8oo THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
find constant expression among some North American tribes. Quinault Indians of Washington believe that the use of any clothing which once belonged to a living man "would be speedy death. "^' No Thompson Indian would with impunity take pos- session of the bow and arrows, the long leggings and moccasins of a departed tribesman, for death or sickness would certainly come upon him.*^ By the Point Barrow Eskimo "all the personal property of the deceased is supposed to become unclean and must be exposed with him."^'^ Such beliefs as these, which modern ethnography has been making more and more manifest as a rul- ing conception in the lower culture, must have a not inconsider- able influence in developing the notion of the sacredness of private property.
But the range of taboo ideas and practices is far wider than has yet been indicated. Throughout the lower culture we have abundant evidence that the private property of the living is fre- quently protected by the imposition of taboos. ^^
The prohibitions include taboos of passage intended to pre- serve a tract of territory from intrusion, taboos of landed prop- erty together with the crops and fruits upon it, and even taboos of personal chattels and animals. They may be imposed directly by the immediate owner or else the chief or tribal medicine-man is called in to establish them. They are usually indicated by some simple charm which is readily understood by the passer-by. They operate commonly by magical processes; sooner or later the threatened evil descends, the curse falls on the head of the hapless offender; he and his suffer sharp and well-merited pun- ishment.
Among the Australian aborigines magical devices for the
"Willoughby in Ann, Rep. Smithsonian Institution for 1886, Part I, p. 277.
"Teit in Memoirs Amer. Museum Natural History, II, 331.
" Murdoch in Ninth Ann. Rep. Bur. EthnoL, p. 425.
- • Some of this evidence has lately been summarized by Professor Wester-
marck in his monumental treatise The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas (London, 1908), II, 55^9. And Dr. Frazer has recently made an inter- esting contribution to the subject (Psyche's Task [London, 1909] pp. 17-30). The reader is referred to these works for many additional illustrations of this general theme.
