As has been elsewhere pointed out,[2] the social organization of the Pomo is based primarily upon blood relationship, the blood relatives who resided in a definite village grouping themselves into a political unit under the leadership of an hereditary "captain." Usually several of these consanguineal units comprise a village, and their captains form its governing body. From among these the people elect a head captain. Not even the head captain has absolute authority, nor has any captain important judicial power, or power to inflict punishment. In short, the function of the captain is primarily that of adviser to the group. The special duties of the head captain in olden times were to welcome and entertain visitors from other villages, and to meet in council with the other captains concerning matters of general public welfare, and to arrange for and preside over ceremonies. What may be termed an honorary captainship was accorded any man who, through his wealth or his prowess as a hunter, made himself very popular by providing large quantities of food and numerous feasts for the people. A similar honorary office, that of female captain, da´ xalik (E), was based upon a woman's popularity, which depended in turn on her good-heartedness and her fame as a cook. Neither of these honorary offices, however, was hereditary. In spite of the ambiguous nature of the office, incumbents were accorded great respect at ceremonies and other public functions. The other officials had duties almost, if not quite, exclusively connected with ceremonies and had nothing directly to do with governmental affairs. We may recognize the fire-tenders, the head singers, the chorus singers, the drummers, and the masters of ceremonies. Such offices were considered very honorable and were, as a rule, hereditary. This was particularly true of the offices of fire-tender, head singer, and drummer, in which the succession followed precisely the same rules as did the chieftainship. The fire-tenders, called me´dze (N) and la´imoc (E), were officials of very great importance. Connected with each of the large, semi-subterranean "dance-houses"[3] there were two fire-tenders, who saw to all matters concerning the fire and the preparation of the dance-house except actually procuring the firewood. All the men participating in the ceremony were supposed to bring wood, which they placed just outside the dance-house. One of the fire-tenders then carried it up and dropped it through the smoke-hole, while the other stacked it in ricks in the proper places within the house. As remuneration for their labor, they received the beads which were thrown at the dancers[4] by the people during the ceremony and which were swept up when the dance-house was cleaned.