106 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



terms of address all emphasized a son's masculine character and 

 discouraged him from participating in female activities. He was 

 permitted to own property in his own right and to dispose of it; he 

 was taught to use bows and arrows and to hunt small animals and 

 birds; he was instructed in the importance of warfare, fasting, and 

 hunting, and was discouraged from gardening and wood gathering. 



The mother contributed much time to advising her son, as a child, 

 a duty that was largely taken over by her brother as the son ap- 

 proached the age of puberty. She would advise a son in matters 

 dealing with ceremonial participation, contribute goods for his use 

 in the ceremonies, and direct his efforts in securing proper visions. 

 The mother was his closest relative and the one who did most to 

 organize her cooperating group to contribute material assistance 

 consisting of goods, horses, and food for a son's age-grade and other 

 purchases. Although a mother would have a direct interest in 

 selecting a daughter-in-law who would make a good wife, she would 

 not ordinarily say a great deal when she disapproved, leaving the 

 matter to her brothers and older sons to decide. If they, too, objec- 

 ted to the marriage, there would be no goods put up, in which case 

 the other family would generally withdraw the marriage offer. 



A young man was expected to obey his mother. If she was growing 

 feeble and had no daughters to help her in the lodge and her gardens 

 she, in consultation with her brothers, frequently selected a young 

 woman as wife for her unmarried son at home with the intention of 

 bringing the daughter-in-law into the lodge to help her and to inherit 

 the lodge and gardens when she herself was too old to manage the 

 household. In such cases, she enlisted the assistance of the other 

 females of the lodge and her brothers of other households to put up 

 the necessary goods and horses to complete the marriage. This was 

 a happy arrangement for a woman without female descendants. She 

 could keep her son at home to hunt and provide for her household. 

 Situations of this nature required respect and cooperation between 

 the females, the mother on the one hand and the wife on the other. 



A man was expected to look after his mother, irrespective of his 

 residence, and to take an interest in her welfare. As a newly married 

 man he was free to return to his mother's lodge at any time, and if 

 he wished to give a feast for his friends or respective relatives, it was 

 always given at the mother's lodge. She and her daughters were 

 expected to meet him when returning from a successful war expedition 

 and to sing his praises — or to torture themselves if he died or was 

 killed. A man would return often to his mother's lodge for meals 

 and, should he return to the village from hunting and find his wife 

 out of the lodge, he would leave most of his meat with his wife's 



