felt chiefly in periods of war. This may be
illustrated by the Wyandots, who have an elaborate system of
government. In each _gens_ there is a small council composed of four
women, called _yu-wai-yu-wa-na_; chosen by the heads of the household.
These women select a chief of the _gens_ from its male members, that
is, from their brothers and sons. He is the head of the _gentile_
council. The council of the tribe is composed of the aggregated
_gentile_ councils; and is thus made up of four-fifths of women and
one-fifth of men. The _sachem_ of the tribes, or tribal-chief, is
chosen by the chiefs of the _gentes_. All the civil government of the
_gens_ and of the tribe is carried on by these councils; and as the
women so largely outnumbered the men, who are also--with the one
exception of the tribal-chief--chosen by them, it is evident that the
social government of the _gens_ and tribe is largely controlled by
them. On military affairs, however, the men have the direct authority,
though, as has been stated, the women have a veto power and are
"allowed to exercise a decision in favour of peace." There is a
military council of all the able-bodied men of the tribe, with a
military chief chosen by the council.[57] This seems a very wise
adjustment of civic duties; the constructive social work and the
maintaining of peace directed by the women; the destructive work of
war in the hands of men.

[57] I have summarised the account of the Wyandot government
as given by Hartland, who quotes from Powell's "Wyandot
Government," _First Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology_, 1879-1880, pp. 61 ff.

Powell gives an interesting account of their communal life. Each clan
owns its own lands which it cultivates; but within these lands each
household has its own patch. It is the women councillors who partition
the clan lands among the households. The partition takes place every
two years. But while each household has its own patch of ground, the
cultivation is communal; that is, all the able-bodied women of the
clan take a share in cultivating every patch. Each clan has a right to
the service of all its women in the cultivation of the soil. It would
be difficult to find a more striking example than this of communism in
labour. I claim it as proof of what I have stated in an earlier
chapter of the conditions driving women into combination and social
conduct.

If we turn now to the South American continent we shall