Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1905-10-15
THE MOTHER-N-LAW
Her STRANGE POSITION AMONG MANY
OF THE WORLDS PEOPLES.

Places Where She Is Neither Pernii-
ted TO SPEAK tn Nor Loos tpon the
Husband of Her Observation-Disclosures.
About This Queer Custom.
! Among the Ara walks OF South Amerl-
bca 1t is, unlawful for a .Houmg man to
See the face of his motherin-law. II
Fhey live IN the same house u partition
Enust be set up between them. IL they
,EO in the same boat she has Ia step in
l1rst, SO us to keep her back turned ON
hIm. ROchefort says: among the Ca
ribs all the women talk with whom
Fhey will. bu, the husband dare not
converse with his wife's relatives ex-
fept on extraordinary occasions"
In many parts Of Australia II woman
will not look at her daughters husband
ait all hazards. She hides whenever he
comes near her. going out OF her way
TO avoid him. AMI il ii is impossible she
hides her face with her cloak She
would not mention his maine for any
ching in the world The l\utfir woman
10 her face. She would far rather
speak 10 IA stranger than To her son-in
Jaw.
Franklin who gave much time to the
studies uf the North American Indian,
assures Us IL is considered extremely
plnproper for II woman To- speak to her
Son-ln-law. ana when she has any I'M
Wortant communication to make il is
considered proper for her 10 turn her
back on him and speak by means OF II
third person. The same law holds good
among the Sioux aud Dnkoias. and II
violated the offender is punished by
having his garments torn from his
back and thrown away. With tie Oma-
has neither the father nor mother has
anything TO do with the sCn-in- lay
n9r lie With them. They will not look
at one another or speak his name.
Ia his travels To T!mbuctoo Cail!ies
narrates that from the moment Of be-
itrothnl the lover Is careful not 10 sec
the father and mother of the bride
They avoid each other III the time He
says. "a tried in vain To discover the
origin or the whimsical custom. but
the only answer | could obtain was, 1T
Eis our way"
This custom extends beyond the re.
llations. If The lover is OF II different
cump lie avoids all the inhabitants OF
the womens camp. except few init
mate friends whom he is permitted 10
visit. \ little tent liz generally sci up
for the son-in-law, and when he is
lobliged To cross the camp he covers his
face. This custom exists among In.
dian tribes and extends far beyond
In the tribes of New South Wales the
young man, when counting girl,
iavoids her mother as much as he can
and grows more distant after he is
married. With some Victorian tribes
fthe estrangemcnt is even reater-the
lmother and aunt MS well may not look
Ut the young man nor speak 10 him
from betrOthal TO death When they
speak before each other they have to
use II turn language. Under no con
iditiOn would the young man dare TO
speak 10 his wifes mother
Alaclean. who studied this custom
among the Iuus OF Africa says IA
rdaughter-in-law must cut herself off
not allowed even to pronounce their
names mentally. This statement shows
fthut in some countries the girl must
ignore her husbands relatives as much
as he does her mother. but this is less
frequent.
In Asia among the MongOls and the
'Calmucks II woman dare not speak to
.Ier father-in-law nor sit down in his
presence. Unlas In an interesting
work OH the Ostuks OF Siberia declares
fhut young married woman avoids
her father-in-law whenever she can
especially during the early years OF her
married life In the meanwhile the
husband is not expected To see any
thing OF his mOther-n-law IL lie
meels ner by chance lie hides.
In China, after the wedding day, a
man never sees the face of his daugh.
ter-in-iaw. y similar custom exists i'm
BOrneo and the Fill islands.
Some people consider il absolutely
criminal for II young man even To give
q stray glance to his mother-in law.
however good looking she is They
SAY that they must not look on her
lest they 20 mad. 1t is The fashion
with some tribes in central Africa to
st with bent knees In their presence
and not 10 put their feet ont. 4 Kongo
proyerb states: My mothcr-m-law is
angry with me- but what do care!
we do not eat from the same dish -
Some men Will speak Ia their mothers
by marriage. hnt will not call them
by namc. This is true Of the people
or the Torres strait
Many more instances might be men.
T!oned. but these are enough To show
lilal the position OF shc mother-in law
among many peoples is strange. The
cause Tor IL is mDt positively known.
Sir john Lubbock feels that it's origin
HES In capture where u man reoIi,.