MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
Marriage itself was not formalized with any ceremony. It was common
practice for parents to arrange marriages when children were young and
these arrangements, which involved some exchange of gifts or payment,
were usually honored later. Most other marriages were arranged by
parents later when the children had reached maturity and generally these
recognized the children’s wishes. Both of these types of marriages were
the basis for extensive exchange of presents and visits, details of
which differed among the several tribes. In addition there was almost
universal payment for the girl—about ten strings of clamshell disks was
standard. The boy and girl became husband and wife simply upon starting
to live together, but the new status was usually marked by a feast
participated in by the families concerned. Generally there followed a
period of residence of the couple with one or both of the in-laws. On
occasion marriages grew from intimacies with no parental negotiations,
but such matches were not well regarded by the community.
Indian men frequently married women from other villages and occasionally
even women from other tribes.
If a wife died her sister was generally obliged to marry the widower.
Likewise, if the husband died it was customary that his brother would
marry the widow. A wise institution was the relationship of the husband
and wife with their in-laws. Neither could speak to nor hand things
directly to the in-law of opposite sex, or in some cases even to the
brothers and sisters of the in-laws; such things had to be done by a
third party. In some instances the mother-in-law even avoided looking at
her son-in-law even though she might like him. Such arrangements no
doubt prevented many arguments and quarrels, but as far as their own
evaluation of these customs were concerned, the basis lay in the belief
that a bear might eat either or both of the violators of the in-law
taboos.
The practice of having more than one wife at a time was common. One man
might have three or four wives, but rarely had more than two at a time.
Rich men or head-men and chiefs were most apt to have more than two
wives.
Divorce was simple indeed. The man just sent the girl back home if she
were barren, lazy, promiscuous, or the like. If he had good reasons for
wanting to get rid of his wife, her purchase price might be refunded by
her family, or else the ex-wife’s sister might be sent to him in
exchange, or, sometimes, in addition with no additional payment. On the
other hand, the wife might leave her husband if she had been badly
mistreated, or if the husband did not provide enough meat and clothing
for the family or if he were unfaithful. In divorce the children were
divided. Usually, but not always, the girls remained with their mother
and the boys with their father. However, divorce was not common among
Indians of this region.
On the whole, morals were high and sexual deviations were infrequent,
although the whole range of such practices were known to the aborigines.
It appears beyond argument that divorces, moral laxity, and sexual
aberrations increased with the coming of white man.