268 OMAHA SOCIOLOGY. 



tn wean her infant, if she had one by hiin, before she became enceinte 

 by her next husband. When a woman disregarded this custom and 

 married too soon, she was in danger of being punished by the kindred 

 of the deceased husband. If they could catch her within a certain pe- 

 riod, they had the right to strike her on the head with knives, and 

 to draw the blood, but they could not inflict a fatal blow. Now, if 

 widows are w.der forty years of age they can marry in two or three 

 years alter the death of the first husband; but if they are over forty 

 years of age, they do not remarry. 



§ 99. Stepmothers. — Some are kind, others are cruel. But in the lat- 

 ter event there are certain remedies — the husband may separate from 

 his wife, or else some of the kindred of the children may take charge 

 of them. 



§ 100. Widowers. — Men used to wait from four to seven years before 

 they remarried ; now they do not wait over one or two years. The kin- 

 died of the deceased wife used to take a man's ponies from him if he 

 married too soon. Sometimes they became angry, and hit him ; but if 

 he waited a reasonable time, they had nothing to say. There is a sim- 

 ilar custom among the Otos and Pawnees. Sometimes a man loved his 

 wife so dearly that after her death he remained a widower a long time. 

 At last some of the kindred of the deceased woman would say to one 

 another, " See! this man has no one to sew his moccasins; seek a wife 

 for him (among our women)." Then this would be done, and he would 

 be induced to marry again. 



EIGHTS OF PARENTS AND OTHERS. 



§ 101. Eights of parents and other kindred. — Parents had no right to 

 put their children to death ; nor could they force them to marry against 

 their will. Mothers' brothers and brothers seem to have more author- 

 ity than the father or mother in matters relating to a girl's welfare. 

 They were consulted before she was bestowed in marriage, unless 

 she eloped with her husband. A mother could punish a disobedient 

 daughter when the latter was a child and refused to learn to work. 

 Kindred had the right to avenge the death of one of their number. 



§ 102. JffiqS, or Refugees. — They have no special rights, as such; but 

 they share the privileges of the people with whom they dwell, and with 

 whom they sometimes intermarry. Oinahas have joined the Ponka 

 tribe, as in the case of Ma n tcu-sinde-^inge, and Poukas have been in- 

 corporated into the Omaha tribe, as in the cases of Jabe-ska, jenicka, 

 and Mr. La Fleche himself. 



§ 10:}. Isinu. — An isinu is an unmarried youth, or man who dwells in 

 the lodge of one of his friends or kindred. He may be the kinsman of 

 the husband or of the wife. He is also called a wama u he. 



