| | The distinction between "primitive" and "civilized" comes better from an encyclopedia than it does from a dictionary. That is why I cited the "pattern making" and "pattern finding" nature of the brain, which may be more like a gland than like a digital computers. Differentiating "primitive" from "civilized" depends on an array of social facts whose relative placement is as important as the facts themselves.
These citations would read differently if they were a summary of Aristotle on The Athenian Constitution and a few paragraphs about the introduction of coinage at Athens by Peisistratus, the political opponent of Solon the Law-Giver.
The Cheyenne live with a relatively complex constitutional law. Forty-four appointed chiefs serve for ten years. Only half of them are replaced at one time. Sons rarely succeed fathers. In addition, as separate councils, each warrior society has its own leaders. (The warrior societies were the Fox Soldiers, Bowstring Soldiers, Elk Soldiers, Dog Men and Northern Crazy Dogs. Their names changed over time for reasons not clearly understood by ethnographers.) Their word counted for much within the tribal councils because these men bore the brunt of action not only in war but simply in policing the move of a tribe from one place to another across great distances. (This was a significant community policing.duty, larger than defensive or aggressive war.) Yet, all of this served for a people numbering perhaps never more than 7,000. Therefore, justice, guidance, rule and responsibility were always personal and close.
According to their own legends, this “traditional” arrangement was given to them by a captive girl from the Assinboine tribe. Anthropologists figure that this dates to about 1750. ... These institutions were recent developments to the Cheyenne, only slightly older than the Federal Constitution of the Whites when the two groups met. (Based on Llewellyn, K. N. and E. Adamson Hoebel. 1941. The Cheyenne Way: Conflict and Case Law in Primitive Jurisprudence. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.)
We know that the Founding Fathers of the American Republic thought highly of the "Five Civilized Tribes." Robert Leonard and Charles Opitz are numismatists who separately investigated primitive money. The invention of wampum made possible the Confederation of Tribes.
Transcript No. 1745 June 11, 1999 WAMPUM by Robert Leonard
Hiawatha is remembered today as the principal character in Longfellow's
poem, "The Song of Hiawatha." But there was an historical Hiawatha, who
deserves to be remembered . . . and he was the disciple of the prophet
Dekanawida, the inventor of wampum.
Dekanawida was born to the Huron tribe in about 1520. After the French
explorer Cartier arrived among the Huron in 1535, Dekanawida recognized
that the Europeans posed a threat to Native American ways of life. He
journeyed south to warn the Iroquois about the Europeans. Hiawatha, a
reformed cannibal, became his disciple and spokesman.
Dekanawida's plan was to bring together the five regional tribes--who
were constantly making war on each other--and to form a single nation, the
Iroquois Nation. To succeed, he needed some peaceful means for resolving
disputes. Compensation would have to replace retaliation. His solution
was to introduce wampum--North America's earliest money.
Wampum was tubular beads about a quarter of an inch long and less than
an eighth of an inch thick. Purple beads were also made . . . they were
worth twice as much as white beads because they could be made only from a
clam shell heart.
The first string of wampum was made in about 1570 as a gift to a chief
who agreed to hold a council. After 1600, wampum spread rapidly for use as
blood money, ransom, and ceremonial presentations. It was even used as
money by the English and Dutch settlers, who made it legal tender as early
as 1637.
Over the next few decades, coins became more plentiful in the Colonies,
and wampum passed out of use as currency early in the 1700s. However,
imitations were made for the western Indian trade as late as 1889.
This has been "Money Talks." Today's program was written by Robert
Leonard. "Money Talks" is produced and underwritten by the American
Numismatic Association in Colorado Springs, America's coin club for over a
century. Take a tour of ANA's virtual Money Museum on the web at
www.money.org. Copyright 1999 ANA
(Edited by Michael E. Marotta on 8/15, 6:34am)
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