Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1900-04-12
MARRIAGE By FORCE.
indians Of TERRA Del Fueso Take I'd,
vantage OF Their Strength,

Indians Of TERRA Del Fuego Take Id.
vantage OF Their strength.
Dr.. Frederick A. Cook tells of a little
known race of aborigines in an article
in the Century magazine for March
on "Fhe Giant Indians of TERRA del
Fuego," whom he visited on the Bel
gian antarctic expedition. OF their
marriage customs he writes: MAR
riage, like almost everything Ona, is
not fixed by established rules. It Is
arranged and rearranged from time TO
time to suit the convenience of the
contracting parties. The bargain is
made almost solely by the men, and
physical force is the principal bond OF
union. For ages the strongest bucks
have been accustomed to steal women
from neighboring tribes, and from
neighboring clans of their own tribe.
The Onas, being by far the most pow
erful Indians, have thus been able to
capture and retain a liberal supply Of
wives. A missionary who has been in
constant contact with these Indians
for thirty years has given it as his
opinion that a plurality of wives is
entirely satisfactory to their peculiar
emotions and habits of life. The rela-
ton to one another of the women who
possess but one husband in common
in the family wigwam is of novel in
terest. AS rule, they are no more
jealous than are the children in a civil
Lied home circle. The principal rea-
son for this is that the several wives
are often sisters. A young man takes
by force, by mutual agreement, or by
barter, the oldest daughter of a family.
If he proves himself good hunter and
kind husband, the wife persuades her
sister to join her wigwam and share
her husbands affections. Frequently,
when girl is left an orphan, she is
taken into a family and trained to be-
come the supplementary wife Of her
benefactor in after years. In the hut
each wife has her own assigned posi-
ton, always resting in exactly the
same spot, with all of her belongings
about her. The wealth of the house
hold is not common to- all the occu-
pants. Each woman has her own bas-
ket of meat fragments or shellfsh, her
own bag with implements, needles,
sinews and bits of fur, and each wife
has her own assemblage of children.
The work Of the man is strictly limit
ed to the chase. He carries his bow
and culver of arrows, and his eye is
ever on the horizon for game; but he
seldom stoops to anything like manual
labor that is not connected with the
actual necessities of the chase. He
kills the game, but the wife must carry
it into camp. In moving, the women
take up all of their earthly possessions.
pack them into huge roll, and with
this firmly strapped across their backs
they follow the unincumbered lead of
their brave but ungallant husbands.
Thus the women carry, day after day,
not only all the household furniture,
but the children and the portable por-
lions of the house. The women GER
tainly have all the uninteresting detail
and the drudgery of life heaped upon
them, but they seem to enjoy it. In
defense of the men it should be said
that they are worthy husbands. They
will fight fiercely to protect their
homes, and they will guard the honor
of their women with their own blood.
It is crying sin Of the advance of
Christian civilization that this red man
of. the far south should be compelled
to lay down his life at the feet of the
heartless pale-faced invaders to shield
the honor of his home"