82 PRIMITIVE PATERNITY 



heyday into the duller routine of matronly existence." 1 

 Thus among the Seri the husband takes a permanent 

 place in the wife's hut with her family, but as a wholly 

 subordinate personage, without any authority whatever. 

 In his mother's hut he has rights ; and if I understand 

 Dr. McGee correctly he may continue to have and 

 exercise them, notwithstanding his marriage. But in 

 his wife's hut he has none. Perhaps it is well that 

 sometimes he is not without a place of refuge. Com- 

 parison with the institutions of the Hopi and other 

 Pueblo tribes is obvious. 



The Maidu of California lived in village com- 

 munities ; the clan-organisation and motherright were 

 unknown. The former existence of motherright may 

 however be inferred from their customs. In the 

 Sacramento Valley, among the Northern Maidu the 

 girl's consent was always necessary to marriage and 

 was generally secured by the suitor before he addressed 

 himself to her family. When the marriage was 

 arranged, if she belonged to his own village the 

 husband usually went to live with his wife's family. 

 If she belonged to another village she came to live with 

 him. But in the latter case the pair would often pay a 

 long visit to her family about six months afterwards, 

 and for a period of some months at least the husband 

 hunted and fished for his wife's family. The mutual 

 avoidance of mother-in-law and son-in-law was enforced. 

 In the foot-hills on the other hand the girl had little 

 or no choice : the suitor settled the matter with her 

 parents. When he had paid the price agreed on he 

 came to the house and lived there with her until she 

 was old enough to manage a house herself, if she had 

 1 McGee, Rep. Bur. Ethn. xvii. 279*. 



