50 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



no wealth and no laws. Occasionally a member of a tribe 

 gives offense, and some of the leaders agree to kill him, and 

 the sentence is carried into effect by waylaying him and 

 shooting him with arrows. Their rule is. blood for blood. 

 They rarely keep men prisoners, but kill adult male captives 

 immediately. Women and children are held frequently as 

 prisoners ; and one of the most common causes of war is the 

 capture of women. They have no hereditary slavery. 

 They have no marriage ceremony, and the duration of the 

 marriage relation depends entirely upon the pleasure of the 

 husband. Polygamy is permitted by many of the tribes. 

 The women are not prolific, or at least the children are few, 

 and mostly boys. The girls are neglected, or intentionally 

 killed soon after birth, and this policy would, if continued, 

 soon cause an extinction of the race in California. In 

 certain tribes on the northern coast, if a mother, having 

 an infant child, dies, the child is buried with her. Most of 

 the tribes burn their dead, commencing the cremation in the 

 evening, and keeping up the fire all night, while the friends 

 watch, and the women relatives utter plaintive cries until day- 

 light. They have no religious ceremonies ; or no ceremonies 

 to which they attach ideas clearly religious. Every year, 

 usually in the spring, they have a dance, as it is called. They 

 assemble, build a large fire, and the men surround it, and 

 keeping their knees, elbows, and backs bent, they beat time 

 with their feet to a monotonous song, which they sing with 

 the assistance of the squaws, who sit off on one side. In some 

 tribes, several of the men have pipes, from which they elicit a 

 few notes as ao accompaniment for the song. 



The squaws are treated like slaves. They are required to 

 do all the work, and to attend to every want of their hus- 

 bands. They must collect vegetable food, prepare it, and 

 carry all the movable property in times of migration. They 

 are beaten on the slightest provocation. The men never con- 

 sult them about the management of public or private affairs. 



