for several relationships, have translated it by the simplest. Thus in Feejeean, the word "Tamanngu,"-literally" Tama my," the suffix "nngu" meaning "my"—is applied not only to a father, but to a father's brother; hence, as the father is the more important, we say that they call a father's brother a father. In most cases the origins of the terms for relationships are undeterminable; I have discussed some in my work on the "Origin of Civilisation; " other terms, as given by Mr. Morgan, have so far withstood the wear and tear of daily use as to be still traceable. Thus, in Polish, the word for my great-uncle is, literally, "my cold grandfather:" the word for "wife" among the Crees is "part of myself;" that for husband among the Choctas is "he who leads me; a daughter-in-law among the Delawares is called Nah-hum, literally, "my cook;" for which ungracious expression, however, they make amends by their word for husband or wife, Wee-chaa-oke, which is, literally, "my aid through life." It might, à priori, be supposed that the nomenclature of relationships would be greatly affected by the question of male or female descent. This, however, does not appear to be the case. Under a system of female descent, combined with exogamy, as a man must marry out of his tribe, and as his children belong to their mother's tribe, it follows that a man's children do not belong to his tribe. On the other hand, a woman's children, whomsoever she may marry, belong to her tribe. Hence, while neither a man's nor his brother's children belong to the same tribe as himself, his sister's children must do so, and are, in consequence, orten regarded as his heirs. In fact, for all practical purposes, among many of the Redskin and other tribes, a man's sister's sons are regarded as his children. Elsewhere I have shown that this remarkable custom prevails, not only among the Redskins, but also in various other parts of the world. Here, however, I will confine myself to the Redskins, amongst whom it may almost be laid down as a general proposition, that the mother's brother exercises a more than paternal authority over his sister's children. He has a recognised right to any property they may acquire, if he chooses to exercise it; he can give orders which a true father would not venture to issue; he arranges the marriages of his nieces, and is entitled to share in the price paid for them. The same custom prevails even among the semi-civilised races; for instance, among the Choctas the uncle, not the father, sends a boy to school. "Origin of Civilisation, and Primitive Condition of Man." Longmans, 1870. Pp. 106, 120. Yet among these very tribes, a man's sister's son is called his nephew, while his brother's son is called his son. Thus, although a man's mother's brother is called an uncle, he has, in reality, more power and responsibility than the true father. The true father is classed with the father's brother, and the mother's sister; but the mother's brother stands by himself, and, although he is called an uncle, he exercises the real parental power, and on him rests the parental responsibility. In fact, while the names of relationships follow the marriage customs, the ideas are guided by the tribal organisation. Hence we see that not only do the ideas of the several relationships, among the lower races of men, differ from ours; but the idea of relationship, as a whole, is, so to say, embryonic, and subsidiary to that of the tribe. In fact, the idea of relationship, like that of marriage, was founded, not on duty, but on power. Only with the gradual elevation of the species has the latter been subordinated to the former. I will now beg your attention to Table I (opposite p. 27), and begin with the Hawaiian, or Sandwich Isle system. The Hawaiian language is rich in terms for relationships. A grandparent is Kupuna, a parent is Makua, a child Kaikee, a sonin-law, or daughter-in-law, is Hunona, a grand-child Moopuna, brothers in the plural are Hoahanau; a brother-in-law, or sisterin-law, is addressed as Kaikoeke: there are special words for brother and sister according to age and sex; thus, a boy speaking of an elder brother, and a girl speaking of an elder sister, use the term Kai-kuaana; a boy speaking of a younger brother, or a girl of a younger sister, uses the word Kaikaina; a boy speaking of a sister calls her Kaikuwahine, while a sister calls a brother, whether older or younger, Kai-kunana. They also recognise some relationships for which we have no special terms; thus, an adopted son is Hunai; the parents of a son-in-law, or daughter-in-law, are Puliena; a man addresses his brother-inlaw, and a woman her sister-in law, as Punaloa; lastly, the word Kolai has no corresponding term in English. It will be observed that these relationships are conceived in a manner entirely unlike ours; we make no difference between an elder brother or a younger brother, nor does the term used depend on the sex of the speaker. The contrast between the two systems is, however, much more striking when we come to consider the deficiencies of the Hawaiian system, as indicated in the nomenclature. Thus, there is no word for cousin, none for uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, son or daughter; nay, while there is a word indicating parent, there is said to be none for father or even for mother. The principal features of this remarkable system, so elaborate, yet so rude, are indicated in the second Column of Table I. I have already mentioned that there is no word for father or mother; for the latter they say "parent female," for the former, "parent male;" but the term "parent male" is not confined to the true parent, but is applied equally to the father's brother, and mother's brother; while the term "parent female" denotes also father's sister and mother's sister. Thus, uncleships and auntships are ignored, and a child may have several fathers and several mothers. In the succeeding generation, as a man calls his brother's and sister's children his children, so do they regard him as their father: again, as a mother's brother and a father's brother are termed parents male, a mother's sister and father's sister, parents female; their sons are regarded as brothers, and their daughters as sisters. Again, a man calls the children of these constructive brothers and sisters, equally with those of true brothers and sisters, his children; and their children, again, his grandchildren. The term "parent male", then, denotes not only a man's father, but also his father's brother while the term "parent female" in the same way denotes not only a man's mother, but also his mother's sister and father's sister. There are, in fact, six classes of parents; three on the male side, and three on the female. The term, my elder brother, stands also for my Mother's brother's son, Mother's sister's son, Father's brother's son, Father's sister's son, while their children, again, are all my grandchildren. Here there is a succession of generations, but no family. We find here no true fathers and mothers, uncles or aunts, nephews or nieces, but only Grandparents, Parents, Brothers and sisters, Grandchildren. This nomenclature is actually in use, and, so far from having become obsolete, being in Feejee combined with inheritance through females, and the custom of immediate inheritance, gives a nephew the right to take his mother's brother's property: a right which is frequently exercised, and never questioned, although apparently moderated by custom. It will very likely be said that though the word "son", for instance, is used to include many who are really not sons, it by no means follows that a man should regard himself as equally related to all his so-called "sons." And this is true, but not in the manner which might have been à priori expected. For, as many among the lower races of men have the system of inheritance through females, it follows that they consider their sister's children to be in reality more nearly related to them, not only than their brother's children, but even than their very own children. Hence we see that these terms, son, father, mother, etc., which to us imply relationship, have not strictly, in all cases, this significance, but rather imply the relative position in the tribe. Additional evidence of this is afforded by the restrictions on marriage which follow the tribe, and not the terms. Thus the customs of a tribe may, and constantly do, forbid marriage with one set of constructive sisters or brothers, but not with another. The system shewn in column 2 is not apparently confined to the Sandwich Islands, but occurs also in other islands of the Pacific. Thus, the Kingsmill system, as shown in column 3, is essentially similar, though they have made one step in advance, having devised words for father and mother. Still, however, the same term is applied to father's brother, and a mother's brother as to a father; and to a father's sister and a mother's sister as to a mother: consequently, first cousins are still called brothers and sisters, and their children and grandchildren are children and grandchildren. The habits of the Southsea Islanders, the entire absence of privacy in their houses, their objection to sociable meals, and other points in their mode of life, have probably favoured the survival of this very rude system, which is by no means in accordance with their present social and family relations, but indicates a time when these were less developed than at present. We know as yet no other part of the world where the nomenclature of relationships is so savage. Yet a near approach is made by the system of the Two-Mountain Iroquois, which is, perhaps, the lowest yet observed in America. In this tribe a brother's children are still regarded as sons, and a woman calls her sister's children her sons; a man, however, does not regard his sister's children as his children, but distinguishes them by a special term; they become his nephews. This distinction between relationships, which we regard as identical, has its basis in, and is in accordance with American marriage customs. Unfortunately, I have no means of ascertaining whether these rules occur among the tribe in question, but they are so general among the Indians of North America that in all probability it is the case. One of these customs is that if a * man marries a girl who has younger sisters, he thereby acquires a right to those younger sisters as they successively arrive at maturity. This right is widely recognised, and frequently acted upon. The first wife makes no objection, for the work which fell heavily on her, is divided with another, and it is easy to see that, when polygamy prevails, it would be uncomplimentary to refuse a wife who legally belonged to you. Hence a woman regards her sister's sons as her sons; they may be, in fact, the sons of her husband: any other hypothesis is uncomplimentary to the sister. Throughout the North American races, therefore, we shall find that a woman calls her sister's children her children; in no case does she term them nephews or nieces, though in some few tribes she distinguishes them from her own children by calling them stepchildren. Another very general rule in America, as elsewhere, is that no one may marry within his own clan or family. It has been shown in Maclennan's Primitive Marriage, and in the Origin of Civilisation, that this rule is general in North America, and widely prevalent elsewhere. The result is, that as a woman and her brother belong to one family, her husband must be chosen from another. Hence while a man's father's brother and sister belong to his clan, and his mother's sister, being one of his father's wives, is a member of the family -one of the fire-circle, if I may so say-the mother's brother is necessarily neither a member of the fire-circle, nor even of the clan. Hence while a father's sister and mother's sister are called mother, and a father's brother father, throughout the Redskin tribes the marriage rules exclude the mother's brother, who is accordingly distinguished by a special term, and in fact is recognised as uncle. Thus we can understand how it is that of the six classes of parents mentioned above, the mother's brother is the first to be distinguished from the rest by a special name. It will however be seen by the table that among the TwoMountain Iroquois his son is called brother, his grandson son, and so on. This shows that he also was once called "father" as in Polynesia, for in no other manner can such a system of nomenclature be accounted for. All the other relationships, as given in the table, are, it will be seen, identical with those recognised in the Hawaiian and Kingsmill system. Thus only in two respects, and two, moreover, which can be satisfactorily explained by their marriage regulations, do the Two-Mountain Iroquois differ from the Pacific system. It is true that these two points of difference involve some others not shown in the table. Thus while a woman's father's sister's daughter's son is her son, a man's father's sister's daughter's son is his nephew, *See "Arch. Amer.", vol. ii, p. 109. |