When Americans and Canadians of European descent began to study Iroquois customs in the 18th and 19th centuries, they found that women assumed a position in Iroquois society that was about equal in power to that of the men. Women could own property including homes, horses and farmed land, and when they married, they could keep their property without it being given to their husbands. A woman could keep the money she earned for herself. A husband lived in the longhouse of his wife's family. A woman choosing to divorce a husband who was not being a good husband was able to ask him to leave the dwelling, taking any of his possessions with him. Women had responsibility for the children of the marriage, and children were educated by members of the mother's family. The clans were matrilineal, which means that clan ties were traced through the mother's line. If a couple broke up, the woman kept the children.