SWANTON] INDIAN TRIBES OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 107

feathers are arranged in a curved line. At the end of these feathers is a tuft
of hair (Ihoupe de poil) and above a little hairy tassel (aigrclte de crin), all
being only an inch and a half long and dyed a very beautiful red. This crown
or feather hat is an object very pleasing to the sight.(
 Nevertheless, the Sun also had a council to advise him, and some-
times his authority was considerably curtailed by it, as well as by the
more prominent and energetic village chiefs, a fact which comes out
clearly in the course of the last Natchez war. De la Vente seems to
have the Natchez in mind when he speaks of a council composed of
the principal warriors in which the more ancient always occupied the
highest places. They are listened to like oracles," he writes, and
the young people make it a point of honor to follow their opinions
to the point of veneration." It appears that the great Sun and the
great war chief could also be controlled by them-a very important
fact (see pp. 245-246).
 The essence of the Natchez system, so far as it is revealed to us by
French writers, may be shown diagrammatically as follows:
 Suns: Children of Sun mothers and Stinkard fathers.
 Nobles: Children of Noble mothers and Stinkard fathers,
 T or of Sun fathers and Stinkard mothers.
NOBILITY :
 Honored People: Children of Honored women and
 Stinkard fathers, or of Noble fathers and Stinkard
 mothers.
STINKARDS: Children of Stinkard mothers and Honored men, or of
 Stinkard fathers and Stinkard mothers.
 The Suns were a purely hereditary body, and, as might be inferred
from this diagram, were the smallest of all classes. La Harpe states
that in 1700 there were 17 Suns," but it is not clear whether he
includes only those in the Grand Village or the entire number, and
whether the Suns of both sexes are referred to. Le Petit (1730)
gives 11 Suns.d The intermarriage of Stinkards is nowhere di-
rectly mentioned, but it must be assumed, for otherwise Stinkards
would in time become as few as Suns, whereas it is evident that they
constituted the largest part of the population. War chieftainships,
and probably most of the secondary offices, were open to the second
rank of Nobles.e
 After settling among the Creeks and the Cherokee, totemic divisions
made their appearance, if they were not already in existence, and
the writer was told of the following seven clans: na'pi 5'wats, 'wind
 Du Pratz, Hist. de La Louisiane, II, 201; by error in original, 191.
 SDe la Vente, letter of July 4, 1708, in Compte Rendu Cong. Internat. des Amer.,
15th sess.. i, 42.
 c La Harpe, Jour. Hist., 28, 1831.
 d Le Petit in Jes. Rel., LXVIII, 135.
 La Harpe, Jour. Hist., 29.