Houses and House-Life of the American Aborigines | Page 3

literary adviser, and to him I
am indebted for many valuable suggestions, and for constant
encouragement in my labors. The dedication of this volume to his
memory is but a partial expression of my admiration of his beautiful
character, and of my appreciation of his friendship.
LEWIS H. MORGAN
ROCHESTER, N. Y., June, 1881

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I
.
SOCIAL AND GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION.
The Gens: organized upon kin; rights, privileges, and obligations of its
members--The Phratry: its character and functions--The Tribe: its
composition and attributes--The Confederacy of Tribes: its nature,
character and functions.

CHAPTER II
.
THE LAW OF HOSPITALITY AND ITS GENERAL PRACTICE.
Indian tribes in three dissimilar conditions--Savage tribes-- Partially
horticultural tribes--Village Indians--Usages and customs affecting
their house life--The law of hospitality practiced by the Iroquois; by the
Algonkin tribes of lower Virginia; by the Delawares and Munsees; by
the tribes of the Missouri, of the Valley of the Columbia; by the Dakota
tribes of the Mississippi, by the Algonkin tribes of Wisconsin; by the
Cherokees, Choctaws, and Creeks; by the Village Indians of New
Mexico, of Mexico, of Central America; by the tribes of Venezuela; by
the Peruvians--Universality of the usage--It implies communism in
living in large households.

CHAPTER III
.
COMMUNISM IN LIVING.
A law of their condition--Large households among Indian tribes--
Communism in living in the household--Long Houses of the Iroquois--
Several families in a house--Communism in household--Long Houses
of Virginia Indians--Clustered cabins of the Creeks--Communism in

the cluster--Hunting bands on the plains--The capture a common
stock-- Fishing bands on the Columbia--The capture a common
stock--Large households in tribes of the Colombia--Communism in the
household-- Mandan houses--Contained several families--Houses of the
Sauks the same--Village Indians of New Mexico--Mayas of
Yucatan--Their present communism in living--Large households of
Indians of Cuba, of Venezuela, of Carthagena, of Peru.

CHAPTER IV
.
USAGES AND CUSTOMS WITH RESPECT TO LAND AND
FOOD.
Tribal domain owned by the tribe in common--Possessory right in
individuals and families to such land as they cultivated--Government
compensation for Indian lands paid to tribe; for improvements to
individuals--Apartments of a house and possessory rights to lands went
to gentile heirs--Tenure of land among sedentary Village Indians at
Taos, Jemex, and Zunyi--Among Aztecs or Ancient Mexicans, as
presented by Mr. Bandelier; in Peru--The usage of having but one
prepared meal each day, a dinner--Rule among Northern tribes--A
breakfast as well as a dinner claimed for the Mexicans--Separation at
meals, the men eating first, and by themselves, and the women and
children afterwards.

CHAPTER V
.
HOUSES OF INDIAN TRIBES NORTH OF NEW MEXICO.
Houses of Indian tribes must be considered as parts of a common
system of construction--A common principle runs through all its forms;
that of adaptation to communism in living within the household--It
explains this architecture--Communal houses of tribes in savagery; in
California; in the valley of the Yukon; in the valley of the
Columbia--Communal house of tribes in the lower status of barbarism--
Ojibwa lodge--Dakota skin tent--Long houses of Virginia Indians; of

Nyach tribe on Long Island; of Seneca-Iroquois; of
Onondaga-Iroquois-- Dirt Lodge of Mandans and
Minnetarees--Thatched houses of Maricopas and Mohaves of the
Colorado; of the Pimas of the Gila--What a comparison shows.

CHAPTER VI
.
HOUSES OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF NEW MEXICO.
Improved character of houses--The defensive principle incorporated in
their plan of the Houses--Their joint tenement character--Two or more
stories high--Improved apparel, pottery, and fabrics--Pueblo of Santo
Domingo; of adobe bricks--Built in terraced town--Ground story
closed--Terraces reached by ladders--Rooms entered through
trap-doors in ceilings--Pueblo of Zunyi--Ceiling--Water-jars and hand
mill--Moki pueblo--Room in same--Ceiling like that at Zunyi-- Pueblo
of Taos--Estufas for holding councils--Size of adobes--Of
doorways--Window-openings and trap-doorways--Present
governmental organization--Room in pueblo--Fire-places and chimneys
of modern introduction--Present ownership and inheritance of
property--Village Indians have declined since their discovery--Sun
worship--The Montezuma religion--Seclusion from religious motives.

CHAPTER VII
.
HOUSES IN RUINS OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF THE SAN
JUAN RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
Pueblos in stone--The best structures in New Mexico--Ruins in the
valley of the Chaco--Exploration of Lieut. J. H. Simpson in 1849; of
William H. Jackson in 1877--Map of valley--Ground plans--Pueblo
Pintado and Weje-gi--Constructed of tabular pieces of sandstone--
Estufas and their uses--Pueblos Una Vida and Hungo
Pavie--Restoration of Hungo Pavie--Pueblo of Chettro-Kettle--Room in
same--Form of ceiling--Pueblo Bonito--Room in same--Restoration of
Pueblo--Pueblo del Arroyo--Pueblo Penyasca Blanca--Seven large

pueblos and two smaller ones--Pueblo Alto without the valley on table
land on the north side--Probably the "Seven Cities of Cibola" of
Coronado's Expedition--Reasons for supposition--The pueblos
constructed gradually--Remarkable appearance of the valley when
inhabited.

CHAPTER VIII
.
HOUSES IN RUINS OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF THE SAN
JUAN RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES--(Continued.)
Ruins of stone pueblo on Animas River--Ground plan--Each room
faced with stone, showing natural faces--Constructed like those in
Chaco-- Adobe mortar--Its composition and efficiency--Lime unknown