During recent years, since the tribes began to yield to the domination of
the peace-loving whites, the government and election are determined
chiefly by kinship, as appears from Dorsey's researches; yet definite
traces of the militant organization appear, and any man can win name and
rank in his gens, tribe, or confederacy by bravery or generosity.
The institutional connection between the Siouan tribes of the plains and
those of the Atlantic slope and the Gulf coast is completely lost, and it
is doubtful whether the several branches have ever been united in a single
confederation (or "nation," in the language of the pioneers), at least
since the division in the Appalachian region perhaps five or ten centuries
ago. Since this division the tribes have separated widely, and some of the
bloodiest wars of the region in the historic period have been between
Siouan tribes; the most extensive union possessing the slightest claim to
federal organization was the great Dakota confederacy, which was grown
into instability and partial disruption; and most of the tribal unions and
coalitions were of temporary character.
Although highly elaborate (perhaps because of this character), the Siouan
organization was highly unstable; with every shock of conflict, whether
intestine or external, some autocrats were displaced or slain; and after
each important event--great battle, epidemic, emigration, or destructive
flood--new combinations were formed. The undoubtedly rapid development of
the stock, especially after the passage of the Mississippi, indicates
growth by conquest and assimilation as well as by direct propagation (it
is known that the Dakota and perhaps other groups adopted aliens
regularly); and, doubtless for this reason in part, there was a strong
tendency toward differentiation and dichotomy in the demotic growth.
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