GILBERTSON: ESKIMO CULTURE 67 



her little son, whom she educated with the view of making him 

 a hater of the male sex.&quot; (53:462.) 



It happens that a suitor encounters not only the objections 

 of the girl or her parents or both, but also those of rivals. 

 Peary reports that 



1 if two men want to marry the same woman, they settle the question by 

 a trial of strength, and the better man has his way. These struggles are 

 not fights, as the disputants are amiable.&quot; 



Another method is reported by Boas (6:466); the woman is 

 made to stand in the center of a hut, where the older people 

 assemble, and the several suitors try to get possession of her, 

 the strongest being allowed to marry her. &quot;In one of these 

 cases, two men struggled for a woman, and when they were 

 tired out, a third man rushed in and carried her off.&quot; This 

 custom is known also among the neighboring Athapascan In 

 dians. A gentler method was that adopted by two Green- 

 landers who agreed to make the test a kayak race. (53:170.) 

 Marriage ceremonies seem to be almost unknown among the 

 Eskimo. Rink s statement that &quot;the wedding was performed 

 without any special ceremony&quot; appears to indicate the general 

 rule. Hans Egede states that &quot;well-to-do parents have a feast 

 for their son s wedding. &quot; (19 :80. ) Murdoch reports a celebra 

 tion in the home of the bride s parents. (42:411.) Bancroft 

 does not give the authority for a description of an Alaskan 

 marriage ceremonial. (2.1:83.) Hans Egede states that there 

 was also a feast &quot;the day after the bridegroom slept with the 

 bride.&quot; (19:80.) This suggests a postponement of the con 

 summation of the marriage. Light may perhaps be cast on 

 this obscure passage by a remark by Paul Egede that a day 

 or two should, according to custom, elapse after the bride had 

 been brought to the man s house. (20:28.) These are the 

 only references I have found to any such custom among the 

 Eskimo. This people are singularly free from sexual rites and 

 taboos, of the sort which fill Crawley s volume, The Mystic 

 Rose. Evidence from Eskimo society tends to support Wester- 

 marek s very moderately expressed opinion that Crawley has 

 &quot;somewhat exaggerated&quot; the danger attributed to sexual inter 

 course. (71.2:415.) Murdoch well states the Eskimo conception 

 of marriage as far as its social relations are concerned: &quot;The 

 marriage bond was regarded simply as a contract entered into 



