e keynote of
this harmony is the supremacy of the wife in the home. The house, with
all that is in it, is hers, descending to her through her mother from
a long line of ancestresses; and her husband is merely her permanent
guest. The children--at least the female children--have their share in
the common home; the father has none." Outside the house the husband
has some property in the fields, though probably in earlier times he
had no possessory rights. "Modern influences have reached the Zuni,
and mother-right seems to have begun its inevitable decay."

The Hopis, another Pueblo tribe, are more conservative, and with them
the women own all the property, except the horses and donkeys, which
belong to the men. Like the Zunis, the Hopis are monogamists. Sexual
licence is, however, often permitted to a woman before marriage. This
in no way detracts from her good repute; even if she has given birth
to a child "she will be sure to marry later on, unless she happens to
be shockingly ugly." Nor does the child suffer, for among these
matriarchal people the bastard takes an equal place with the child
born in wedlock. The bride lives for the first few weeks with her
husband's family, during which time the marriage takes place, the
ceremony being performed by the bridegroom's mother, whose family also
provides the bride with her wedding outfit. The couple then return to
the home of the wife's parents, where they remain, either permanently,
or for some years, until they can obtain a separate dwelling. The
husband is always a stranger, and is so treated by his wife's kin. The
dwelling of his mother remains his true home, in sickness he returns
to her to be nursed, and stays with her until he is well again. Often
his position in his wife's home is so irksome that he severs his
relation with her and her family and returns to his old home. On the
other hand, it is not uncommon for the wife, should her husband be
absent, to place his goods outside the door: an intimation which he
well understands, and does not intrude himself upon her again.[132]

Lastly, among the Pueblo peoples we may consider the Sai. Like the
other tribes they are divided into exogamous _totem_ clans; descent is
traced only through the women. The tribe through various reasons has
been greatly reduced in numbers, and whole clans have died out, and
under these circumstances exogamy has ceased to be strictly enforced.
This has led to other changes. The Sai are still a