Excerpt from The Social Organization of the Winnebago Indians, an Interpretation These examples bring out quite forcibly the point made above, that the tenacity exhibited to-day or at any particular time is itself not a constant, for at diflerent epochs different elements of the social unit may determine it. That, however, the twofold division of the Winnebago is a social - political grouping is, I believe, unquestionable, although to-day, to the minds of the Winnebago, not the social-political grouping, but one element - and probably one that has been secondarily associated with the original grouping - determines to what half a new clan shall belong. These general considerations are of considerable importance in the study of Siouan culture, because we are there confronted with a specific application of the criteria of tenacity and quantitative resemblances. The twofold division of the tribe is found among the Winnebago, Dhegiha, Tciwere, Hidatsa, and Mandan. The Dhegiha and Tciwere show numerous cultural and specific sociological similarities to the Winnebago, and this, together with the intimate linguistic affiliation, makes it fairly certain that the twofold division goes back to a common origin. Difficulties in the interpretation appear, however, as soon as we approach the Hidatsa and Mandan, who present only general cultural similarities to the above-mentioned tribes, and among whom nevertheless a dichotomous social division exists. If dichotomy is the significant factor in the social organization of all these tribes, one might very well claim that here an example of the tenacity of social organization is to be found. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
