Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1897-01-14
wHERg WIVES ARE eoueAr.


-
Payment Of Price.
There are many countries in which.
n a man wishes to be legally married,
he has to 60 out and buy wife, though
the market price Of that article varies
considerably. In Uganda you can get
what you require for two or three bul.
locks, or aven for six good sewing nee
dies, or perhaps n box Of percussion
caps; while inferior wives can be
niclSed up for a coat, and II one Is In
different to health and beauty. for a
pair Of shoes In the Caroline islands
wives are cheap
A father will let you marry dis
daughter II you give him little fruit
or small present OF fish. while in Sa-
moa matrimony runs you into pigs aud
canoes; among the Fijians into whales
teeth and musketS In Tartary II Is
best TO marry beneath you (you can do
It on few pounds OF butter), because
n man who has lordly notions of mar.
fiage with one OF tho upper ten must
he an owner OF horses The aborigines
OF Australia manage their marriages
upon n most equitable principle
a. n nAnAANA W ~ = rinANIt lt
allows him TO marry his own; or " i
happens TO be n widower. then his
daughter will do just as well. One OF
the most Objectionable forms OF gain
ing a wife Is to work for her, n prac-
ticeamoug many uncivilized nations, is
only advantage being that man can
get wife on credit, thoug his father.
in-law takes good care t.at he serves
his time.
Among some races you have TO do
your work before you get your wife, as
Jacob had to serve for Leah aud for
Rachel Marriage by exchange and
purchase is not customary among un.
civilized nations only. In Central
America and Peru n man has TO work
TO- his bride.
In China present Is given by the
father OF the bridegroom. the amount
OF which is agreed upon by both
families. The Japanese made use OF n
similar custom, though in their case,
the giving of presents Is the moat i'm
portant part OF the whole marriage
ceremony, for, after these have been
delivered and formally accepted,
neither OF the contracting parties is
able TO go back.
Wife purchase appears TO have been
the basis OF lndo-European marriage
before the separation of the peoples
took place. Manu- mentions the Asura
form of marriage as one OF purchase,
and according to Aristotle tho ancient
Greeks were in the habit of buying
their brides; for in the Homerlc age
maiden was called by a name which
Aignided zone who brings her parents
many oxen"
The old Scandinuvians believed that
even the gods had paid a price FOR
their wives, and In Germany the ex.
preston ''to purchase wife" was In
vogue until the end of the middle ages.
The old inhabitants of Ireland and
Wales were accustomed to buy thor
wives with gold and silver or land In
Servia, at the beginning of our cen
tury, girls had reached such price
that Black George reduced their value
20 one ducat
Among the many savage nations the
equivalents OF wife are varied and
grotesque. Poor Bashkirs purchase
theirs with cnrtloads of wood or hay;
the Indian Kisans, with two baskets
Of rice and a rupee; a tribe in Cali.
fornia, with half string of dentalium
shell, and among the Psdsms. a rude
people OF India, the suitor shows his
intentions by gifts of field mice and
squirrels.-Pall Nall Gazette.