Among the Zuñi, as among the tribes of Tusayan, the form of government which prevails throughout the North American tribes is well illustrated. Kinship is the tie by which the members of the tribe are bound together as a common body of people. Each tribe is divided into a series of clans, and a clan is a group of people that reckon kinship through the family line. The children therefore belong to the clan of the
TOYALONE, FROM THE TOP OF A HOUSE IN ZUÑÍ.
TO ZUÑI.
TYPICAL TERRACED COMMUNAL PUEBLO.
mother. Marriage is always without the clan; the husband and father must belong to a different clan from the mother and children, and the children belong to their mother and are governed by her brothers, or by her mother's brothers if they be still living. The husband is but the guest of the wife and the clan, and has no other authority in the family than that acquired by personal character. If he is an able and wise man his advice may be taken, but each clan is very jealous of its rights, and the members do not submit to dictation from the guest husband. The woman is1 not the ruler of the clan; the ruler is the patriarch or elder man, or if he is not a man of ability a younger and more able man is chosen, who by legal fiction is recognized as the elder. Over the officers of the clan are the officers of the tribe,--a chief with assistant chiefs. The organization by tribal governors varies from tribe to tribe. Sometimes the chieftaincy is hereditary in a particular clan, but more often the chieftaincy is elective. There is very little personal property among the tribal people, such property being confined to clothing, ornaments, and a few inconsiderable articles. The ownership of the great bulk of the property inheres in the clan, such as their