Note 318 — Chapter IV · AGRICULTURAL TRIBES.
Reading edition
It is easy to understand, why subjection of tribes so seldom occurs among agriculturists. Hunting agriculturists, like true hunters, generally live in small groups and therefore cannot keep other tribes in a state of subjection. And among agricultural tribes of the higher stages men as well as women are continually engaged in agricultural labour; they are attached to the spot on which they live and, unlike nomadic cattle-keepers318, cannot easily control a neighbouring tribe. The vanquished tribe, by retreating a little, can place itself out of reach of the conquering tribe. Only where, as on the small Polynesian islands, escape is not practicable, can a vanquished district be kept in a state of subjection. The Iroquois were an exceptional case. They were hunting agriculturists in this sense, that agricultural labour was performed by the women only; but at the same time they had a strong military organization: the five nations formed a powerful union.