2. Missouri tribes. 1. Punkas. This tribe is composed of eight gentes, as follows:
1. Grizzly Bear. 2. Many People. 3. Elk. 4. Skunk. 5. Buffalo. 6. Snake. 7. Medicine. 8. Ice.[151]
In this tribe, contrary to the general rule, descent is in the male line, the children belonging to the gens of their father. Intermarriage in the gens is prohibited. The office of sachem is hereditary in the gens, the choice being determined by election; but the sons of a deceased sachem are eligible. It is probable that the change from the archaic form was recent, from the fact that among the Otoes and Missouris, two of the eight Missouri tribes, and also among the Mandans, descent is still in the female line. Property is hereditary in the gens.
2. Omahas. This tribe is composed of the following twelve gentes:
1. Deer. 2. Black. 3. Bird. 4. Turtle. 5. Buffalo. 6. Bear. 7. Medicine. 8. Kaw. 9. Head. 10. Red. 11. Thunder. 12. Many Seasons.[152]
Descent, inheritance, and the law of marriage are the same as among the Punkas.
3. Iowas. In like manner the Iowas have eight gentes, as follows:
1. Wolf. 2. Bear. 3. Cow Buffalo. 4. Elk. 5. Eagle. 6. Pigeon. 7. Snake. 8. Owl.[153]
A gens of the Beaver _Pä-kuh´-thä_ once existed among the Iowas and Otoes, but it is now extinct. Descent, inheritance, and the prohibition of intermarriage in the gens are the same as among the Punkas.
4. Otoes and Missouris. These tribes have coalesced into one, and have the eight following gentes:
1. Wolf. 2. Bear. 3. Cow Buffalo. 4. Elk. 5. Eagle. 6. Pigeon. 7. Snake. 8. Owl.[154]
Descent among the Otoes and Missouris is in the female line, the children belonging to the gens of their mother. The office of sachem, and property are hereditary in the gens, in which intermarriage is prohibited.
5. Kaws. The Kaws (Kaw´-za) have the following fourteen gentes:
1. Deer. 2. Bear. 3. Buffalo. 4. Eagle (white). 5. Eagle (black). 6. Duck. 7. Elk. 8. Raccoon. 9. Prairie Wolf. 10. Turtle. 11. Earth. 12. Deer Tail. 13. Tent. 14. Thunder.[155]
The Kaws are among the wildest of the American aborigines, but are an intelligent and interesting people. Descent, inheritance and marriage regulations among them are the same as among the Punkas. It will be observed that there are two Eagle gentes, and two of the Deer, which afford a good illustration of the segmentation of a gens; the Eagle gens having probably divided into two and distinguished themselves by the names of white and black. The Turtle will be found hereafter as a further illustration of the same fact. When I visited the Missouri tribes in 1859 and 1860, I was unable to reach the Osages and Quappas. The eight tribes thus named speak closely affiliated dialects of the Dakotian stock language, and the presumption that the Osages and Quappas are organized in gentes is substantially conclusive. In 1869, the Kaws, then much reduced, numbered seven hundred, which would give an average of but fifty persons to a gens. The home country of these several tribes was along the Missouri and its tributaries from the mouth of the Big Sioux river to the Mississippi, and down the west bank of the latter river to the Arkansas.