North American Indians of the plains / by Clark Wissler.

  • Clark Wissler
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: North American Indians of the plains / by Clark Wissler. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    men of each band forming a general council which in turn recognized one individual as chief. In the Plateaus the Northern Shoshone, at least, had even a less formal system. Though there were in the plains some groups spoken of as confederacies by pioneers; viz., the Blackfoot, Sarsi, and Gros Ventre; the seven Dakota tribes; the Pawnee group; the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Comanche, none of these seem to have been more than alliances. At least, there was nothing like the celebrated League of the Iroquios in the Woodland area. In general, the governments of the Plains were in no wise peculiar. Soldier Bands, or Societies. We have previously mentioned the camp police. The Dakota governing society, for example, appointed eight or more men as soldiers or marshals to enforce their regulations at all times. There were also a num¬ ber of men’s societies or fraternities of a military and ceremonial character upon any one or more of which the tribal government might also call for such service. As these societies had an organization of their own, it was only necessary to deal with their leaders. The call to service was for specific occasions and the particu¬ lar society selected automatically ceased to act when the occasion passed. The Blackfoot, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Hidatsa, Man- dan, and Arikara, also had each a number of societies