MARRIAGE CUSTOMS OF ABORIGINES. 105 



him without even a spear or a mat to sleep upon — nothing- but the mere 

 shell of the house. Sometimes the.y would even demolish the house 

 itself. If a woman was unfaithful the husband might kill the adulterer, 

 but the wife would receive no punishment." 



Divorce was frequent and might take place for an}- cause of discon- 

 tent on the part of either the husband or the wife. The most frequent 

 cause was jealousy. In all cases the children accompanied the mother, 

 and should she remarry they looked upon her new husband as a father. 



Concubinage. — It was customary for the urritaos, or bachelors, to 

 live in a "great house,'' often in companionship with .voung women 

 whom they purchased from their parents or hired for a cei'tai.i time. 

 This did not injure the chances of either for marriage. As in other 

 islands of the Pacific where a similar custom prevailed, it is ])robable 

 that the o-irls obtained from their families in this wav came from other 

 villages, and not from that in which they were to live. Certainly 

 degrees of relationship were I'espected in such cases as scrupuloush' as 

 in marriage. Sexual relations between kindred were considered 

 infamous. After marriage, lidelity was expected and as a rule was 

 observed on the part of both husl)and and wife. 



In cases of true marriage presents were also made bv the groom to 

 the father of the bride. A disregard for the marriage customs of the 

 natives on the part of the early missionaries was one of the causes of 

 complaint of the natives and linally led to bloodshed and war.^ In 

 ltJ76, the first regularly appointed governor, Don Francisco Irisari y 

 Vivar, shortly after his arrival in Guam, wishing to punish the village 

 of Talisai for the pride of its inhabitants, who had remained away 

 from the hesta of Corpus Cristi, celebrated ])v the missionaries with 

 processions, dances, and contests of the children in reciting the cate- 

 chism, marched upon it during the night, and at daybreak tired upon 

 the unsuspecting inhabitants; several of them were killed and others 

 escaped to the woods l)adly wounded. The house of the urritaos Avas 

 burued and three babies were carried to the mission and 1)aptized. 

 Shortly afterwards several marriages were solenmized by'the padres 

 between girls educated at the mission schools and Spanish soldiers. 

 In the school at the village of Orote there was a ^^oung girl who 

 wished to marry a Spaniard. Padre Sebastian de Monroy, the niis- 

 sionar}^ stationed at that village, performed the ceremony secretlv, 

 without the consent or knowledge of the girl's parents. While the 

 party were still in the church the bride's father came in a great rage 

 protesting against the marriage of his daughter with the Spaniard, 

 and attacked both the bridegroom and the priest. The newly wedded 

 couple were sent for safety to Agana, and the padre, to console the 



"Garcia, Vida y Martyrio de Sanvitores, 1683, p. 202. ''Idem., p. 534. 



