cooi-EK] BIBLIOGRAPHY OP TRIBES OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO 167 



C Onas. — Polygamy is apparently less common and less pro- 

 nounced among the Onas. According to Dr. Lehmann-Nitsche {a) 

 and Senor Marguin (501) the Onas are monogamous. It seems, how- 

 ever, that polygamy is allowed and practiced to a certain extent, as 

 is attested by Dr. Gallardo (212), Prof. Furlong {d, 221), Dr. Dabbene 

 (a, 72), and Dr. Outes {d, 135). According to Dr. Gallardo, among 

 the Onas of the north "casi nunca el indio tiene mas de una mujer y 

 rara sera la vez que pase de dos" (227). Dr. Segers states (65) that 

 while bigamy exists, it is not common, and a man ''casi nunca" 

 has more than two wives. Senor Lista (6, 128) says practically the 

 same of the southern Ona (Manekenkn) . According to the Salesian 

 missionaries polygamy is allowed ; a native never has more than four 

 wives, some Onas have three, many two, but usually they have only 

 one (Beauvoir, 6, 207; Cojazzi, 24). 



To summarize the foregoing, it may be said that most of the 

 most dependable authorities attest that monogamy is the prevailing 

 custom among the thi'ee Fuegian peoples, although polygamy is 

 allowed and rather widely practiced. 



Divorce 



Our sources give little exphcit information on this point. Among 

 the Yahgans Capt. Martial found it frequent (199-200; cf. also 

 Hyades, p, 335), while Mr. Thos. Bridges states {a, Fr. tr., 172) that 

 the Yahgan sometimes practice divorce and (Ji, 210) that some 

 women have had as many as ten or more successive husbands. 

 Yahgan partners are often changed before the birth of the first child 

 (Hyades, q, 377-378). According to Dr. Gallardo (220), divorce is 

 of rare occurrence among the Onas. 



Conjugal Fidelity 



A. Alacaluf. — The men are jealous of their wives and demand 

 fidehty of them (Skottsberg, d, 596; cf. also Bougainfille, 2d ed., 

 I, 296). Capt. King (55-56) relates a case where an Alacaluf met 

 near Port Cooke wanted to sell his wife; that, however, she was 

 actually his wife is not clear from the evidence. 



B. Yahgans. — The Yahgans clearly recognize conjugal rights (Th. 

 Bridges, Ic, 234; Hyades, p, 334-335; q, 378; and others). Adultery 

 on the part of the woman is punished severely by the husband, with 

 hard blows (Hyades, p, 335), rarely with death (Martial, 199; Dab- 

 bene, b, 189), and entrains a certain "mesestime publique" (Hyades, 

 g, 378). Jealous wives make life very disagreeable for their hus- 

 bands (Hyades, q, 378-379); a husband's infideUty gives rise to 

 domestic "scenes" (Hyades, p, 335), and even at times to violent 

 beatings, if we may judge by the fact that Dr. Spegazzini reported 

 seeing one man who had been paralyzed from the waist down by 

 blows from his outraged better half (a, 10). 



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