68 JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS PSYCHOLOGY 



by agreement of the contracting parties.&quot; (42:411.) The ab 

 sence of ceremonial reflects this attitude of non-interference by 

 the group. 



The prevailing form of marriage is monogamy, but polygamy 

 and even polyandry are allowed and practiced. (6:115, 466; 

 5:579; 50:65; 33:41; 16.1:147; 45:292; 19:77; 66:188; 63:276; 

 53:23; 43:145; 30:95; 42:411.) Polygamy is conditioned on a 

 man s possession of sufficient wealth to support more than one 

 wife; hence it is possible only for the ablest hunters. Thus it 

 may be regarded as a mark of honor. Another condition in 

 fluencing the form of marriage is the numerical ratio between 

 the sexes in any given group. Thus, among the Polar Eskimo, 

 polygamy is very rare, as there are more men than women. 

 (50:65; cf. 30:96.) Another factor to be taken into account 

 is the custom of the man s becoming a member of his wife s 

 family. As Boas points out, this would serve as a check to 

 polygamy. &quot;It is only when the new family settles on its own 

 account that a man is at full liberty to take additional wives.&quot; 

 ( 5:579; cf. 42:410.) This custom is not universal, nor even 

 usual, as far as our evidence tends to show. It appears to be 

 more common for the young couple to live with the husband s 

 parents. (See e.g., 6:115.) When free from obligations to 

 support relatives, the couple ordinarily maintain separate 

 households. 



Among the motives for polygamy, the desire for offspring 

 plays the most important role, although Rink s statement that 

 polygamy was &quot;only approved by public opinion in so far as 

 it aimed at the propagation of .male descendants&quot; is to be re 

 garded as too sweeping. He makes the same assertion in regard 

 to divorce and wife-exchanging, in which cases the exceptions 

 to the rule he lays down are even more numerous. (53:23.) 

 But we can accept Crantz statement that 



&quot;since it is esteemed a disgrace to have no children, and especially no 

 son to support their declining age, such childless Greenlanders as are 

 competent to maintain several wives, will seldom restrict themselves to 

 one.&quot; (16. 1: 147; cf. 30: 97.) 



Relief from further child-bearing on the part of the first wife 

 may also be a desideratum. A woman, on being asked why 

 her husband had taken another wife, replied, &quot;I asked him to 

 myself, for I m tired of bearing children.&quot; (43:144; cf. 

 16.1:147.) 



