PKIMITIVE AGEICULTUEAL EACES 167 



any conclusion as to what the condition of affairs was before the 

 habits of the Indians had been much modified by contact with 

 white men. The fact, however, that the habit is definitely 

 recorded by various authors, who for the most part made their 

 observations at a time when the habits of these races were far 

 less modified than when the more detailed accounts were written 

 from which these races are best known, strongly suggests that 

 this custom was formerly widespread. 



There is no evidence of the use of any effective methods to 

 prevent fertilization. We are told that among the Shawnees 

 ' the girls drink the juice of a certain herb which prevents con- 

 ception, and often renders them barren throughout life '.^ But 

 in those cases which have been carefdly investigated it would 

 seem that such methods are not in fact effective. Hrdlicka, for 

 instance, referring to a number of tribes, among whom are the 

 Apaches, Navahos, Pueblos, Pimas, Nahua, Aztec, and Uti, says 

 that ' there is a very general belief among the Indians visited that 

 sterility may be artificially induced '.^ On investigation, however, 

 it was found that the substances used were quite ineffective. 



6. Among agricultural, as among hunting and fishing races, we 

 find numerous references to the small average number of children 

 in a family. Speaking generally of the Indians of the North, 

 Weld states that the number of children is small,^ and Le Beau 

 that the number of children born is less than in Europe.* Charle- 

 voix comments on the small size of the family among the Iroquois 

 and attributes it to early intercourse, abstention from intercourse 

 during lactation, and to prolonged lactation.^ Catlin, whose 

 experience was chiefly obtained among the Mandans, has given 

 the estimate quoted in the fourth chapter,^ and Holder's estimate 

 for the Crow tribe has also been cited.' Of the Sioux we are told 

 that ' sterility among women is by no means uncommon ',^ and of 

 the south-west Texas tribes ' they are not prolific— a woman 

 seldom having more than three children '.^ In South America 

 the facts are similar. Nordenskiold visited the tribes between 

 Peru and Bolivia. ' The famihes are not large,' he says, ' they 

 live in monogamy, and one sees in each family one to three 

 children ; in the largest family that I saw (and that was among 



1 Ashe, loc. cit., p. 272. ^ Hrdlicka, S. I. B. E., Bull. 34, p. 163. 



3 Weld, loc. cit., p. 373. * Le Beau, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 199. * Charle- 



voix, loc. cit., vol. vi, p. 5. » p. 99. ' p. 99. » Keating, loc. 



cit., vol. i, p. 415. » Schoolcraft, loc. cit., vol. v, p. 684. 



