66

The Abbé de Galliné ran across one such case.1 "On the eighth of August," he says, we came to an island where a savage from the Seneca tribe has made a sort of country house whither he retires in summer to consume with his family some Indian corn and pumpkins that he raises there every year. He is so well hidden that unless one knew the place, one would have difficulty in finding it." This seems to be a real case of domestic economy. In spite of such occasional exceptions the clan system seems to have been pretty well developed among the Iroquois and Hurons. "Indian habits and modes of life," says Mr. Morgan, "divided the people socially into two great classes, male and female. The male sought the conversation and society of the male, and they went forth together for amusement, or for the severer duties of life. In the same manner the female sought the companionship of her own sex. Each group was in reality an organized body of individuals working in harmony.

As an organized body of workers, the women of each gens formed a distinct agricultural corporation. The fact has been pointed out that family groups, even in the domestic economy, are likely to remain together as long as their food-supply permits; also, that the aggregation of families is the very essence of the village economy. Among the Iroquois, however, the positive need of coöperation in production created out of each of these merely friendly aggregations a single united body, bound together by the strong ties of economic interest. Thus the women of an ordinary Iroquois village were organized in from three to eight clans, coincident with the feminine portions of the gentes. Similar conditions prevailed among the Hurons. "Each gens," says Major Powell, "has a right to the services of all its women in the cultivation of the soil."3 Mary Jemison, the white woman brought up by the Iroquois, gives a detailed account of their methods. "In order to expedite their business," she says, "and at the same time enjoy each others' company, they all work to

1 Margry, I, 123. Cf. Jes. Rel., LII, 165.

Morgan, "League," 323.

3 Powell, Eth. Rep., 1879-1880, "Wyandot Gov't,” p. 65.

gether in one field, or at whatever job they may have on hand. In the spring they choose an old active squaw to be their driver and overseer when at labor for the ensuing year. She accepts

the honor, and they consider themselves bound to obey her. "When the time for planting arrives and the soil is prepared, the squaws are assembled in the morning, and conducted into a field, where each plants one row. They then go into the next field and plant one across, and so on till they have gone through the tribe (gens). If any remains to be planted, they again commence where they did at first in the same field, and so keep on till the whole is finished."1 A similar account of the method of field-work practiced by the Iroquois women is given by Lafitau.2 According to his statements, the weeding and cultivation of each plot during the summer was attended to by the individual possessors. The harvest operations, however, were carried on in the same way as the planting. "There is a time appointed for it (the harvest) when they all work together in common."

66

But the activities of the women's clan, as such, were not strictly limited to agricultural operations. In getting fire-wood the women employed coöperative methods. Among the Iroquois, according to Mary Jemison, "each squaw cuts her own wood, but it is all brought to the house under the direction of the overseer.' Among the Hurons," says Sagard, "all the women aid one another to make this provision of wood, which is done in the months of March and April, and with this order, in a little while each household is furnished with what is necessary." In the same way, other occupations which permitted of it were carried on by the women's clans, rather than by individuals working separately. "By this rule," concludes Mary Jemison's account," they perform their labor of every kind, and every jealousy of one having done more or less than another is effectually avoided."

Turning now to the men's part in production, we find that they, too, tended to work according to the coöperative plan. It is true

1Life of Mary Jemison, pp. 70–71.

2 Lafitau, II, 75 sq. Cf. Jes. Rel., XXVI, 225.

3 Sagard, 249; cf. Beauchamp, N. Y. St. Mus. Bul., No. 18, p. 12.

that forest hunting, pure and simple, usually results in the domestic, or at most, the village economy, rather than in the clan. Since the chief sources of food-supply roam the woods singly, or in small groups, society must be modelled after the same pattern; hence the Algonquins of the Northern Forest often hunted alone or in small bands of three or four hunters with their families. The clan organization appeared only occasionally, as the result of the necessity of defense. The Iroquois men were also forest hunters: nevertheless, there were reasons why they tended to organize in clans. In the first place, the peaceful agricultural settlements localized by the women, needed constant protection from marauders; this was the primary reason for the existence of the men's clan, an organization further strengthened by never-ending offensive campaigns: in the second place, game was plentiful in the Iroquois country, and the region itself was a park-like one; hence coöperative hunting by large parties of men paid better than could have been the case among the Algonquins in the denser and colder forest of the North. As a consequence, the military clan was a necessity. The hunting clan, on the other hand, was a possibility, rendered practicable by the nature of the environment and by the fact that the Iroquois men were already organized for purposes of warfare.

Primarily, the men's clan was coincident with the male portion of the gens. The Iroquois gens was a body of kindred organized into two clans mutually dependent upon each other for certain services. Similarly, among the Hurons," each gens," according to Major Powell," had the right to the service of all the male members in avenging wrongs,"1 just as it had the right to the service of its female members in the cultivation of the fields. As a general thing, however, all the warriors' clans in each village acted as one body as far as such coöperation was advantageous. The Jesuit Relation mentions one case where a band of women were assailed as they were going out to their fields. At their first cries, all the warriors in the village rushed to their rescue.2

At

1Eth. Rep., 1879-1880, "Wyandot Gov't," p. 65. Cf. Morgan, Anc. Soc.," p. 71; Jes. Rel., XXXIX, 203.

2 Jes. Rel., XXIX, 249.

another time, when a Huron village was attacked, the women fled, while the men-about one hundred warriors-united their forces and stayed behind to fight. In a word, to be a good warrior, and to aid in the preservation of his gens and his village was the chief object in the life of the Iroquois male.1 To this end he was trained from his early childhood; ". infantile bands, armed with hatchets and guns which they can hardly carry . . . spread fear and horror everywhere," says the Jesuit Relation.2 All able-bodied males between twenty and fifty years were regarded as warriors.3 To shirk the duty meant disgrace, while to be a good warrior was of all things most honorable. To keep up the organization long expeditions were undertaken, lasting sometimes for months and even years. At any time the warriors might be called upon to fall into line and fight, either as a whole or merely in volunteer bands of all sizes, bound upon errands of aggression or vengeance. Coöperation within these bands was of the closest sort. Each warrior or group of warriors had some special duty to fulfill under the direction of the leader. In an expedition, some would hunt and supply meat for the troop, others would act as scouts, while still others would paddle the canoes and care for the rolls of bark out of which temporary shelters were made. All would meet at night in an appointed place. There, some would set up the tents, and others would cook the food. On approaching the enemy's country, the whole troop marched single file, covering their track with leaves. Though most Indian fighting was carried on in the woods, each warrior sheltering himself as best he could behind a tree or rock, nevertheless the Iroquois

5

1 Jes. Rel., X, 225; XLI, 107; "Life of Mary Jemison,” p. 187; Schoolcraft, "Notes on the Iroquois," pp. 150 sq.; Lafitau, II, 162 sq.

2 Jes. Rel., XLIII, 263–265.

* La Hontan, "Voyages," II, 175—“ A l'age de 20 ans, ils commencent à endosser le harnois, et le quittent à leur cinquantième année. S'ils portent les armes plutôt on plus tard ce n'est que pour marauder, mais ils ne sont point compris dans le nombre des guerriers."

Cf. Schoolcraft, Notes on Iroquois," p. 83.

• Chadwick, "People of the Longhouse," p. 61; Jes. Rel., XIV, 39—“ A sufficient garrison was left in the village."

5 Schoolcraft, "Hist. Ind. Tribes," IV, 200; Lafitau, II, 162 sq.

often planned and followed out regular concerted evolutions in which each warrior had his fixed place. In bringing or sustaining a siege, the Iroquois soldiers worked together with the same foresight and careful planning.1 We may imagine that the following quotation describes the siege of a Huron town by the Iroquois. "The siege of places where they find resistance," says Lafitau, "is again a proof that they have rules of an art of war, where skill and industry go hand in hand with force and the most intrepid bravery. If the besiegers make the most incredible efforts to surprise the vigilance of the besieged and to conquer all the obstacles that oppose them, the latter omit nothing which could serve them in making a good defense; feints, false attacks, vigorous and unforeseen sorties, ambushes, surprises,-everything is employed by both sides in war. But there are few sieges of long duration. The palisades being only of wood, and the cabins of bark, in vain do the besieged stock their ramparts with stones, beams and water, in vain do they repulse their assailants with a hail of arrows; the latter bring ruin to them with flaming arrows, a small number of which suffices, if the wind is favorable, to reduce the whole village to ashes. They make their approach fearlessly with coverings made of boards which they carry before them, and thanks to which they advance to the foot of the palisade which they break down with their axes or with fire. Or, they may make a counter-palisade, which serves them as a shield and as ladders, giving them the means of scaling the enemies' entrenchment and making themselves masters of it."

The clan spirit, brought about by this kind of coöperative activity, entirely overshadowed all othern motives. Family affection was as nothing before it. Thus Loskiel tells us:2 "When the children and other kindred go to meet the father of a family after a long absence, he passes them with a haughty air, never returns their salutation, nor asks how his children do; for circumstances relating to his own family and kinsmen seem indifferent to him in time of war.' Mr. Morgan3 furnishes similar evidence. He says that the tie between father and children was

1

1 Jes. Rel., XL, 103; Lafitau, II, 252-253.