iving in Eastern and Atlantic States, had permanent
villages.<16> The idea then, that the Indians are nothing but wandering
savages, is seen to be wrong. It is well to bear this in mind, because
it is often asserted that the Mound Builders must have been a people
possessing fixed habitations. While this is doubtless correct, we see
that it is also true of the Indians.<17>

There is another feature of Indian life which we will mention here,
because it shows us a common element in the building of houses, seen
alike in the pueblo structures of the West and the long houses of the
Iroquois. That is, the Indian houses were always built to be inhabited
by a number of families in common. All nations in a tribal state possess
property in common. It is not allowed to pass out of the gens of the
person who possesses it, but at his death is supposed to be divided
among the members of his gens; in most cases, however, to those nearest
of kin within the gens.<18> This communism showed itself in the method
of erecting houses.

The long house of the Iroquois was divided into apartments so as to
shelter from one hundred to two hundred Indians. A number of these
houses gathered together composed a village. These were quite creditable
structures of Indian art, being warm and comfortable, as well as roomy.
Should we examine the whole list of writers who have mentioned Indian
villages, we would find them all admitting that the houses were usually
occupied by a number of families, one in the Columbia Valley, as we see,
sheltering five hundred persons.

There is no question but the pueblos were built by people holding
property in common. They were, of course, erected by a more advanced
people, who employed better materials in construction, but it is quite
plain that they were actuated by the same instincts, and built their
houses with the same design in view as the less advanced Indian tribes
in other sections of the country. What we have described as the small
houses in Arizona in the preceding chapter, in most cases includes
several rooms, and we are told that in one section they "appear to have
been the abode of several families."<19>

Illustration of Long House of the Iroquois.---------

One of the main points the Indians would have to attend to in the
construction of their villages was how to defend them, and we can not
do better than to examine this point. A French writer represents the
villages of Canada as defended by double,