Wyandot Government: A Short Study of Tribal Society

Wyandot Government: A Short
Study of Tribal Society

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Title: Wyandot Government: A Short Study of Tribal Society Bureau
of American Ethnology
Author: John Wesley Powell
Release Date: October 25, 2005 [EBook #16947]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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WYANDOT GOVERNMENT ***

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.
J. W. POWELL, DIRECTOR.

WYANDOT GOVERNMENT:
A SHORT STUDY OF TRIBAL SOCIETY.

BY

J. W. POWELL.

In the social organization of the Wyandots four groups are
recognized--the family, the gens, the phratry, and the tribe.
THE FAMILY.
The family, as the term is here used, is nearly synonymous with the
household. It is composed of the persons who occupy one lodge, or, in
their permanent wigwams, one section of a communal dwelling. These
permanent dwellings are constructed in an oblong form, of poles
interwoven with bark. The fire is placed in line along the center, and is
usually built for two families, one occupying the place on each side of
the fire.
The head of the family is a woman.

THE GENS.
The gens is an organized body of consanguineal kindred in the female
line. "The woman carries the gens," is the formulated statement by
which a Wyandot expresses the idea that descent is in the female line.
Each gens has the name of some animal, the ancient of such animal
being its tutelar god. Up to the time that the tribe left Ohio, eleven
gentes were recognized, as follows:
Deer, Bear, Highland Turtle (striped), Highland Turtle (black), Mud
Turtle, Smooth Large Turtle, Hawk, Beaver, Wolf, Sea Snake, and
Porcupine.
In speaking of an individual he is said to be a wolf, a bear, or a deer, as
the case may be, meaning thereby that he belongs to that gens; but in
speaking of the body of people comprising a gens, they are said to be
relatives of the wolf, the bear, or the deer, as the case may be.
There is a body of names belonging to each gens, so that each person's
name indicates the gens to which he belongs. These names are derived
from the characteristics, habits, attitudes, or mythologic stories
connected with, the tutelar god.
The following schedule presents the name of a man and a woman in
each gens, as illustrating this statement:
Wun-dát English.
Man of Deer gens De-wa-tí-re Lean Deer. Woman of Deer gens
A-ya-jin-ta Spotted Fawn. Man of Bear gens A-tu-e-t[)e]s Long Claws.
Woman of Bear gens Tsá-ma[n]-da-ka-é Grunting for her Young. Man
of Striped Turtle Ta-há-so[n]-ta-ra-ta-se Going Around the gens Lake.
Woman of Striped Tso-we-yuñ-kyu Gone from the Water. Turtle gens
Man of Mud Turtle gens Sha-yän-tsu-wat' Hard Skull. Woman of Mud
Ya[n]-däc-u-räs Finding Sand Beach. Turtle gens Man of Smooth
Large Hu[n]'-du-cu-tá Throwing Sand. Turtle gens Woman of Smooth
Tsu-ca-e[n] Slow Walker. Large Turtle gens Man of Wolf gens
Ha-ró-u[n]-yû One who goes about in the Dark; a Prowler. Woman of

Wolf gens Ya[n]-di-no Always Hungry. Man of Snake gens
Hu-ta-hú-sa Sitting in curled Position. Woman of Snake gens
Di-jé-rons One who Ripples the Water. Man of Porcupine gens
Ha[n]-dú-tu[n] The one who puts up Quills. Woman of Porcupine
Ké-ya-runs-kwa Good-Sighted. gens
THE PHRATRY.
There are four phratries in the tribe, the three gentes Bear, Deer, and
Striped Turtle constituting the first; the Highland Turtle, Black Turtle,
and Smooth Large Turtle the second; the Hawk, Beaver, and Wolf the
third, and the Sea Snake and Porcupine the fourth.
This unit in their organization has a mythologic basis, and is chiefly
used for religious purposes, in the preparation of medicines, and in
festivals and games.
The eleven gentes, as four phratries, constitute the tribe.
Each gens is a body of consanguineal kindred in the female line, and
each gens is allied to other gentes by consanguineal kinship through the
male line, and by affinity through marriage.
To be a member of the tribe it is necessary to be a member of a gens; to
be a member of a gens it is necessary to belong to some family; and to
belong to a family