WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 249 



another through evil spirits, as a retaliation. Children of low men- 

 tality, too, are rare. 



Marriage. — Until recent years polygyny was the customary form 

 of marriage, with two wives as the prevailing number. A man could, 

 however, marry as many women as he was able to pay the bride price 

 for. Today polygynous marriages are looked at askance, but there 

 were several such marriages in each area. 



Simultaneous wives sometimes lived in one ruka; each wife then 

 had her own fireplace, or occasionally all wives used the same one. 

 More often, probably, each wife lived in a separate ruka. Wives, in 

 some instances, took turns cooking for all the families of a husband ; in 

 other instances, each wife cooked for her own children only. The first 

 wife a man married gave orders to his other wives and had priority 

 rights in other matters. Although, in general, simultaneous wives lived 

 peacefully, exceedingly trying situations, with consequent suicide by 

 one of the wives, occurred. 



Polyandry was never part of the Araucanian culture. In all prob- 

 ability there was no wife lending, despite Cooper's sources. The idea 

 of daughter lending was repellent. Promiscuity occurred, and occurs 

 today, but is rare. Homosexuality among young men was reported 

 as a common thing. 



Cross-cousin marriage is institutional, with preference for marriage 

 between a woman's children and those of her brother. Prohibited 

 marriages are those between parallel cousins, between children of one 

 wife (in case of simultaneous wives) and those of another wife, be- 

 tween a man and one of his father's widows, between a man and his 

 paternal or maternal grandmother, and between a woman and her 

 paternal or maternal grandfather. Both sororate and levirate were in- 

 stitutional, but not obligatory. 



Persons were of marriageable age when they had reached the twen- 

 ties ; most men were married before they reached the thirties. In 

 general, the man was a few years older than the first woman he 

 married. This is still the case today. Succeeding wives were usually 

 much younger than the man. 



A desirable wife is one who can do the work expected of a woman; 

 a man is ready for marriage when he knows how to support a family 

 and has the wherewithal to do so. There is a proper procedure in the 

 choice of a mate and an accepted traditional marriage ceremonial with 

 payment of the bride price. Kidnaping and eloping, too, are tradi- 

 tional, but they are not considered proper ways to marry. Today, the 

 accepted traditional way is seldom followed. If a young man is un- 

 able to pay the bride price, or is unwilling to do so, and finds his 



