e predominating number in each
household would be of the same _gens_, namely, that of the
mother."[44]

[44] Morgan, _Houses and House-Life of the American
Aborigines_, p. 64.

We see here, at once, the persistence and development of the
conditions and later customs of the patriarchal family-group, now
evolved into the clan. In the far-distant days the jealous spirit was
still strong; now it has been curbed and regulated, and the female
yoke binds the clan together. We have the mothers as the centre of the
communal home; the sons bringing their wives to live in the circle,
while the daughters' husbands are received as permanent guests. Under
such a system the mothers are related to each other, and belong to the
same clan, and their children after them; the fathers are not bound
together by the same ties and are of different clans. The limits
within which marriage can take place are fixed, and we can trace the
action of the ancient primal law in the bar that prohibits the husband
from being of the same clan as his wife. Though the husband takes up
his abode in the wife's family, dwelling there _during her life and
his good behaviour_,[45] he still belongs to his own family. The
children of the marriage are of the kindred of the mother, and never
of his kindred: they are lost to his family. Thus there can be no
extension of the clan through the males, it is the wife's clan that is
extended by marriage.[46]

[45] Tylor, "The Matriarchal Family System," _Nineteenth
Century_, July 1896.

[46] McLennan, _The Patriarchal Theory_, p. 208. Heriot,
_Travels through the Canadas_, p. 323.

The important point to note is that the conditions of the clan are
still favourable to the social conduct of the women, who are attached
much more closely to the home and to each other than can be the case
with the men. The wife never leaves the home, because she is
considered the mistress, or, at least, the heiress. In the house all
the duties and the honour as the head of the household fall upon her.
This position may be illustrated by the wife's obligation to her
husband and his family, which are curiously in contrast with what is
usually expected from a woman. Thus a wife is not only bound to give
food to her husband, to cook his provisions when he sets out on
expeditions, but she has likewise to assist members of his family when
they cultivate their fields, and to provide wood for an allotted
period