NELSON] PUBERTY AND MARRIAGE RITES 



PUBERTY 



Among the Maleinut, and southward from the lower Yukon and adja 

 cent districts, when a girl reaches the age of puberty she is considered 

 unclean for forty days; she must therefore live by herself in a corner of 

 the house with her face to the wall, and always keep her hood over her 

 head, with her hair hanging disheveled over her eyes. During this time 

 she must not go out by day and but once each night when every one is 

 asleep, but if it is summer the girl commonly lives in a rough shelter out 

 side the house. At the end of the period she bathes and is clothed in 

 new garments, after which she may be taken in marriage. The same 

 custom formerly prevailed among the Unalit, but at present the girl is 

 secluded behind a grass mat in one corner of the room for the period of 

 only four days, during which time she is said to be a -gu-lm-tfa -ghlc, 

 meaning she becomes a woman, and is considered unclean. A peculiar 

 atmosphere is supposed to surround her at this time, and if a young 

 man should come near enough for it to touch him it would render him 

 visible to every animal he might hunt, so that his success as a hunter 

 would be gone. Should a considerable time pass after a girl reaches 

 puberty and no suitor appear, the father accumulates a large amount 

 of food and makes a festival for the purpose of announcing that his 

 daughter is ready for marriage. 



MARRIAGE 



Among the Unalit when a young man sees a girl he wishes to marry 

 he tells his parents and one of them goes to the girl s parents to ask 

 their consent. Having obtained this, the suitof dresses in his finest 

 clothing and goes to the bride s house with a new suit of garments, 

 which he puts upon her and she becomes his wife. If the parents of 

 either party have no children at home, the newly married couple go to 

 live with them; otherwise they set up an establishment of their own, 

 either building a new house or sharing one with some one else. 



The Unalit frequently marry first cousins or remote blood relatives 

 with the idea that in such a case a wife is nearer to her husband. One 

 man said that in case of famine, if a man s wife was from another family 

 she would steal food from him to save her own life, while the husband 

 would die of starvation ; but should a woman be of his own blood she 

 would share fairly with him. The wife is considered to become more a 

 part of the husband s family than he of hers. However, brothers and 

 sisters, and step brothers and step-sisters, do not intermarry. 



From the lower Yukon to the Kuskokwim child betrothals are com 

 mon and may occur in two ways. The parents of a very small girl 

 who have no son may agree with the parents of several sons that one 

 of the boys shall live with them and become the girl s husband. Again, 

 a young boy may sometimes choose a family, containing a girl, in which 



