UNWRITTEN DAKOTA LAWS. 205 
The young man who goes to live with his wife’s relatives is called 
“ wiéawolia,” which literally means man-cached, as if the man, by so doing, 
buried himself. Mothers, who have daughters to be married, are often de- 
sirous of having the sons-in-law come and live, for a while at least, with 
them, since, if the young man is a good hunter, this arrangement secures to 
them plenty of game. But on the other hand, the young man’s parents are 
quite as likely to require his services and that of his wife in addition. So 
that, in this regard, there is no prevailing law. As soon as the young 
couple are able to procure a tent, and if the man is a good hunter and but- 
falo are plenty, that may be very soon, they set up for themseives. This 
usually takes place soon after their first child is born, if not before. 
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 
Before proceeding farther with the laws of the family, it is proper to 
describe how it becomes a family. Girls are sometimes taken very young, 
before they are of marriageable age, which generally happens with a man 
who has a wife already. The marriageable age is from fourteen years old 
and upward. The intercourse of young men with maidens is not always 
open and honorable, but the public sentiment of a Dakota community, 
while it does not prevent much that is illicit, makes it more or less dishon- 
able, especially for the girl. A boy begins to feel the drawing of the other 
sex and, like the ancient Roman boys, he exercises his ingenuity in making 
a “éotanke,” or rude pipe, from the bone of a swan’s wing, or from some 
species of wood, and with that he begins to call to his lady love, on the 
night air. Having gained her attention by his flute, he may sing this: 
Stealthily, secretly, see me, 
Stealthily, secretly, see me, 
Stealthily, secretly, see me; 
Lo! thee I tenderly regard; 
Stealthily, secretly, see me. 
Or he may commend his good qualities as a hunter by singing this 
song: 
Cling fast to me, and you ‘Il ever have plenty; 
Cling fast to me, and you ll ever have plenty, 
Cling fast to me. 
When the family are abed and asleep, he often visits her in her mother’s 
tent, or he finds her out in the grove in the daytime gathering fuel. She 
has the load of sticks made up, and when she kneels down to take it on her 
