HRi.i.KKA] mi vsi(»L()(;icAr. and mkdical oij^krvations 51 



Tcpccaiio, and Iluicliol, and to lesser decrees anions; the (\)ra and 

 Tepehuane. It has disappeared wherever the white man's religion 

 has gained a firm foothold. 



The lile of tlie married Inthan is ordinarily, as the writer had a 

 chance to observe in many localities and instances, one of quiet and 

 contentment rather than of active, demonstrative ha])piness, and often 

 one of greater independence of action of both parties than among 

 most whites. It is decidedly a more primitive, more natural family 

 life, one of less nnitual regard as well as helpfvdness. In some tribes 

 the husband exercises more authority over his wife than in others. 

 In most tribes if the woman displeases her husband, or if he becomes 

 jealous, she is liable to be maltreated by him. Among the Iluichol, for 

 example, a man beat his wife because she permitted herself to be 

 measured by the writer against her husband's wishes; the woman was 

 old and it could hardly have been a question of jealousy. Unfaithfid- 

 ness on the part of the wife, if detected by the husband, is generally 

 punished corporally. Among the Apache, until about twenty-five 

 years ago, in some instances the jealous husband or the female relatives 

 cut off the unfaithful wife's nose;" in rare instances the husband 

 killed her. 



After marriage, conception with the Indian woman occurs usually 

 without much delay. There were no signs of any im])ortant differ- 

 ences, either in this respect or in ths periods between successive 

 pregnancies, as compared with the average white woman. 



Further peculiarities of the sexual life of the ])eople could not be 

 inquired into with profitable results. From various indications the 

 subject does not offer much of unusual interest. 



There are no nmtilations of the genital organs, with one possil)le 

 exception. An artificial production of the so-called " nuijerados," for 

 purposes of ceremonial pederasty, among some of the Pueblos was 

 reported, but it is not known whether this is still practised.'' 



STERILE women; PREFERENCE OF SEX; GESTATION 



Women sterile by nature occur in every tribe, but the ])roportion is 

 always small. 



There are only a few childless women, known as Ixi-tu-a-wit, among 

 the Southern Ute. The people have no definite theory concerning the 

 condition. 



Some naturally sterile women were met with among the White 

 Mountain and other Apache. There is no special term by which 



a "As a punishment for adultery on the part of the wife [among the Apache] the nose was formerly cut 

 off, 1)ut this practice seems to have been abandoned in later years, for, on a visit among them and after 

 observing about 3,000 Indians, I saw only seven women so disfigured, and they had reached or passed 

 the middle age."— Special Agent Stephen Whited. Report on Indians, Eleventh Census, 1890, 150. 



Four women, all above 50 years of age, with their noses cut off, were seen by the writer in 1905 at San 

 Carlos. It was said that most of the mutilations were the work of the other women of the tribe. 



b Hammond, W. A., Sexual Impotence in the Male, New York, 1883. 



