The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1900-08-15
MARRIAGE BY FORCE.
Giant Indians Of TERRA del Fuego and
Their Strength.

Iheir strength.
Dr. Frederick Cook tells of little
known race OF abortgines in an arti'
Gle in the Century Magazine for
March on 1.-THE Giant Indians OF
TERRA del Fuego." whom he visited
on the Belgian Antarctic expedition
or their marriage customs he writes
Marriage, like almost everything
Ona, is not fixed by establishing rules.
1t Is arranged and rearranged from
time to time to suit the convenience
OF the contracting parties. Women
generally have very little to say about
1t. The bargain is made almost sole
ly by the men. and physical force Is
the principal bond of union. For ages
the strongest bucks have been accus-
toned to steal women from neighbor-
ing tribes, and from neighboring
clans of their own tribe. The Onas.
being by far the most powerful In
dams. have thus been able to capture
and retain liberal supply of wives.
A missionary who has been In CON
slant contact with these Indians for
thirty years has given 1t as his opin-
ion that plurality of wives is en-
tirely satisfactory to their peculiar
emotions and habits OF life.
The relation b uAe another of the
women who pc 4s&ss but one husband
in common In ~ family wigwam Is
of novel Interest,", As a rule, they are
no more Jealous than are the children
In civilized home circle. The prin-
cipal reason for this Is that the sew
eral wives are often sisters young
man takes by force, by mutual agree
ment or by barter, the oldest daughter
OF family. II he proves himself a
good hunter and kind husband. the
wife persuades her sister to join her
wlgwam and share her husbands af-
fections. Frequently. when a girl Is
left an orphan. she Is taken into a
family and trained to become the sup
Elementary wife of her benefactor in
after years. In the hut each wife has
her own assigned position, always
resting in exactly the same spot, with
all her belongings about her. The
wealth OF the household is not com.
mon to all occupants. Each woman
has her own basket of meat fragments
or shellfish, her own bag with nipple
ments, needles, sinews and bits of fur,
and each wife has her own assemblage
of children.
The work of the man Is strictly
limited to the chase He carries his
bow and CULVER of arrows, and his eye
is ever on the horizon for game; but
he seldom stops to anything like man.
ual labor that Is not connected with
the chase. He kills the game. but
the wife must cary it into camp In
moving the women take up all their
earthly possessions, pack them in a
huge roll, and with this strapped
across their backs they follow the
leed of their brave but ungallant hus.
band. Thus the women carry, day
after day, not only all the household
furniture, but the children and the
portable portions of the house. The
women certainly have all the uninter.
esUpg detail and the drudgery of life
heaped upon them, but they seem to
enjoy it. In defense OF the men 1t
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. 1t is a crying sin
of the advance of Christian civiliza-
ton that this red man of the far
south should be compelled to lay
down his life at the feet of the heart
less pale-faeed invaders to shield the
honor of their home.