The following work substantially formed the Fifth Part of the original manuscript of "Ancient Society," under the title "Growth of the Idea of House Architecture." As the manuscript exceeded the limits of a single volume, this portion (Part V) was removed, and having then no intention to publish it separately, the greater part of it found its way into print in detached articles. A summary was given to Johnson's New Universal Cyclopedia in the article on the "Architecture of the American Aborigines." The chapter on the "Houses of the Aztecs" formed the basis of the article entitled "Montezuma's Dinner," published in the North American Review, in April, 1876. Another chapter, that on the "Houses of the Mound Builders," was published in the same Review in July, 1876. Finally, the present year, at the request of the executive committee of the "Archaeological Institute of America," at Cambridge, I prepared from the same materials an article entitled "A Study of the Houses and House Life of the Indian Tribes," with a scheme for the exploration of the ruins in New Mexico, Arizona, the San Juan region, Yucatan, and Central America.

With some additions and reductions the facts are now presented in their original form, and as they will now have a wider distribution than the articles named have had, they will be new to most of my readers. The facts and suggestions made will also have the advantage of being presented in their proper connection. Thus additional strength is given to the argument as a whole. All the forms of this architecture sprang from a common mind, and exhibit, as a consequence, different stages of development of the same conceptions, operating upon similar necessities. They also represent these several conditions of Indian life with reasonable completeness. Their houses will be seen to form one system of works, from the Long House of the Iroquois to the Joint Tenement houses of adobe and of stone in New Mexico, Yucatan, Chiapas, and Guatemala, with such diversities as the different degrees of advancement of these several tribes would naturally produce. Studied as one system, springing from a common experience, and similar wants, and under institutions of the same general character, they are seen to indicate a plan of life at once novel, original, and distinctive.

The principal fact, which all these structures alike show, from the smallest to the greatest, is that the family through these stages of progress was too weak an organization to face alone the struggle of life, and sought a shelter for itself in large households composed of several families. The house for a single family was exceptional throughout aboriginal America, while the house large enough to accommodate several families was the rule. Moreover, they were occupied as joint tenement houses. There was also a tendency to form these households on the principle of gentile kin, the mothers with their children being of the same gens or clan.

If we enter upon the great problem of Indian life with a determination to make it intelligible, their house life and domestic institutions must furnish the key to its explanation. These pages are designed as a commencement of that work. It is a fruitful, and, at present, but partially explored field. We have been singularly inattentive to the plan of domestic life revealed by the houses of the aboriginal period. Time and the influences of civilization have told heavily upon their mode of life until it has become so far modified, and in many cases entirely overthrown, that it must be taken up as a new investigation upon the general facts which remain. At the epoch of European discovery it was in full vitality in North and South America; but the opportunities of studying its principles and its results were neglected. As a scheme of life under established institutions, it was a remarkable display of the condition of mankind in two well marked ethnical periods, namely, the Older Period and the Middle Period of barbarism, the first being represented by the Iroquois and the second by the Aztecs, or ancient Mexicans. In no part of the earth were these two conditions of human progress so well represented as by the American Indian tribes. A knowledge of the culture and of the state of the arts of life in these periods is indispensable to a definite conception of the stages of human progress. From the laws which govern this progress, from the uniformity of their operation, and from the necessary limitations of the principle of intelligence, we may conclude that our own remote ancestors passed through a similar experience and possessed very similar institutions. In studying the condition of the Indian tribes in these periods we may recover some portion of the lost history of our own race. This consideration lends incentive to the investigation.

The first chapter is a condensation of four in "Ancient Society," namely, those on the gens, phratry, tribe, and confederacy of tribes. As they formed a necessary part of that work, they become equally necessary to this. A knowledge of these organizations is indispensable to an understanding of the house life of the aborigines. These organizations form the basis of American ethnology. Although the discussion falls short of a complete explanation of their character and of their prevalence, it will give the reader a general idea of the organization of society among them.

We are too apt to look upon the condition of savage and of barbarous tribes as standing on the same plane with respect to advancement. They should be carefully distinguished as dissimilar conditions of progress. Moreover, savagery shows stages of culture and of progress, and the same is true of barbarism. It will greatly facilitate the study of the facts relating to these two conditions, through which mankind have passed in their progress to civilization, to discriminate between ethnical periods, or stages of culture both in savagery and in barbarism. The progress of mankind from their primitive condition to civilization has been marked and eventful. Each great stage of progress is connected, more or less directly, with some important invention or discovery which materially influenced human progress, and inaugurated an improved condition. For these reasons the period of savagery has been divided into three subperiods, and that of barbarism also into three, the latter of which are chiefly important in their relation to the condition of the Indian tribes. The Older Period of barbarism, which commences with the introduction of the art of pottery, and the Middle Period, which commences with the use of adobe brick in the construction of houses, and with the cultivation of maize and plants by irrigation, mark two very different and very dissimilar conditions of life. The larger portion of the Indian tribes fall within one or the other of these periods. A small portion were in the Older Period of savagery, and none had reached the Later Period of barbarism, which immediately precedes civilization. In treating of the condition of the several tribes they will be assigned to the particular period to which they severally belong under this classification.

I regret to add that I have not been able, from failing health, to give to this manuscript the continuous thought which a work of any kind should receive from its author. But I could not resist the invitation of my friend Major J. W. Powell, the Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, to put these chapters together as well as I might be able, that they might be published by that Bureau. As it will undoubtedly be my last work, I part with it under some solicitude for the reason named; but submit it cheerfully to the indulgence of my readers.

I am greatly indebted to my friend Mr. J. C. Pilling, of the same Bureau, for his friendly labor and care in correcting the proof sheets, and for supervising the illustrations. Such favors are very imperfectly repaid by an author's thanks.

The late William W. Ely, M. D., LL. D., was, for a period of more than twenty-five years, my cherished friend and literary adviser, and to him I am indebted for many valuable suggestions, and for constant encouragement in my labors. The dedication of this volume to his memory is but a partial expression of my admiration of his beautiful character, and of my appreciation of his friendship.

LEWIS H. MORGAN

ROCHESTER, N. Y., June, 1881

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

SOCIAL AND GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION.

The Gens: organized upon kin; rights, privileges, and obligations of its members—The Phratry: its character and functions—The Tribe: its composition and attributes—The Confederacy of Tribes: its nature, character and functions.

CHAPTER II.

THE LAW OF HOSPITALITY AND ITS GENERAL PRACTICE.

Indian tribes in three dissimilar conditions—Savage tribes— Partially horticultural tribes—Village Indians—Usages and customs affecting their house life—The law of hospitality practiced by the Iroquois; by the Algonkin tribes of lower Virginia; by the Delawares and Munsees; by the tribes of the Missouri, of the Valley of the Columbia; by the Dakota tribes of the Mississippi, by the Algonkin tribes of Wisconsin; by the Cherokees, Choctaws, and Creeks; by the Village Indians of New Mexico, of Mexico, of Central America; by the tribes of Venezuela; by the Peruvians—Universality of the usage—It implies communism in living in large households.

CHAPTER III.

COMMUNISM IN LIVING.

A law of their condition—Large households among Indian tribes— Communism in living in the household—Long Houses of the Iroquois— Several families in a house—Communism in household—Long Houses of Virginia Indians—Clustered cabins of the Creeks—Communism in the cluster—Hunting bands on the plains—The capture a common stock— Fishing bands on the Columbia—The capture a common stock—Large households in tribes of the Colombia—Communism in the household— Mandan houses—Contained several families—Houses of the Sauks the same—Village Indians of New Mexico—Mayas of Yucatan—Their present communism in living—Large households of Indians of Cuba, of Venezuela, of Carthagena, of Peru.

CHAPTER IV.

USAGES AND CUSTOMS WITH RESPECT TO LAND AND FOOD.

Tribal domain owned by the tribe in common—Possessory right in individuals and families to such land as they cultivated—Government compensation for Indian lands paid to tribe; for improvements to individuals—Apartments of a house and possessory rights to lands went to gentile heirs—Tenure of land among sedentary Village Indians at Taos, Jemex, and Zunyi—Among Aztecs or Ancient Mexicans, as presented by Mr. Bandelier; in Peru—The usage of having but one prepared meal each day, a dinner—Rule among Northern tribes—A breakfast as well as a dinner claimed for the Mexicans—Separation at meals, the men eating first, and by themselves, and the women and children afterwards.

CHAPTER V.

HOUSES OF INDIAN TRIBES NORTH OF NEW MEXICO.

Houses of Indian tribes must be considered as parts of a common system of construction—A common principle runs through all its forms; that of adaptation to communism in living within the household—It explains this architecture—Communal houses of tribes in savagery; in California; in the valley of the Yukon; in the valley of the Columbia—Communal house of tribes in the lower status of barbarism— Ojibwa lodge—Dakota skin tent—Long houses of Virginia Indians; of Nyach tribe on Long Island; of Seneca-Iroquois; of Onondaga-Iroquois— Dirt Lodge of Mandans and Minnetarees—Thatched houses of Maricopas and Mohaves of the Colorado; of the Pimas of the Gila—What a comparison shows.

CHAPTER VI.

HOUSES OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF NEW MEXICO.

Improved character of houses—The defensive principle incorporated in their plan of the Houses—Their joint tenement character—Two or more stories high—Improved apparel, pottery, and fabrics—Pueblo of Santo Domingo; of adobe bricks—Built in terraced town—Ground story closed—Terraces reached by ladders—Rooms entered through trap-doors in ceilings—Pueblo of Zunyi—Ceiling—Water-jars and hand mill—Moki pueblo—Room in same—Ceiling like that at Zunyi— Pueblo of Taos—Estufas for holding councils—Size of adobes—Of doorways—Window-openings and trap-doorways—Present governmental organization—Room in pueblo—Fire-places and chimneys of modern introduction—Present ownership and inheritance of property—Village Indians have declined since their discovery—Sun worship—The Montezuma religion—Seclusion from religious motives.

CHAPTER VII.

HOUSES IN RUINS OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF THE SAN JUAN RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.

Pueblos in stone—The best structures in New Mexico—Ruins in the valley of the Chaco—Exploration of Lieut. J. H. Simpson in 1849; of William H. Jackson in 1877—Map of valley—Ground plans—Pueblo Pintado and Weje-gi—Constructed of tabular pieces of sandstone— Estufas and their uses—Pueblos Una Vida and Hungo Pavie—Restoration of Hungo Pavie—Pueblo of Chettro-Kettle—Room in same—Form of ceiling—Pueblo Bonito—Room in same—Restoration of Pueblo—Pueblo del Arroyo—Pueblo Penyasca Blanca—Seven large pueblos and two smaller ones—Pueblo Alto without the valley on table land on the north side—Probably the "Seven Cities of Cibola" of Coronado's Expedition—Reasons for supposition—The pueblos constructed gradually—Remarkable appearance of the valley when inhabited.

CHAPTER VIII.

HOUSES IN RUINS OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF THE SAN JUAN RIVER
AND ITS TRIBUTARIES—(Continued.)

Ruins of stone pueblo on Animas River—Ground plan—Each room faced with stone, showing natural faces—Constructed like those in Chaco— Adobe mortar—Its composition and efficiency—Lime unknown in New Mexico—Gypsum mortar probably used in New Mexico and Central America— Cedar poles used as lintels—Cedar beams used as joists—Estufas; neither fire-places nor chimneys—The House a fortress—Second stone pueblo—Six other pueblos in ruins near—The Montezuma Valley—Nine pueblos in ruins in a cluster—Diagram—Ruins of stone pueblos near Ute Mountain—Outline of plan—Round tower of stone with three concentric walls—Incorporated in pueblo—Another round tower—With two concentric walls—Stands isolated—Other ruins—San Juan district as an original centre of this Indian culture— Mound-Builders probable emigrants from this region—Historical tribes of Mexico emigrants from same—Indian migrations—Made under control of physical causes.

CHAPTER IX.

HOUSES OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

Area of their occupation—Their condition that of Village Indians— Probably immigrants from New Mexico—Character of their earthworks— Embankments enclosing squares—Probable sites of their houses— Adapted, as elevated platforms, to Long Houses—High bank works— Capacity of embankments—Conjectural restoration of the pueblo— Other embankments—Their probable uses—Artificial clay beds under grave-mounds—Probably used for cremation of chiefs—Probable numbers of the Mound Builders—Failure of attempt to transplant this type of village life to the Ohio Valley—Their withdrawal probably voluntary.

CHAPTER X.

HOUSES OF THE AZTECS OR ANCIENT MEXICANS.

First accounts of Pueblo of Mexico—Their extravagance—Later American exaggerations—Kings and emperors made out of sachems and war-chiefs—Ancient society awakens curiosity and wonder—Aztec government a confederacy of three Indian tribes—Pueblo of Mexico in an artificial lake—Joint-tenement houses—Several families in each house—Houses in Cuba and Central America—Aztec houses not fully explored—Similar to those in New Mexico—Communism in living probable—Cortez in Pueblo of Mexico—His quarters—Explanation of Diaz—Of Herrera—Of Bandolier—House occupied by Montezuma—A communal house—Montezuma's dinner—According to Diaz—to Cortez—to Herrera—To H. H. Bancroft—Excessive exaggerations—Dinner in common by a communal household—Bandelier's "Social Organization and Mode of Government of the Ancient Mexicans."

CHAPTER XI.

RUINS OF HOUSES OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF YUCATAN AND CENTRAL AMERICA.

Pueblos in Yucatan and Central America—Their situation—Their house architecture—Highest type of aboriginal architecture—Pueblos were occupied when discovered—Uxmal houses erected on pyramidal elevations—Governor's house—Character of its architecture—House of the Nuns—Triangular ceiling of stone—Absence of chimneys—No cooking done within the house—Their communal plan evidently joint-tenement houses—Present communism of Mayas—Presumtively inherited from their ancestors—Ruins of Zayi—The closed house— Apartments constructed over a core of masonry—Palenque—Mr. Stephens' misconception of these ruins—Whether the post and lintel of stone were used as principles of construction—Plan of all these houses communal—Also fortresses—Palenque Indians flat-heads— American ethnography—General conclusions.