usually followed, but the nuptial blessing was given by the High
Priest of God, the most reverend and holy Nature.

The family was not only the social unit, but also the unit of
government. The clan is nothing more than a larger family, with
its patriarchal chief as the natural head, and the union of several
clans by intermarriage and voluntary connection constitutes the
tribe. The very name of our tribe, Dakota, means Allied People.
The remoter degrees of kinship were fully recognized, and
that not as a matter of form only: first cousins were known as
brothers and sisters; the name of "cousin" constituted a binding
claim, and our rigid morality forbade marriage between cousins in
any known degree, or in other words within the clan.

The household proper consisted of a man with one or more wives
and their children, all of whom dwelt amicably together, often
under one roof, although some men of rank and position provided a
separate lodge for each wife. There were, indeed, few plural
marriages except among the older and leading men, and plural wives
were usually, though not necessarily, sisters. A marriage
might honorably be dissolved for cause, but there was very little
infidelity or immorality, either open or secret.

It has been said that the position of woman is the test of
civilization, and that of our women was secure. In them was vested
our standard of morals and the purity of our blood. The wife did
not take the name of her husband nor enter his clan, and the
children belonged to the clan of the mother. All of the family
property was held by her, descent was traced in the maternal line,
and the honor of the house was in her hands. Modesty was her chief