Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-01-20
POlyandrOus Women.

From the New York Sun.
In recent letter from member Of the expe-
dition that is surveying the boundary line be-
tween Alaska and Canada the writer says he has
met tribes on the upper Yukon river where it is
not uncommon for the women to have two or
more husbands. He speaks Of the people as
miserably poor and it is an interesting fact that
this is the condition of the people i'll all par Is
OF the world among whom the practice of poly
andry prevails. Mr. Rockhill found an oppor-
tunlty year ago to observe this custom, which
exists to o considerable extent along his route
IN eastern Thibet and among the Mongols of
the Tsaidam His explanation is that the soil
capable of culture being very limited the tribes
who live chiefly by tilage and herding find it I'M
possible to have one or more wives for each man.
1t Is therefore the custom for the brothers in a
family to have only one wife among them, and
while one BROTHER goes on trading JOURNEYS
and another looks after the live stock their
wife manages the household and is the general
manager and counselor.
it is not from choice, then but from neces-
sfty that some savage people in all parts of the
world practice poiyandry. Richer and more
comfortable savages have one or more wives
apiece or even support harems. One would ex-
pect, therefore, that IN far northern regions,
where the conditions of life are most severe
and food most difficult to obtain, polyandy
would chiefly be found, and. in fact, no where
Is the custom more widely prevalent than in
the thinly peopled northern part of this CONT
nent and chiefly among the tribes of Alaska.
As far east as Hudson Bay. if polyandry does
not exist as an institution, there is at least
promiscuity in the married relation, and Es-
kimo there, starting on long hunting expedi-
tiOns, are often accompanied by the wives of
other members of the tribe. VINO are loaned for
the occasion
Among the Alaskan Eskimo every man is en-
titled to as many wives as he can get, but as
women not frequently in the minerity the
men cheerfuly accommodate themselves to the
situation, and two or more of them live in a hut
with one woman. In the rugged wilderness
Inhabited by the Koniagas, further south, Mr..
Bancroft says two husbands are allowed to one
woman. One of the husbands, however occu-
pies an inferior position in the household and
is lord and master there only when the other
man is not around the pre- misses
The many remnants of tribes which practise
polyandry in the region Of the Central African
lakes seem to owe the custom to their misfor-
tunes. They were preyed upon by Arab slave
dealers or stronger tribes until they lost the
larger number of their wornens the most highly
priced spoils OF war, and being unable to
restore the numerical equality of the sexes,
and the children, calling all the villagers
father or mother, belonged not to the family,
but to the community. The custom of plural
husbands, originating in violence, finally be-
came a sort OF social law, and is regarded as
praiseworthy.
None Of the warlike and powerful tribes
practices polyandry, and it may be accepted
as a general rule that savage polygamists are
comparatively well to do and successful in war
while the polyandrists form the more miserable
and helpless communities.