  as  indicated  by  the  small  crosses  in 
figure  2.  As  the  crier  gave  his  call,  the  initiates  answered  with  a  cry 
of  *'ye  .  .  ."  after  which  they  formed  these  two  lines  between  which 
the  ghost-dancers  must  pass  to  enter  the  dance-house. 

At  the  outer  ends  of  these  lines  were  two  masters  of  ceremonies 
who  directed  the  ceremony  from  this  point  on  to  its  close.    They  first 


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chased  each  of  the  dancers^"  as  he  came  to  enter  the  house,  returning 
each  time  to  the  heads  of  the  two  lines,  there  to  await  the  arrival  of 
the  next  dancer.  These  masters  of  ceremonies  were  called  xahlu'igak 
kaldaiyati  (E)  or  masa'n  kaldaiyau  (E),  and  were  entirely  nude  except 
for  a  head-net  and  a  feather  tuft  on  their  heads. 

The  chief  ghost-dancer  entered  the  house  backwards  and  started 
towards  the  drum,  passing,  however,  on  the  west  or  wrong  side  of  the 
fire.    Before  he  had  gone  very  far,  he  stopped  and  groped  around 


Fig.  3 — Course  of  each  ghost-dancer  entering  dance-house. 


with  one  foot,  as  if  to  find  his  way,  and  finally  inquired  which  way  he 
should  go.  Ghost-dancers  used  the  same  words  in  speaking  that  ordi- 
nary people  did,  except  that  they  inverted  their  statements  and  re- 
versed the  meanings  of  words.  In  this  case  the  spectators  replied, 
*' You  must  go  on  the  west  side,''^*  meaning,  of  course,  that  the  dancer 
was  expected  actually  to  go  down  the  east  side  of  the  dance-house. 
He  then  reversed  his  direction,  as  is  shown  in  figure  3,  and  circled 
four  times  about  the  fire,  finally  passing  to  a  position  in  front  of  the 

15  Two  or  three  dancers  sometimes  came  together. 
i«Mibax  bol  malidai  (E). 


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412  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

center  pole.  The  spectators  meanwhile  constantly  called  out  to  each 
dancer  to  pass  down  the  **east"  side  of  the  house. 

When  the  dancer  entered  through  the  tunnel,  the  spectators  all 
cried,  **ye'-ye.''  He  at  first  advanced  very  slowly  backwards  until 
he  reached  the  point  at  which  he  inquired  his  way.  As  soon  as  he 
received  this  direction  he  sprang  up  and  ran  the  prescribed  four  times 
around  the  fire  and  finally  reached  the  foot  of  the  center  pole,  making 
meanwhile  the  same**  bti  .  .  .*' noise  which  he  had  made  upon  entering 
the  village.  He  here  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  other  dancers,  who 
went  through  the  same  succession  of  movements. 

The  chief  ghost-dancer,  upon  arriving  in  front  of  the  center  pole, 
said,  **mamule"'  (E),  to  which  the  spectators  replied,  **hehe'  .  .  .*' 
Then  he  made  a  short  speech  in  a  more  or  less  archaic  language.  Its 
purport  was :  *  *  I  do  not  come  to  do  any  one  harm,  but  rather  to  take 
all  sickness  away  and  to  make  everybody  strong.'' 

habadutkiya      gahnu     kudi'     putsa'lwal     gakba     ga'kalik     gaba  da'kalik 

good  chiefs  chieftainesses 

gaba,    ka'lnine         gaba     bekal     sima    bexba     gahnu  eama     ihiwala 

rich      people 

He  next  marked  ofl?,  according  to  one  informant,  two  or  three  places 
on  the  east  side  of  the  floor,  saying  that  he  and  his  followers  would 
dance  there.  This  was  contrary  to  the  usual  procedure  in  dances, 
for  the  regular  dancing  area  in  front  of  the  center  pole  was  always 
used.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  ghost  dance  itself  was  actually  per- 
formed in  the  usual  area  also,  but  this  indicating  of  another  area,  and 
this  announcement,  are  only  other  evidences  that  the  spirits  must 
always  do  things  differently  from  mortals.  In  fact,  the  whole  dress 
and  conduct  of  these  dancers,  their  reversal  of  terms  of  direction,  their 
groping  their  way,  etc.,  typify  the  conduct  of  the  spirits  of  the  de- 
parted, who  find  everyhing  strange  when  they  return  to  the  realm  of 
mortals. 

Throughout  the  entire  ceremony,  and  especially  during  the  time 
that  the  ghost-dancers  were  entering,  the  spectators  were  obliged  to 
use  great  care  not  to  obstruct  their  passage  in  any  way,  or  otherwise 
to  interfere  with  them,  else  they  were  likely  to  be  very  roughly  handled 
by  the  dancers. 

As  the  last  ghost-dancer  entered  the  tunnel  leading  into  the  dance- 
house,  the  men  in  the  two  lines  outside  cried  **yuhe"'  four  times,  after 
which  they  entered  and  took  up  their  positions. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians  413 

The  above  described  entry  of  the  dancers  was  according  to  the 
regular  procedure.  However,  these  dancers,  especially  the  ash-devils, 
were  privileged  to  perform  many  comical  antics,  and  it  not  infre- 
quently happened  that  one  or  more  of  them  would  run  up  on  to  the 
roof  of  the  dance-house  and  dive  through  the  smoke-hole.  In  fact, 
this  was  one  of  the  usual  modes  of  deception  practiced  in  this  ceremony. 
A  special  net,  cko'Habiti  kalehai  (N),  was  stretched  about  two  feet 
below  the  smoke-hole  to  catch  the  dancer.  A  special  post  was  set  in 
the  ground  beside  this  net  for  the  dancer  to  slide  down.  He  would 
then  go  through  the  usual  series  of  movements,  running  four  times 
around  the  fire.  After  this  he  usually  took  up  a  position  at  one  of 
the  posts  near  the  door,  there  to  levy  tribute  upon  the  spectators. 
This  tribute  might  be  in  the  form  of  firewood,  tobacco,  or  other 
commodities. 

The  music  for  this  ceremony  was  provided  by  a  drummer,  two 
chief  singers,  and  a  number  of  burden-singers.  The  ghost-dancers 
sometimes  sang  a  kind  of  burden  of  their  own  while  dancing.  This 
was  simply  **h!,  hi,  hi,  hi,"  etc.,  in  a  very  high  key.  The  chief  singers 
were  provided  with  cocoon  rattles.  These  and  the  drum  were  the 
only  instruments  used.  The  dancers  carried  no  whistles,  although 
these  were  ordinarily  used  by  performers  in  other  dances.  The  burden- 
singers  also  used  no  split-stick  rattles,  but  clapped  their  hands  instead 
in  time  to  their  singing. 

After  the  performers  had  in  this  way  entered  the  dance-house,  the 
chief  ghost-dancer  called  to  the  singers  to  start.  The  drummer  then 
jumped  upon  the  drum,  crying  **hutsaiya'hii''  (E).^^  With  the  first 
cry  of  the  drummer,  the  chief  singers  sounded  their  rattles.  After 
an  interval  of  perhaps  a  minute,  the  drummer  repeated  his  jump  and 
call.    The  song  started  and  the  dance  began. 

The  song  as  given  by  one  of  the  informants  is  as  follows : 

yohiya'  yohiya',  yohiya'  yohiya', 

kuli  kule  kule  .  .  . 

kulikulekule  .  .  . 

hutsaiya'  hutsaiya' 

hii  .  .  . 

(Repeat  indefinitely.) 

The  two  masters  of  ceremonies  took  up  their  respective  positions 
at  A  and  C  (fig.  3)  and  danced  back  and  forth  along  the  lines  AB 


17  This  expression  was  said  by  informants  to  be  untranslatable,  simply  an 
expression  used  to  start  the  song.  This  jumping  upon  the  drum  and  calling  by 
the  drummer  were  called  ^ehe'sba  (E). 


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414  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

and  CD.  In  starting  the  movement,  they  stood  with  hands  out- 
stretched and  bent  their  bodies  sidewise  toward  the  drum  as  they 
shouted  *'hutsaiya'hn.''  They  then  ran  rapidly  sidewise  to  the  op- 
posite ends  of  their  respective  courses,  where  they  repeated  the  same 
bending,  this  time  in  the  opposite  direction.  When  they  had  gone 
back  and  forth  over  these  courses  and  had  returned  to  their  original 
positions  for  the  fourth  time,  they  again  shouted  as  at  first.  This 
particular  set  of  the  dance  was  repeated  four  times,  thus  completing 
this  part.  After  any  such  part  had  ended,  it  occasionally  happened 
that  one  dancer  would  continue  his  steps  just  as  though  the  music 
were  in  full  swing.  Ultimately  one  of  his  fellow-dancers  would  strike 
him  lightly  to  call  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  dance  was  over, 
and  he  also  would  stop. 

Four  such  parts  completed  the  first  division  of  the  dance.  After 
this  the  masters  of  ceremonies  advanced  toward  the  ghost-dancers, 
motioning  them  back  toward  the  center  pole  with  the  palms  of  their 
hands  turned  outward  and  held  in  front  of  them,  while  they  said 
**hahyu',  hahyu"*  (repeated  indefinitely). 

The  singers,  masters  of  ceremonies,  and  the  drummer  then  seated 
themselves  or  stood  a  short  distance  away  from  the  drum,  and  the 
ghost-dancers  proceeded  with  their  ceremonial  disrobing. 

The  chief  ghost-dancer  proceeded  from  the  foot  of  the  center  pole 
by  a  path,  as  is  indicated  in  figure  4,  leading  around  the  center  pole 
and  fire  and  back  to  the  east  side  of  the  drum,  which  the  ghost-dancers 
term  cuna'bilat  (E),  literally  ** canoe  worn  out.*'  Upon  his  arrival 
at  the  drum  the  chief  ghost-dancer  made  a  speech  in  which  he  said 
that  he  and  his  fellows  *  *  had  come  from  the  hollow  stems  of  the  grass, 
crawling  like  snakes,"  to  visit  the  people. 

katsa'  mutd'lai      waha  badurkiu  (E) 
grass  hollow  travel  like  a  snake 

He  told  them  that  he  had  come  for  their  good  and  with  no  evil 
motives,  that  he  had  come  to  bring  them  good  health  and  happiness, 
not  sickness  and  misfortune.  With  a  cry  of  **me  .  .  .*'  he  then 
jumped  across  the  drum  to  its  west  side.  The  spectators  cried  **mi'bax 
bo'wowa''  (E),  literally  **go  on  your  west  side,*'  indicating  the  west 
side  of  the  drum,  according  to  the  ghost-dancers'  inverted  method  of 
speech.  In  compliance  with  this  instruction,  the  chief  ghost-dancer 
jumped  across  the  drum,  after  which  he  sometimes  felt  around  with 
his  foot  as  if  in  search  of  something.     Thus  he  jumped  back  and 


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forth  four  times  across  the  drum.  He  had  really  been  in  search  of 
the  drum  all  the  time  and  had  feigned  his  inability  to  find  it.  He 
finally,  however,  jumped  upon  it  and  stamped  rapidly  for  a  minute 
or  so  to  indicate  his  satisfaction.  Throughout  this  whole  performance 
the  singers  and  others  near  the  drum  continually  cried  **ho  .  .  . 
ho  .  .  ."  etc.  While  standing  on  the  drum,  the  chief  ghost-dancer 
faced  toward  the  wall,  thus  bringing  his  back  toward  the  fire.  Fre- 
quently he  made  some  comic  observation  to  those  near  by,^^  and  from 
time  to  time  turned  his  head  toward  the  right  so  as  almost  to  face  the 
fire,  the  while  he  made  the  peculiar  noise,  **bu  .  .  ."  characteristic 


Fig.  4 — Ghost-dancer's  course  in  disrobing. 

of  this  dance.  Meanwhile  he  turned  his  head  slowly,  first  to  the  right 
and  then  to  the  left,  until  he  had  done  this  four  times  in  each  direction. 
He  next  took  the  brush  or  grass,  which  he  had  throughout  the 
ceremony  been  carrying  in  his  hands,  first  in  his  left  hand  and  passed 
it  downward  over  the  right  side  of  his  body  until  he  had  passed  it 
down  and  up  four  times.  He  then  took  it  in  his  right  hand  and 
passed  it  in  the  same  manner  over  his  left  side.  He  next  took  part 
of  it  again  in  each  hand  and  passed  both  hands  back  and  forth  side- 
wise  over  his  legs  while  standing  in  a  bent  posture,  until  he  had  done 
this  also  four  times.  The  brush  or  grass  was  then  placed  upon  the 
ground. 


18  Compare  below,  p.  419. 


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416  University  of  California  Puhlications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

He  next  took  off  the  girdle  of  twigs  about  his  waist  and  dropped  it 
to  the  ground,  usually  without  ceremony,  though  if  he  chose  he  might 
pass  this  through  the  same  series  of  motions  as  the  twigs  carried  in 
his  hand.  He  next  took  off  his  entire  head-gear  at  once.  This  he  held 
in  his  left  hand  and  passed  from  his  right  shoulder  up  over  his  head 
four  times,  repeating  the  same  motions  with  the  right  hand  on  the 
left  side.  He  then  placed  this  with  the  other  paraphernalia  on  the 
ground. 

He  next  left  the  drum  and  went  directly  back  to  the  foot  of  the 
center  pole,  where  he  rejoined  the  rest  of  the  ghost-dancers.  The 
remaining  dancers  went,  one  by  one,  or  in  small  groups,  and  performed 
exactly  the  same  ceremony  as  that  just  described.  When  all  had 
disrobed,  each  took  his  costume  and  retired  to  the  woods  or  brush, 
redressed  himself,  endeavoring  to  change  his  painting  to  one  as  dif- 
ferent as  possible  from  that  which  he  wore  before.  Later  the  same 
performance  was  repeated:  the  calling  by  the  crier,  entry  of  the 
dancers,  series  of  dances,  and  ceremonial  disrobing. 

On  the  first  day  this  entire  series  of  dances  was  repeated  four 
times  in  all — at  about  5  a.m.,  10  a.m.,  2  p.m.,  and  5  p.m.,  respectively. 
After  the  ceremonial  disrobing  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  series,  the 
ghost-dancers  left  their  suits  in  the  dance-house  and  repaired  to  the 
river  or  lake  to  swim,  after  which  they  returned  to  the  dance-house. 
During  the  other  three  days  of  the  ceremony  they  might  appear  any 
desired  number  of  times  during  the  day. 

The  dancers  were  forbidden  to  eat  or  drink  on  any  particular  day 
as  long  as  the  dance  continued,  but  as  soon  as  they  had  gone  down  to 
swim  this  restriction  was  removed. 

As  a  rule,  fire-eating  and  fire-handling  were  only  incidental  to  the 
ghost  dance  proper.  However,  if  occasion  arose,  the  ghost-dancers 
themselves  might  handle  fire,  though  they  could  not  eat  it.  This 
privilege  was  especially  reserved  to  the  ash-devils,  no'  xahluigak  (E). 
In  case  something  was  done  to  offend  the  ghost-dancers,  such  as  an 
inadequate  provision  of  wood  or  some  inattention  on  the  part  of  the 
officials,  they  might  attempt  to  show  their  displeasure  by  throwing 
fire  about  the  dance-house.  It  then  became  the  duty  of  the  two  fire- 
tenders  to  hold  sticks  of  wood  across  the  fire.  This  operated  as  a 
taboo  to  the  ghost-dancers,  who  were  prevented  from  touching  the  fire. 
If  there  were  any  of  the  ash-devils  present,  even  though  not  regularly 
participating  in  this  particular  ceremony,  they  at  once  brought  their 
special  bird-shaped  staffs,  which  served  as  their  badges  of  authority,^" 


19  See  below,  p.  418. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians  417 

and  gave  them  absolute  control  over  the  entire  assemblage,  including 
even  the  head  captain.  This  caused  the  fire-tenders  to  remove  their 
restriction,  and  the  ghost-dancers  were  then  privileged  to  do  as  they 
wished  as  long  as  they  were  under  the  patronage  of  the  ash-devils. 

While  serving,  during  the  regular  ghost  dance,  as  messengers, 
sergeants-at-arms,  and  collectors  of  fines,  the  ash-devils  were  called 
katsa'tala  (E),  and  were  the  special  clowns  who  performed  all  manner 
of  antics  in  their  endeavors  to  provoke  an  outward  expression  of  mirth 
from  some  unfortunate  spectator.  Should  he  so  forget  himself  as  to 
laugh  or  even  smile  at  the  antics,  one  of  these  katsa'tala  ran  at  him 
with  his  wand  and  levied  tribute  in  the  form  of  a  payment  of  beads 
or  some  other  commodity,  or  imposed  a  penalty  requiring  the  oflFender 
to  bring  wood  or  water  for  the  dancers.  Furthermore,  if  some  one 
of  the  dancers  should  see  a  spectator  in  possession  of  something  desir- 
able, he  sent  one  of  these  katsa'tala  with  his  wand  to  this  spectator  to 
demand  the  desired  article.  The  spectator  must  then  bring  it  to  the 
foot  of  the  center  pole  and  deposit  it  for  the  dancers. 

In  order  to  provoke  the  spectators  to  mirth,  these  katsa'tala  did 
many  odd  things  and  made  themselves  as  grotesque  as  possible.  For 
instance,  one  of  them  would  prop  his  eyelids  open  with  small  wooden 
pegs  (an  action  called  u'ibatak  (E)),  or  he  would  hold  his  mouth 
open  and  stretch  it  out  of  shape  (an  action  called  katsi'da  batak  (E) ), 
or  he  would  fill  his  cheeks  very  full  and  puflf  them  out  with  grass 
(called  kawe'ts  kale  (E) ) . 

These  ash-devils  never  actually  danced  in  the  ghost  dance  proper, 
but  accompanied  the  regular  ghost-dancers  when  they  appeared.  The 
intervals  between  dances  were  filled  and  greatly  enlivened  by  their 
antics,  and  it  was  during  these  intervals  that  they  made  good  their 
name  by  rolling  in  the  ashes  of  the  fire,  and  by  sometimes  throwing 
live  coals  about,  and  ** eating*'  them. 

Prom  time  to  time  during  the  ** rests,*'  or  ceremonial  pauses,  one 
of  these  katsa'tala  would  seize  a  cocoon  rattle,  run  four  times  about 
the  fire  and  center  pole,  and  throw  the  rattle  at  the  chief  singer,  calling 
upon  him  for  a  song.  This  must  be  at  once  forthcoming,  and  the 
ghost  dance  itself  was  then  resumed.  If  some  one  in  the  audience 
wished  to  have  the  singing  and  dancing  resumed,  he  threw  a  cocoon 
rattle  at  one  of  the  fire-tenders,  who  passed  it  to  one  of  the  katsa'tala, 
who  then  ran  about  the  fire  and  presented  it  to  the  chief  singer  as 
just  described. 

Songs  were  sometimes  sung  independently  and  unaccompanied  by 


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418  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

dancing.  This  was  especially  the  case  in  what  may  be  termed  singing 
contests.  Upon  receiving  the  rattle,  a  singer  was  obliged  at  once  to 
sing  some  song.  He  then  passed  the  rattle  to  another  singer,  who  did 
likewise.  Thus  each  of  the  renowned  singers  was  given  an  opportunity 
to  prove  his  merit.  Each  man's  song  was  accompanied  by  a  parade 
of  the  performers,  which  carried  the  party,  including  the  singer,  four 
times  around  the  dancing  area. 

FIEE-EATING 

Fire-eating  was  restricted,  as  above  stated,  to  the  ash-devils,  and, 
while  sometimes  practiced  during  intermissions  in  the  regular  ghost 
dance,  it  was  usually  held  as  a  separate  ceremony  in  the  evening  and 
was  preceded  by  a  short  dance. 

The  dress  of  the  ash-devils  consisted  of  a  coat  of  paint  and  a  very 
simple  headdress.^®  In  addition,  however,  they  carried  special  cere- 
monial staffs  called  toabila't  (E),  kasa'usaua  (E),  and  kasa'lsala  (E). 
To  onft  end  of  this  ceremonial  staff  was  fixed  the  head  of  a  crane. 
Grass  was  used  to  stuff  the  neck  part,  bits  of  abalone  {Halioiis)  shell 
made  the  eyes,  and  bluejay  feathers  were  made  into  a  topknot.  It 
was  permissible  to  use  wands  of  slightly  diiBferent  forms,  but  all  were 
crooked  in  some  way,  and  the  crane-headed  staff  was  the  recognized 
variety. 

When  this  special  ceremony  commenced,  the  ash-devils  became 
supreme  and  took  precedence  over  everybody.  A  guard  was  posted 
at  the  foot  of  the  side  post  to  the  east  of  the  door,  and  no  one  was 
permitted  to  leave  the  dance-house  after  the  ceremony  had  begun 
except  upon  payment  of  a  certain  sum  of  what  was  termed  upon  this 
occasion  **bead  money"  (cata'ne  (E)).  As  a  matter  of  fact,  two  or 
three  stems  of  rush,  from  four  to  six  feet  in  length,  were  bound  to- 
gether and  were  given  to  the  guard  as  payment.  He  took  this 
** money"  and  hung  it  on  the  wall  near  the  drum,  after  having 
danced  a  few  quick  steps  upon  the  drum  with  it  in  his  hands.  These 
rushes  were  legal  tender  during  this  ceremony;  and  if  the  dancers 
asked  a  favor  of  any  one  else  in  the  dance-house  they  paid  him  for 
the  service  in  this  same  legal  tender.  Their  authority  was  especially 
shown  by  their  use  of  the  crane-head  wands,  which  no  one  else  was 
permitted  to  touch.  They  could  be  handled  only  after  a  long  fast 
involving  complete  abstinence  from  water  and  from  meat  or  grease 
in  any  form. 


20  See  below,  p.  420. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians  419 

As  soon  as  the  ash-devils  entered  the  dance-house  absolute  silence 
fell  upon  all.  Except  the  ash-devils,  no  one,  not  excepting  the  head 
captain,  was  permitted  to  speak  during  the  ceremony.  The  rule  was 
that  the  ash-devils  themselves  must  consult  one  another  in  low  tones. 

Immediately  upon  entering  the  dance-house  the  main  group  of 
ash-devils  took  up  a  position  at  the  foot  of  the  center  pole  and,  in 
case  some  one  of  the  spectators  did  not  almost  immediately  start  a  song 
for  their  dance,  they  might  jump  into  the  fire  and  begin  to  throw 
brands  and  live  coals  about  among  the  spectators.  This  drastic  action 
quickly  called  forth  a  protest,  and  some  one  volunteered  to  sing. 

The  actual  dancing  lasted  for  perhaps  half  an  hour,  after  which 
the  ash-devils  sat  down  and  began  to  **eat  fire,*'  jump  into  it,  and 
perform  other  miraculous  feats  with  it.  They,  to  all  appearances, 
actually  picked  up  live  coals,  which  they  called  bu  (E),  and  devoured 
them,  preferring  the  coals  of  manzanita  wood,  as  these  were  the 
strongest  and  hottest.  This  term  bu  is  translated  by  the  Pomo  as 
*' potatoes,"  a  term  applied  to  the  many  species  of  bulbs  and  corms 
formerly  an  important  part  of  their  food  supply.  The  word  for  coals 
ismasi'k  (E). 

During  the  progress  of  the  dancing  a  fire-tender  had  been  pre- 
paring the  fire  for  the  special  benefit  of  the  ash-devils,  and  had  selected 
a  considerable  quantity  of  live  coals,  which  he  had  piled  at  one  side 
of  the  main  fire.  Suddenly  one  of  the  fire-dancers  put  his  hand  into 
these  coals  and  scattered  them  out  over  the  dancing  floor.  Then  he 
pretended  to  be  burned  and  danced  about  as  if  in  pain.  Finally, 
however,  he  struck  the  center  pole  with  his  hand  and  evinced  great 
satisfaction,  for  to  him  the  center  pole  was  as  cold  water.  During 
this  fire-eating  ceremony  many  other  feats  were  performed,  such  as 
catching  with  the  mouth  a  live  coal  which  had  been  thrown  into  the 
air,  then  running  back  to  the  drum  and  dancing  upon  it.  The  dancer 
usually  turned  toward  the  audience,  opened  his  mouth,  and  exhaled 
his  breath  in  such  a  way  as  to  cause  the  coal  to  glow  between  his  teeth 
or  farther  back  in  his  mouth.  Such  comical  antics  would  in  ordinary 
life  provoke  an  outburst  of  merriment,  but  the  rules  of  the  ceremony 
absolutely  forbade  a  sound  of  any  kind,  mirthful  or  otherwise,  from 
the  audience,  and  if  the  rule  were  violated  a  fine  was  exacted. 

During  this  ceremony,  and  apparently  as  an  initiation  of  novices, 
little  boys  were  thrown  by  the  ash-devils  back  and  forth  a  number  of 
times  through  the  blaze  of  a  large  fire. 

Finally,  after  about  half  an  hour  of  this  eating  and  handling  of 


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420 


University  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 


fire,  the  ash-devils  formed  at  the  drum  and  danced  over  a  course  such 
as  that  shown  in  figure  5.  This  was  repeated  four  times,  and  as  each 
dancer  stepped  upon  the  drum  he  danced  a  few  short,  quick  steps,  as 
did  the  regular  drummer  in  producing  music  for  an  ordinary  dance. 
Upon  completing  this  cycle  of  four,  the  dancers  reversed  their  direction 
and  traveled  over  the  same  course  four  times.  They  next  passed  over 
the  course  represented  in  figure  6,  stopping  at  the  four  points  marked 
I,  where  each  dancer  waved  his  wand,  which  he  held  with  both  hands, 
above  and  in  front  of  his  head  in  such  a  manner  as  to  describe  with 
it  a  semicircle,  while  the  spectators  cried  **hee'  .  .  .'* 


% 

Fig.  5  Fig.  6 

Fig.  5 — Course  in  first  part  of  final  fire  dance. 

Fig.  6 — Course  in  second  part  of  final  fire  dance. 


The  dancers  then  returned  to  the  drum,  removed  their  head-dresses 
and  nets,  and  danced  back  and  forth  four  times  along  the  line  indicated 
in  figure  7.  At  the  end  of  each  journey  along  this  line,  the  dancers 
blew  their  breath  forcibly  through  their  lips  and  waved  their  hands 
from  their  mouths.  At  the  end  of  this  cycle  they  sat  down  and  became 
ordinary  persons^^  once  more.     The  spectators  were  then  permitted 

21  According  to  the  above  information,  which  was  obtained  from  an  Eastern 
Pomo  informant,  the  fire-dancers  evidently  did  not  make  an  attempt  to  hide 
their  identity.  However,  a  Central  Pomo  informant  was  very  specific  in  his 
statements  that  the  dancers  of  his  locality  were  more  particular  in  this  respect. 


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1917] 


Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians 


421 


to  do  as  they  wished.  They  could  resume  their  normal  ways,  including 
smoking,  which  had  been  prohibited  because  the  fire  and  everything 
pertaining  to  it  belonged  exclusively  to  the  fire-dancers  during  this 
ceremony. 

THE  PUEIFICATION  RITE 

During  the  first  three  days  and  nights  of  the  ghost  ceremony,  either 
the  ghost  dance  itself  or  some  other  dance  associated  with  it  might 
be  held.  On  the  fourth  night  it  was  necessary  that  the  entire  night 
be  spent  in  dancing,  and  near  dawn  there  occurred  a  purification  rite 


Fig.  7 — Course  in  third  part  of  final  fire  dance. 

accompanied  by  special  songs.  Every  ceremonial  object  about  the 
dance-house,  whether  it  had  been  used  during  the  preceding  days  or 
not,  had  to  undergo  this  purification,  and  in  case  the  owner  of  such  a 
ceremcmial  object  was  not  present,  some  near  relative  performed  the 
ceremony  with  it. 

Just  before  sunrise  each  dancer,  holding  up  his  personal  ceremonial 
paraphernalia  in  his  right  hand,  danced  back  and  forth  in  tiine  to  the 
songs.  He  danced  four  times  looking  toward  each  of  the  six  cardinal 
directions  in  the  following  order:  east,  north,  west,  south,  up,  down. 


and  instead  of  remaining  in  the  dance-house  after  the  ceremony  they  ran  out 
and  returned  to  their  respective  places  of  seclusion,  there  to  dress  in  daily  attire 
and  return  to  the  village. 


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422  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

All  the  ceremonial  objects  were  then  hung  up  in  the  dance-house  and 
later  stored  away  secretly  by  the  chief  Gu'ksu  doctor. 

The  ceremony  ended  during  the  following  forenoon  with  a  grand 
feast,  which  differed  materially  from  other  feasts  held  at  times  during 
the  ceremony,  in  that  each  separate  class  of  individuals  dined  by 
itself  in  the  order  of  rank— captains,  fire-tenders,  singers,  drummers, 
masters  of  ceremonies,  ash-devils,  ghost-dancers,  and  spectators.  The 
food  served  to  each  class  was,  however,  of  the  same  kind  and  quality. 

Certain  restrictions  were  imposed  upon  the  dancers  after  the  cere- 
mony was  over.  The  regular  ghost-dancers  were  not  allowed  to  eat 
meat  for  eight  days.  Those  who  wore  the  chaplet  of  twigs  upon  the 
head  were  obliged  to  abstain  from  meat  for  four  days.  The  Gu'ksu 
doctor  who  assisted  a  dancer  in  dressing  might  ask  him  for  some  article, 
such  as  a  powerful  poison.  This  had  to  be  given  the  Gu'ksu  and,  in 
that  case,  the  dancer  was  forced  to  abstain  from  meat  for  eight  days. 
A  dancer  who  wore  certain  kinds  of  feather  ornaments  abstained  from 
meat  for  a  month.  The  chief  Gu'ksu  doctor,  who  knew  all  about  the 
ghost  dance  and  who  was  called  yo'mtabate  (E),  was  compelled  to 
abstain  from  meat  for  several  months.  It  was  his  duty  to  care  for 
the  ceremonial  paraphernalia  between  dances.  This  had  to  be  care- 
fully hidden  away  in  some  lonely  spot  where  no  one  could  find  it  except 
this  chief  Gu'ksu  doctor  and  his  two  or  three  assistants. 

Whenever  any  one  of  these  individuals  ate  meat  or  fish  for  the 
first  time  after  this  period  of  restriction  had  expired  he  was  enjoined 
to  say  a  short  prayer  over  it. 

SUMMARY  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  FEATURES  OF  THE  GHOST  CEREMOXY 

The  following  are  the  most  characteristic  features  of  the  ghost  or 
devil  ceremony : 

1.  The  ceremony  is  supposed  to  have  had  its  origin  in  mythical 
times  and  to  have  been  instituted  as  an  atonement  for  an  offense 
against  the  dead. 

2.  It  lasted  four  da>*s,  ending  with  an  all-night  dance,  and,  on  the 
morning  of  the  fifth  day,  a  purification  rite  followed  by  a  feast  in 
which  each  class  of  individuals  dined  by  itself. 

3.  The  participants  were  several  ghost-  or  devil-dancers  person- 
ating the  spirits  of  the  departed  and  accompanied  frequently,  though 
not  always,  by  one  or  more  ash-devils  or  ash-ghosts,  who  filled  the 
double  office  of  clown  and  sergeant-at-arms,  and  who  usually  performed 
their  sjvcial  fire  dance  and  fire-eating  ceremony. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians  423 

4.  The  oflScials  particularly  concerned  with  the  ceremony  were  two 
head  singers,  an  indefinite  number  of  burden-singers,  a  drummer,  two 
fire-tenders,  and  two  masters  of  ceremonies.  The  village  captains 
retained  their  full  authority  in  this  ceremony  except  when  the  ash- 
devils  were  performing. 

5.  The  audience  consisted  of  initiated  men  only,  and  silence  was 
the  rule.  Any  exhibition  of  mirth  was  absolutely  prohibited  under 
penalty. 

6.  The  attire  of  the  ghost-dancer  consisted  of  several  pieces  of 
headgear,  supplemented  in  some  cases  by  a  chaplet  of  leaves,  a  girdle, 
and  sometimes  a  neck-ring  of  leaves.  The  body  was  otherwise  nude 
except  for  very  elaborate  painting  in  black,  white,  and  red.  The 
dancers  dressed  secretly  in  the  woods  and  came  to  the  village  carrying 
bunches  of  grass  or  twigs  in  their  hands,  behind  which  they  at  times 
pretended  to  hide. 

7.  The  ash-devils  wore  only  a  simple  head-dress  and  a  coat  of 
paint* 

8.  The  special  crane-head  shaped  wand  of  the  ash-devil  gave  him 
absolute  authority. 

9.  The  dancers  entered  the  village  at  the  call  of  a  crier  stationed 
on  top  of  the  dance-house,  performed  an  elaborate  ceremony  in  front 
of  the  dance-house,  and  finally  entered  it  backwards,  groping  their 
way,  using  an  inverted  style  of  speech,  and  in  every  other  manner 
showing  that  the  spirits  of  the  departed  were  unaccustomed  to  the 
ways  of  mortals. 

10.  The  dancing  was  elaborate  and  was  characterized  by  the  occur- 
rence of  movements  in  cycles  of  four,  followed  by  an  elaborate  cere- 
monial disrobing  at  the  drum,  and  then  by  swimming. 

11.  During  the  fire  dance  the  ash-devils  initiated  novices. 

12.  The  dancers  were  subject  to  certain  restrictions  for  varying 
periods  of  time  following  the  ceremony. 


THE  GUKSU  CEREMONY 

Gu'ksti  or  ku'ksti,  as  he  is  called  in  the  different  Pomo  dialects,  was 
a  supernatural  being  living  at  the  end  of  the  world  toward  the  south, 
one  of  six  supernatural  beings  living  at  the  ends  of  the  world  in  the 
six  cardinal  directions.  The  term  is  also  applied  to  a  large  mosquito- 
like insect,  called  locally  '^gallinipper.*' 


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424  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

Toward  the  east  lived  Calnis,  the  only  one  of  these  deities  who 
was  associated  especially  with  GuTosu  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  Porno. 

Toward  the  north  lived  Su'upadax  (whirlwind). 

Toward  the  west  lived  Xa'-matu'tsi  (water-occupation).  The  con- 
nection is  here  very  readily  seen  when  we  know  that  the  territory  of 
the  Porno  reached  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  that  this  great  body  of 
water  formed  an  important  element  in  certain  phases  of  their  myth- 
ology. It  was  only  toward  the  west  that  the  world  was  supposed  by 
the  Pomo  to  be  bounded  by  water. 

Above  lived  Kali'-matutsI  (sky-occupation). 

Below  lived  Ka'i-matu'tsi  (earth-occupation). 

Some  of  these  terms  really  referred  to  groups  of  several  deities 
each.  The  deities  of  all  six  quarters  were  particularly  concerned  with 
medicine  practices.  Healing  was,  however,  especially  the  province  of 
the  Qu'ksus,  and  the  Pomo  medicine-men,  or  ** doctors,''  made  their 
prayers  particularly  to  them,  although  all  the  remaining  deities  of  the 
cardinal  points  were  invoked. 

Nothing  very  definite  seems  to  be  known  concerning  the  places  of 
abode  or  manners  of  living  of  most  of  these  deities.  Each  was  sup- 
posed to  dwell,  at  his  own  **end  of  the  world,'*  in  a  sweat-house  or 
dance-house  of  one  kind  or  another.  Each  was  also  supposed  to  be 
distinctly  malevolent  at  times  and  to  be  a  man-killer  unless  properly 
placated.  Under  the  proper  circumstances  they  were  regarded  as 
benevolent,  as  was  indicated  by  the  prayers  of  the  medicine-men 
invoking  the  aid  of  these  dieties  in  curing  the  sick. 

Concerning  the  personal  appearance  of  Qu'ksu  and  Ca'lnis,  more 
was  known  than  of  the  others.  Gu'ksu  himself  was  said  to  be  of  about 
normal  human  size  and  his  most  characteristic  feature  was  a  very 
long,  large,  sharp,  red  nose.  He  was  usually  very  good  natured. 
Calnis,  on  the  other  hand,  while  resembling  Qu'ksu  in  most  respects 
except  that  of  the  abnormal  nose,  was  at  all  times  a  testy  individual, 
and  in  the  Gu'ksu  ceremony  his  impersonator  pursued  people  and 
tripped  them  up. 

Gu'ksu  was  impersonated  by  a  number  of  dancers,  while  only  a 
single  one  represented  Ca'lnis.  Those  personating  Gu'ksu  were  dressed 
as  follows :  They  painted  their  entire  bodies  black,  according  to  some 
informants ;  according  to  others,  with  horizontal  red,  white,  and  black 
stripes.  The  feet  were  painted  black  and  the  under  side  of  the  chin 
and  the  sides  of  the  face  were  painted  white.  On  their  heads  they 
wore  either  a  ** big-head"  headdress  (a  very  bulky  type  of  feather 


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bonnet)  or  a  large  feather  tuft  on  top  of  the  head,  and  a  yellow-hammer 
feather  forehead-band.  The  large  nose  of  Qu'ksu  was  represented 
by  one  made  of  feathers  and  of  such  a  size  as  completely  to  cover  the 
nose  and  mouth  of  the  dancer.  When  painted  red,  this  was  said  to 
represent  very  well  this  characteristic  of  the  deity  as  he  existed  in 
the  imagination  of  the  Indians.  The  connection  with  the  proboscis 
of  the  gallinipper  is  especially  apt.  Each  Gu'ksu-dancer  carried  a 
cak5'ik  (E),  or  staff,  about  two  inches  in  diameter  and  from  six  to 
eight  feet  in  length,  on  the  top  of  which  was  a  feather  tuft.  The 
Gti'ksu-dancer,  being  supposedly  a  supernatural  being,  never  spoke. 
The  only  sound  made  by  him  throughout  this  ceremony  was  produced 
by  his  whistle. 

The  Ca'lnis-dancer  was  painted  entirely  black  and  carried  a  black 
staif  very  much  like  that  of  the  Qu'ksu,  except  that  it  was  somewhat 
shorter  and  bore  no  feathers.  On  his  head  he  wore  an  ordinary 
feather  cape  so  drawn  together  that  it  formed  an  immense  feather 
topknot  which  normally  fell  in  all  directions  over  his  head.  This 
was  held  in  place  by  means  of  skewers  passing  through  a  headnet. 
Another  point  in  which  these  two  dancers  differed  was  that  while  the 
Gti'ksu-dancer  was  provided  with  a  double  bone  whistle  the  Ca'lnis- 
dancer  had  none. 

The  Qu'ksu  ceremony  itself,  called  gu'ksu  xaikilga  (E),  gaxa'gaxau 
xaixilga  (E),  ktiksu  haitcilau  (C),  and  djaka'djakau  (N),  lasted  for 
six  days,  during  the  first  and  the  last  two  of  which  there  was  cele- 
brated the  special  ceremony  called  gaxa'gaxa  (E),  in  which  the 
children  of  the  village  were  scarified. 

THE  SCARIFYING  CEREMONY 

Two  or  three  days  before  the  time  appointed  for  the  scarifying 
ceremony  the  men  of  the  village  went  into  the  woods  and  cut  a  pole, 
perhaps  from  thirty  to  forty  feet  in  length,  which  they  trimmed  and 
peeled  preparatory  to  its  erection.  A  hole  a  foot  or  two  deep  and 
large  enough  to  receive  the  pole  was  dug  directly  in  front  of,  and  a 
short  distance  from,  the  dance-house. 

On  the  morning  of  the  first  ceremonial  day  a  considerable  number 
of  men  went  out  from  the  village  dressed  in  a  special  ceremonial  attire. 
This  consisted  of  a  body-painting  either  of  black  stripes  or  spots  (no 
particular  number  being  prescribed),  and  of  a  head  decoration  com- 
posed of  a  headnet,  a  down  headnet,  two  trembler  plumes,  a  yellow- 
hammer  feather  forehead-band,  and  a  small  feather  tuft. 


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They  brought  in  the  pole  to  the  area  directly  in  front  of  the  dance- 
house,  and  here  the  following  ceremony  was  performed :  To  the  upper 
end  of  the  pole  a  streamer  was  attached.  The  fastest  runner  among 
the  participants  took  the  end  of  this  streamer,  and  the  other  men, 
arranged  usually  in  the  order  of  their  ability  as  runners,  grasped  the 
pole  at  different  points  down  to  its  butt.  Behind  this  line  certain 
women  who  participated  formed  a  second  line.  The  pole  was  then 
carried,  at  the  top  speed  of  the  runners,  four  times  around  in  a  contra- 
clockwise  direction,  the  pivotal  point  being  the  hole  in  which  the  pole 
was  to  rest,  and  over  which  its  base  was  held.  As  they  ran  the  run- 
ners swayed  the  pole  up  and  down,  and  the  women  threw  upon  the 
men  handfuls  of  a  small,  parched,  black  seed  called  gehe'  (E). 

Upon  the.  completion  of  the  fourth  round  some  one  of  the  runners 
shouted  loudly  *  *  ha  ...  u  ... "  and  at  this  signal  all  lifted  the  pole 
vertically  into  place  in  the  hole.  The  call  was  repeated  as  the  pole 
was  about  half  way  up.  When  in  place,  the  pole  was  fixed  by  tramping 
earth  and  stones  about  it. 

Within  a  few  minutes  after  the  erection  of  the  pole  the  Gu'ksu- 
dancers  appeared  and  stopped  about  two  or  three  hundred  yards  away 
from  the  dance-house.  Some  of  the  men  had  been  attempting  to  climb 
the  pole,  both  men  and  women  meanwhile  throwing  at  them  balls, 
gala'l  (E),  of  uncooked  meal  made  of  a  certain  grass  seed. 

As  the  Gu'ksti-dancers  appeared  in  the  distance  the  climbing 
ceased,  and  the  children  who  were  to  be  initiated  were  collected  about 
the  base  of  the  pole.  Boys  who  were  to  be  thus  initiated  were  called 
yo'mta  (E),  while  girls  were  called  masa'nta  (E).  They  ranged  in 
age  from  perhaps  five  to  ten  years.  The  dancers  proceeded  to  the 
foot  of  the  pole,  took  the  children  in  hand,  and  performed  the  following 
ceremony,  the  object  of  which  was  to  secure  for  the  children  good 
health  and  to  make  them  grow  rapidly.  The  children  were  first  made 
to  lie  down  upon  the  ground  and  were  covered  with  blankets.  Then, 
under  the  supervision  of  the  dancers,  each  child  had  two  cuts  made 
with  a  broken  shell  across  the  small  of  its  back  and  about  an  inch 
apart.  The  cutting  was  done  by  the  gaxa'xale  (E),  an  old  man 
selected  for  the  purpose  by  the  people  of  the  village  on  account  of 
his  long  life,  good  health,  and  particularly  his  good  heartedness.  This 
was  one  of  the  most  important  phases  of  the  initiation,  and  upon  it 
depended  the  effect  upon  the  life  of  the  child.  The  children  were 
in  each  case  covered  completely  with  the  blanket  and  were  not  per- 
mitted, under  any  consideration,  to  look  up  during  this  part  of  the 


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ceremony.  They  might  make  any  outcry  they  pleased,  but  if  they 
attempted  to  look  up  from  the  ground  they  were  threatened  and  even 
beaten  with  the  staffs  of  the  dancers.  The  cutting  was  done  quite 
deeply,  so  that  blood  was  always  drawn.  The  children  were  also 
prohibited  from  looking  up  into  a  tree  from  under  its  branches  until 
after  these  scarifications  had  completely  healed,  else  the  tree  would 
bear  no  fruit. 

The  entire  assemblage  next  entered  the  dance-house,  the  dancers 
going  directly  to  their  positions  in  the  rear  without  the  preliminary 
ceremony  of  entry  which  was  required  in  most  other  ceremonies.  The 
children  were  made  to  lie  on  the  floor  and  were  again  covered  with 
their  blankets.  The  dancers  then  performed  for  their  benefit,  making 
a  greal  deal  of  fun  both  of  the  children  and  of  the  scarification  cere- 
mony. They  danced  thus  for  a  short  time,  then  went  on  the  west  side 
of  the  fire,  where  they  turned  their  heads  slowly  to  the  left  four  times, 
after  which  the  people  cried  **ya  .  .  .'*  The  dancers  then  ran  out 
and  into  the  brush,  where  they  took  off  and  left  their  dancing  para- 
phernalia. This  ceremonial  leaving  of  the  dance-house  was  supposed 
to  remove  all  illness  from  the  village,  the  dancers  taking  it  with  them 
as  they  went  out.  The  spirits  which  they  represented  supposedly 
returned  at  that  time  to  their  supernatural  home  at  the  south  end  of 
the  world. 

Another  feature  of  the  initiation  in  the  Gu'ksu  ceremony  is  de- 
scribed by  a  Central  Pomo  informant,  who  says  that  young  men  were 
initiated  by  being  ceremonially  shot  with  the  bow  and  arrow. 

STEPHEN  POWERS  ON  THE  GUKSU  CEREMONY 

Powers  describes  what  he  terms  a  ** spear  dance"  among  the  Galli- 
nomero  (which  evidently  refers  to  this  same  ceremony),  as  follows :^^ 

First  they  all  unite,  men  and  squaws  together,  in  a  pleasant  dance,  accom- 
panied by  a  chant,  while  a  chorister  keeps  time  by  beating  on  his  hand  with  a 
split  stick.  In  addition  to  their  finest  deerskin  chemises  and  strings  of  beads, 
the  squaws  wear  large  puffs  of  yellowhammers '  down  over  their  eyes.  The 
men  have  mantles  of  buzzards',  hawks',  or  eagles'  tail-feathers,  reaching  from 
the  armpits  down  to  the  thighs,  and  circular  headdresses  of  the  same  material, 
besides  their  usual  breech-clouts  of  rawhide,  and  are  painted  in  front  with 
terrific  splendor.  They  dance  in  two  circles,  the  squaws  in  the  outside  one;  the 
men  leaping  up  and  down  as  usual,  and  the  squaws  simply  swaying  their  bodies 
and  waving  their  handkerchiefs  in  a  lackadaisical  manner.  Occasionally  an 
Indian  will  shoot  away  through  the  interior  of  the  circle  and  caper  like  a 


22  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Interior,  Contr.  N.  A.  Ethn.,  ni,  179-180,  1877. 


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harlequin  for  a  considerable  space  of  time,  but  he  always  returns  to  bis  place 
in  front  of  his  partner. 

After  this  is  over,  the  coward  or  clown  is  provided  with  a  long,  sharp  stick, 
and  he  and  his  prompter  take  their  places  in  the  ring  ready  for  performances. 
A  woman  as  nearly  nude  as  barbaric  modesty  will  permit  is  placed  in  the  center, 
squatting  on  the  ground.  Then  some  Indian  intones  a  chant,  which  he  sings 
alone,  and  the  sport,  such  as  it  is,  begins.  At  the  bidding  of  the  prompter,  the 
coward  makes  a  furious  sally  in  one  direction,  and  with  his  spear  stabs  the 
empty  air.  Then  he  dashes  back  in  the  opposite  direction  and  slashes  into  the 
air  again.  Next  he  runs  some  other  way  and  stabs  again.  Now  perhaps  he 
makes  a  feint  to  pierce  the  woman.  Thus  the  prompter  keeps  him  chasing 
backward  and  forward,  spearing  the  thin  air  toward  every  point  of  the  compass, 
or  making  passes  at  the  woman,  until  nearly  tired  out,  and  the  patience  of  the 
American  spectators  is  exhausted,  and  they  begin  to  think  the  whole  affair  will 
terminate  in  "mere  dumb  show.'*  But  finally,  at  a  word  from  the  prompter, 
the  spearman  makes  a  tremendous  run  at  the  woman  and  stabs  her  in  the 
umbilicus.  She  falls  over  on  the  ground,  quivering  in  every  limb,  and  the  blood 
jets  forth  in  a  purple  stream.  The  Indians  all  rush  around  her  quickly  and 
hustle  her  away  to  another  place,  where  they  commence  laying  her  out  for  the 
funeral  pyre,  but  huddle  around  her  so  thickly  all  the  while  that  the  Americans 
cannot  approach  to  see  what  is  done.  Thus  they  mystify  matters  and  hold  some 
powwow  over  her  for  a  considerable  space  of  time,  when  she  somewhow  myste- 
riously revives,  recovers  her  feet,  goes  away  to  her  wigwam,  encircled  by  a 
bevy  of  her  companions,  dons  her  robe,  and  appears  in  the  circle  as  well  as  ever, 
despite  that  terrible  spear-thrust. 

Men  who  have  witnessed  this  performance  tell  me  the  first  time  they  saw  it 
they  would  have  taken  their  oaths  that  the  woman  was  stabbed  unto  death,  so 
perfect  was  the  illusion.  Although  this  travesty  of  gladiatorial  combat  is  intended 
merely  for  amusement,  yet  all  the  Indians,  these  stoics  of  the  woods,  gaze  upon 
it  with  profound  and  passionless  gravity.  If  they  laugh  at  all  it  is  only  after 
it  is  all  over,  and  at  the  mystification  of  the  Americans. 

Referring  to  another  phase  of  the  same  dance,  as  practiced  in 

another  division  of  the  Porno,  Powers  says : 

Their  fashion  of  the  spear  dance  is  different  from  the  Gallinomero.  The 
man  who  is  to  be  slain  stands  behind  a  screen  of  hazel  boughs  with  his  face 
visible  through  an  aperture;  and  the  spearman,  after  the  usual  protracted 
dashing  about  and  making  of  feints,  strikes  him  in  the  face  through  the  hole 
in  the  screen.    He  is  then  carried  off,  revives,  etc.28 

The  novices  who  were  thus  shot  were  called  tcoTrtcok  (C)  [plural 
tco'ktcokau],  and  the  person  who  did  the  shooting,  at  the  direction 
of  the  head  captain,  was  called  yo'mta  (C).  The  informant  did  not 
state  just  where  the  shooting  was  performed  and  was  not  explicit  as 
to  its  exact  nature,  but  it  appears  probable  that  it  occurred  in  the 
dance-house.  These  novices  were  forbidden  to  eat  fresh  manzanita 
berries  and  the  flesh  of  the  fawn,  the  gray  squirrel,  and  the  red-headed 
woodpecker.  After  the  shooting  ceremony  the  novices  were  taken  out 
into  the  area  directly  in  front  of  the  dance-house,  and  here  a  ceremony 


28  Op,  cit.,  p.  194. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians  429 

of  healing  was  performed  over  them  by  the  one  who  shot  them.  He 
told  them  that  they  would  have  long  life  and  health,  and  that  a  feast 
would  be  held  for  them  in  the  course  of  a  few  days. 

COMPLETION  OF  THE  GUKSU  CEREMONY 

The  Gu'ksti-daneers  appeared  only  once  each  day  in  this  Gu'ksu 
ceremony,  though  various  other  dances  might  be  held  during  the  day, 
and  it  was  only  upon  the  first  morning  that  the  ceremony  about  the 
pole  and  the  scarification  above  described  were  held.  The  ceremony 
lasted,  all  told,  six  days.  The  ceremonies  of  the  first  day  have  just 
been  described.  Those  of  the  following  three  days  consisted  of  one 
appearance  of  the  QuTosus  each  day,  accompanied  by  a  simple  dance. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fifth  day,  however,  the  children  who  under- 
went the  scarification  on  the  first  day  were  again  assembled  and  driven 
by  the  dancers  as  rapidly  as  possible  about  the  village  and  out  into 
the  valley.  The  children  held  one  another's  hands  as  they  were  driven, 
making  a  continuous  line.  When  they  had  become  quite  fatigued, 
they  were  made  to  lie  down  and  the  dancers  covered  them  with 
branches.  They  remained  here  throughout  the  day  and  were  again 
driven  about  in  the  same  manner  just  after  sundown,  being  again 
covered  with  branches,  under  which  they  stayed  until  morning.  They 
were  then  brought  in  by  the  dancers  and  made  to  perform  a  short 
dance  in  a  brush  inclosure,  called  male  (E),  which  was  built  just 
outside  the  dance-house  for  this  special  purpose.  After  this,  an  old 
man,  probably  the  same  who  performed  the  scarification,  sang  over 
the  children.  During  this  dance  each  child  carried  a  small  willow 
twig,  which  he  threw  onto  a  pile  at  the  end  of  the  dance,  after  which 
he  was  free  to  go  his  way,  and  the  entire  ceremony  was  ended.  The 
fire-tender  bore  these  twigs  away  and  deposited  them  at  some  distance 
from  the  village. 

A  Gu'ksu-dancer  appeared  at  other  ceremonies,  but  only  for  the 
purpose  of  removing  sickness  from  the  village.  He  was  sometimes 
called  in,  as  were  other  dancers,  but  often  he  appeared  unannounced. 
He,  however,  always  notified  at  least  one  individual,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  assist  him  and  direct  his  movements.  Apparently  this  indi- 
vidual was  not  a  particular  ofScial,  but  might  be  any  friend  of  the 
Gu'ksu-dancer.  The  ceremony  was  a  very  short  one.  The  Gu'ksu 
ran  rapidly  in  and  passed  in  a  contra-clockwise  direction  four  times 
around  the  fire.  He  then  hurried  to  a  position  directly  in  front  of  the 
center  pole  and  here  ran  swiftly  back  and  forth  four  times  over  a 


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short,  straight  course.  He  then  ran  around  back  of  the  center  pole 
and  stopped  on  its  west  side.  Here  he  turned  his  head  slowly  to  the 
left ;  then  ran  a  short  distance  toward  the  door,  stopping  and  repeating 
this  motion,  making  in  all  four  such  stops.  After  this  he  ran  swiftly 
out  through  the  tunnel  and  back  to  the  woods,  where  he  undressed 
and  returned  as  an  ordinary  civilian  to  the  village.  As  he  started  to 
run  out  of  the  tunnel,  the  people  said,  **ya  .  .  .  s  .  .  .  putsalkam" 
(E),  that  is,  **3/a  .  .  .  s  .  .  .  healthy  make  us.''  The  prolonged  **8" 
was  simply  a  hissing  expulsion  of  breath,  and  as  it  was  blown  out  in 
this  fashion  any  disease  which  might  possibly  have  found  lodgment 
in  the  body  of  the  individual  was  supposed  to  depart  with  it  and  to 
be  taken  by  Gu'ksu  to  his  home  in  the  south. 

Before  dressing,  the  Gu'ksu-dancers  always  chewed  up  and  rubbed 
unon  their  bodies  the  very  sweet-scented  seed  of  a  certain  species  of 
conifer,  kawa'cap  (E),  growing  plentifully  in  the  region  of  Clear 
Lake.  A  Gu'ksu-dancer  was  forbidden  to  eat  meat  or  drink  an3rthing 
before  the  ceremony  or  before  doctoring  a  patient,  as  described  below. 
The  Qu'ksu-dancer  might,  however,  eat  vegetable  foods  and  drink 
water  after  the  ceremonial  swim,  which  always  occurred  directly  after 
his  dance.  He  could  not  eat  meat  or  greasy  food  of  any  kind  for  four 
days  after  a  ceremony. 

TREATMENT  OF  DISEASE 

In  addition  to  their  part  in  the  scarifying  ceremony  just  described, 
the  Gu'ksu-dancers  formed  a  class  of  medicine-men,  and  were  often 
called  in  to  minister  to  the  sick.  These  ** doctors,"  when  curing  the 
sick,  dressed  themselves  in  the  costume  of  the  regular  Gu'ksu  cere- 
mony. As  in  the  ceremony  also,  the  Gu'ksu  doctor  had  to  be  cere- 
monially summoned,  and  he  came  in  from  the  woods  impersonating 
the  supernatural  Gu'ksu.  The  latter  was  pictured,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  as  coming  from  his  home  in  the  south  to  perform  the 
*' medicine"  rite  and  carry  away  with  him  the  disease  from  the  sick 
person.  A  special  call  was  used  in  this  case  as  follows:  '*hy6  .  .  . 
hyo'  ..."  repeated  four  times. 

The  Gu'ksu  doctor  never  spoke  and  never  sang  over  his  patients, 
but  constantly  blew  a  double  bone  whistle  in  a  characteristic  way,  a 
very  short  blast  followed  by  a  very  long  one.  Upon  reaching  the 
patient,  who  might  be  either  in  or  out  of  doors,  he  ran  around  him 
several  times.  He  then  inserted  the  point  of  his  staff  under  the  neck 
of  the  patient  and  made  motions  four  times  as  if  prying  upwards. 


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He  next  inserted  the  staff  under  the  shoulder  and  repeated  this  prying 
motion  four  times.  He  did  the  same  at  the  hips,  and  finally  at  the 
knees. 

He  next  tapped  and  pressed  down  with  his  staff;  first  upon  the 
forehead,  then  upon  the  chest,  then  upon  the  belly,  and  finally  upon 
the  knees  of  the  patient.  After  this  he  ran  rapidly  out  of  the  village 
and  into  the  hills,  where  he  stopped  and  turned  his  head  toward  the 
left  four  times.  He  then  disappeared  and  was  supposed  to  have 
returned  to  his  supernatural  abode  in  the  south,  carrying  with  him 
the  ailment  of  the  patient. 

While  the  above  was  the  typical  procedure  of  one  of  these  doctors 
in  curing  a  patient,  he  had  great  latitude,  and  might,  at  his  own 
option,  omit  altogether  certain  of  the  above  mentioned  movements  or 
use  others  in  their  places.  For  instance,  he  might  pry  as  above,  or 
he  might  press  and  pat  the  body  of  the  patient.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  might  simply  pass  his  staff  down  over  the  body  of  the  patient  a 
number  of  times,  usually  four  or  some  multiple  of  four,  or  he  might 
omit  the  use  of  the  staff  entirely  and  ** doctor"  with  his  whistle  only, 
in  which  case  he  bent  over  or  knelt  beside  the  patient  and  blew  his 
whistle  over  the  various  parts  of  his  body,  particularly  those  recognized 
by  the  patient  as  the  seats  of  pain. 

DANCES 
The  dances  either  formed  integral  parts  of  the  above  ceremonies 
or,  as  stated,  might  be  incidental  and  entirely  unrelated  to  them. 
The  word  for  dance  is  xe  in  the  Eastern  Pomo  dialect,  and  ke  in  that 
of  the  Central  and  Northern  Pomo.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the 
Pomo  dances : 


gilak  ke 

kara'iya  ke 

hoho  ke  or  ho'howa  ke 

sawe't  ke 

cokin  ke 

hi'we  ke 

dutuka  ke 

rdam  ke 

ya'ya  ke 

xo'ke 

yoke 

zahlu'igak  ke 

mated  ke 

gu'ksu  ke 

lehu'ye  ke 

ma/ta,  ke 

kali'matato  ke 

or  kali'matautau  ke 

lo'le  ke 

iwike 

mo'mimomi  ke 

gunu'la  ze 

to'to  ke 

he'lehela  ke 

taugu  ke 

da'ma  ke 

badju'ca  ke 

dja'ne  ke 

sita'iya  ke 

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In  a  large  measure  the  various  dances  were  very  similar  to  one 
another  so  far  as  the  steps  were  concerned.  The  characteristic  step 
of  the  men  was  a  rhythmic  stamping  of  the  feet,  with  the  body  held 
in  a  half -crouching  posture.  Sometimes  this  dancing  was  done  '*in 
place,"  that  is,  without  moving  from  one  situation.  As  a  rule,  how- 
ever, the  dancer  moved  over  a  definite  course  in  each  dance.  The 
movement  was  varied  slightly  in  accordance  with  the  songs.  Some 
songs  were  very  lively  and  the  steps  correspondingly  rapid,  while 
others  were  much  slower.  AH  were  usually  sung  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  the  large  foot-drum,  and  split-stick,  or  cocoon  rattle.  Some- 
times the  dancers  used  single  or  double  bone  whistles. 

The  women  usually  danced  in  place,  twisting  the  body  about  and 
swaying  slightly  from  side  to  side  with  little  or  no  motion  of  the  feet. 
In  some  instances,  however,  they  moved  over  a  definite  course  as  did 
the  men. 

The  dance  paraphernalia  of  the  men  consisted  of  the  following 
articles : 

1.  The  feather  skirt. 

2.  The  head-net,  bolmaki  (E). 

3.  The  down -filled  head-net,  i'bolmaki  (E). 

4.  The  skewer,  called  kano  (N,  C,  E),  with  which  the  feather  headdresses, 
tufts,  etc.,  were  pinned  to  the  head-net. 

5.  The  feather  tuft,  biterk  (E),  kaa'itcil  (C). 

6.  The  big-head  headdress. 

7.  The  yellow-hammer  feather  forehead-band,  tso'lopa  (N,  C,  E). 

8.  The  trembler  plume,  kafa's  (N,  C,  E). 

9.  Loose  down,  te  (E),  which  was  sometimes  scattered  about  over  the  freshly 
painted  skin. 

10.  A  fillet  of  pepperwood  leaves,  behe'pmarU  (E). 

11.  A  small  green  twig  or  a  bunch  of  shredded  tule,  used  in  certain  dances. 
Any  object  of  this  kind  carried  in  the  hand  while  dancing  was  called  kato'hle  (£). 

Certain  of  these  objects  were  prescribed  for  certain  dances.  In 
addition,  various  items  of  ordinary  personal  adornment  were  worn 
which  do  not  specifically  belong  to  dance  paraphernalia — ear  plugs, 
pendants,  necklaces  of  beads,  etc. 

The  dance  paraphernalia  of  the  women  was  the  same  as  that  of 
the  men,  though,  as  a  rule,  the  men  dressed  much  more  elaborately  than 
the  women.  The  latter  had,  however,  one  special  type  of  forehead- 
band  which  they  alone  used.  This  was  a  fur  band  or  roll  provided 
with  a  number  of  beaded,  yellow-hammer  quill  bangles. 

An  important  part  of  the  attire  for  any  dance  was  the  painting, 
which  varied  greatly  and  was  usually  carefully  prescribed  for  each 


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dance.  The  body,  or  a  large  part  of  it,  might  be  covered  with  one 
solid  color,  and  longitudinal  or  horizontal  stripes  of  various  widths 
and  also  dots  of  various  sizes  might  be  used. 

Black  paint,  masi'k  (E)  (literally,  coals  or  charcoal),  was  most 
easily  obtainable  and  most  freely  used.  It  consisted  of  ordinary 
charcoal  from  the  fire.  If  a  large  surface  was  to  be  painted,  the 
charcoal  was  pulverized  in  the  palms  of  the  hands  and  rubbed  on. 
If  lines  were  desired,  this  powder  might  be  applied  with  the  finger,  or 
a  piece  of  charcoal  might  be  used  as  a  pencil.  Also  stripes  were  some- 
times produced  by  scraping  off  part  of  the  paint  with  the  fingernails, 
leaving  the  skin  exposed  along  these  lines.  In  case  a  sticky  surface 
was  required,  as,  for  instance,  when  down  was  to  be  later  applied,  the 
paint  was  mixed  with  saliva. 

White  paint,  wala'lac  (E),  made  from  a  whitish  or  very  light  blue 
earth,  was  also  considerably  used.  It  was  applied  as  was  the  black 
paint. 

Red  paint,  ohmaV  (E),  was  made  by  pulverizing  cinnabar,  which 
was  a  rather  rare  mineral  in  the  Pomo  region  and  was  much  prized 
and  used  very  sparingly. 

For  purposes  of  presentation  it  is  simplest  to  divide  the  dances  into 
three  classes:  (1)  those  danced  by  men  and  women  together;  (2)  those 
danced  by  men;  (3)  those  danced  by  women.  Fairly  full  information 
was  obtained  about  some  of  these  dances,  while  in  other  cases  barely 
the  names  were  remembered.  The  following  dances  come  under  the 
first  heading: 


gi'lak 

mated' 

gunu'la 

ho'ho 

lehuye 

da'ma 

co'kin 

kali'matoto 

dja'ne 

dutu'ka 

iwi' 

kara'iya 

ya'ya 

he'lehela 

sawe't 

y6 

DANCES  IN  WHICH  MEN  AND  WOMEN  PARTICIPATED 

Gi'lak. — The  Gi'lak  dance  differed  from  most  other  Pomo  dances 
in  that  it  consisted  of  two  performances:  one  used  for  opening  and 
closing  proceedings ;  the  other,  or  main  dance,  coming  in  between. 

The  men  painted  with  a  single  color  (black,  white,  or  red)  all  of 
the  face  below  the  eyebrows,  after  which  they  scattered  eagle-down 
upon  it.  This  gave  the  face  a  white,  fluffy  appearance.  They  painted 
the  chest  and  shoulders  black.    The  legs  were  painted  either  all  black 


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or  all  white.  Then  longitudinal  stripes  were  scratched  through  the 
paint  with  the  fingernails.  The  arms  were  painted  with  three  bands, 
each  four  fingers  in  width;  one  about  the  middle  of  the  upper  arm, 
one  about  the  elbow,  and  one  about  the  middle  of  the  forearm. 

Upon  the  top  of  the  head  each  wore  a  feather  tuft.  This  was 
parted  from  front  to  rear,  and  the  yellowhammer-feather  forehead- 
band,  which  was  attached  to  the  hair  so  as  to  hang  dqwn  to  the  eye- 
brows, passed  through  the  part  in  this  and  hung  down  the  back  to 
about  the  hips.  A  feather  skirt  tied  just  under  the  arms,  and  entirely 
covering  the  back,  completed  the  costume,  except  for  a  few  green  twigs 


Fig.  8 — Position  of  dancers  in  gi'lakke. 

which  were  held  in  both  hands  directly  in  front  of  the  face  while  the 
dance  was  actually  in  progress.    No  whistle  was  used  by  these  dancers. 

The  women  painted  the  upper  part  of  the  body  in  the  same  way 
as  the  men  and  wore  a  feather  tuft  and  the  regular  woman's  forehead- 
band  with  bangles.  They  wore  no  feather  skirt,  but  otherwise  attired 
themselves  as  did  the  men. 

The  men  were  divided  into  two  groups  at  A,  A  (fig.  8)  on  both 
sides  of  the  rear  of  the  dance-house,  the  women  dancers  being  likewise 
divided  into  two  groups  at  F,  F  on  each  side  of  the  drum. 

When  all  was  ready  for  the  dance,  the  head  singer  started  an  air 
and  sang  alone  for  several  minutes.  Then,  at  a  given  signal,  the 
burden-singers  joined  in  with  the  chorus,  all  accompanying  their 


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singing  with  split-stick  rattles.  This  was  the  signal  for  the  beginning 
of  the  first  or  preliminary  division  of  the  dance.  The  men  went  to  a 
position  about  midway  between  the  center  pole  and  the  drum,  where 
they  formed  a  line  BC,  the  women  forming  a  group  in  the  position  G, 
directly  behind  the  line  BC.  Here  was  held  the  preliminary  division 
of  the  dance,  called  tehe'sbax  (E),  in  which  the  participants  danced 
in  place  for  a  few  minutes. 

The  men  next  moved  to  the  position  DE,  passing  on  each  side  of 
the  center  pole,  the  women  following  them  to  the  position  HI.  They 
thus  formed  two  lines,  facing  the  center  pole.  Here  the  principal 
part  of  the  dance  was  held.  The  chief  singer  again  started  the  air, 
being  joined  at  the  proper  time  by  the  burden-singers.  Simultane- 
ously with  the  latter,  the  master  of  ceremonies  gave  the  signal  for  the 
dancers  to  begin.  During  the  dancing  he  repeated  the  proper  dance 
formula^^four  times,  finally  saying,  ** I,  i'  .  .  .'*  and  the  dance  stopped. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  dance,  upon  the  signal  from  the  master  of 
ceremonies,  the  dancers,  both  men  and  women,  whirled  around  and 
faced  the  fire,  and  as  the  dance  stopped  at  the  above  signal  they 
whirled  back  again  so  as  to  face  the  center  pole.  The  dancers  moved 
sidewise  back  and  forth  four  times  in  all,  along  the  lines  DE  and  HI. 
Standing  in  their  original  positions,  they  then  performed  for  the 
second  time  the  movement  first  described,  thus  ending  the  dance. 

This  entire  dance  might  be  repeated  as  many  times  as  desired,  no 
definite  number  being  prescribed ;  but  when  each  set  of  three  divisions, 
as  above  stated,  was  finished,  the  dancers  returned  to  A,  A  and  F,  P, 
retracing  as  nearly  as  possible  the  courses  which  they  had  traversed 
in  coming  from  these  two  positions.  After  the  last  set  of  this  dance, 
they  removed  their  dance  costumes  near  the  drum. 

hffhoke, — The  hoh'o  or  hoTiowa  dance,  which  may  be  taken  as  a 
type  of  many  of  those  dances  which  follow,  lasted  from  one-half  to 
three-quarters  of  an  hour  and  could  be  danced  at  any  time  of  year. 
The  men  were  dressed  as  follows:  The  lower  part  of  the  face  (i.e., 
below  a  line  running  from  just  under  the  ear  to  a  point  just  under 
the  nose)  was  painted  black.  A  black  band,  about  four  fingers  in 
width,  ran  from  each  of  the  acromia  to  the  sternum.  Four  similar 
bands  encircled  each  arm,  two  above  and  two  below  the  elbow,  while 
four  such  bands  were  placed  upon  each  leg.  Upon  the  head  each  man 
wore  a  feather  tuft,  a  yellow-hammer  feather  forehead-band  and  a 
pair  of  trembler  plumes,  and  upon  the  back  a  feather  skirt.  Each 
dancer  carried  a  bone  whistle  also. 


24  Any  dance  formula  such  as  this  was  called  hdku'mhwdkH  (E). 


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436  University  of  California  Publioaiions  in  Am,  Aroh.  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

Each  woman  wore  a  feather  tuft  and  the  usual  woman's  forehead- 
band.  In  each  hand  she  carried  a  small  bunch  of  shredded  tule. 
These  bundles,  called  kato'hle  (E),  were  made  by  tying  together  at 
one  end  several  stems,  perhaps  six  or  eight  inches  long,  and  then 
shredding  the  loose  ends  with  a  basketry  awl.  This  dance  was  a  very 
lively  one  and  took  its  name,  as  did  several  others,  from  some  of  the 
words  of  the  song  accompanying  it.  Part  of  the  burden  of  this  song 
is  a  high-keyed  **h6,  ho,  ho,  ho  .  .  ."  very  rapidly  spoken  by  the 
burden-singers  in  unison. 

The  music  was  provided  by  a  head  singer,  several  burden-singers, 
and  a  drummer.    Each  of  the  singers  used  a  split-stick  rattle. 

cffkin  ke. — The  co'kin  dance  was  very  similar,  in  many  respects,  to 
the  hoTioke.  One  informant  said  that  the  dress  and  painting  were 
exactly  the  same,  except  that  the  upper  arm  and  thigh  bore  one  painted 
band  each,  instead  of  two  as  in  the  hdlid  ke. 

dutu'kake, — The  same  might  be  said  of  the  dutuTsake  (C),  or 
dutti'gaxe  (E).  The  dress  of  the  men  was  identical  with  that  of  the 
hoTio-dancers.  The  men  used  no  whistles.  The  women  wore  the 
regular  woman's  forehead-band.  From  one  to  perhaps  eight  or  ten 
persons  danced  at  once,  and  the  dance  had  no  stated  duration.  As 
one  informant  expressed  it,  they  simply  danced  until  they  were  tired. 

ya'ya  ke, — Little  could  be  learned  concerning  the  ya'ya  dance,  ex- 
cept that  it  was  danced  by  both  men  and  women,  and  that  the  painting 
and  attire  were  the  same  as  for  the  ho'ho.  The  feather  skirt  was  worn, 
but  no  whistle  was  used. 

y&  ke. — The  men  decorated  themselves  for  this  dance  as  for  the 
ho'ho  dance,  except  that  there  were  three  stripes  around  the  arm 
instead  of  four,  and  with  the  addition  of  some  down  scattered  over 
their  heads  and  faces.  Each  woman  had  a  narrow,  black  line  running 
down  the  chin  and  a  similar  line  running  out  from  each  corner  of  the 
mouth  toward  the  ear.  Otherwise  her  decorations  consisted  of  a 
feather  tuft  and  a  yellow-hammer  feather  forehead-band.  A  consid- 
erable number  of  men  and  women  sang,  each  keeping  time  with  a  split- 
stick  rattle. 

mated' ke, — In  the  mated'  dance  the  music  was  provided  by  one 
man,  who  accompanied  his  song  with  a  split-stick  rattle.  The  dancers 
painted  themselves  as  in  the  yo'  dance.    Each  wore  a  feather  skirt. 

Uhu'ye  ke, — The  lehti'ye  dance  was  sometimes  called  the  ka'tcaha. 
The  term  lehti'ye  is  the  correct  one  for  this  dance.  In  fact,  the  term 
ka'tcaha  has  been  applied  to  it  only  recently  and  was  derived  from  the 


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fact  that  whenever  certain  of  the  Porno  men  became  intoxicated  they 
almost  always  sang  the  songs  of  this  dance ;  hence  the  name  **  whiskey 
dance,"  or  ka'tcahake.  If  paint  was  employed  it  usually  consisted 
of  a  coat  of  black  on  the  lower  part  of  the  face  and  three  bands  about 
each  arm  and  each  leg.  Other  designs  were  used,  however.  Upon 
the  head  the  dancer  wore  a  feather  tuft,  a  yellow-hammer  feather 
forehead-band,  and  a  very  large  trembler  plume,  worn  erect  at  the 
back  of  the  head.  Each  man  wore  a  feather  skirt.  The  women  painted 
the  lower  part  of  the  face  and  wore  a  feather  tuft  and  a  yellow-ham- 
mer feather  forehead-band. 

kalimaiotoke, — The  kali'matoto  or  kali'matatitau,  the  thunder 
dance,  was  danced  each  morning  and  each  evening  during  four  suc- 
cessive days.  It  could  be  danced  at  other  times  of  the  day  in  addition 
if  desired,  and  other  dances  might  meanwhile  be  performed  at  any 
time  of  the  day  except  morning  and  evening.  The  men  painted  their 
naked  bodies  with  vertical  stripes.  Upon  the  face  but  one  stripe 
appeared,  running  from  ear  to  ear  and  just  below  the  nose.  Upon 
the  head  each  man  wore  a  down  head-net,  a  feather  tuft,  and  a  pair 
of  trembler  plumes.  No  yellow-hammer  feather  forehead-band,  down, 
or  feather  skirt  was  used.  The  women  dressed  very  simply.  They 
wore  the  same  stripe  on  the  face  as  did  the  men,  and  upon  the  head  a 
head-net  of  down  and  a  feather  tuft.  Both  men  and  women  had  bone 
whistles,  and  each  man  had  a  light  staflF*^  four  or  five  feet  long,  with 
one  or  more  cocoons  attached  as  a  rattle  at  its  upper  end. 

%w%' ke, — In  the  iwi'  (C)  or  Coyote  dance  the  men  were  nude  ex- 
cept for  a  coat  of  white  paint  over  the  entire  body.  Upon  the  head 
there  was  a  feather  tuft,  parted  from  front  to  rear  to  permit  the 
passage  of  a  large  yellow-hammer  feather  forehead-band  from  the  root 
of  the  nose  over  the  head  and  down  the  back.  The  women  were  simi- 
larly painted  and  attired,  except  that  each  wore  an  ordinary  skirt  of 
shredded  tule  or  other  material.  Each  dancer  carried  a  small  bunch 
of  green  twigs  in  the  hand,  so  held  as  to  obscure  the  face  as  much  as 
possible.  This  perhaps  typified  the  crafty  and  slinking  nature  of  the 
coyote.  The  music  was  provided  by  one  singer,  who  used  a  cocoon 
rattle. 

gunvflaxe, — In  the  gunti'laxe  (E)  or  Coyote  dance  the  women 
dressed  as  in  the  hoTio  tiance.  The  men  painted  themselves  as  did 
the  performers  in  the  ghost  dance,  and  wore  the  parted  feather  tuft 

29  The  general  term  xe'dakoik  (E),  signifying  anything  held  in  the  hand 
while  dancing,  is  applied  to  this  staff. 


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with  the  yellow-hammer  feather  forehead-band  passing  through  the 
part  and  down  the  back.  They  also  wore  feather  skirts,  and  used 
whistles. 

he'lehela  he. — The  painting  for  this  dance  was  the  same  as  for  the 
hoTid.  Each  man  wore  upon  his  head  a  down  head-net,  a  pair  of 
trembler  plumes,  and  a  yellowhammer-feather  forehead-band.  Each 
had  a  bone  whistle  and  a  ke'cige.  Neither  whistles  nor  feather  skirts 
were  used.    Each  woman  wore  a  feather  tuft  and  a  down  head-net. 

A  fairly  high  pole  similar  to  the  one  employed  in  the  initiation 
rite  of  the  Gu'ksti  ceremony  was  erected  in  the  area  directly  in  front 
of  the  dance-house.  The  participants  gathered  about  its  base  and 
each  man  attempted  to  climb  it,  while  the  women  danced  in  a  circle 
about  its  base.  The  wife  of  the  climber,  and  sometimes  other  women, 
threw  balls  of  ** pinole''  (grass-seed  meal)  at  him  as  he  ascended. 

da'make, — Concerning  the  da'ma  dance,  little  could  be  learned 
save  that  it  was  connected  with  some  sort  of  esoteric  organization  and 
was  very  rarely  danced.  There  was  but  one  woman  who  was  said  to 
know  all  the  details  of  this  dance,  but  the  opportunity  did  not  present 
itself  to  interview  her.    She  is  now  deceased. 

dja'ne  ke. — The  dja'ne  dance  was  always  danced  by  two  men  and 
four  women,  the  men  forming  the  middle  of  the  line,  two  of  the  women 
being  at  each  end.  They  wore  similar  costumes,  which  were  very 
simple.  All  that  could  be  learned  concerning  the  details,  however, 
was  that  the  mouth  was  painted  black  with  a  short  line  running  out 
from  each  comer,  and  that  each  dancer  wore  a  feather  skirt  upon  his 
back  and  used  a  whistle. 

kava'iya  ke, — The  kara'iya  dance  was  danced  by  two  men  and  two 
women,  and  only  once  during  any  given  ceremony.  Men  and  women 
dressed  alike,  except  that  the  women  wore  the  ordinary  woman's  skirt. 
No  paint  was  used.  Upon  the  head  was  a  feather  tuft,  a  yellow- 
hammer-feather  forehead-band,  two  trembler  plumes  and  some  down. 
Each  dancer  carried  a  bone  whistle. 

sawe't  ke, — No  details  were  learned  concerning  this  dance. 

DANCES  IN  WHICH  ONLY  MEN  PERFORMED 
There  are  known  among  the  Pomo  at  least  five  dances  in  which  the 
performers  were  always  men.    They  are  the  hi'we,  the  i'dam,  and  the 
x5  or  fire  dance  and  the  ghost  and  the  GuTssu  dances  mentioned  above. 
hi  we  ke. — ^While  this  was  danced  by  men  only,  women  were  privil- 
eged to  witness  it.    The  dancers  first  painted  the  entire  body  black 


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and  then  added  many  white  spots  irre^larly  placed  all  over  the  body. 
Each  dancer  carried  a  staflf  six  or  seven  feet  long  and  similarly  painted. 
The  face  of  the  dancer  was  painted  black,  and  each  wore  a  large 
feather  tuft  on  his  head.  This  was,  however,  not  so  large  as  that  worn 
by  the  Gti'ksu-dancer.  The  music  for  this  dance  was  quite  unusual 
in  that  the  drum  was  not  used.  The  head  singer  also  acted  as  master 
of  ceremonies.  The  dancers  formed  a  straight  line  and  danced  in 
place  without  any  forward  or  lateral  motion,  and  all  joined  in  the 
singing. 

f'dam  ke. — ^Little  could  be  learned  of  the  i'dam  dance,  except  that 
it  was  danced  by  men,  with  women  participating  in  the  singing.  One 
unique  feature  was  that  while  it  was  in  progress  no  one  in  the  village 
might  keep  water  in  his  house.  Also  if  any  one  ate  meat  during  a 
ceremony  in  which  this  dance  was  used  he  would  become  insane  and 
could  be  cured  only  through  the  ministrations  of  the  chief  dancer  of 
the  i'dam.  While  no  further  evidence  was  obtained  in  substantiation, 
these  facts  point  to  the  existence  of  an  esoteric  society  connected  with 
this  dance.  One  informant  maintained  that  the  last  man  who  knew 
the  details  of  this  dance  died  some  years  ago. 

xo  ke. — The  xo  ke,  or  fire  dance,  was  held  at  any  desired  time  during 
a  ceremony.  It  usually  followed  the  feast  of  welcome,  as  it  may  be 
called,  which  was  tendered  the  guests  immediately  after  their  arrival. 
It  required  no  special  paraphernalia.  In  fact,  it  amounted  to  little 
more  than  a  regular  sweat-bath,  such  as  was  t^en  in  the  sudatory,^* 
except  that  it  was  on  a  larger  and  more  elaborate  scale. 

xahlu'igak  ke. — See  under  Ghost  Ceremony,  above. 

gu'ksu  ke. — See  under  Gu'ksu  Ceremony,  above. 

DANCES  IN  WHICH  ONLY  WOMEN  PERFORMED 
Two  dances  are  still  remembered  which  come  under  this  heading. 
They  are  the  ma7a  and  the  lo'le. 

ma'ia  ke. — One  man  acted  as  master  of  ceremonies  and  another 
sang  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  cocoon  rattle.  The  dancers  painted 
the  cheeks  and  lower  part  of  the  face  black  and  then  scratched  vertical 
lines  in  the  paint.  The  only  headdress  worn  was  the  yellowhammer- 
feather  forehead-band.  In  each  hand  was  held  a  small  green  branch. 
The  arms  hung  down,  but  with  a  flexure  at  the  elbow  which  brought 
these  green  sprigs  directly  in  front  of  the  dancer.  The  dancers 
formed  a  line  and  danced  back  and  forth  sidewise  over  a  short,  straight 


28  See  the  article  on  "Pomo  Buildings,'*  in  the  Holmes  Anniversary  Volume, 
mentioned  above. 


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440  UniverHty  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

course.    This  is  one  of  the  very  few  dances  which  may  yet  be  seen, 
though  in  a  modernized  form,  at  Fourth  of  July  celebrations. 

Wle  ke, — ^As  before,  a  man  acted  as  master  of  ceremonies  and 
another  man  sang,  accompanying  himself  with  the  cocoon  rattle.  The 
informant  was  not  certain  just  what  kind  of  costume  was  worn,  but 
knew  that  no  paint  was  employed. 

ADDITIONAL  DANCES 

The  names  of  several  other  dances  are  remembered,  but  nothing 
in  regard  to  detail.  These  are  mo'mimomi,  ^o^o,  ta'ugu,  badju'ca,  and 
sita'iya.  The  last  of  these  was  said  by  one  informant  to  make  up, 
along  with  the  gl'lak  and  ho'ho  and  dutuTta  dances,  a  special  ceremony, 
about  which  nothing  further  is  known. 


THE  MESSIAH  CULT 

During  the  latter  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  a  ** Messiah" 
cult  has  been  introduced  among  the  Pomo  by  the  Wintun  of  the 
Sacramento  Valley.  In  comparatively  recent  times  the  ** prophets" 
of  this  cult  acquired  great  importance  and,  while  the  cult  flourished, 
to  a  certain  extent  superseded  the  leaders  of  the  old  ceremonies.  This 
cult  first  appeared  among  the  Pomo  at  Upper  Lake,  then  at  Sulphur 
Bank,  then  at  Long  Valley,  and  finally  in  the  Ukiah  Valley.  The 
function  of  the  prophet,  or  dreamer,  as  he  is  commonly  styled  by  the 
Indians,  was  to  have  dreams  or  waking  visions  concerning  dances  and 
other  matters  in  which  the  people  were  interested.  The  prophets 
were  supposed  to  receive  through  these  visions  direct  revelations  from 
presiding  spirits,  and  the  people  formerly  gave  much  credit  to  their 
teachings.  They  virtually  formed  a  priesthood  which  replaced  the 
old  ** captains"  in  the  direction  of  all  ceremonial  matters. 

One  of  the  characteristic  features  of  this  cult  was  the  painted 
designs  upon  the  interior  of  the  dance-house.  The  last  truly  primitive 
dance-house  of  this  type  in  the  Pomo  region  was  photographed  by  the 
author  in  1901,  1902,  and  is  described  and  illustrated  elsewhere.^' 

Another  important  feature  was  the  erection  before  the  dance-house 
of  a  pole  bearing  banners  and  streamers  decorated  with  the  particular 
designs  which  the  priest  had  seen  in  his  vision. 


27* 'Pomo  Buildings,"  Holmes  Anniversary  Volume, 


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1917]  Barrett:  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno  Indians  441 

CONCLUSION 

Pomo  ceremonies  were  in  general  quite  simple  and  the  ceremonial 
life  was  characterized  by  an  absence  (1)  of  any  fixed  ceremonial  season 
or  sequence  of  ceremonies,  and  (2)  of  any  extensive  priesthood  or 
secret  order  controlling  ceremonial  matters.  Some  of  the  ceremonial 
perf ot-mances  possessed  certain  esoteric  features,  such  as  initiation  rites 
and  special  restrictions  on  the  part  of  the  uninitiated. 

We  note  the  presence  of  a  few  fairly  elaborate  ceremonies  and  a 
considerable  number  of  dances,  some  of  which  were  employed  as  in- 
tegral parts  of  certain  ceremonies,  others  as  merely  incidental  to  them. 
These  dances  usually  followed  one  another  without  any  definite  order 
or  relation,  though  in  certain  cases  definite  dances  were  prescribed  as 
parts  of  given  ceremonies. 

One  ceremony  has  a  definite  mythological  background,  but  this 
has  been  lost  elsewhere.  No  myths  are  told  today  to  account  for  the 
other  performances. 

In  most  of  the  dances  an  indefinite  number  of  both  men  and  women 
might  participate.  In  two  dances  the  number  of  performers  of  each 
sex  was  definitely  prescribed.  In  five,  only  men  might  participate,  and 
two  were  strictly  women's  dances.  In  other  words,  there  is  patent 
in  Pomo  ceremonies  a  rather  thorough  going  democracy  regarding  the 
positions  of  the  sexes. 

Transmitted  September  SI,  1916, 


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UNIV.   CALIF.    PUBL.   AM.  ARCH.  &  ETHN. 


[BARRETT]   PLATE  7 


POMO   BEAR   DOCTOKH   SUIT 

MODKL  IX    PKABODY    MTSKl'M 


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UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA    PUBLICATIONS 

IN 

AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  ETHNOLOGY 

Vol.  12,  No.  1 1,  pp.  443-465,  plate  7  July  1 1,  1917 


POMO  BEAR  DOCTORS 


BY 

8.  A.  BARRETT 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction 443 

Origin  Account 445 

Acquisition  of  Power 452 

Aasistants 454 

Hiding  Places  ~ 454 

The  Magic  Suit  ^ 456 

Weapons  and  their  Use 457 

Rites  Over  the  Suit 458 

Communication  between  Bear  Doctors ~. 461 

Panther  Doctors  ^ 462 

Oomparison  with  Yuki  Beliefs  ~~ 462 

Comparison  with  Miwok  Beliefs 463 

Summary   - 464 


INTRODUCTION 

One  of  the  most  concrete  and  persistent  convictions  of  the  Indians 
of  a  large  part  of  California  is  the  belief  in  the  existence  of  persons 
of  magic  power  able  to  turn  themselves  into  grizzly  bears.  Such 
shamans  are  called  ''bear  doctors"  by  the  English-speaking  Indians 
and  their  American  neighbors.  The  belief  is  obviously  a  locally  colored 
variant  of  the  widespread  were-wolf  superstition,  which  is  not  yet 
entirely  foreign  to  the  emotional  life  of  civilized  peoples.  The  Cali- 
fornia Indians  had  worked  out  their  form  of  this  concept  very  defi- 
nitely.   Thus  Dr.  Kroeber  says:^ 


1  A.  L.  Kroeber^  *  *  Religion  of  the  Indians  of  California, ' '  present  series,  iv, 
331,  1907. 


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444  UnwerHiy  of  California  Publications  in  Am.  Aroh,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

A  special  class  of  shamans  found  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  among  probably 
all  the  Central  tribes,  though  they  are  wanting  both  in  the  Northwest  and  the 
South,  are  the  so-called  bear  doctors,  shamans  who  have  received  power  from 
grizzly  bears,  often  by  being  taken  into  the  abode  of  these  animals — ^which 
appear  there  in  human  form, — and  who  after  their  return  to  mankind  possess 
many  of  the  qualities  of  the  grizzly  bear,  especially  his  apparent  invulnerability 
to  fatal  attack.  The  bear  shamans  can  not  only  assume  the  form  of  bears,  as 
they  do  in  order  to  inflict  vengeance  on  their  enemies,  but  it  is  believed  that 
they  can  be  killed  an  indefinite  number  of  times  when  in  this  form  and  each 
time  return  to  life.  In  some  regions,  as  among  the  Pomo  and  Yuki,  the  bear 
shaman  was  not  thought  as  elsewhere  to  actually  become  a  bear,  but  to  remain 
a  man  who  clothed  himself  in  the  skin  of  a  bear  to  his  complete  disguisement, 
and  by  his  malevolence,  rapidity,  fierceness,  and  resistance  to  wounds  to  be 
capable  of  inflicting  greater  injury  than  a  true  bear.  Whether  any  bear  shamans 
actually  attempted  to  disguise  themselves  in  this  way  to  accomplish  their  ends 
is  doubtful.  It  is  certain  -that  all  the  members  of  some  tribes  believed  it  to  be 
in  their  power. 

Pomo  beliefs  differ  rather  fundamentally  from  those  here  sum- 
marized. In  the  first  place,  the  Pomo  appear  to  know  nothing  of  the 
magician  acquiring  his  power  from  the  bears  themselves.  Since  they 
ascribe  no  guardian  spirit  to  him,  he  is  scarcely  a  shaman  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  word.  The  current  term  ''doctor,"  misleading  as  it  may 
seem  at  first  sight,  may  therefore  be  conveniently  retained  as  free  from 
the  erroneous  connotation  that  ** shaman"  would  involve. 

In  the  second  place,  the  power  of  the  doctor  was  thought  to  reside 
wholly  in  his  bearskin  suit,  or  parts  thereof,  and  apparently  was 
considered  the  result  of  an  elaborate  ceremony  performed  in  its  manu- 
facture and  subsequent  donning.  This  distinctly  ritualistic  side  of 
the  bear  doctor's  practices  removes  him  still  more  clearly  from  the 
class  of  the  true  shaman. 

Thirdly,  there  is  a  detailed  Pomo  tradition  of  the  origin  of  bear 
doctors.  This  story  is  cast  in  the  mold  of  a  myth;  in  fact,  its  initial 
portions  may  be  taken  from  the  current  mythology  of  the  tribe. 
Other  parts  are,  however,  remarkably  unmythical  and  matter  of  fact. 
The  resultant  whole  is  therefore  rather  incongruous,  and,  in  the  form 
recorded,  may  have  been  somewhat  influenced  by  the  speculations  of 
an  individual.  But  the  events  which  it  describes  agree  so  closely  with 
the  beliefs  which  the  Pomo  at  large  entertain  concerning  the  practices 
of  recent  bear  doctors  that  the  question  of  the  extent  of  the  prevalence 
of  the  myth  among  the  group  is  of  less  importance  than  the  insight 
which  the  tale  affords  into  the  Pomo  mind.  Its  many  specific  references 
make  it  a  suitable  introduction  to  the  presentation  of  the  other  data 
secured. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Porno  Bear  Doctors  445 

These  peculiarities  render  a  comparison  of  Porno  bear-doctor  be- 
liefs with  those  of  other  Calif  ornian  groups  desirable,  but  the  published 
data  from  elsewhere  are  unfortunately  too  fragmentary  to  make  such 
a  study  profitable  at  present.  It  has  only  seemed  feasible  to  append 
some  comparisons  with  Yuki  and  Miwok  beliefs. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  statements  which  constitute  the  body  of 
this  paper  are  the  statements  of  native  informants  cited  as  repre- 
sentative of  their  convictions,  and  not  as  the  opinions  of  the  author. 
The  degree  to  which  the  reputed  practices  of  bear  doctors  were  actually 
practiced  is  far  from  clear,  as  Dr.  Kroeber  has  stated.  Whether, 
however,  they  rest  mainly,  partly,  or  not  at  all  on  reality,  they  furnish 
interesting  psychological  material. 

ORIGIN  ACCOUNT 

The  following  tradition  was  obtained  in  January,  1906,  from  an 
old  Eastern  Pomo  man  and  his  wife.  The  husband  stated  that  he 
had  himself  been  a  bear  doctor  at  one  time  in  his  life.  In  his  later 
years  he  became  a  noted  practitioner  of  ordinary  Indian  ** medicine," 
and  was  much  in  demand  as  a  *' sucking  doctor.''  His  old  wife  proved 
a  very  valuable  informant  on  Pomo  mythology,  and  it  was  while 
relating  myths  that  the  subject  of  bear  doctors  was  mentioned  and  the 
fact  developed  that  her  husband  had  practiced  this  craft  when  a 
younger  man.  The  incident  led  to  a  full  discussion  of  the  entire 
matter  with  the  couple,  and  resulted  in  the  recording  of  the  following 
material.  This  was  given  by  the  Indians  more  as  a  personal  favor 
than  for  any  other  reason,  and  was  communicated  only  after  a  pledge 
that  their  story  would  not  be  spread  about  as  long  as  the  two  were  still 
alive.  Both  are  now  deceased,  as  is  also  the  interpreter  who  aided  in 
recording  the  material,  so  that  there  is  no  reason  for  longer  with- 
holding this  information.  Out  of  deference  to  the  relatives  of  the 
three,  it  seems  best  not  to  name  them  in  these  pages. 

Besides  the  myth,  these  two  old  people  furnished  the  greater  part 
of  the  descriptive  information  given  in  the  remainder  of  this  paper, 
but  additional  data  from  other  informants  have  been  included.  Unless 
otherwise  stated,  the  Pomo  terms  are  in  the  Eastern  dialect. 

In  the  days  before  Indians  were  upon  the  earth,  and  when  the  birds  and 
mammals  were  human,  there  was  a  large  village  at  dand  xa,^    These  people  were 


2  This  is  the  site  of  an  old  Eastern  Pomo  village  and  is  situated  in  the  foot- 
hills about  two  miles  northeast  of  the  town  of  Upper  Lake.  It  is  located  on  the 
western  slope  of  a  hill  and  overlooks  the  lake. 


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446  University  of  California  Pttblioations  in  Am.  Aroh.  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

great  hunters,  pursuing  their  game  with  bows  and  arrows  and  spears.  But 
chiefly  they  set  snares  in  every  direction  about  the  village. 

They  had  caught  many  kinds  of  game,  but  finally  found  a  large  grizzly  bear 
in  one  of  the  snares.  They  saw  that  his  carcass  would  furnish  a  great  feast,  but 
they  were  confronted  with  the  difficult  problem  of  getting  their  prize  to  the 
village.  Each  of  the  birds  tried  unsuccessfully  to  carry  the  bear,  first  on  his 
right  shoulder  and  then  on  his  left,  in  the  following  order:  tsai  (valley  bluejay), 
auaU  (crow),  llil  (a  species  of  hawk),  tiyal  (yellowhammer),  karats  (red-headed 
woodpecker),  sawalwal  (mountain  bluejay),  bakaka  (pileated  woodpecker), 
kahanasiksik  (a  large  species  of  woodpecker),  cagak  ba  blya  (a  species  of  hawk), 
kiya  (a  species  of  hawk),  siwa  (mountain  robin),  tsitdtd  (robin  redbreast), 
tcuma  tsUya  (grass  bird),  and  tlnliaL 

Finally  a  very  small  bird,  tsina  bitUt  kaiya  patsdTk,^  succeeded  in  carrying  the 
bear.  He  first  tied  its  front  and  hind  feet  with  a  heavy  milkweed-fiber  rope  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  enable  him  to  sling  the  carcass  over  his  shoulder  with  the 
body  resting  upon  his  hip.  No  one  else  had  thought  of  any  such  method.  The 
ingenuity  of  this  bird,  the  smallest  of  them  all,  won  success  and  enabled  him 
to  walk  away  easily  with  the  heavy  load.  The  others  laughed  uproariously  and 
shouted  their  approval  of  the  feat,  immediately  naming  him  burakal-ba-kidjon,^ 
literally  grizzly-bear-you-carrier.  Thus  he  carried  the  grizzly  home  to  the  village, 
and  Bluejay,  the  captain,  cut  it  up  and  divided  the  meat  among  all  the  people. 
As  a  reward  for  his  service  bUrakal-ba-kidjon  was  given  the  bearskin.  This  was 
a  very  valuable  present,  worth  many  thousands  of  beads.^ 

With  this  skin  in  his  possession,  bUrakal-ba-kidjon  thought  a  great  deal  about 
the  grizzly  bear  and  became  very  envious  of  his  powers  of  endurance,  his 
ferocity,  and  his  cunning.  He  forthwith  began  to  study  how  he  might  make 
some  use  of  the  skin  to  acquire  these  powers.  He  needed  an  assistant,  and 
finally  took  his  brother  into  his  confidence.  The  two  paid  a  visit  to  c6  dand,  a 
high  mountain  east  of  the  village.  They  then  went  down  a  very  rugged  cafion 
on  the  mountain-side  and  finally  came  to  a  precipice  the  bottom  of  which  was 
inaccessible  except  by  way  of  a  large  standing  tree,  the  upper  branches  of  which 
just  touched  its  brink. 

In  a  most  secluded  and  sheltered  spot  at  the  foot  of  this  precipice  they  dug 
a  cavern  called  yelimo,  or  bUrakal  ySUmo,  which  they  screened  with  boughs  so 
that  it  would  be  invisible  even  if  a  chance  hunter  came  that  way.  They  dug 
an  entrance  about  two  feet  in  diameter  into  the  side  of  the  bank  for  a  distance 
of  about  six  feet.  This  led  slightly  upward  and  into  a  good-sized  chamber. 
The  mouth  of  this  entrance  was  so  arranged  as  to  appear  as  natural  as  possible. 
Some  rocks  were  left  to  project  and  twigs  were  arranged  to  obscure  it.  As  a 
further  precaution  against  detection  the  brothers  always  walked  upon  rocks  in 
order  never  to  leave  a  footprint,  in  case  any  one  became  curious  about  their 


s  Identity  unknown,  and  common  Indian  name  not  recorded. 

4  This  name  in  the  Northern  dialect  is  buta  badm,  and  in  the  Central  dialect 
is  bitaka  yald  djak,  literally  grizzly  bear  between  the  legs  flew.  The  Northern 
people  say  that  the  name  of  the  bird  previous  to  the  accomplishment  of  this  feat 
was  mdbaadmsd.  In  speaking  of  this  bird  one  Northern  informant  stated  that 
when  the  first  people  were  transformed  into  birds  this  man  was  wearing  a  very 
larffe  head-dress.  This  accounts  for  the  fact  that  the  bird  now  carries  a  large 
topknot. 

» In  very  early  times  it  is  said  that  a  string  of  four  hundred  beads  was  worth 
an  amount  about  equal  to  two  and  one-half  dollars.  Later,  after  the  introduction 
of  the  pump-drill,  this  value  dropped  to  one  dollar.  On  the  basis  of  modem 
valuations  of  such  skins,  and  under  the  higher  rating  of  beads,  this  hide  would 
have  been  worth  12,000  beads. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Fomo  Bear  Doctors  447 

movements.  They  even  went  so  far  as  to  have  the  rocks  at  the  foot  of  the 
precipice,  where  they  stepped  from  the  branches  of  the  tree,  covered  with  leaves, 
which  they  were  careful  to  adjust  so  as  to  obliterate  the  slightest  vestige  of 
their  trail  should  any  one  succeed  in  tracking  them  to  this  point.  In  this  cave 
they  began  the  manufacture  of  a  ceremonial  outfit. 

They  went  out  from  the  village  daily,^  ostensibly  to  hunt,  and  they  did,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  kill  deer  and  other  game,  which  they  brought  back  to  the  village; 
but  they  never  ate  meat,  nor  did  they  have  intercourse  in  any  way  with  women. 
When  asked  why  he  was  thus  restricting  himself,  hUrdkal-ha-lddjon  evaded  the 
truth  by  saying  that  he  expected  to  gamble,  and  that  he  had  a  very  powerful 
medicine  which  would  yield  him  luck  only  with  the  most  rigid  observance  of 
certain  restrictions. 

When  they  began  this  work  of  preparing  the  outfits,  they  also  provided  a 
large  sack  of  beads  with  which  to  bribe  to  secrecy  any  one  who  might  discover 
them. 

The  two  worked  thus  in  the  cavern  four  months. 

When  the  outfit  for  hurdkal-ha-Mdjon  was  done,  the  latter  emerged  from  the 
cavern  and  ran  around  its  entrance  eight  times  each  way,  first  in  a  contra- 
clockwise  and  then  in  a  clockwise  direction.  The  two  then  prepared  a  level, 
elliptical  area,  about  twenty  by  fifteen  feet,  smoothed  like  a  dancing  floor, 
where  'burakal-ha-ladjon  might  practice  and  become  a  proficient  bear  doctor. 

Upon  putting  on  the  suit  for  the  first  time,  the  procedure  was  as  follows: 
While  seated  in  the  dancing  area,  hurakal-ha-ktdjon  took  the  bearskin  in  both 
hands  and  swung  it  over  his  right  shoulder  and  then  turned  his  head  to  the  left. 
This  was  repeated  four  times  in  all.  He  next  adjusted  the  skin  carefully  over 
a  basketry  head-frame  and  placed  the  latter  securely  upon  his  head.  He  next 
inserted  his  arms  and  legs  within  the  suit  and  laced  it  up  tightly  in  front, 
beginning  at  the  lower  part  of  the  belly  and  lacing  upward  to  the  neck. 

He  then  tried  to  rise  and  act  like  a  bear.  This  he  did  four  times,  saying 
*'ha"  (strongly  aspirated),  and  turning  his  head  to  the  left  after  each  trial. 
He  finally  arose  on  all  fours  and  shook  himself  after  the  fashion  of  a  bear,  some 
of  the  hair  falling  out  of  the  skin  as  he  did  so.  He  then  jumped  about  and 
started  off  in  each  of  the  four  cardinal  directions  in  the  following  order:  south, 
east,  north,  and  west.  Each  time  he  ran  only  a  short  distance,  returning  to  the 
practice  area  for  a  new  start.  Finally,  the  fifth  time  he  started  off,  he  went 
for  about  half  a  day  *8  journey  up  the  rugged  mountains  to  the  east.  He  found 
that  he  could  travel  with  great  speed  and  perfect  ease  through  thick  brush  and 
up  steep  mountain-sides.  In  fact,  he  could  move  anywhere  with  as  much  ease 
as  though  he  were  on  a  level,  open  valley.^  On  this  journey  he  hunted  for  soft, 
sweet  manzanita  berries,  finally  returning  to  the  practice  ground  after  covering 
a  great  distance,  perhaps  a  hundred  miles,  in  this  half  day. 

He  repeated  this  ceremonial  dressing  and  the  race  into  the  mountains  for 
four  days,  returning  each  evening  to  the  village  and  bringing  the  game  he  had 


«In  giving  the  account  the  informant  stated  that  while  making  their  cere- 
monial attire  the  two  worked  entirely  at  night,  as  was  always  done  by  Indian 
bear  doctors  later,  and  then  only  upon  perfectly  dark  nights,  when  the  moon  was 
not  shining  or  when  it  was  obscured  by  clouds.  In  case  the  moon  suddenly 
emerged  from  behind  a  cloud  they  immediately  ceased  their  work.  This  was 
made  necessary  by  the  fact  that  many  hunters  were  abroad  at  night. 

7  Another  informant  told  of  a  marvelous  journey  said  to  have  been  made  by 
his  grandmother  while  the  family  resided  many  years  ago  in  Eight-mile  Valley. 
She  went  during  one  night  to  Healdsburg,  Sebastopol,  Bodega  Bay,  and  Big 
Eiver,  thence  returning  to  her  home,  covering  in  those  few  hours  about  two 
hundred  miles. 


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448  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn,     [Vol.  12 

killed.  Finally,  on  the  fifth  day,  he  again  put  on  his  ceremonial  dress  and  went 
over  to  a  creek,  called  taaidka,  situated  a  considerable  distance  northeast  of  his 
hiding  place.  Here  he  found  a  bear  standing  erect  and  eating  manzanita  berries. 
The  bear  attempted  to  escape,  but  burakal-ba-kidjon  gave  chase  and  by  virtue 
of  his  supernatural  power  was  able  to  tire  and  outdistance  the  bear,  overtaking 
him  at  length  and  killing  him  with  an  elk-horn  dagger,  which  was  part  of  his 
outfit. 

He  returned  and  brought  his  brother,  who  tied  the  bear's  legs  together,  as 
had  burakal-ba-kidjon  when  he  won  his  name,  and  carried  the  carcass  to  the 
village,  burakal-ba-kidjon  meantime  returning  to  the  secret  cavern. 

The  brother  skinned  the  bear  and  told  the  captain  to  call  all  the  people  into 
the  dance-house  to  receive  their  portions  of  the  meat.  On  the  following  day  a 
great  feast  was  celebrated,  every  one  joining  and  providing  a  share  of  acorn 
mush,  pinole,  bread,  and  other  foods. 

The  two  brothers  then  announced  that  they  were  again  going  out  to  hunt. 
Instead,  they  really  went  to  this  secluded  spot  and  made  a  second  bear  doctor's 
suit.  This  one  was  for  the  brother,  who  underwent  the  same  training  as  his 
brother. 

Finally  the  two  brothers  started  out  one  day  toward  the  north,  going  up  to 
a  creek  called  guhiil  bidame.  Here  they  found  a  deer  hunter  coming  down  a 
chamise  ridge.  They  hid  until  the  hunter  came  within  about  fifteen  paces  of 
them.  They  then  sprang  out  and  attacked  him,  the  elder  of  the  two  bear  doctors 
taking  the  lead.  This  hunter  was  followed  at  a  distance  of  perhaps  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  by  four  others,  and  when  he  saw  the  bears  he  made  a  great  outcry  to 
his  comrades.  After  a  short  chase  the  bear  doctors  caught  and  killed  him. 
They  tore  his  body  to  pieces,  just  as  bears  would  do,  took  his  bow  and  arrows, 
and  started  off. 

Meantime  the  other  hunters,  who  were  Wolves  {ts^hmeii,)^  hid  and  escaped 
the  fate  of  their  companion.  After  the  bear  doctors  had  departed,  they  gathered 
up  the  bones  and  whatever  else  they  could  find  of  the  remains  of  the  dead 
hunter  and  took  them  back  to  the  village.  The  usual  funeral  and  burning  rites 
were  held,  and  the  whole  village  was  in  special  mourning  on  account  of  the  fact 
that  the  hunter  had  been  killed  by  bears. 

The  bear  doctors  went  back  to  their  hiding  place,  disrobed,  and  returned  to 
the  village  as  quickly  as  possible,  arriving  shortly  after  the  four  Wolves  had 
brought  in  the  remains  of  their  comrade.  They  ate  their  supper  and  retired 
almost  immediately,  though  they  heard  the  people  wailing  in  another  part  of 
the  village.  Their  own  relatives,  the  Birds,  were  not  wailing,  for  they  were  not 
directly  concerned,  since  the  different  groups  of  people  lived  in  different  parts 
of  the  village  and  were  quite  distinct  one  from  another.  During  the  evening 
the  captain,  Bluejay,  came  in  and  told  the  brothers  the  news  of  the  hunter's 
death,  asking  if  they  had  heard  anything  of  the  manner  of  it.  They  replied: 
**No;  we  know  nothing  of  it.  We  went  hunting,  but  saw  nothing  at  all  today. 
We  retired  early  and  have  heard  nothing  about  it."  Bluejay  then  said:  **We 
must  make  up  a  collection  of  beads  and  give  it  to  the  dead  man's  relatives,  so 
that  they  will  not  consider  us  unmindful  of  their  sorrow  and  perhaps  kill  some 
one  among  us."  The  bear  doctors  agreed  to  this  and  commended  the  captain 
for  his  good  counsel. 

Accordingly,  the  next  morning  Bluejay  addressed  his  people,  saying:  *'  Make 
a  fire  in  the  dance-house.  Do  not  feel  badly.  Wake  up  early.  That  is  what 
we  must  expect.  We  must  all  die  like  the  deer.  After  the  fire  is  made  in  the 
dance-house  I  will  tell  you  what  next  to  do. ' '  Every  one  gave  the  usual  answer 
of  approval,  ''O". 


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1917]  Barrett:  Pomo  Bear  Doctors  449 

After  the  usual  sweating  and  cold  plunge  by  the  men,  the  captain  again 
spoke,  calling  their  attention  to  the  fate  of  their  friend  the  day  before  and 
asking  that  every  one  contribute  beads  to  be  given  as  a  death  offering  to  the 
relatives  of  the  deceased.^ 

Bluejay  himself  contributed  about  ten  thousand  beads,  and  others  contrib- 
uted various  amounts,  but  the  two  bear  doctors  contributed  about  forty  thousand 
beads.  This  very  act  made  the  other  people  somewhat  suspicious  that  these 
two  were  concerned  in  some  way  with  the  death. 

As  was  usual,  under  such  circumstances,  word  was  sent  to  the  Wolf  people 
that  the  Birds  would  come  over  two  days  hence  with  their  gift.  The  Wolf 
captain  accordingly  told  his  people  to  go  out  and  hunt,  and  to  prepare  a  feast 
for  the  Bird  people  for  the  occasion.  On  the  appointed  day  the  beads  were 
brought  by  the  Bird  people  to  the  house  in  which  the  deceased  hunter  had 
formerly  lived,  the  usual  ceremonial  presentation  of  them  to  the  mourners  was 
performed,  and  the  return  feast  by  the  Wolves  was  spread  near  by. 

The  next  morning  the  two  brothers  again  left  the  village,  saying  that  they 
were  going  hunting.  They  went  to  their  place  of  seclusion,  donned  their  bear 
suits  and  again  started  out  as  bears.  By  this  time  they  had  established  regular 
secret  trails  leading  to  their  hiding  place,  and  regular  places  on  these  trails 
where  they  rested  and  ate.  These  trails  led  off  in  the  four  cardinal  directions, 
and  when  they  put  on  their  suits  it  was  only  necessary  to  say  in  what  direction 
they  wished  to  go  and  what  they  wished  to  do,  and  the  suits  would  bear  them 
thither  by  magic. 

Upon  this  occasion  they  went  eastward,  and  finally,  in  the  late  afternoon, 
met  Wildcat  (dalom)  carrying  upon  his  back  a  very  heavy  load.  They  imme- 
diately attacked  and  killed  him,  but  did  not  cut  him  to  pieces  as  they  had  Wolf. 
It  is  a  custom,  even  now,  among  bear  doctors  never  to  tear  to  pieces  or  cut  up 
the  body  of  a  victim  who  is  known  to  have  in  his  possession  valuable  property. 
Hence  they  stabbed  Wildcat  only  twice.  When  they  looked  into  the  burden 
basket  which  he  had  been  carrying  they  found  a  good  supply  of  food  and  a 
large  number  of  beads  of  various  kinds.  They  took  only  the  bag  of  beads, 
which  one  of  them  secreted  inside  his  suit.  Upon  reaching  their  place  of 
seclusion  they  removed  their  suits  and  were  soon  back  in  the  village.  After 
supper  they  again  retired  early. 

Now  Wildcat  had  started  off  early  one  morning  to  visit  friends  in  another 
village,  saying  that  he  would  be  absent  only  two  nights.  When  at  the  end  of 
four  days  he  had  not  returned  his  relatives  became  anxious  about  him,  and  his 
brother  and  another  man  set  out  for  the  other  village  to  ascertain  whether  he 
had  been  there  or  if  something  had  befallen  him  on  the  way.  They  found  that 
he  had  set  out  from  the  other  village  to  return  home  on  the  day  he  had  promised. 
Then  they  tracked  him  and  found  his  dead  body.  They  made  a  stretcher®  and 
carried  the  body  home. 

They  arrived  at  the  village  about  mid-afternoon,  and  when  about  a  half 
mile  off  they  commenced  the  death  wail,  thus  notifying  the  village  of  their 


8  The  bringing  of  beads  as  a  death  offering  from  one  village  to  another,  or 
from  one  political  group  of  people  to  another,  is  called  kal  kubek,  while  such  an 
offering  taken  to  the  home  of  the  family  of  the  deceased  by  relatives  in  the 
same  village  is  called  kal  banek, 

»  This  stretcher  is  called  kaitssLk,  and  consists  of  two  side  poles  with  short 
cross-pieces  bound  to  them  in  such  a  manner  as  to  resemble  a  ladder.  It  was 
used  in  early  times  for  carrying  the  wounded  or  the  dead  back  to  the  village. 
A  corpse  was  bound  to  it  by  a  binding  of  grapevine  and  the  two  ends  of  the 
stretcher  rested  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  bearers. 


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450  University  of  California  Publications  in  Am,  Arch,  and  Ethn.     [Vol.  12 

coming.  The  people  came  running  out  to  meet  them,  and  the  first  to  arrive 
were  the  bear  doctors,  who  immediately  assisted  in  carrying  the  stretcher  into 
the  village.  Every  one  wailed  for  the  departed,  but  the  two  bear  doctors  were 
loudest  in  their  lamentations.  Also  they  contributed  liberally,  in  fact,  more 
than  all  the  other  people  together,  when  the  death  offering  was  made  up. 

For  sometime  thereafter  the  bear  doctors  did  not  go  out,  but  finally  they 
did  so,  returning  with  four  deer,  which  they  gave  to  their  captain  to  be  divided 
among  the  people  for  a  feast.  This  the  captain  did,  after  the  usual  sweat-bath, 
on  the  following  morning. 

The  next  day  the  two  brothers  left  the  village  before  daybreak,  donned 
their  bear  suits  and  journeyed  southward  to  the  Mount  Kanaktai  region.  They 
made  the  journey  by  way  of  the  east  shore  of  Clear  Lake,  Lower  Lake,  and  on 
down  to  near  the  present  site  of  Middletown.  Here  they  found  a  hunting  party 
setting  deer  snares.^o  One  of  these  men  was  driving  the  deer  up  out  of  the 
canon  toward  the  place  where  the  snares  had  been  set.  He  saw  the  bear  doctors 
and  called  out  to  his  comrades:  "Look  out  for  yourselves;  there  are  two  bears 
coming."  The  hunters  were  up  on  the  open,  brushy  mountain-side.  Two  of 
them  ran  down  the  hill  to  a  tree,  but  the  bear  doctors  reached  it  as  soon  as 
they,  and,  as  they  started  to  ascend,  attacked  and  killed  the  two,  taking  their 
bows  and  arrows. 

The  other  hunters  then  attacked  the  bear  doctors,  who  fled  northward, 
pursued  by  the  hunters,  whom  they  outdistanced.  The  bear  doctors  became 
tired  and  very  thirsty,  for  they  had  drunk  no  water  all  day,  so  they  ran  up 
Mount  Kanaktai  to  a  small  pond  just  southwest  of  its  summit.^i 

The  bear  doctors  first  ran  four  times  each  way  around  the  pond  and  then 
disrobed  completely,  even  taking  off  their  bead  armor.  Leaving  their  entire 
suits  lying  on  the  shore,  they  first  swam  and  rested,  and  then  hung  their  suits 
on  some  small  trees  near  by. 

Shortly  two  men  appeared,  who  approached  close  to  them.  The  bear  doctors 
said:  **0h,  you  have  come;  well,  let  us  eat."  The  strangers  came  and  seated 
themselves  beside  the  bear  doctors.  They  then  had  a  good  meal  of  seed-meal 
and  meat. 

The  belts  and  strings  of  beads  worn  as  armor  inside  the  suit  were  piled  up 
on  the  shore  near  by,  and  when  the  meal  was  finished  the  bear  doctors  gave  all 
these  beads  to  the  two  men,  saying  at  the  same  time:  *'You  must  never  tell 
any  one,  not  even  your  brothers,  mothers,  or  sisters,  what  you  have  seen  and 
what  we  are  doing."  They  even  told  the  two  men  who  they  were,  where  they 
lived,  and  all  about  their  activities.  The  men  looked  closely  at  the  bear  suits 
hanging  near  by  and  then  went  their  way.  The  bear  doctors  again  put  on 
their  suits  and  returned  to  their  hiding  place,  disrobed,  and  traveled  home  in 
the  evening,  retiring  early  as  usual. 

When  the  people  heard  of  the  killing  of  two  more  hunters  by  two  bears, 
they  suspected  the  brothers,  and  formulated  a  plan  to  spy  on  them.  All  were 
to  go  hunting  and  certain  ones  were  to  keep  a  close  watch  on  these  two,  and 
see  just  where  they  went  and  what  they  did.     They  also  discovered  that  the 


10  They  were  making  a  bice  go;  i.e.,  setting  snares  in  the  brush  without 
making  a  brush  fence.    The  fence  with  snares  is  called  blc3  icarf. 

11  This  pond,  which  is  said  to  furnish  the  only  water  on  this  great  mountain, 
was  called  ka  kapa,  and  is  said  to  be  one  of  a  very  few  ponds  apparently  without 
a  spring,  and  called  ka  dabo,  which  are  supposed  to  have  been  made  in  prehistoric 
times  by  bears  as  resting  places  for  themselves.  This  pond  is  nowadays  almost 
never  visited  by  any  one  except  hunters  who  have  lost  their  way. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Porno  Bear  Doctors  451 

skins  of  the  two  bears  killed  by  the  brothers  were  nowhere  to  be  found  in  the 
village. 

The  captain  called  all  the  men  to  go  on  a  deer  hunt,  and  all  set  off  westward 
about  midday  to  build  a  deer  fence  and  set  snares  around  Tule  Lake,  for  they 
knew  that  many  deer  were  feeding  in  the  tule  marsh  there.  Nothing  unusual 
happened  that  day,  but  after  all  had  left  the  village  early  the  next  morning 
some  children  who  were  playing  about  the  village  saw  the  two  brothers  burakal- 
ba-Jctdjon,  who  had  remained  away  from  the  hunt,  giving  illness  as  their  excuse, 
start  off  toward  the  east.  Some  of  the  children  stealthily  followed  them,  while 
two  others  ran  over  to  Tule  Lake  to  warn  the  hunters.  About  midday  the 
hunters  saw  two  bears  coming  toward  them.  Several  of  the  best  hunters  hid 
at  an  advantageous  point  in  the  very  thick  brush  and  tule,  while  the  others 
continued  their  shouting  and  beating  the  bush  to  drive  the  deer  into  the  snares 
in  order  that  the  bear  doctors  would  not  suspect  the  trap  that  had  been  set  for 
them.  The  hunters  had  agreed  to  act  as  though  they  did  not  know  that  the 
bear  doctors  were  near,  but  to  shout  if  they  were  seen,  **Two  brother  deer  are 
coming!  '*  thus  giving  the  hidden  hunters  notice  of  the  approach  of  the  bears. 
If  deer  only  were  seen,  they  were  to  shout,  *  *  The  deer  are  coming ! ' ' 

Finally,  one  of  the  hunters  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake  saw  the  bears  and 
shouted,  '*Look  out  there;  two  brother  deer  are  coming  down  the  hill! ''  There 
were  two  trees  standing  some  distance  apart  with  a  thick,  brushy  place  on  each 
side.  One  hunter  hid  behind  each  tree.  A  third  hunter  stood  very  close  to  a 
near-by  opening  in  the  deer  fence  and  in  plain  sight  of  the  bear  doctors,  who 
immediately  made  after  him.  At  each  jump  of  the  bear  doctors  the  water  in 
their  baskets  rattled  and  made  a  great  noise.  The  hunter  was  but  a  few  feet 
from  these  trees  when  the  bears  came  close  to  him,  so  he  dodged  between  the 
trees  and  the  bears  followed. 

Immediately  the  two  hunters  behind  the  trees  attacked  the  bears  from  the 
rear  with  their  clubs  and  jerked  the  masks  from  their  heads.  The  other  hunters 
came  up  armed  with  clubs,  bows  and  arrows,  and  stones,  and  found  the  bear 
doctors  standing  very  shame-facedly  before  their  captors.12 

Every  one  shouted:  '* These  are  the  two  we  suspected;  we  have  them  now.'* 
Some  wanted  to  kill  them  immediately  with  clubs,  others  wanted  to  bum  them 
alive,  but  the  captain  restrained  them  and  insisted  upon  first  questioning  the 
bear  doctors.  They  finally  confessed  to  the  murders,  and  took  the  hunters  to 
their  hiding  place.  Here  they  exposed  their  entire  secret  and  told  all  the 
details  of  their  work:  how  they  dug  the  cavern,  how  they  made  the  ceremonial 
outfits,  and  how  they  killed  people.  The  hunters  then  stripped  the  bear  doctors 
and  took  them,  together  with  all  their  paraphernalia,  and  the  property  they 
had  stolen,  back  to  the  village,  placed  them  in  their  own  house,  tied  them 
securely,  and  set  fire  to  the  house.  Thus  ended  the  bear  doctors.  That  is  how 
the  knowledge  of  this  magic  was  acquired.  It  has  been  handed  down  to  us 
by  the  teaching  of  these  secrets  to  novices  by  the  older  bear  doctors  ever  since.is 

12  This  loss  of  magic  power  and  their  consequent  capture  was  explained  as  a 
supernatural  penalty  for  their  attempt  to  kill  more  than  four  victims  in  any 
one  year. 

13  One  informant  ascribed  the  source  of  Pomo  bear  doctor  knowledge  to  the 
Lake  Miwok,  to  the  south.  This  opinion,  of  course,  conflicts  with  the  preceding 
origin  tale. 


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ACQUISITION  OF  POWER 

Even  as  late  as  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  many 
of  the  Porno  were  convinced  that  bear  doctors  were  still  active ;  this 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  whites  had  at  that  time  long  possessed 
complete  control  of  the  entire  region,  and  had  succeeded,  purposely 
or  otherwise,  in  suppressing  most  of  the  aboriginal  practices  of  the 
Indians.  Evidently  the  belief  was  a  deeply  rooted  one  in  the  native 
mind.  On  the  other  hand,  since  the  nefariousness  of  the  alleged 
practices  would  cause  them  to  be  carefully  concealed,  there  are  now 
some  Pomo  skeptics  who  maintain  that  bear  doctors  never  existed. 

Both  men  and  women  of  middle  or  old  age  could  become  bear 
doctors,  the  same  name^*  being  applied  to  both.  In  fact,  it  is  said 
that  women  sometimes  made  very  successful  bear  doctors;  even  a 
woman  so  old  and  feeble  that  she  could  hardly  walk  would  acquire 
great  powers  of  endurance  and  swiftness  through  this  magic. 

It  is  said  that  a  bear  doctor  always  learned  from  an  old  person 
who  was  or  had  been  one.  The  training  for  both  men  and  women  was 
precisely  the  same  and  they  were  on  a  par  in  every  way.  A  female 
bear  doctor  could  not  operate  during  her  menstrual  period,  but  a 
male  bear  doctor  was  similarly  restricted  by  the  menstrual  periods  of 
both  his  wife  and  his  female  assistant  or  the  other  female  members 
of  his  household.  He  was  even  prohibited  from  going  near  his  bear 
hiding-place  during  his  wife's  menstruation.  The  periods  of  other 
members  of  his  household  also  restricted  him." 

No  specific  fee  was  paid  for  instruction  in  bear-doctoring,  but  the 
instructor  was  given  a  large  share,  usually  one-half,  of  the  spoils 
obtained  by  the  new  doctor  in  his  murders.  Also  he  could  command 
the  assistance  and  protection  of  his  pupil,  who  must  stand  ready,  if 
necessary,  to  lay  down  his  life  for  his  instructor.  Each  bear  doctor 
selected  some  friend  to  whom  he  willed  his  entire  outfit  and  whom  he 
instructed  fully  in  its  use.  Upon  his  death  this  proteg6  took  possession 
of  the  paraphernalia  and  the  hiding  place  of  his  friend  and  used  them 
as  he  saw  fit. 


i*The  bear  doctor  was  known  to  the  Pomo  as  gauk hUrakalf  "human  bear." 
BUrakal  specifically  denotes  the  grizzly  bear.  The  brown  or  cinnamon  bear  is 
lima,  but  black  individuals,  which  we  reckon  as  of  the  same  species,  were  called 
dyO  htlrakal,  *  *  black  grizzly  bears, ' '  by  the  Pomo. 

18  It  would  appear  that  restriction  depended  rather  upon  co-residence  than 
blood  kinship.  The  extent  to  which  the  taboo  might  accordingly  affect  a  bear 
doctor's  activities  will  be  realized  when  we  reflect  that  it  was  customary  for 
several  related  families  to  reside  in  one  house,  each  family  having  its  own  door 
and  each  two  families  a  separate  fire.  In  the  center  of  the  house  was  the 
common  baking  pit. 


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1917]  Barrett:  Porno  Bear  Doctors  453 

A  bear  doctor  might  *' catch"  a  man  who  was  out  in  some  lonely 
spot,  particularly  a  solitary  hunter,  take  him  to  his  hiding  place,  and 
teach  him  his  secrets.*®  Particularly  was  this  the  case  if  the  bear 
doctor  happened  to  be  a  man  possessed  of  few  friends,  since  it  was 
thought  necessary  for  him  to  will  his  paraphernalia  to  some  one. 
Stories  are  told  of  specific  instances  in  which  persons  have  been  thus 
made  captive  and  instructed.    Thus: 

An  old  she-bear  caught  a  young  hunter  from  a  village  in  the  Santa  Rosa 
Valley.  She  first  jumped  out  upon  him  from  her  hiding  place  and  frightened 
him  badly.  She  rolled  him  about  on  the  ground  and  made  as  if  to  kill  him. 
Though  greatly  frightened,  the  boy  made  no  outcry,  but  watched  her  closely. 
Finally  she  sat  astride  him  for  quite  a  long  time  and  the  boy  ceased  to  be 
alarmed.  She  then  led  him  away  over  the  long  journey  to  her  hiding  place  on 
a  high,  rocky  peak  east  of  Santa  Rosa.  On  the  way  they  heard,  late  in  the 
afternoon,  the  people  down  in  the  valley  calling  his  name  as  they  searched 
everywhere  for  him. 

Finally  they  arrived  at  the  bear's  cave  in  the  rocks,  where  she  had  a  bed 
of  moss  and  leaves  just  as  a  bear  usually  does  in  its  den.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  evening  the  boy  became  homesick  and  fearful  of  his  fate  and  began  to  cry. 
It  was  then  that  the  bear  doctor  revealed  herself.  She  removed  her  suit,  showing 
her  human  form,  and  said  to  him:  **I  did  not  catch  you  to  kill  you.  I  desire 
only  to  show  you  how  we  become  bear  doctors  and  instruct  you  in  our  magic. 
Only  human  beings  live  in  this  section  of  the  mountains.  In  the  morning  I 
shaU  place  my  bearskin  suit  upon  you  and  you  shall  practice  bear-doctoring." 
This  did  not,  however,  reassure  and  comfort  the  boy,  and  he  continued  to  sob 
and  weep  during  the  greater  part  of  the  night,  despite  the  repeated  assurances 
of  the  bear  doctor  that  she  would  not  harm  him,  but  was,  on  the  other  hand, 
just  like  an  elder  sister  to  him  and  wished  to  teach  him  powerful  magic.  She 
finally  prepared  a  good  meal  for  him  and  he  forgot  his  fright  and,  temporarily, 
his  own  people. 

During  the  night  she  taught  him  her  songs,  and  at  daybreak  began  to  instruct 
him  in  the  ritual  of  donning  the  suit.  This,  of  course,  required  that  he  should 
completely  strip  himself.  At  first  he  was  much  ashamed,  but  the  bear  doctor 
told  him  that  he  must  not  be,  any  more  than  if  he  were  only  exposing  his  nose. 

About  midday,  this  part  of  the  instruction  being  finished,  she  put  her  own 
suit  on  him  and  gave  him  his  first  practice.  She  told  him  to  first  jump  four 
times  along  the  ground  and  then  jump  up  and  try  to  catch  a  high  limb  of  a 
near-by  tree,  trying  repeatedly  until  he  could  catch  the  limb.  Then  he  would 
be  able  to  do  anything  that  she  could. 

She  then  stepped  back,  looked  him  over,  and  smiled  at  him.  This  made  him 
conscious  and  he  hung  his  head  and  did  not  move  until  she  commanded  him  to 
jump.  At  first  he  jumped  only  short  distances,  but  he  continued  his  practice 
for  four  days,  eajch  day  donning  the  suit  with  the  elaborately  regulated  ritual, 
and  finding,  each  day,  that  he  could  jump  a  little  farther  and  a  little  higher 
than  on  the  previous  one.  At  last  he  succeeded  in  reaching  the  limb  and  in 
jumping  down  at  one  jump  and  back  to  the  starting  point  in  four  more. 

His  tutor  rejoiced  at  his  success,  and  said:    ''Now  you  will  succeed  in  every 


i«  Usually,  however,  a  person  caught  in  this  way  was  used  as  a  "  head  rest ' ' 
and  servant,  it  is  said,  and  received  no  instruction  whatever. 


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way  and  enjoy  good  luck,  secure  plenty  of  beads  and  other  goods,  be  able  to 
travel  far  and  possess  great  endurance." 

She  then  gave  him  a  complete  outfit  and  told  him  that  he  would  thereafter 
procure  an  easy  living  and  wealth  if  he  would  use  it  and  observe  the  secret 
rites  she  had  taught  him.  She,  herself,  had  acquired  great  quantities  of  property — 
beads,  food,  and  other  commodities — which  she  stored  in  her  hiding  place. 

A  bear  doctor  was  not  permitted  to  kill  more  than  four  people  in 
one  year,  upon  penalty  of  the  loss  of  his  magic  power  and  consequent 
capture  upon  his  attempt  to  kill  the  fifth. 

ASSISTANTS 

A  bear  doctor  must  always  be  assisted  by  some  one.  He  usually 
hired  some  female  relative  who  could  be  trusted  to  secrecy.  She  wove 
for  him  the  water  baskets  which  formed  part  of  his  costume  and  cooked 
for  him  the  special  food  which  he  must  eat  while  operating  as  a  bear 
doctor.  She  must  observe  the  same  restrictions  as  the  bear  doctor 
himself,  abstaining  from  meat  or  foods  containing  blood  in  any  form, 
and  also  from  sexual  intercourse.  The  evil  consequences  of  a  violation 
of  these  restrictions  did  not  befall  her,  but  the  bear  doctor  himself 
was  sure  to  be  killed  in  combat  or  captured,  which  meant  certain  death 
at  the  hands  of  an  outraged  populace. 

This  assistant  was  never  the  bear  doctor's  wife,  but  the  wife,  if  he 
had  one,  must  remain  abed  in  the  morning  until  the  sun  was  high  and 
the  bear  doctor  was  well  on  his  way  from  his  hiding  place.  She  might 
then  rise  and  go  about  her  daily  routine  as  usual.  If  he  had  no  wife, 
his  female  assistant  must  observe  this  restriction  for  him. 

In  making  a  suit,  it  was  necessary  for  a  bear  doctor  to  have  an 
assistant  who  not  only  helped  in  the  actual  construction  of  the  suit 
but  also  sang  the  long  series  of  songs  required  during  the  ceremony 
when  the  suit  was  first  put  on. 

HIDING  PLACES 

Since  custom  prescribed  that  every  person  leaving  a  village  told 
where  he  was  going  and  the  purpose  of  his  mission,  it  was  difficult  for 
a  bear  doctor  to  get  away,  undetected,  for  the  pursuit  of  his  nefarious 
practices.  All  his  preparations  must,  therefore,  be  made  in  perfect 
secrecy.  Very  frequently  he  gave  as  an  excuse  for  his  absence  that 
he  intended  to  go  in  search  of  manzanita  berries  or  hunting  in  some 
distant  locality,  sometimes  announcing  a  stay  of  several  days.  Since 
he  was  forbidden  to  partake  of  food  or  water  on  the  morning  of  the 


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1917]  Barrett :  Porno  Beer  Doctors  455 

day  he  wore  the  bear  costume,  he  usually  ate  and  drank  heartily  the 
night  before,  and  repaired  to  his  hiding  place  before  daybreak.  To 
lend  color  to  his  excuses,  he  uusally  brought  home  some  game  or  berries. 
As  a  rule  these  were  not  handled  at  all  while  wearing  the  bear  suit, 
although  apparently  it  was  believed  that  no  penalty  was  attached  to 
doing  so. 

Whenever  possible  a  bear  doctor  found  some  natural  cave  or  se- 
cluded spot  in  a  deep  cailon,  or  in  the  most  rugged  mountains.  If 
necessary,  he  dug  a  cavern,  as  related  in  the  foregoing  myth,  taking 
care  to  scatter  the  fresh  earth  about  in  such  a  manner  that  it  would 
not  be  detected.  Such  a  place  of  seclusion  was  called  yelimo,  hurakal 
yelimo,  or  kabe  ga. 

Near  by  a  level  ** practice''  ground,  called  clyoxegai,  literally 
**bear  dance  place,''  was  prepared,  where,  the  weather  permitting,  the 
bear  doctor  performed  the  ceremonies  connected  with  donning  his  suit. 
In  bad  weather  these  rites  were  performed  in  the  sheltered  cavern. 
This  practice  ground  was  simply  a  level  place  in  the  bottom  of  a  canon 
near  the  cavern.  It  was  an  elliptical  clearing  about  twenty  feet  long 
by  ten  to  fifteen  feet  wide.  No  trail  led  to  it,  the  bear  doctor  and  his 
assistant  exercising  the  greatest  care  to  obscure  as  much  as  possible 
every  evidence  of  their  movements,  not  even  a  broken  twig  being  left 
about  as  a  clue. 

THE  MAGIC  SUIT 

The  suit  of  the  bear  doctor,  called  gawh  was  made  as  follows: 
First,  an  openwork  basket  was  woven  of  white  oak  twigs  to  fit  the 
head  and  with  openings  for  eyes,  nose,  and  mouth.  Disks  of  abalone 
shell  with  small  openings  to  permit  actual  vision  were  fitted  into  the 
eye  openings  in  the  basket.  This  basket  served  as  a  foundation  over 
which  to  place  the  skin  of  the  bear's  head.  It  was  made  so  that  it 
exactly  fitted  the  wearer's  head  and  remained  in  place  even  when  he 
moved  violently.  The  covering  of  this  helmet,  as  also  the  outer  cov- 
ering for  the  rest  of  the  body,  was  usually  made  of  real  grizzly  bear 
skin,  though  a  net  covered  with  soaproot  fiber  was  sometimes  used. 
The  skin  of  the  bear's  head  was  shaped,  but  not  stuffed,  so  as  to  retain 
its  proper  form,  the  eye-holes  of  the  skin  being  made  to  fit  the  shell- 
filled  eye-holes  in  the  basket.  The  remainder  of  the  bearskin  was 
fitted  exactly  to  the  body,  arms,  and  legs  so  as  to  perfectly  hide  every 
part  of  the  body  and  give  the  wearer  the  appearance  of  a  grizzly. 

When  soaproot  fiber  was  used  in  making  the  bear  doctor's  suit,  a 


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fine  net  was  first  woven  and  thickly  covered  with  shredded  soaproot 
fiber  {ap  tsida) .  This  was  woven  entirely  in  one  piece  and  so  arranged 
as  to  completely  cover  the  wearer  from  head  to  foot,  including  the 
basketry  helmet  just  mentioned.    It  laced  in  front. 

A  low  shoe,  with  the  sole  rounded  and  shaped  somewhat  like  that 
of  a  bear's  foot,  was  worn.  This  shoe  was  made  of  woven  basketry 
held  between  two  hoops  and  so  arranged  that  the  foot  went  between 
the  two  sections,  which  were  attached  directly  to  the  costume.  It 
was  said  that  sometimes,  also,  similarly  shaped  shoes  were  placed  upon 
the  hands.    At  other  times  nothing  was  worn  on  either  hands  or  feet. 

Before  donning  the  suit  an  ** armor''  of  shell  beads  was  put  on. 
Pour  belts  covered  the  abdomen.  Each  was  about  six  inches  wide  and 
made  of  a  different  size  and  form  of  beads.  One,  called  hmukl,  covered 
the  umbilicus.  The  other  three,  which  were  placed  one  above  the  other, 
completely  covered  the  remainder  of  the  abdomen,  chest,  and  back  up 
to  the  armpits,  and  were  called  respectively  kibukal,  catanl  kutsa,  and 
tadatada.  The  last  protected  the  heart,  and  was  made  of  very  large, 
discoidal  beads.  Ordinarily  these  bead  belts  were  woven  in  the  usual 
way.  Sometimes,  however,  one  or  more  of  the  four  was  covered  with- 
out by  a  layer  of  woodpecker  scalps.  Strings  of  shell  beads  were 
wound  closely  about  the  arms  from  wrist  to  shoulder  and  the  legs  were 
similarly  covered.  All  these  beads  served  as  a  protection  against 
arrows  in  case  the  bear  doctor  was  attacked  by  hunters. 

A  type  of  body  armor,  made  of  wooden  rods  and  used  in  open 
warfare,  is  said  to  have  been  sometimes  used  by  bear  doctors.  This 
conisted  of  two  layers  of  rods  obtained  from  the  snowdrop  bush 
(bakol),  each  rod  being  about  the  size  of  a  lead  pencil.  These  were 
bound  together  with  string,  one  layer  of  rods  being  placed  vertically 
and  the  other  horizontally,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  a  very  close 
and  effective  armor. 

Two  globose,  three-rod  foundation  baskets,  called  kutc  tcadotcadoi, 
and  each  about  three  inches  in  diameter,  were  half  filled  with  water 
and  each  encased  tightly  in  a  closely  woven  fabric  made  of  milkweed 
fiber  cord,  or  in  a  casing  of  rawhide.  One  was  then  tied,  inside  the 
bearskin  suit,  just  under  each  jaw  or  under  each  armpit.  In  the  soap- 
root  fiber  suit,  small  pockets  were  woven  on  its  inner  surface  for  their 
reception.  The  swashing  of  the  water  made  a  sound  (pluk,  pluk,  pluk, 
pluk)  resembling  that  of  the  viscera  of  a  bear  as  he  moves  along. 
Sometimes,  instead  of  these  baskets,  a  slightly  larger  pair  of  plain- 
twining  were  tied  one  at  each  side  at  the  waist.     The  doctor  never 


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wore  more  than  one  pair  at  a  time  and  never  wore  a  single  basket 
alone.  Canoe-form  baskets  ten  or  twelve  inches  long  and  with  un- 
usually small  openings  were  sometimes  carried  in  place  of  the  small, 
globose  baskets  above  mentioned.  They  were  sometimes  filled  with 
water,  as  were  the  small  baskets,  and  at  other  times  were  used  as 
receptacles  for  beads,  berries,  or  other  commodities. 

Plate  7  (frontispiece)  shows  a  Pomo  bear  doctor  suit,  in  the  Pea- 
body  Museum  of  Harvard  University,  reproduced  by  courtesy  of  Mr. 
C.  C.  Willoughby.  This  is  a  model-  While  differing  in  some  details 
from  the  explanations  received  from  informants,  it  confirms  them  in 
substance. 

V7EAP0NS  AND  THEIR  USE 

A  bear  doctor  usually  carried  one  and  sometimes  two  elk-horn 
daggers,  called  boo  a,  literally  "elk  horn.''  Such  a  dagger  was  from 
six  to  ten  inches  in  length  and  was  made  by  pounding  at  its  base  and 
breaking  off  the  large  end  point  of  an  elk  antler  and  sharpening  its 
tip.  It  was  rubbed  on  a  grinding  stone  and  smoothed  throughout  its 
length  and  a  hole  was  bored  in  its  base  through  which  a  loop  about 
two  feet  long  was  passed  for  suspending  it  about  the  neck  or  from 
the  belt.  This  loop  was  always  of  string,  as  this  is  not  affected  by 
dampness. 

Obsidian  or  flint  knives,  called  bat!,  were  sometimes  used  in  addition 
to  or  in  place  of  the  elk-horn  dagger.  The  blade  of  such  a  knife  was 
made  by  first  striking  the  larger  flakes  from  it  with  a  hammer  stone 
and  then  chipping  its  edges  with  an  antler  chipping  tool.  This  blade 
was  set  into  a  split  oak  handle  and  bound  securely  with  string,  but 
was  not  pitched.    Both  of  these  were  thrusting  weapons. 

Other  weapons  were  sometimes  used,  even  the  stone  pestle  being 
employed  as  a  weapon. 

Bear  doctors  often  operated  in  pairs,  and  sometimes  in  greater 
numbers.  They  frequently  deployed  so  as  to  cover  a  considerable 
area  in  their  hunt,  and  had  a  method  of  intercommunication.  If  a 
prospective  victim  was  sighted  at  some  distance,  the  bear  doctor  stood 
erect  on  the  top  of  the  nearest  ridge,  with  his  back  turned  directly 
toward  him.  This  signal  brought  the  other  bear  doctors  into  positions 
to  surround  the  victim.  Informants  maintain  that  in  the  actual  attack 
a  bear  doctor  frequently  stood  unconcernedly,  near  the  path  of  his 
victim,  and  with  his  back  toward  him  until  he  was  quite  near.  He 
then  whirled  and  attacked  suddenly.  They  stated  that  this  was  also 
the  method  of  attack  of  a  real  bear. 


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It  is  said  that  the  only  way  to  overcome  a  bear  doctor  was  to  seize 
his  head  or  shoulders  and  jerk  off  his  helmet.  This  completely  re- 
moved his  magic  power.  The  story  is  told  that  Kamachi,  a  very  brave 
and  powerful  man  formerly  living  at  the  Yorkville  Rancheria,  mis- 
took two  real  bears  for  bear  doctors,  attacked  them  in  this  manner, 
and  finally  succeeded  in  killing  them. 

BITES  OVER  THE  SUIT 

When  the  suit  was  put  on  for  the  first  time  by  the  bear  doctor,  the 
following  elaborate  ceremony  was  performed.  The  assistant  took  up 
his  position  in  the  center  of  the  practice  ground,  having  on  one  side 
of  him  four  hundred  counting  sticks,  each  about  the  size  of  a  lead 
pencil,  nicely  arranged  in  even  rows.  Directly  in  front  of  him  was 
the  entire  bear  doctor 's  suit,  except  the  beads  and  bead  belts ;  that  is, 
the  basketry  helmet,  the  bearskin  garment,  the  two  water  baskets,  the 
dagger  of  elk  antler,  and  the  obsidian  knife.  These  were  the  articles 
which  were  strictly  ceremonial,  and  which  must  never  be  handled  by 
women  or  children  for  the  reason  that  they  were  the  property  of  the 
particular  supernatural  beings  under  whose  patronage  the  bear  doctor 
operated  and  whose  powers  were  invoked  for  his  success,  especially 
by  means  of  a  long  series  of  ritualistic  songs  sung  by  his  assistant 
during  the  ceremony  of  donning  the  suit,  now  to  be  described. 

While  the  assistant  sang  the  ritualistic  songs,  the  bear  doctor  who 
was  to  wear  the  suit  danced  up  toward  it  four  times  each  from  each 
of  the  four  cardinal  points  in  the  following  order :  north,  west,  south, 
and  east.  Each  time  the  dancer  advanced  toward  the  suit,  the  singer 
raised  above  his  head  one  counter  from  the  one  side  and  as  the  dancer 
receded  placed  it  on  his  opposite  side.  Thus  this  portion  of  the 
ceremony  took  sixteen  counters.  Having  thus  approached  the  suit 
four  times  the  sacred  number  four,  the  dancer  picked  up  with  his  left 
hand  the  basketry  helmet  and  danced  with  it  four  times  around  the 
practice  ground,  the  singer  keeping  tally  with  the  necessary  four 
sticks.  He  then  danced  four  times  up  toward  and  back  from  the 
place  on  the  practice  ground  where  he  intended  to  temporarily  place 
this  object,  so  using  another  four  counters.  Thus  there  were  used  in 
all  with  this  one  object  twenty-four  counters. 

He  did  precisely  the  same  with  each  of  the  remaining  five  articles 
of  the  suit.  Thus  one  hundred  and  forty-four  counters  were  trans- 
ferred from  the  original  group  to  the  singers  opposite  side. 


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He  next  took  all  six  of  these  articles  in  both  hands  and  performed 
the  same  cycle  of  twenty-four  dance  movements  that  was  employed 
in  handling  each  separately,  so  using  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
counters  up  to  this  point. 

He  then  repeated  this  entire  cycle  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
dance  movements  in  precisely  the  same  order  and  manner  as  just  de- 
scribed, but  using  the  right  hand  instead  of  the  left,  thus  using  three 
hundred  and  thirty-six  counters  up  to  this  point. 

He  next  repeated  all  the  foregoing  movements  exactly  in  reverse 
order  in  every  respect;  taking  up  the  articles  in  reverse  order  and 
dancing  toward  the  cardinal  points  in  reverse  order  and  using  the 
hands  in  reverse  order,  thus  using  six  hundred  and  seventy-two  coun- 
ters up  to  this  point. 

He  finally  took  the  entire  suit  in  both  hands  and  went  around  the 
practice  ground  four  times  in  a  clockwise  direction  and  then  four 
times  in  a  contra-clockwise  direction,  thus  using  in  all  six  hundred 
and  eighty  counters,  indicative  of  that  number  of  separate  movements, 
or  rather  one  hundred  and  seventy  distinct  types  of  movements  each 
repeated  four  times. 

Throughout  this  entire  ceremony  the  assistant  sang  ritualistic  songs 
invoking,  in  the  ascending  order  of  their  importance,  the  aid  of  the 
particular  supernatural  beings  under  whose  patronage  the  bear  doctor 
was  supposed  to  be  and  with  whom  he  came  into  direct  contact. 
According  to  one  informant,  these  were,  in  order,  brush-man,  rock- 
man,  shade-man,  spring-man,  pond-man,  mountain-man,  and  sun-man, 
though  a  large  number  of  others  are  also  included.^^  In  fact,  it  seems 
probable  that  all  the  spirits  of  the  Pomo  world  are  supposed  to  be 
directly  concerned.  The  following  were  specifically  mentioned  by  the 
informants : 


English 

Eastern  Dialect 

Central  Dialect 

Mountain -man 

dano  gak 

dano  baiya 

Water-man 

xagak 

ka  baiya 

Night-man 

duwe  gak 

iwe  baiya 

Valley-man 

gago  gak 

kako  baiya 

Brush-man 

segak 

see  baiya 

Bock-man 

xabe  gak 

kabe  baiya 

Spring-man 

gapagak 

gapa  baiya 

Shade-man 

ciyo  gak 

Fireman 

xogak 

ho  baiya 

17  Another  informant  gave  as  these  chief  spirits  sun -man,  mountain -man, 
mnd-man,  night-man,  water-man,  and  valley-man,  though  not  stating  that  they 
were  considered  in  this  order. 


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English 

Eastern  Dialect 

Central  Dialect 

Disease-man 

gak  kalal 

ital  baiya 

Insanity-man 

gak  dagol 

dakol  baiya 

guksu 

guksu 

kuksu 

Whitled-leg  widow 

kama  sill  duket  mlya 

caku  kattciu 

Dream-man 

maru 

maru 

Wind-man 

yaiki 

ya  tcatc 

Pond-woman 

dano  kawd 

Blind-man 

ulbagd 

uinasai 

Sun-man 

da  tea 

Sun-woman 

da  mata 

Deer-man 

bice  gauk 

pee  tea 

To  all  these  he  sang  songs  and  made  prayers  the  substance  of  which 
usually  was:  **You  know  what  I  am  doing.  I  am  doing  as  you  do 
and  using  your  ways.    You  must  help  me  and  give  me  good  luck." 

He  sang  to  and  invoked  particularly  Sun-man  because  he  was  an 
all-seeing  deity  and  knew  everything  that  happened  all  over  the  earth, 
and  more  particularly  because  as  Sun-man  rises  with  the  sun  each 
morning  he  comes  with  his  bow  and  arrow  drawn  and  ready  to  shoot 
on  sight  any  wrongdoer.  Unless,  therefore,  Sun-man  was  propitiated 
and  previously  informed  of  the  bear  doctor's  intentions,  he  was  likely 
to  shoot  him  just  as  the  sun  appeared  above  the  horizon.  The  sub- 
stance of  his  prayer  to  Sun-man  was :  *  *  I  am  going  to  do  as  you  do. 
I  shall  kill  people.    You  must  give  me  good  luck." 

When  the  suit  was  finally  put  on  there  was  a  certain  amount  of 
ceremonial  procedure.  The  beads  used  as  armor  were  first  put  on  the 
naked  body.  The  arms  and  legs  were  closely  wound,  each  with  a 
single  long  string  of  beads.  The  bear  doctor  then  danced  around  the 
practice  ground  four  times  in  a  clockwise  direction  and  then  four 
times  in  a  contra-clockwise  direction.  He  next  advanced  toward  and 
receded  from  the  suit  four  times  each  from  the  north,  west,  south,  and 
east.  He  then  made  four  times  a  motion  as  if  to  pick  up  the  suit,  and 
again  four  times  the  motion  of  putting  the  suit  on,  after  which  he 
donned  it  and  was  completely  ready  for  his  journey,  being  endowed 
with  all  the  supernatural  powers  of  the  bear  doctor. 

Throughout  the  entire  construction  of  the  suit,  and  also  through- 
out the  ceremony  connected  with  putting  it  on,  he  turned  his  head 
around  toward  the  left  after  each  separate  action,  such  as  lifting  up 
or  putting  down  any  article  and  after  each  dancing  up  and  back 
toward  the  suit,  or  running  around  the  practice  ground. 

Each  subsequent  donning  of  the  suit  was  quite  simple.    The  bear 


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doctor  picked  up  each  article  separately  and  made  a  motion  with  it 
four  times  toward  the  part  of  the  body  it  was  to  cover,  turning  his 
head  four  times  to  the  left  after  each  of  these  sets  of  four  motions. 
He  then  put  on  the  suit  and  danced  in  a  contra-clockwise  direction 
four  times  around  the  practice  area  or  the  interior  of  his  cavern,  as 
the  case  might  be,  after  which  he  was  fully  ready  for  his  journey. 

In  case  of  inclement  weather  the  bear  doctor  dressed  in  the  shelter 
of  the  cavern,  but  if  the  weather  was  fair  this  was  always  done  on  the 
practice  ground. 

In  undressing,  on  the  other  hand,  the  bear  doctor  performed  no 
ceremony  at  all,  but  simply  took  off  his  suit  and  carefully  laid  it  away, 
hanging  up  in  the  cavern  the  bearskin  itself  to  keep  it  clean.  It  was 
necessary  that  a  bear  doctor  swim  immediately  upon  removing  his 
suit.  Still  dressed  in  his  bead  armor,  he  went,  therefore,  to  his  swim- 
ming place,  removing  the  beads  and  piling  them  on  the  bank.  This 
was  done  so  that  if  discovered  he  had  immediately  at  hand  a  treasure 
with  which  to  buy  secrecy.  The  penalty  paid  by  an  informer  who 
had  been  thus  bribed  was  certain  death  at  the  hands  of  the  bear  doctor. 
Upon  emerging  from  the  pool,  he  returned  to  his  cavern,  carefully 
folded  the  belts  and  strings  of  beads  and  laid  each  away  separately 
until  the  suit  was  again  needed. 

COMMUNICATION  BETWEEN  BEAB  DOCTORS 

Informants  state  that  the  various  bear  doctors  all  over  the  country 
knew  each  other. ^®  Two  or  more  of  them  often  met  by  chance  at 
some  spring  or  other  secluded  spot  in  the  mountains,  and  at  such 
times  discussed  their  activities.  They  might  tell  each  other  where 
they  expected  to  be  next  month,  or  what  mountain  they  would  use  as 
a  hiding  place  and  base  of  operations  next  year. 

Each  bear  doctor  acted  independently  and  knew  no  restrictions  of 
any  sort  so  far  as  his  fellows  were  concerned,  nor  had  he  or  his  relatives 
any  immunity  from  the  attacks  of  other  bear  doctors,  for  one  bear 
doctor  might  become  enraged  at  another  and  cause  his  death  or  that 
of  some  of  his  relatives. 

The  only  persons  who  were  immune  from  these  attacks  were  the 
captain  of  the  village  and  his  immediate  family.  He  knew  all  the 
bear  doctors  and  received  a  share  of  their  spoils  in  consideration  for 
his  friendly  protection. 


18  So  far  as  could  be  ascertained,  they  formed  no  organized  society,  and  never 
met  as  a  body. 


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Any  bear  doctor  or  person  who  knew  all  the  secrets  of  bear  doc- 
toring usually  took  his  relatives,  or,  at  any  rate,  certain  of  them,  to 
this  hiding  place  and  showed  them  enough  of  his  secrets  so  that  they 
would  lose  their  fear  of  bear  doctors  and  not  be  frightened  when  they 
heard  of  the  death  of  some  one  through  an  attack  by  bears.  Such 
partially  initiated  persons  always  mourned  the  loss  of  the  victim  as 
did  the  rest  of  the  people,  but  were  not,  in  reality,  afraid  of  the  bear 
doctors. 

PANTHER  DOCTORS 

While  the  bear  doctor  was  the  most  important  of  magicians,  there 
were  also  mountain  lion  or  panther  doctors,  who  were  also  possessed 
of  considerable  power.  Very  little  was  learned  of  this  class  of  medicine 
man  save  that  the  head  part  of  their  suits  was  made  of  the  head  and 
neck  of  an  actual  panther  skin  drawn  over  a  basket  frame  similar  to 
that  used  by  the  bear  doctor.  The  remainder  of  the  suit  was  made  of 
shredded  soaproot  fiber  woven  on  to  a  fine  net,  which  was  said  to 
simulate  quite  well  the  skin  of  the  panther. 

The  panther  doctor  wore  no  bead  armor  as  did  the  bear  doctor, 
but  wore  a  necklace  of  small  and  finely  made  shell  beads  around  his 
neck.  He  always  carried  a  bag  filled  with  valuable  beads  with  which 
to  bribe  to  silence  any  one  who  might  discover  him.  The  bear  doctor 
used  the  beads  comprising  his  armor  for  this  purpose. 

COMPARISON  WITH  YUKI  BELIEFS 

The  ideas  that  the  doctor  is  actually  transformed  into  a  bear,  that 
bear  hair  grows  out  through  his  skin,  and  that  he  comes  to  life  after 
having  been  killed — ideas  found  among  certain  California  Indians** — 
have  not  been  discovered  among  the  Pomo. 

As  might  be  expected,  from  the  contiguity  of  the  two  groups  and 
their  numerous  cultural  identities,  the  Pomo  and  Yuki^®  bear  doctors 
are  very  similar.  The  Yuki,  however,  have  certain  beliefs  that  the 
Pomo  do  not  possess. 

The  Yuki  bear  doctor  began  by  repeatedly  dreaming  of  bears  and 
was  taken  out  and  instructed  by  actual  bears,  thus  placing  the  bear 
in  the  position  of  a  true  guardian  spirit,  and  making  the  doctor  a  real 


19  Kroeber,  loc.  cit, 

20  This  comparison  is  based  on  manuscript  data  of  Dr.  Kroeber  concerning 
the  Yuki. 


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shaman.  Later  he  was  thought  to  be  instructed  and  to  have  his  powers 
developed  by  older  shamans.    The  Porno  have  no  such  notions. 

The  Yuki  bear  doctor  was  not  always  an  evildoer,  but  in  some 
measure  an  accepted  benefcwjtor,  particularly  in  curing  bear  bites  and 
in  avenging  wrongs  to  his  community.  His  capacity  thus  was  publicly 
recognized — a  fact  that  is  further  evidenced  by  his  performance  of 
sleight-of-hand  tricks.  The  Pomo  bear  doctor  never  performed  any 
cure,  practiced  his  magic  with  the  greatest  secrecy  and  only  for  his 
own  satisfaction  and  aggrandizement,  and  had  death  awaiting  him  at 
the  hands  of  his  own  people  if  he  was  unfortunate  enough  to  be 
discovered. 

The  Yuki  bear  doctor  carried  a  basket  containing  a  stone  which 
rumbled  in  imitation  of  the  bear's  growl  as  the  shaman  shook  his  head. 
Analogous  to  this  was  the  Pomo  bear  doctor's  set  of  water-filled  baskets 
which  swashed  like  a  real  bear's  viscera  as  he  ran. 

Both  carried  beads ;  but  the  Yuki  to  secure  appropriate  burial  if 
killed,  the  Pomo  as  an  armor  and  to  bribe  to  secrecy  him  who  might 
discover  him. 

The  mode  of  attack  and  the  dismemberment  of  the  victim  were 
quite  similar  in  both  tribes. 

COMPAEISON  V7ITH  MIWOK  BELIEFS 

The  Northern  Sierra  and  Plains  Miwok  called  bear  doctors  sulik 
miiko.  These  shamans  donned  bearskins,  but,  like  their  Yuki  col- 
leagues, had  bears  as  spirits  and  exhibited  their  powers  publicly.  Like 
the  Yokuts  bear  doctors,  they  were  thought  able  to  transform  them- 
selves bodily  into  bears. 

The  Miwok  relate  how  a  man  was  hunting  in  the  chaparral  south 
of  the  Stanislaus  when  a  bear  appeared  and  asked  what  he  was  doing. 
The  Indian  replied  that  he  was  seeking  an  arrow  lost  in  a  shot  at  a 
red-headed  woodpecker.  The  bear  led  him  into  its  cave,  kept  and 
taught  him  for  four  days,  and  sent  him  home  with  several  bears  as 
guides.  A  white  man,  married  to  an  Indian  woman,  instigated  the 
building  of  a  dance-house  to  give  the  bear  doctor  an  opportunity  to 
show  his  alleged  powers.  The  latter  accepted,  came,  walked  into  the 
fire,  pushed  aside  the  fiaming  brands  and  made  himself  a  bed  in  the 
coals,  arose  after  a  time  unharmed,  swam,  and  resumed  his  human 
form. 

The  Miwok  panther  doctor  was  similarly  met  and  instructed  by  a 


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panther.  He  wore  no  skin  and  possessed  no  power  of  transformation. 
He  did,  however,  acquire  the  panther's  ability  to  hunt,  it  was  thought. 
In  extreme  old  age  he  revealed  his  experiences  and  then  died  at  once. 

It  is  clear  that  the  Miwok  panther  doctor  is  merely  a  shaman  who 
has  that  animal  as  his  personal  guardian  spirit,  and  that  except  for 
his  power  of  transformation  and  the  character  of  his  guardian,  the 
Miwok  bear  doctor  does  not  essentially  differ  from  an  ordinary  shaman. 

It  seems  therefore  that  the  institution  of  the  bear  doctor  has 
attained  its  most  extreme  form  among  the  Pomo. 


SUMMARY 

1.  The  origin  of  bear  doctors  is  assigned  by  the  Pomo  to  the  myth- 
ical times  before  men  existed,  when  birds  and  mammals  possessed 
human  attributes.  The  first  bear  doctors  arose  from  a  relatively 
insignificant  incident,  which  led  one  of  the  smallest  of  the  birds  to 
develop  his  magic  powers. 

2.  These  powers  are  believed  to  be  now  acquired  through  the 
wearing  of  a  special  suit  which  endows  its  wearer  with  rapidity  of 
motion  and  great  endurance,  but  which  does  not  itself  actually  trans- 
port him  or  perform  any  act. 

3.  The  powers  are  received  through  elaborate  ritualistic  songs  and 
prayers  to  certain  supernatural  beings  under  whose  patronage  the 
doctor  operates.  These  songs  are  largely  sung  not  by  the  doctor  him- 
self but  by  an  assistant  while  the  doctor  performs  an  elaborate  dance 
with  the  various  parts  of  the  costume  preparatory  to  actually  putting 
them  on  for  the  first  time. 

4.  In  addition  to  this  constant  assistant,  the  bear  doctor  must  have 
a  female  aide,  who  makes  certain  parts  of  his  paraphernalia  and  cooks 
his  special  food.  He  is  subject  to  certain  restrictions  connected  with 
the  menstrual  periods  of  this  female  aide  and  his  wife,  and  they,  in 
turn,  are  subject  through  him  to  certain  other  restrictions. 

5.  Although  all-powerful  under  ordinary  circumstances,  a  bear 
doctor  apparently  loses  all  his  magic  power  as  soon  as  he  is  captured. 

6.  Bear  doctors  are  all  known  one  to  another,  but  form  no  organ- 
ized group  or  society.  They  are  also  usually  known  to  the  chief,  to 
whom  they  pay  tribute  and  give  guarantee  of  immunity  from  attack 
in  return  for  his  connivance  and  protection. 


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7.  In  exceptional  cases  the  bear  doctors  are  harmless,  but  in  the 
main  their  object  is  to  kill  and  plunder,  and  they  carry  special  weapons 
for  this  purpose.    They  do  not  practice  curative  medicine  in  any  form. 

8.  There  are  apparently  other  kinds  of  magicians  similar  to  bear 
doctors.  One  of  these,  the  ** panther  doctors,''  has  been  specifically 
mentioned. 

These  statements  reflect  the  opinions  of  the  Pomo.  Some  of  the 
practices  described  by  them  could  easily  have  had  a  basis  in  fact. 
Whether  and  to  what  extent  they  were  actually  performed  remains 
to  be  ascertained. 

Transmitted  November  SS,  1916. 


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INDEX* 


Titles  of  papers  in  this  volume  are  printed  in  bold-faced  type. 


Achcacanhtin,  259. 

Algonkin  language  groups,  73;  Plains 
Algonkin,  73;  Yurok  and  Wiyot, 
members  of,  73. 

Algonkin  verb,  principles  of  forma- 
tion, 92;  three  interpretations  of, 
93,  94,  95;  fundamental  problem  of, 
96,  97. 

Amador  County  Miwok  Indians,  139, 
140,  141. 

Animal  material  found  in  shellmound 
constituents,  5. 

Arapaho  Dialects,  71;  vocabulary, 
75.  86;  phonetic  correspondence 
with  other  divisions  of  Arapaho 
group,  80-82;  vowels,  83,  84;  con- 
sonants, 84;  vocalic  and  consonan- 
tal changes,  84;  word  composition: 
nouns  compounded  of  two  separate 
words,  85,  86,  nouns  and  verbs  with 
prefixes,  86,  with  suffixes,  87-90; 
word-forming  prefixes  to  verbs,  90- 
104:  confusion  between  suffix  and 
real  verb  stem,  90,  92;  compound 
verbs,  91;  problem  of  verb  analy- 
sis, 92-97;  prefixes,  used  as  words, 
or  made  into  verbs,  97,  as  adverbs 
or  similar  parts  of  speech,  99,  used 
denendently  apparently  verbal,  103, 
adverbial  (manner),  103,  (space), 
104.  erammatical.  109;  suffixes, 
verb-forminfir,  105,  intransitive,  105, 
state  of  being,  106,  causative,  107, 
miscellaneous,  107,  108,  grammat- 
ical, 109,  pronominal,  110,  111,  con- 
nective, 112;  dubious  applicability 
of  desismation  'Mnstrumentals,'* 
112;  list  of  transitive  stems,  113- 
115,  of  intransitive  stems,  115-116, 
modifications,  116;  nouns:  forma- 
tion of  plural,  117,  118;  gender, 
117;  case,  oblique,  118,  possessive, 
119,  120,  vocative,  120;  pronouns: 
demonstrative,  interrogative,  per- 
sonal, 120,  possessive,  121;  adverbs, 
endings,  121,  122;  numerals,  122, 
123;  texts,  123-130. 

Arapaho  Indians,  73;  language  group 
of  Algonkin  family,  73;  five  divi- 
sions: Arapaho  proper,  73;  Begging- 
People,  74;  Rock-People,  73,  74; 
South  People,  73,  74;  Gros  Ventre 
of  the  Prairie,  74. 


Arizona,  Kaibab  Paiute  Indians  in, 
245. 

Ash  found  in  shellmound  constituents, 
4,  5,  21. 

Ash-devils  (fire-eaters),  406,  413,  416, 
417;  dress,  407,  418;  ceremonial 
staff,  418. 

Atsina  (Gros  Ventre  of  the  Prairie), 
Arapaho  tribe,  74.  See  Gros  Ventre. 

Aztecs,  social  organization,  250,  mili- 
tary purpose  of,  269;  kinship 
groups,  252. 

Bandolier,  A.  P.,  method  of  work, 
250;  summary  of  his  view  of  Mex- 
ican social  organization,  273,  274, 
276;  list  of  his  sources,  276-282. 

Bandeller's  Oontribntion  to  the  Study 
of  Ancient  Mexican  Social  Organ- 
ization, 249. 

Bankalachi  tribe,  Kern  Biver  Sho- 
shoneans,  220. 

Banks  Islands,  terms  used  in,  for 
cross-cousins,  187. 

Barnacles  found  in  shellmound  con- 
stituents, 4. 

Barrett,  S.  A.,  397,  443;  cited  on  tot- 
emism  among  the  Miwok  Indians, 
139. 

Barrio,  253. 

Basawunena",  80. 

Bear  doctors,  Pomo,  443;  source  of 
material,  445;  stoiy  of  their  origin, 
445-451;  their  power,  452,  453;  of 
both  sexes,  452;  "head  rest,''  453 
footnote;  duties  of  assistant,  454; 
hiding  places,  455 ;  magic  suit,  455- 
457,  rites  over,  458-461,  illustration 
of,  opp.  443;  weapons,  457;  method 
of  attack,  457;  communication  be- 
tween, 461;  beliefs  compared  with 
Yuki,  462,  with  Miwok,  463;  sum- 
mary of  description,  464. 

Berdaches,  163. 

Big  Creek,  142,  161;  list  of  marriages 
at,  162;  lines  of  descent,  165,  166; 
transmittal  of  eponym,  166;  status 
of  inhabitants  in  terms  of  relation- 
ship, list,  175-178;  cross-cousin  mar- 
riages at,  189. 

Blackfoot  Indians,  73. 

Bradley,  C.  B.,  195. 

Bulbs,  food  for  shellmound  dwellers, 
6. 


♦  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  Vol.  12. 

467 


Digitized  by 


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Index 


Burden  (chorus)  singers,  399,  400,  434. 

California.  See  Central  California. 
See  also  Northwestern  California; 
South  Central  California;  Southern 
California. 

Oallfornia  Kinship  Systems,  339. 

Oalifornia  Place  Names  of  Indian 
Origin,  31;  literature  cited,  32,  33. 

California  Shellmounds,  Composition 
of,  1. 

Californian  Indian  cultures,  380. 

Calpixca,  272. 

Calpullec,  260. 

CalpulH,  253,  254,  255,  270. 

Captain,  399. 

Carquinez  shellmound,  2,  3;  molluscan 
species,  24. 

Castro  shellmound,  2,  3;  molluscan 
species,  6,  24,  28. 

Central  California,  kinship  character- 
istics, 379;  system  of  hereditary 
moieties,  382. 

Central  Sierra  (Tuolumne)  Miwok, 
139;  marriages,  161,  lists  of,  162-3, 
cross-cousin,  162,  169, 185, 189-193; 
levirate,  183,  185;  lines  of  descent, 
165;  transmittal  of  eponym,  166; 
moiety  animals,  193-194. 

Ceremonies  of  tlie  Pomo  Indians, 
397;  sources  of  information,  398; 
officials,  399;  dance-house,  401,  406; 
name  of  ceremony,  401;  analysis, 
401;  procedure  of  final  night,  401; 
principal  ceremonies,  401;  da'ma 
zaikilgaiagiba,  401,  403;  gu'ksd 
401,  425;  gu'ksu  xaikilgaiaglba, 
401;  thunder,  401;  xahlulgax 
xaikOgaiagiba  (ghost  or  devil), 
401;  invitations,  402;  welcome  to 
visitors,  403;  general  characteris- 
tics, 441.  .See  ^o  Ghost  ceremony; 
Gu'ksu  ceremony. 

Ceremonies,  moiety,  145. 

Cerithidea  calif omiea,  shellmound  con- 
stituent, 6,  8. 

Charcoal  as  shellmound  constituent, 
4,  5,  20. 

Cherokee  Indians,  terms  used  for 
cross-cousins,  187. 

Cheyenne  Indians,  73. 

Chiefs,  honorary,  in  clan  organization 
of  ancient  Mexico,  256;  war,  head, 
264;  election,  265,  266;  duality  of 
office,  267,  274. 

Chimariko  Indians,  kinship  terms, 
380. 

Choctaw  Indians,  terms  used  for 
cross-cousins,  187. 

Chorus  (burden)  singers,  399,  400, 
434. 

Chukchansi  Indians,  social  organiza- 
tion, 40. 

Chumash  Indians,  kinship  data,  380. 


Clam,  shellmound  constituent,  6,  7,  9, 
10. 

Clan  organization  of  ancient  Mexico, 
252,  255,  275;  governmental  func- 
tions, 256;  clan  council,  257;  execu- 
tive officers,  258;  war-leader,  259; 
civil  officials,  260.  See  Calpulli. 
See  also  Tribe. 

Codrington,  R.  H.,  cited  on  terms  for 
cross-cousins,  187. 

Co'kinke,  436. 

Communal  houses  in  ancient  Mexico, 
253. 

Community  ownership  of  land  in 
ancient  Mexico,  253,  254,  275. 

Composition  of  California  Sliell- 
monndSk  1. 

Confederacv,  Mexican,  273. 

Costanoan  Indians,  kinship  data,  379, 
380. 

Cox,  Mrs.  Lena,  informant,  174. 

Crab  shell  as  shellmound  constituent, 
4. 

Cree  Indians,  73. 

Creek  Indians,  terms  used  for  cross- 
cousins,  187. 

Crier.  408. 

Cross-cousin  marriage,  185,  187,  189- 
193,  384;  Miwok  classification  of 
cross-cousins,  187,  384;  examples  of, 
at  Big  Creek,  189;  antiquity,  190. 

Crow  Indians,  terms  used  for  cross- 
cousins,  187. 

Da'make,  438. 

Dances,  in  connection  with  ceremonies, 
list,  431,  433;  paraphernalia,  432; 
those  for  both  men  and  women, 
433-438,  for  men  onljr,  438,  for 
women  only,  439;  additional,  440. 
See  also  Ceremonies  of  the  Porno 
Indians. 

Devil  (ghost)  ceremony,  401,  403,  404r- 
423;  principal  features,  422. 

Dixon,  R.  B.,  cited  on  the  northern 
Maidu,  45. 

Dja'ne  ke,  438. 

Drummers,  399,  400,  414. 

Dfitu'kake.  436. 

jSlk  Grove,  cross-cousin  marriages  at, 
190. 

Ellis  Landing  shellmound,  2;  cata- 
logue numbers  of  samples,  3;  per 
cent  of  material  passing  through 
fine  screen,  6 ;  different  sizes  of  shell 
fragments,  7;  possibly  a  ceremonial 
center,  11;  volume  and  weight,  12, 
13;  population,  12;  age,  13;  moUos- 
can  species  in,  24,  27;  occurrence 
of  Phytia  myosotis,  26. 

Emeryville  shellmound,  2:  catalogue 
numbers  of  samples,  3;  fish  remains 
in,  5;  volume  and  weight,  13;  age, 
13;  molluscan  species  in,  24,  27. 


468 


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Index 


Eureka  sheUmound,  2,  3;  eatalogne 
numbers  of  samples,  3;  moUusean 
species  in,  6. 

Exogamy,  among  the  Miwok  Indians, 

140,  141-2;  two  moieties:  land, 
water,  140,  141,  142;  percentages, 
141, 142;  animals  belonging  to,  143; 
influence  of  moiety  on  marriages, 

141,  161,  187;  informants,  141,  143. 
Fire  dance,  420,  421. 

Fire-eaters  (ash-devils),  406;  dress, 
407. 

Fire-eating,  416,  418. 

Fire-handling,  416. 

Fire-tenders,  399,  408,  416,  419,  429. 

Fish  remains  as  shellmound  constit- 
uent, 4,  5,  17. 

Fiske,  J.,  cited  on  Mexican  social  or- 
ganization, 250. 

Food  of  shellmound  dwellers,  5,  6,  14. 

Fox  dialect,  verb  elements,  92,  95,  96. 

Fuller,  William,  informant,  283. 

Gallinomero,  spear  dance  (gu'ksu  cere- 
mony), 427. 

Gashowu  Indians,  social  organization, 
140. 

Ghost  (devil)  ceremony,  401,  403,  404- 
423;  origin,  406;  invocation,  408; 
uninitiated  not  allowed,  410;  music 
413;  songs,  417;  flre-eating,  418; 
fire-dance,  420,  421;  purification 
rite,  421;  summary  of  principal 
features,  422. 

Ghost-dancers  (devils), 406-423;  dress, 
407, 410;  diagrams  of  courses  taken, 
409,  411,  415. 

Giflford,  E.  W.,  1,  139,  219,  283;  cited 
on  social  organization  in  South 
Central  California,  219,  382,  on 
Miwok  relationship  terms,  224,  232, 
242. 

Gi'lak,  Pomo  dance,  433. 

Greenbrae  shellmound,  2;  catalogue 
numbers  of  samples,  3;  samples 
taken  from  one  vertical  place,  4; 
molluscan  species  in,  24,  29;  occur- 
rence of  Phyiia  myosoiiSf  26. 

Grooved  stones  in  shellmounds,  5. 

Gros  Ventre  of  the  Prairie,  Araphao 
tribe,  74;  dialect,  phonetic  corre- 
spondences with  other  Arapaho  divi- 
sions, 80-82;  modifications  of  form, 
131 ;  effect  of  composition  on  mean- 
ing, 131,  132;  verbs,  prefixes,  suf- 
fixes, 122;  pronominal  endings  and 
connectives:  intransitive,  133;  in- 
transitive imperative,  133,  transi- 
tive, 134,  transitive  imperative, 
134,  negative  conjugation,  134; 
nouns:  plural,  135,  animateness  or 
inanimateness,  136,  locative,  136, 
possessive  pronominal  prefixes,  136; 
pronouns,  136;  numerals,  137;  text, 
137. 


460 


Gualala  Indians,  devil  dance,  405. 

Gu'ksu,  healing  deity,  424;  personal 
appearance,  424;  impersonators  of, 
in  ceremony,  424-5. 

Gu'ksu  ceremony,  423-431;  dress  of 
dancers,  424,  425;  duration  of,  425- 
429;  scarifying  ceremony,  425; 
Stephen  Powers  cited  on,  427. 

Gu'ksu-dancers,  medicine-men  (doc- 
tors), 406,  422,  429,  430. 

Gu'ksu  ke.    See  Gu'ksu  ceremony. 

Gunther  Island  shellmound,  2,  3 ;  cata- 
logue numbers  of  samples,  3;  mol- 
luscan species  in,  6,  28. 

Gunu'laxe,  437. 

Half  Moon  Bay  shellmound,  2;  cata- 
logue numbers  of  samples,  3;  mol- 
luscan species  in,  6,  25,  28. 

Ha»anaxawune'na»,  73. 

Head-singers,  399,  400,  408. 

He'lehela  ke,  438. 

Hesi  ceremony,  404. 

Hetch-Hetchy  Valley,  scene  of  moiety 
myth,  143. 

Hi'we  ke,  438. 

HinanaVina",  73. 

Ho'hoke,  435. 

Holophrasis,  possible  rehabilitation 
of,  91,  92. 

Hopi  Indians,  personal  names,  147. 

Horn -shell,  shellmound  constituent, 
6,  8. 

Houeh,  R.  B.,  cited  on  shellmounds, 
12  footnote. 

Humboldt  Bay  shellmound,  2;  mol- 
luscan species  in,  6,  25. 

Hupa  Indians,  kinship  terms,  380. 

I'dam  ke,  439. 

Incorporation,  rehabilitation  of,  91. 

Inflections  of  the  Voice,  On  Plotting 
the,  195. 

Iwi'ke,  436. 

Jackson,  Amador  County,  141. 

Jamestown,  142,  163,  180,  190,  283. 

Jesup,  Mrs.  M.  K.,  acknowledgment, 
72. 

Jones,  W.,  cited  on  Fox  dialect,  92, 
on  Algonkin  verb  formation,  92,  94, 
95. 

Kaibab  Paiute,  kinship  system  com- 
pared with  Kawaiisu  and  Uintah 
Ute,  244,  245,  248;  list  of  kinship 
terms,  245,  246;  use  of  Ute  terms 
for  spouse,  247. 

Kali'matoto  ke,  437. 

Kara'iyake,  438. 

Kawaiisu,  and  Tflbatulabal  Kinship 
Terms,  219. 

Kawaiisu  kinship  system,  compared 
with  Tubatulabal,  232;  with  other 
Califomian  systems,  243,  with  Kai- 
bab Paiute  and  Uintah  Ute,  244- 
248;  with  Northern  Paiute,  366; 
with     Shoshonean     systems,     366; 


Digitized  by 


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Index 


member  of  Central  California  kin- 
ship group,  378. 

Kawaiisu  kinship  terms,  228;  rela- 
tionship, list  of,  229-232;  table  of 
analysis  of  terms,  233;  parent  re- 
lationship, 234;  children,  234;  step- 
relations,  234;  nepotic  relationship, 
234;  uncle  and  aunt,  235;  marriage, 
235,  236;  brothers,  sisters,  first 
cousins,  237;  grandparents,  grand- 
children, 237;  brothers-in-law,  sis- 
ters-in-law, 238;  diminutive  suf- 
fixes, 238;  identical  reciprocal 
terms,  240;  lexical  similarities  be- 
tween and  Tiibatulabal  terms,  241; 
categorical  comparisons,  241-243. 

Kawaiisu  tribe,  location,  219;  lack 
of  moiety  organization,  219;  lin- 
guistic branch  of  Shoshonean  fam- 
ily, 220. 

Kern  River  Indians,  224. 

Kinship,  in  the  Aztec  tribe,  252,  253; 
in  the  Chimariko  and  Chumash, 
380;  in  the  Costanoan,  379,  380; 
Salinan,  380. 

Kinship  systems,  California,  339; 
three-step  relationship,  376;  three 
classes,  378,  379,  380;  of  the  Tuba- 
tulabal  and  Kawaiisu  groups,  219. 
See  also  Luiseno ;  Kawaiisu ;  Miwok ; 
Mohave;  Northern  Paiute;  Pomo; 
Shoshonean;  Tiibatulabal;  Yokuts; 
Yuki;  Yurok;  Washo;  Win  tun. 

Kinship  and  social  institutions,  382; 
Yurok  social  system,  383;  taboos, 
383;  marriage,  384;  influence  of 
culture  types,  385;  theoretical  con- 
siderations, 385-396. 

Knights  Ferry,  163. 

Kroeber,  A.  L.,  31,  71,  339;  acknowl- 
edgment, 140;  cited  on  shellmound 
population,  12;  on  Yokuts  names, 
146;  on  Mohave  names,  147;  on 
Yokuts  relationship  terms,  173;  on 
Kern  Biver  Shoshoneans,  220,  245; 
on  systems  of  relationship,  170, 
224,  232,  242,  244;  on  bear  shamans, 
443,  444. 

Ku'ksu.     See  Gu'ksii. 

Lands,  community  of  ownership  in 
ancient  Mexico,  253,  254,  275. 

Lehu'yeke,  436. 

Levirate  among  California  Indians, 
183,  185,  384. 

Lo'le  ke,  439,  440. 

Lowie,  R.  H.,  cited  on  systems  of  re- 
lationship, 188;  on  male  descend- 
ants in  Siouan  tribes,  188. 

Luiseno  kinship  system,  348;  terms 
compared  with  those  of  other 
tribes,  243,  244;  classes,  348-350; 
general  features,  351;  member  of 
Southern  California  kinship  group, 
378. 


470 


Macoma  nasuta,  shellmound  constitu- 
ent, 6,  7,  9. 

Madera  County,  cross-cousin  mar- 
riage customs,  190. 

Maidu  tribe,  bear  ceremony,  145; 
Hesi  ceremony,  404. 

Mariposa  Miwok  Indians,  139. 

Mason,  J.  A.,  cited  on  ethnology  of 
Salinan  Indians,  172;  on  totems 
among  Salinan  Indians,  193. 

Masters  of  ceremonies,  399,  400,  410, 
413. 

Mateo' ke,  436. 

Ma'take,  439. 

Melanesian  types  of  marriage,  par- 
allel between,  and  North  American 
types,  187. 

Merriam,  C.  H.,  cited  with  regard  to 
Miwok  moieties,  139. 

Messiah  ceremonies,  397;  cult,  397, 
440. 

Mexican  Confederacy,  273. 

Mexican,  Ancient^  Social  Organiza- 
tlon,  Bandelier's  Oontribution  to 
tlie  Study  of,  249. 

Mexico,  ancient,  clan  organization, 
252,  274;  community  ownership  of 
land,  253;  position  of  king,  265, 266, 
267,  274,  276;  military  purpose  of 
government  organization,  269;  ex- 
action of  tribute,  272;  commerce, 
273;  totemism,  273;  Bandelier's 
views  on  social  organization^  273- 
276.  See  Aztecs.  See  also  Clan 
organization;  Phratry;  Tribe. 

Mexico  City,  252. 

Michelson,  T.,  cited  on  languages  of 
Algonkin  family,  73. 

Minnitaree  Indians,  terms  used  for 
cross-cousins,  187. 

Miwok  Indians,  of  the  Sierra  Nevada 
of  California,  three  dialectic  groups; 
Central  Sierra  (Tuolumne),  North- 
ern Sierra  (Amador),  Southern 
Sierra  (Mariposa),  139;  locality, 
139;  which  see. 

Miwok  kinship  system,  232,  238. 

Miwok  Moieties,  139;  exogamy,  141- 
142;  two  divisions,  land  and  water 
moieties,  140,  142;  percentages  of 
each,  142;  connected  through  per- 
sonal names.  142;  animals  of  land, 
and  of  water,  moieties,  143;  myth- 
ical origin,  143;  relation  of  moiety 
to  supernatural  powers  of  shaman, 
145;  totemism,  142-145;  ceremon- 
ies: funeral,  mourning,  girls'  pub- 
erty, the  ahana,  145;  paints,  146; 
personal  names,  146-189;  naming 
of  foreigners,  148;  nicknames,  159; 
objects  implied  in  personal  names, 
160;  marriages,  160-165;  table  of, 
168;  genealogies,  165-169;  table  of, 
opp.  170;  descent,  165,  166-168;  in- 


Digitized  by 


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Index 


fluence  of  moieties  on,  165,  166; 
terms  of  relationshiip,  170-181; 
social  customs  affecting,  181-189; 
types  of  marriage,  182;  tabus,  182; 
polygymy,  182,  184;  levirate,  183; 
absence  of  polyandry,  183;  cross- 
cousin  marriage,  185,  189-193;  list 
of  cross-cousins,  187;  conclusions, 
193—194. 

Mlwok  Myths,  283. 

Moiety,  hereditary,  382;  ceremonies: 
funeral,  mourning,  girls'  puberty, 
the  ahana,  145.  See  also  Miwok 
moieties. 

Moiety  organization  among  Mono 
and  Yokuts  Indians,  193;  complex- 
ity of,  among  Tachi  Yokuts,  194; 
lacking  in  Tiibatulabal  and  Ka- 
waiisu  groups,  219. 

Mohave  Indians,  personal  names,  147; 
kinship  system,  340;  classes,  340- 
345;  reciprocity,  345;  relation  to 
clan  system,  345;  general  features, 
347-348;  member  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia kinship  group,  378;  terms 
compared  with  those  of  other  tribes, 
243. 

Molluscan  species  in  shellmounds: 
clam,  6,  7;  horn-shell,  6,  8;  mussel, 
6,  7;  oyster,  6,  7;  Phytia  myoaotis, 
8,  26;  representative  of  species  in 
vicinity,  7;  variation  in  abundance, 
10,  24,  25,  27. 

Mono  Indians,  dual  social  organiza- 
tion, 140,  193;  North  Fork  Sho- 
shonean,  classification  of  cousins 
as  brothers  and  sisters,  237. 

Montezuma,  palace,  271. 

Morgan,  L.  H.,  cited  on  organization 
of  Aztec  empire,  250,  276. 

Mussel,  shellmound  constituent,  6,  7. 

Mytilus  califomianus,  shellmound  con- 
stituent, 6,  7. 
eduliSf  shellmound  constituent,  6, 
7,9. 

Na"  wa^nahana»,  81. 

Nelson,  N.  C,  cited  on  shellmounds, 
2,  5,  9,  11,  12. 

Net  sinkers,  5. 

Nomasu,  narrator  of  moiety  myth, 
143. 

North  Fork,  Madera  County,  Indians, 
237. 

Northern  Sierra  Miwok,  139;   cross- 
cousin  marriages,  190. 

Northwest  California  kinship  char- 
acteristics, ^79. 

Ojibwa  Indians,  73. 

Omaha  Indians,  similarity  to  the 
Miwok  of  certain  terms  of  relation- 
ship, 188. 

On  Plotting  the  Inflections  of  the 
Voice,  195. 


Ostrea  luridOf  shellmound  constituent, 
6,7. 

virginiana,  8. 

Oyster,  shellmound  constituent,  6,  7; 
Atlantic  coast  variety  introduced, 
8. 

Paiute,  Northern,  kinship  system, 
358;  classes,  359-361;  marriage, 
361-362;  relations  to  Washo  kin- 
ship system,  364;  member  of  Cen- 
tral California  kinship  group,  378. 

Panther  doctors,  Pomo,  462;  Miwok, 
463. 

Parcialidades,  253. 

Pawnee  Indians,  terms  used  for  cross- 
cousins,  187. 

Pentecost  Island,  New  Hebrides,  in- 
stance of  exogamic  moieties,  140. 

Phratry,  in  ancient  Mexican  social 
organization,  261,  269,  274;  descrip- 
tion, 270;  captains-general  (com- 
manders), 270;  dress,  261;  tecpan, 
271;  schoolhouse,  272;  house  of 
darts,  272. 

Phytia  myosotiSf  shellmound  constit- 
uent, 8,  9,  26. 

Plains  Algonkin  tribes,  73. 

Point  Loma  shellmound,  2,  3;  cata- 
logue numbers  of  samples,  3;  per 
cent  of  material  passing  through 
fine  screen,  6. 

Polyandry,  absence  of,  among  Cen- 
tral Sierra  Miwok,  183. 

Polygyny  among  Miwok  Indians,  182, 
184,  188,  191. 

Polysynthesis,  possible  rehabilitation 
of,  91,  92. 

Pomo  Bear  Doctors,  443. 

Pomo  Indians,  Ceremonies  of  the,  397. 

Pomo  Indians,  kinship  system,  370; 
classes,  370-371;  general  features 
and  relations,  371-372;  comparison 
of  terms,  243;  social  organization, 
399;  ceremonial  organization,  399- 
401. 

Powers,  S.,  cited  on  the  ghost  dance, 
404,  405;  on  the  spear  dance,  427. 

Presidio  of  San  Francisco,  shellmound, 
molluscan  species,  7. 

Radin,  P.,  cited  on  the  clan  organiza- 
tion of  Winnebago  Indians,  148. 

Raga  Island,  New  Hebrides,  instance 
of  exogamic  moieties,  140. 

Rivers,  W.  H.  R.,  cited  on  exogamic 
moieties,  140;  on  terminology  used 
for  cross-cousins,  187;  on  kinship 
and  social  organization,  386. 

Rock  found  in  shellmound  constitu- 
ents, 4,  5,  22. 

Rousselot  apparatus,  used  in  securing 
records  of  ** tones,''  196. 

Salinan  Indians,  moiety  organization, 
172,  193,  194;  kinship  data,  380. 


471 


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Index 


San  Diego  Bay,  Point  Loma  skell- 
mound  on,  2. 

San  Francisco  Bay,  sbellmonnds  in 
vicinity  of,  2,  map  foil.  p.  29;  cata- 
logue numbers  of  samples,  3;  mol- 
luscan  species,  7,  24;  distribution 
of  Phytia  myosotis  in,  9,  26. 

San  Joaquin  Valley,  Indians,  194, 
219. 

San  Mateo  shellmound,  2;  catalogue 
numbers  of  samples,  3;  per  cent  of 
material  passing  through  fine  screen, 
6;  molluscan  species  in,  24,  28;  oc- 
currence of  Phytia  myosotis,  26. 

San  Mateo  Point  shellmound,  2;  cata- 
logue numbers  of  samples,  3;  per 
centage  of  rock,  6 ;  molluscan  species 
in,  24. 

San  Rafael  shellmound,  2;  catalogue 
numbers  of  samples,  3;  samples 
taken  from  one  vertical  plane,  4; 
per  cent  of  material  passing  through 
fine  screen,  6;  molluscan  species  in, 
24,  29;  occurrence  of  Phytia  myos- 
otis, 26. 

Sapir,  E.,  cited  on  Yurok  and  Wiyot 
lansruages,  73;  on  kinship  terms  of 
Kaibab  Paiute  and  Uintah  Ute, 
245,  248;  acknowledgment,  220. 

Sausalito  shellmound,  2;  catalogue 
numbers  of  samples,  3;  samples 
taken  from  one  vertical  plane,  4; 
rock  in,  6;  molluscan  species  in, 
24,  27;  occurrence  of  Phytia  myos- 
otis, 26. 

Sawe'tke,  438. 

Scarifying  ceremony,  425;  attire,  421. 

Sea-urchin  as  shellmound  constituent, 
4. 

Shell.  See  Molluscan  species  in  shell- 
mounds. 

ShellmonndB,  Oallfomia>  Ck>mpo>ltioii 
of,  1;  purpose  and  method  of  in- 
vestigation, 1-4;  constituents,  4-7; 
methods  of  segregating,  6;  environ- 
ment, 7-12;  physiographic  contin- 
uity of,  7-9;  variations  in  mollus- 
can species,  9-11;  age,  12-14.  See 
also  names  of  shellmounds:  Car- 
quinez;  Castro;  Ellis  Landing; 
Emeryville;  Eureka;  Greenbrae; 
Gunther  Island;  Half  Moon  Bay; 
Humboldt  Bay;  Point  Loma;  San 
Diego  Bay;  San  Francisco;  San 
Mateo;  San  Mateo  Point;  San 
Rafael;  Sausalito;  West  Berkeley. 

Shoshonean  family,  kinship  systems, 
366-368;  linguistic  branches,  220. 

Sierra  Nevada,  Indians  in,  219. 

Snake-Woman,  267,  268. 

Soulsbyville,  283. 

South  Central  California,  dual  social 
organization,  140. 


Southern  California  kinship  charac- 
teristics, 378. 

Southern  Sierra  Miwok,  eross-couain 
marriage,  190. 

Taboos  (tabus),  speech,  182, 183,  190; 
parent-in-law,  383;  name  of  the 
dead,  383. 

Tachi  Indians,  social  organization, 
140. 

Tachi  Yokuts  Indians,  complexity  of 
moiety  organization,  194. 

Tecpan,  216. 

Tecuhtli,  256. 

Tegula  funebralis,  shellmound  constit- 
uent, 10. 

Tehachapi  Mountains,  Indians  in, 
219. 

Tejon  Indians,  229  note  11. 

Tenochtitlan.    See  Mexico  City. 

Texts  illustrating  Arapaho  dialect, 
123-130,  illustrating  Gros  Ventre, 
137. 

Thompson,  Mrs.  Sophie,  informant, 
143,  174. 

Thunder  ceremony,  401. 

Tlacatecuhtli,  265. 

Tlalmilli,  254. 

Tlatoani,  260,  262. 

Tones,  of  the  Siamese  language,  196, 
197;  chart  illustrating,  opp.  212; 
of  the  Chinese  language,  198  foot- 
note 4,  204;  chart  illustrating  tones 
of  Pekingese,  opp.  124. 

Totemism,  among  Miwok  Indians, 
142-145;  in  ancient  Mexican  social 
organization,  273. 

Tribe,  in  ancient  Mexico,  261,  274; 
council,  262-264;  head  war  chief, 
264;  Snake- Woman,  267,  268. 

Tribute,  in  ancient  Mexican  social 
organization,  272,  273. 

Tttbatulabal  and  KawaiUn  Kinship 
Terms,  219. 

Tubatulabal  tribe,  location,  219;  lin- 
guistic branch  of  Shoshonean  fam- 
ily, 220;  kinship  system,  compared 
with  Northern  Paiute,  366;  with 
Shoshonean  systems,  366;  kinship 
terms,  220;  relationship,  221-223; 
local  usages  near  Kemville,  224; 
some  uncertain  usages,  224;  table 
of  analysis  of  terms,  225;  frag- 
mentary genealogy  table,  226,  227; 
additional  terms,  226,  228.  See  also 
Kawaiisu  tribe;  Kawaiisu  kinship 
system;  Kawaiisu  kinship  terms. 

Tulare  Lake,  194. 

Tuolumne  Miwok  Indians,  139. 

Turban  shell,  shellmound  constituent, 
10. 

Uhle,  M.,  cited  on  Emeryville  shell- 
mound, 13. 


472 


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Index 


Uintah  Ute,  220;  kinship  system  com- 
pared to  Eawaiisu,  245,  248;  kin- 
ship terms,  246,  247. 

Utah,  Kaibab  and  Uintah  Ute  In- 
dians in,  244. 

Ute-Chemehuevi,  dialect,  220;  spoken 
by  Kaibab  Paiute  and  Kawaiisu, 
245. 

Vegetable  food  of  shellmound  dwel- 
lers, 14. 

Verb  analysis,  in  Algonkin  and  Fox 
languages,  problem  of,  92-97. 

Vertebrate  remains  in  shellmound 
constituents,  4,  5. 

Voice,  On  Plotting  the  Inflections  of 
tlie,  195. 

Voth,  H.  R.,  cited  on  Hopi  proper 
names,  147. 

Washo  kinship  system,  362;  classes, 
362;  reciprocity,  363;  relations  to 
that  of  the  Northern  Paiute,  363; 
to  other  systems,  364;  terms  com- 
pared with  those  of  other  tribes, 
243. 

Waterman,  T.  T.,  249. 

West  Berkeley  shellmound,  2;  cata- 
logue numbers  of  samples,  3;  mol- 
luscan  species  in,  24,  28;  occurrence 
of  Phytia  myosoiiSy  26. 

Williams,  Thomas,  informant,  283. 

Winnebago  Indians,  naming  of  for- 
eigners, 148. 


Win  tun  Indians,  kinship  system,  368; 
classes,  368-369;  general  features, 
369;  Southern  Wintun  kinship  type, 
369;  influence  of  culture  type,  382; 
Hesi  ceremony,  404. 

Wiyot  Indians,  kinship  affiliation, 
380;  language  Algonkin,  73. 

Ya'ya  ke,  436. 

Yo'  ke,  436. 

Yo'mtabate,  406,  422. 

Yokuts  Indians,  dual  social  organiza- 
tion, 140,  193;  agreement  with 
Miwok  use  of  personal  names,  146; 
kinship  system,  352;  comparison 
with  the  Miwok,  356-358;  classes, 
352-354;  reciprocity,  354;  member 
of  the  Central  California  kinship 
group,  378;  terms  compared  with 
those  of  other  tribes,  243. 

Yuki  Indians,  kinship  system,  372; 
classes,  372-373;  general  features 
and  relations,  373;  member  of  Cen- 
tral California  kinship  group,  378; 
terms  compared  with  those  of  other 
tribes,  243. 

Yurok  Indians,  language  Algonkin, 
73;  kinship  system,  374;  classes, 
374-375;  general  features,  375- 
376;  kinship  group,  378,  380. 

Xahlu'igak  ke,  439. 

Xoke,  439. 


ERRATA 


Page   34,  line  14.    For  appelation  read  appellation. 

Page    77,  line  11.    For  lialects  read  dialects. 

Page  181,  footnote.  For  p.  81  read  p.  189. 

Page  182,  line  13.    For  polygnqus  read  polygynous. 

Page  188,  line  12  from  bottom.    For  polygnous  read  polygynous. 

Page  276,  second  paragraph.    Omit  second  line. 

Page  346,  line  7.      Mead:  different  clans;  yet  it  is  only  to  these  cousins  that 

brother-sister  names 
Page  346.  line  7.      For  partrilinear  read  patrilinear. 
Page  370,  last  line.    For  XI  read  IX. 
Page  374,  after  line  19.    Insert:  Ne-lai-yewitf  sister,  female  cousin,  or  more  distant 

female  relative  of  a  woman. 


473 


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'2*  Bapa  Testa,  by  Pmiy  Sarla  CkMldard.   Pp.  89-368.   Iffaroli,  1904  _^   SjSO 
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Pp.  1-27;  jOatea  l-li,    April,  1904  . .^j I *-.      .40 

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4.  Baaket  Deslgna  of  tlie  Indiana  of  Horthwealem  CaUfonila»  by  A*  1^ 

Kro#ber»   Pp.  100-164;  platjM  lB-21.   JFanaary,  190^ . „  ,. .     M 

8.  The  Yoknta tiangnage  of  Sonth  Central  Califottilai  by^  L,  BLro^ber. 

ft^  166.377.    January.  1907 -. Ui 

Index,  n?.  879-392. 


VbL  8.         The  Horph^ogy  of  the  Hnpa  Iiangnag^  by  Pliny  Bade  Ooddard. 

844  pp.    June,  1905 u^,.^ :. ^.^ : ju    8J0 

Y^  4.     1.  The  Eadieat  Biatorlcal  Belatfona  between  Itadeo  and  J)apan»  £eom 

origlma  doeomenta  preaenred  in  Spain  and  Japan,  by  SeDa  IMtalL 

pp,  1-47.  April,  1906 :. , . : ,.  .,     M 

2.  Contilbntion  to  the  Phyaioal  Anthropplogy  of^Califomia»  baaed  on  eol- 

lections  in  the  Department  of  Anthropology  of  the  XTntYecait):  9t 

California^  and  in  the  17.  ft.  Kational  MnaeQm»  by  Alee  Rrdltek*. 

Pp.  49-64,  with  5  tablea;  plates  l-io,  and  map.  Jone^  lOoe^^..; .78 

8.  The  Shoshonean  Dialects  of  California^  by  A.X.  Krotftier.,  Pp.  66-268L 

Pebruary,  1907 -.... .. 1. : L ^    1A9 

,4.  Indian  lA^tiis  from  Sonth  Central  California^  by  A.  L.  Sroeber.   Pp. 

167-260.    BCay,  1907  .^ - ^ : , .: J78 

6.  tb»  .Washo  Langaage4>f  JBavt  Central  OaUfdmift  andltevada»  by  A.Xi. 

BIroeber.    Pp.  251-318.    September,  »07  . I » 

8.  The  Bejigion  of  the  Indians  of  California,  by  A.  IkXro^ber.  Pp.  99- 

866.    September,  1907  „.!. ^ ^.^ ^^ ^,„     M 

Inde&c  pp.  ^7-874.  - 

▼oL  8.     1.  The  Phonology  of  the  Hnpa  Langoage;  Pait  I.  The  XndlTidnal  8oand% 

by  PUny  Barle  Qoddaxd.   Pp.  1-^,  platea  1-8.    Siardb,  1907  ......4^     J8 

2.  Nstaho  S^hi,  Prayers  andSongii,  with  Tsxta  and  Tramdationfl^  /by 

Washington  Hatthews,  edited  by  Pliny  Bade  Coddard.   P]k21;b3. 

September,  1907  ^ ........ *.-.^*^ ,^^^ .78 

8.  Biato  Texts,  by  Pliny  Earle  Ooddard.   Pp.  85-238»  l^ate  9.   Deoember, 

1909 -^ ^.^^ .« . :-, i-™.  ud 

~A  The  Material  Culture  of  the  Klamath  X«ke  and  Hodoe  Indians  of 
Northeastttn'Qalifomia  and  Sonthem  Oregon,  by'&  A«  Barrett. 

Pp.  239-292,  platea  10-25.    Jtme»  1910 ^ ^ — .„: — : ^     JW 

6.  The  Chimariko  Ihdians  and  Language  by  iMland  B.  Disott.    Pp.  298-  - 

880,    Angnst^  1910  .; . 1. -. . 1.09 

lodez,  pp.  881-884. 
Vol.  8.     %  The  Bthno-Oeography  of  the  Pomo  and  Keighboring  Indiani^  by  8am> 

xM  Alfked  Barrett.   Pp.  1-882,  maps  1-2.   P^mtey,  1908  ,    ,   ,..      8Ji 
^  8.  The^Oeography  and  Dialects  of  the  uwok  Indians^  by  Samnel  AIIMI 

Barrett.   Pp.  838-868,  map  St.- 
8.  (Ka  the  Evidence  of  tbe  Ocoiqpation  of  Certain  Beglens  by  t|io  Mhrolt 
Indians,  by  A.  Ift  BIroeber.  Pp.869-S80;   Koa.2.and8  tooMOorsr, 

Pebmary,  1908 ; , ..^.^.^^ .^...^-.p,.....!* ......^     M 

Index,  pp.  881-400. 


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89^e3^  figtuiDS.    JPaii6,1907 - ^.. ^ . ^    1^ 

Keocttia  Man  Ux  ik»  Aortfenms  OtaTcUi  ai  OftUf onOa,  by  WiUUtm 

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^     *    231  text  flgnres*    Decemljer,  1908  ^ ......,„,u. : ^^.^-l-    J.73 

4f;  Bli^lmoimda  of  tli6  Bah  Xirigxeiaco  Bay  Befl^on»  by  K.-47.  Nelaon* 
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S6(^.    Aprtt,  1010  , :: ^ ^ :.,^..^^^:..^      .75 

'      V    .     ^  lnde3t,pp„427-448. 

Vol*  8.     1.  A  Mi^n  Becotd  of  tke^OaUfehiialndlani^  from  a  Stanoicrlpt  in  tOie. 

. .  Bancroft  Library,  by  A.  L.  Kroeber.    Pp.  1^27.    Hay/ 1008  ^ ^     •^B 

5.  The  Btbnography  of  tbe  CalMifila  Indiana,  by  A»  I«*  SiN)^b^,   Pp.  20« 

.       68,  plates  1-16.    Joly,  1908  - — , ^..^.....^..^ ^ L ,t3 

,  3.  Tbe  B&l:ion  of  tbe  Lnisefia  ead  Die^efio  Indians  of  80Titbezti  Calip 
fomia,  by  Constazice  Qoddard  Dnboia.  Pp.  69-1^  plates  18-19. 
JRme,  1903  ....i,..^^..: — ,^-...„ ..^ .- .,..........»*.„ tOk 

4.  Tbe  0rilture  of  the  Imlsefio  Indians,  by  Pbillp  Stedman  Sparkxaaa, 

Pp.  187-234,  pUte  20,    August,  1908  ....«._ . ,60 

'8,  Kotes  on  Shoaboneen  Blaleots  of  iSoittdiem  California,  by  A.  L.  Srbe- 

.  bet.     ?p,  285-269.  .  Septwnber.  1009_^ ._ .,.. :. r    M 

6.  Tbe  BeliiloiiB  Pnw^ea  of  tbe,  X^egnefio  faftaBs^  by  T.  t!.  Watwmaa. 

Pp,  271^358,  plat^  21:28.   Uarcb«  1910^^:....^ ^ ,^..™....^-.      .30 

nide^  pp.  359-369«. 

Vtf.  f.     X.  Tana  Te^s,  by  Edward^  flapir,  together  ^tb  Yaba  ICrtbs  eoUeeted  t>y 

Botan4  B.  IMzon.    Pp.  1*^85.-  I'ebniaiyv  I9ia.- „.. .^.,.    2M 

2.  nie  (Huunasb  and  Oostanoan  Language  1^  A.  L.  Srpeber^  Pp,  287« 

-    271.    Koyexnbec,  1910: — u, ,.*..- — ...: -. «.....-_-    .35^ 

.    3.  Tbe  Laagpages  of  the  Coast  of  CoUf  oxhiiL  if  ortb  of  San  Ihranclseo,  ^ 

A.  Ii.  B3roeber.    I*p.  273-436,  and  map.   April,  1911  ^ — , *.....-«.   U50 

;  Ihdea^^^43T-4S9.     -  _,       ^ 

VOL  10.    1.  Pbonetic  C<ni8tikieate  of  the  Kative  Xiangnagea  of  Calif oniift»  by  A. 

la.  Kroeber.   Pp.  1-12.    34ay,  1911 , « „^.^«\,...........«.:. — ^     .10 

-  '  8»  tto  Piionetic  Slementt  of  the  Northern  Paln^  Xangoage,  by  T.  T. 

Watennan. :  Pp.,  18-44,  plates  1-5.    KbTember,  1911  .^^.^^ — ,^ — ,«.    .  .45 
3»  Phonetie  Blementa  of  the  Molmve  I^mguaM  by  A.  ti^  Kfo^ber.    Pp. 

45-96;  sftatea  $-20.   Koveanber,  lOil ^..^ . . —     .36 

i.  The  Bthnolegy  of  the  dalinan  Ix^dians,  by  X  Alden  Hason.   Tp^  97* 

240,  platea  21-37.    Becember/ 1912 . ^.;^.^ -, — .,, — :...-.^    1.76. 

6.  Papago  Verb  Stems,  by  Jnan  Dolores.   Tp*  JS41-26S,   August,  1913  »*..     SB 
6.  IfoteS  on  the  Chilnla  Ibdians  <xf  ITorthwestem  C^iHfornia,  by  Pliny 

Earl  GoddartU    pp.  265-288,  plated  88-41..  AprIl,-19U^_™™. 30 

7;  Ohllula  Text8,.by  Pliny  Barle  Ooddard.    Pp.  289^879.    Koyember,  , 

191^^^^.^.--^ ^.^:,..,. *.- ^^ i * , ..^     IM 

,  Index^  pp.  381-385.    ; 

V<A«  11.    1.  Elatte&ts  of  the  Ksto  ttanguage,  by  Pliny  Earle.Qoddard.    Pp.  1-176, 

plates  1-46.    Ootobta;  1912  ^:: , «^ -^.— ^-    2.00 

2.  .Phmietlc  Blementa  of  the  Piegueiio  Language,  by  A.  Ii.  Kroeber  and    • 

.         .    X  P.r Harrington.    Pp.  17r483,    Aprtl,  1914 ':. — _. S.^^'    .10 

3.  Sarsl  Tfltcts,  by  Pliny  Barle  GFoddard.    Pp.  189-277.    February^  1915.^    1.00 
.                ^Mi6ii9XLf  ^eauistlat^can,  and  £(<Aaa,  by  A.  It.  Kroeber,    Pp.  279-290. 

.         ,  Pebruary,  1915 ^,...,,.^. — — r... ,.;.,..^..^-. — 4. ...^ — ^     .10. 

6.  XMehotouous  Social  Orgsnisation  is  South  Cental  Oalifomia,  by  £d-     " 

ward  Winsloir  Gifford.   Pp.  2dl-296.   Pebmary,  1916  ^.^ ,,..-....,     .06 

3.  Xhe  Denization  of  tbe  Day-Signs  ih  the  Aztec  Jfanuscripts,  by  T.  T, 

Waterman,    pp.  297-898.    March,  1916 . 1.00 

7.  The  aiutsun  Dialect  of  postaneatt  Based  on  the  Vocabulary  of  De  la 

Chiesta,  by  S.  Aldeh  Tflasmi.    Pp<  899r472.    Marfih,  1910 ^~., —      .70 

•     Index  in  prepaxation.' 

vol  12.    1.  CompositiOtt.of  dalifoml%  SheUmounds;,  by  Sdward  Winslow  Giffoxd. 

:  '       Pp.  l-i29.    Pebruaiy,  1916 . ^,., j^.-. — ; — . — _..-.«-t —      .80 

%  CaUfOmisi  Place  Kam^a  of  Indian  Origin,  by  A.  L.  Kroeber.    Pp. 
,      -*        .  81-69.     June,  1910  .J^....;.......^ ..... U-- .* .40 

8.  Arapaho  Diale($tSr  by  A.  L.  Kroeber.  .,Pp.  71-138 (Ift  yresB) 

4.  Miwok  Moieties,  by  Bdward  WlniOow  QiflOrd.    Pp.  189-194.    June^ 

1916; ._..... .^........ .. . 1 ^..^^-^     .56 


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May,  1917^ „ -..^.„ -^ : ^^__.....™.i-. .55 

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figoreau    July,  1917 ^ .^ . « —  ..45 

11.  Pomo  Boar  Doctors,  by  &  A.  fiarrott.  P*p.  443-^5,  i^ifte  7.    July,  1917  .25 
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Jaly,  1917  . ^..^ ^^..^ — ......,^:^..^ — .:.- — .  .8a 

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