Ancient society

by Lewis Henry Morgan

With myself a female, a part of these relationships are reversed. My brother’s son and daughter are my nephew and niece (Ha-soh′-neh, and Ka-soh′-neh), each of them calling me aunt (Ah-ga′-huc). It will be noticed that the terms for nephew and niece used by the males are different from those used by the females. The children of these nephews and nieces are my grandchildren. In the female branch, my sister’s son and daughter are my son and daughter, each of them calling me mother (Noh-yeh′), and their children are my grandchildren, each of them calling me grandmother (Oc′-sote).

The wives of these sons and nephews are my daughters-in-law (Ka′-sä), and the husbands of these daughters and nieces are my sons-in-law (Oc-na′-hose, each term singular), and they apply to me the proper correlative.

Second Collateral Line. In the male branch of this line, on the father’s side, and irrespective of the sex of Ego, my father’s brother is my father, and calls me his son or daughter as I am a male or a female. Third indicative feature. All the brothers of a father are placed in the relation of fathers. His son and daughter are my brother and sister, elder or younger, and I apply to them the same terms I use to designate own brothers and sisters. Fourth indicative feature. It places the children of brothers in the relationship of brothers and sisters. The children of these brothers, myself a male, are my sons and daughters, and their children are my grandchildren; whilst the children of these sisters are my nephews and nieces, and the children of the latter are my grandchildren. But with myself a female the children of these brothers are my nephews and nieces, the children of these sisters are my sons and daughters, and their children, alike are my grandchildren. It is thus seen that the classification in the first collateral line is carried into the second, as it is into the third and more remote as far as consanguinei can be traced.

My father’s sister is my aunt, and calls me her nephew if I am a male. Fifth indicative feature. The relationship of aunt is restricted to the sisters of my father, and to the sisters of such other persons as stand to me in the relation of a father, to the exclusion of the sisters of my mother. My father’s sister’s children are my cousins (Ah-gare′-seh, singular), each of them calling me cousin. With myself a male, the children of my male cousins are my sons and daughters, and of my female cousins are my nephews and nieces; but with myself a female these last relationships are reversed. All the children of the latter are my grandchildren.

On the mother’s side, myself a male, my mother’s brother is my uncle, and calls me his nephew. Sixth indicative feature. The relationship of uncle is restricted to the brothers of my mother, own and collateral, to the exclusion of my father’s brothers. His children are my cousins, the children of my male cousins are my sons and daughters, of my female cousins are my nephews and nieces; but with myself a female these last relationships are reversed, the children of all alike are my grandchildren.

In the female branch of the same line my mother’s sister is my mother. Seventh indicative feature. All of several sisters, own and collateral, are placed in the relation of a mother to the children of each other. My mother’s sister’s children are my brothers and sisters, elder or younger. Eighth indicative feature. It establishes the relationship of brother and sister among the children of sisters. The children of these brothers are my sons and daughters, of these sisters are my nephews and nieces; and the children of the latter are my grandchildren. With myself a female the same relationships are reversed as in previous cases.

Each of the wives of these several brothers, and of these several male cousins is my sister-in-law (Ah-ge-ah′-ne-ah), each of them calling me brother-in-law (Ha-yă′-o). The precise meaning of the former term is not known. Each of the husbands of these several sisters and female cousins is my brother-in-law, and they all apply to me the proper correlative. Traces of the punaluan custom remain here and there in the marriage relationship of the American aborigines, namely, between Ego and the wives of several brothers and the husbands of several sisters. In Mandan my brother’s wife is my wife, and in Pawnee and Arickaree the same. In Crow my husband’s brother’s wife is “my comrade” (Bot-ze′-no-pä-che), in Creek my “present occupant” (Chu-hu′-cho-wä), and in Munsee “my friend” (Nain-jose′). In Winnebago and Achaotinne she is “my sister.” My wife’s sister’s husband, in some tribes is “my brother,” in others my “brother-in-law,” and in Creek “my little separater” (Un-kä-pu′-che), whatever that may mean.

Third Collateral Line. As the relationships in the several branches of this line are the same as in the corresponding branches of the second, with the exception of one additional ancestor, it will be sufficient to present one branch out of the four. My father’s father’s brother is my grandfather, and calls me his grandson. This is a ninth indicative feature, and the last of the number. It places these brothers in the relation of grandfathers, and thus prevents collateral ascendants from passing beyond this relationship. The principle which merges the collateral lines in the lineal line works upward as well as downward. The son of this grandfather is my father; his children are my brothers and sisters; the children of these brothers are my sons and daughters, of these sisters are my nephews and nieces; and their children are my grandchildren. With myself a female the same relationships are reserved as in previous cases. Moreover, the correlative term is applied in every instance.

Fourth Collateral Line. It will be sufficient, for the same reason, to give but a single branch of this line. My grandfather’s father’s brother is my grandfather; his son is also my grandfather; the son of the latter is my father; his son and daughter are my brother and sister, elder or younger; and their children and grandchildren follow in the same relationships to Ego as in other cases. In the fifth collateral line the classification is the same in its several branches as in the corresponding branches of the second, with the exception of additional ancestors.

It follows, from the nature of the system, that a knowledge of the numerical degrees of consanguinity is essential to a proper classification of kindred. But to a native Indian accustomed to its daily use the apparent maze of relationships presents no difficulty.