Position of Woman.— The relation of wo men to agriculture gave them a higher standing with certain tribes than would otherwise have been the case. With the Iroquois the position of women was very high and to them was allotted a considerable share in the government, peace negotiations, etc., and female chiefs were by no means unknown — women were the smothers of the nation.° Among the Mayan peoples of Central America woman's position was also high. Many of the priests were women, and they were also commonly the lead ers of their tribes in rebellion against the Spaniards — the most famous was Maria Can delaria, °the American Joan of Arc,' who led the insurgent Tzendals in the 18th century. In ancient Mexico and Peru the position of woman was perhaps not quite so high. Among some tribes the position of woman was very low, and her sexual peculiarities added to the disesteem in which she was held, as for ex ample, among the Tacanan Araunas of Bo livia. The Athapascan tribes vary much in their treatment of woman—with some she is little better than a slave or servant, while with at least one Alaskan people of this stock fe male chiefs existed at times. The °purification° of women at the period of their menses, and the segregation of girls at the time of puberty, were accompanied with many rites and cere monies among various tribes from the rude Athapascans to the civilized Aztecs. The curi ous custom of the couvade (imitative child-bed on the part of the husband) prevailed among many Venezuelan, Guianian and Brazilian peo ples. The relations between environment and the share of the sexes in culture has been investigated by Mason ; according to whom the zenith of virile Amerindian art is reached in Peru, while in Colombia we find woman as farmer, weaver and potter. In the Oregon California region one art, basket-making, reaches its acme of development in the hands of woman. A large female influence in reli gion is noticeable among the Pueblo Indians. Among some tribes, for example, the Hurons, the weregild for killing a woman was greater than that for a man. Some sort of matriarchal system, with maternal descent, prevailed very commonly in pre-Columbian America; among certain of the Koloschan Indians, for example, a man was considered to be in no sense related to his father, his sole parent being the mother. Besides this extreme form, numerous other varieties occur among the tribes now existing, the system in vogue among the Iroquois, etc., being more complicated and adapted to social needs. The systems of marriage known to the American Indian varied from the absence of any particular rite or ceremony to selection of the wife by the old women of the tribe, as among the Hurons, or the uniting of the couple by the °medicine men.* Some of the tribes of the Brazilian forests, ranking very low in cul ture, are strictly monogamous; while peoples of higher civilization, like the Chibchans, Mexi cans, Peruvians, etc., were polygamous or con cubinative, or both. Marriage by purchase was found over a large area of America; but here as in other parts of the globe, the °money° received was often rather a compensation to the parents for the loss of their daughter than a real sale of her to a suitor. Divorce, in many forms, is known to the primitive Amer icans, both by mere word of the husband and according to set forms and rites. Consan guineous marriages were strictly avoided by many tribes; but among a few, such as some of the lowest Athapascans, incest was not con demned. In the matter of the sex-relations, as in many other fields, the American Indians exhibit almost all possible phases from the monogamic chastity of some of the lowest peo ples to the unnatural indulgences of the Peru vians. Runaway matches and marriages for love, in spite of the contrary opinion entertained by some authorities, have been by no means un common throughout the continent. Suicide on account of unsuccessful wooing by both sexes is also not at all rare. Some peoples, too, have developed love-songs of a romantic order, for example, the yaraveys of the Quechuas.
Government—The systems of government of the American Indians and their tribal organ izations range from the simple democracy of the Kootenays and some of the Brazilian Indians to the elaborate state institutions of the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, which in several re spects resembled the corresponding institutions of Mediaeval Europe or the ancient classic world. The power of the chief, however, seems everywhere to have had limitations, and some tribes distinguished the permanent peace chief and the temporary war chief. Chiefs were gen erally elected, either from the body of the tribe or from certain specified families. °Totemism° and secret societies are not found to any extent, if at all, among certain tribes (the Kootenay, for example) ; while with many of the peoples of the northwest Pacific Coast they are perhaps the chief feature of aboriginal society, as Boas has recently shown. Property
rights are represented in many stages, from the semi-anarchic Eskimo to the Aztecs of Old Mexico and other peoples of Central and South America. Slavery existed among many tribes, and on the northwest Pacific Coast a sort of traffic in human chattels had arisen. See SLAVERY.
Trade and Commerce.-- Within the spheres of the culture-centres of Mexico, Central Amer ica, Peru, etc., trade and commerce were well developed. The Columbia River region was the scene of a less developed trade; while the south eastern United States, the region of the Great Lakes and country west and south of them, had also their important distributing points. The region of Bering Strait was likewise an Asiatic-American commercial centre.
Education.— With the lower tribes gener ally, such education as was imparted to the children was given by the father to the boys and by the mother to the girls. People like the Iroquois, the Siouan Omahas, etc., used the instruction of tales, legends and proverbs. The ancient Aztecs and some of the other semi civilized peoples of Mexico and Central Amer ica had schools for boys and others for girls, in which the duties proper to each sex were taught under the supervision of the priests.
Physical Characteristics.— The physical characteristics of the aborigines of America mingle uniformity with diversity. The skin color, popularly styled 'red' or 'copper,* is designated by Mantegazza, "burnt coffee,* and by Brinton, "brown of various shades, with an undertone of red." This but varies from rather dark to rather light Among the lighter tribes have been reckoned the Koloschan Thnkit, the Bolivian Yurucari, etc., and among the darker the Charmas of the Gran Chaco, the Bolivian Canisianas and a few other tribes of South and Central America. The hair is generally termed "black,* but, as Brinton notes, there is in it faint under-color of red," which shows up more in childhood and seems much more prominent with certain tribes than with others. Red hair is known among American Indians, but in some cases (certain South American tribes, for example), its occurrence may be due to infusion of white blood. The eyes of the India ans are, with rare exceptions, dark brown. The stature varies from rather low to rather high, represented on the one hand by some of shorter Brazilian tribes and on the other by the Patagonian "giants." Among the peoples presenting many individuals of tall stature maY be mentioned the Yumas and Pimas, some of the Muskhogean tribes, some of the Crees, Ojibwa and eastern Algonkians, Pawnees, Iro quois, Siouans, Huaveans, Ramas, some of the Cariban tribes, Yurucari, Cayubabas, Guaycu mans, Patagonians, etc. So far as is known no dwarfish people comparable to the dwarf races of the Old World existed in America, although the skeletons from certain Peruvian tombs prove the existence of a dwarfish element in the gen eral population ; and the stature of many indi viduals among certain Brazilian tribes is so low as to induce some authorities, with Koll mann, to predicate the former existence of a dwarf race. In the relations of trunk and limbs and in the relation of one limb to another many variations occur among the Indians, due to occupation (canoeing, etc.— and, since the advent of the whites, horse-riding). In imi fi America ve Ameca all the chief forms of skull (often with artificial flattening, etc.) are found; Among the dolichocephalic (long-headed) peo ples are the Eskimo and Iroquois generally, some of the Muskhogean tribes, Otomis, Aymaras (partly), Tapuyas and Tupis (largely), etc, Of the brachycephalic (broad-headed) may be mentioned the Araucanians, Caribs, Arawaks, Patagonians, Mayas, many of the tribes of the Pacific Coast region of Noith America, etc. The civilized peoples of Mexico, Central Amer ica and Peru appear to have been of stature below the average and of varied skull form tending to brachycephalic, indicating mixtures of types. In the Columbia River region type mingling is indicated also by both stature and skull-form. The Peruvian region is another centre of race-mixture, as evidenced by skull form. The oldest skulls discovered in pre historic burial-places or in geological situ are not distinct from the American types — the latest found, the "Lansing skull," is quite In dian. The skull capacity of the Indian is below that of the white in general, but many excep• tions occur. The brains of the less cultured Indian peoples (Fuegians, Eskimo), show no decided anatomical inferiority to those of civilized Europeans. Great varieties of build and set of body are found among the American Indians, from the half-starved Fuegians to the well-fed and corpulent Iroquois. Small feet and hands are vein) common. Among many tribes in various parts of the continent some men and women of considerable beauty are to be found. In the case of women, an admixture of white blood often enhances their beauty.