110 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



Husband- Wife 



The relation between a husband and wife varied widely with 

 different couples and changed gradually from the time of marriage 

 to old age. Probably the majority of couples got along very well, 

 particularly when the young people made their own choice of mates 

 and were assisted subsequently by their relatives in completing the 

 marriage ceremonies. Residence was, in theory, matrilocal. A 

 study of 39 lodge groups at Fishhook Village as of 1872 shows that 

 22 were matrilocal, 11 were patrilocal, and 6 were both patrilocal 

 and matrilocal. A young married man was expected to live with his 

 wife at her lodge and to hunt for her family except when: his mother 

 had no grown daughters at home; he was an older man long married 

 and needed a young wife to help his aging wives; or his wife had 

 several brothers-in-law already living in her mother's lodge. 



At first the bond between the husband and wife was weak and 

 easily broken by the husband if they were living in the wife's lodge, 

 and by the wife if she was living with her husband's people. This 

 was probably due to jealousy since the husband would frequently 

 continue to see girls he had "run around" with before marriage and 

 husbands were suspicious of their wives and always checldng up on 

 them to see if they had dropped their former sweethearts. There 

 was a saying that a young married couple would get along better 

 when their children came. This was generally true. 



There was a marked sex dichotomy in labor and in ownership 

 of property. The woman cared for the garden, cured the meat, 

 tanned hides and made the clothing, supervised building the lodge, 

 and did all of the household work. The man hunted, cared for the 

 horses, assisted in the heavier work of building and repairing the 

 lodge, went on war expeditions for horses and scalps, and carried 

 out most of the ritualistic activities. 



Sexual relations were avoided during menstrual periods and there 

 was segregation during that time. Although sexual relations were 

 not taboo during pregnancy, it was customary for the parents-in-law 

 to offer another daughter or one standing in that relationship as 

 second wife when the first one was in advanced pregnancy, since 

 intercourse was not considered wise after the fifth or sixth month. 

 In a population with a ratio of nearly three females to each male, 

 rarely was it impossible to supply a second wife. This was obviously 

 an insurance against having the man running around with other 

 women and possibly losing him as well. 



In the wife's lodge a man could divorce his wife by simply picking 

 up his things and walking out — or his wife might tell him to leave. 

 When living with the husband's household, a man would generally 



