Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico / edited by Frederick Webb Hodge.

Date:
1907-1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico / edited by Frederick Webb Hodge. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    34/1000 (page 16)
    the eonmmnity. In this Avise, l)v the ae- tion of the oonstituted authorities, the aj^e of an adopted ^roup was fixed and its social and })olitical importance thereby deterinined. Owing to the i>eculiar cir- cumstances of the expulsion of the Tus- carora from North Carolina it wasdeemetl best by the Five Nations, in view of their relation to the Colonies at that time, to give an asylum to the Tuscarora simply by means of the institution of adoption ratluu- than by the political recognition of the Tuscarora as a member of the League. Therefore the Oneida made a motion in the federal council of the Fivi' Nations that they adopt the Tuscarora as a nursling still swathed to the cradle- board. This having prevailed, the Five Nations, by the. spokesman of tlie Oneida, said: “We have set uj) for ourselves a cradle-board in the extended house,” that is, in the dominions of the League. After due i)rohation the Tuscarora, by separate resolutions of the council, on separate motions of the Oneida, were made successively a boy, a young man, a man, an a.ssistant to the oflicial woman cooks, a warrior, and lastly a j)eer, hay- ing the right of chiefship in the council on an e(pial footing with the cliiefs of the other tribes. From this it is seen that a tribe or other group of i)eoi>le may be adopted upon any one of several ]>lanes of political growth, corresponding to the various ages of human growth. This seems to explain the problem of the al- leged subjugation and degradation of the Delawares by the Irociuois, which is said to have been enacted in open council. When it is understood that the Five Na- tions adopted the Delaware tribe as inen assistants to the olticial cooks of the League it becomes clear that no taint of slavery and degradation was designed to be given by the act. It merely made the Delawares probationary heirs to citizen- ship in the League, and'citizenshii) ^yould he conferred upon them after suitable tutelage. In this they were treatc(i with much greater consideration than were the Tuscarf)ra, who are of the language and lineage of the Five Nations. The Delawares were not adopted as warriors or chiefs, hut as assistant cooks; neither were they adojAed, like the Tuscarora, as infants, hut as imm whose duty it was to assist the women whose oliicial function was to cook for the people at i>uhlic as- semblies. Their olliee was hence well ('xemi)lified by tlu' possession of acorn p(‘stle, a hoe, and petticoats. This fact, misunderstood, perhaps intentionally misrepresented, seems to explain the m vstery concern ingt lu' “ making \\ omen ofdhe Delawares. This kind (if adoiition was virtually a stab* of probation, which could be made long or short. The adoption of a chief’s son by a fel- low chief, customary in some of the tribes of the N. W. coast, difiers in mo- tive and effect from that defined above, which concerns jiersons alien to the tribe, upon wdiom it confers citizen- shij) in the clan, gens, and tribe, as this deals only with intratribal jiersons for the jiuriKi.^ie of conferring .some degree of honor ujwn them rattier than citizenshiji and jiolitical authority. The Inxpiois, in order to n'cruit the great lo.s.^^es incurred in their many wars, put into systematic jiractiee the adojition not only of individuals but also of entire clans and tribes. TheTutelo, the 8aponi, the Nanticoke, and other tribes and jior- tions of tribes w’cre forced to incorjiorate with the seveial tribes of the Irocjuois confederation by formal adojitiim. After the reipuit war the Narragan- set adojited a larg(“ body of the Pequot. The Chickasaw' adojited a section of the Natchez, and the Fchee were incorjio- rated with the Creeks. In the various accounts of the American Indian tribes references to formal adojition and incor- jioration of one jieojile by another are abundant. It is natural that formal adojition as a definite in.«titution was most in vogue wherever the clan and gentile systems were more or less fully develojied. (.i. x. h. u.) Adornment. The motive of personal adornment, aside from the desire to apjiear attractive, seems to have been to mark individual, trilud, or eerenuinial distinction. The usi* of jiaint on the face, hair, and body, both in color and design, generallv had reference to individual or clan beliefs, or it indicated relationshiji or jiersonal bereavement, or was an act of courtesy. It was always emjiloyed in ceremonies, religious and secular, and was an accomjianiment of gala dress donned to honor a guest or to celebrate an occasion. The face of the dead was fre(juently jiainted in accordance with tribal or religious symbolism. Thejirac- tice of jiainting was widesjuvad and was observed by both sexes. Paint was also I>ut on the'faces of adults and children as a jirotection against wind and sun. Plucking the hair from the face and body was generally jiractised. Deformation, as head liatte’ning, and tattooing, accord- ing to some writers, were jiersonal embel- lishimmts. Fats were used to beautify the hair and to ceremonially anoint the face and body. Sweet grass and seeds, as those of the columbine, served as j>er- fume. Ear ornaments were a mark of family thrift, wealth, or distinction, a!id indi- cated honor sliown to the wearer by his kindred. Ceremonies, occasionally re- ligious in character, some of w'hich seem