Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/505

Rh held in respect of this also a position of advantage. In the transactions of North American tribes with the colonial governments many deeds of assignment bear female signatures, which doubtless must also be referred to inheritance through the mother." Among the Spokanes "all household goods are considered as the wife's property." The stores of roots and berries laid up by the Salish women for a time of scarcity "are looked upon as belonging to them personally, and their husbands will not touch them without having previously obtained their permission. " Among the Menomini a woman in good circum- stances would possess as many as from 1,200 to 1,500 birchbark vessels, and all of these would be in use during the season of sugar-making. In the New Mexican pueblo, "what comes from outside the house, as soon as it is inside is put under the immediate control of the woman. My host at Cochiti, New Mexico, could not sell an ear of corn or a string of chile without the consent of his thirteen-year-old daughter, Ignacia, who kept house for her widowed father. In Cholula district (and probably all over Mexico) the man has acquired more power, and the storehouse is no longer controlled by the wife. But the kitchen remains her domain; and its aboriginal designation, texcalli (place, or house, of her who grinds), is still perfectly justified." "A plurality of wives is required by a good hunter, since in the labors of the chase women are of great service to their husbands. An Indian with one wife cannot amass property, as she is constantly occupied in household labors, and has not time for preparing skins for trading." The outcome of this closer attention of the woman to the industrial life is well seen among the ancient Hebrews : "A virtuous woman. . . . seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is