igo2.] Kroeber, The Arapaho. 1 1 



rigid). A brother and sister must not speak to each other 

 more than is necessary. ' A sister is supposed to sit at some 

 distance from her brother. A woman does not speak of child- 

 birth or sexual matters in the presence of her brother, nor he 

 in hers, but in other company no such delicacy is observed. 

 Obscene myths are freely told, even in the presence of chil- 

 dren of either sex, except that a man would not relate them 

 before his mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister, or female 

 cousin, nor a woman before her corresponding male relatives. 

 Brothers-in-law joke with each other frequently; often they 

 abuse each other good-naturedly; but they may not talk 

 obscenely to each other. If one does so, he is struck by the 

 other. . A brother-in-law and sister-in-law also often joke each 

 other. They act toward each other with considerable free- 

 dom : a woman may pour water on her brother-in-law while 

 he is asleep, or tease him^ otherwise, and he retaliates in 

 similar ways. 



When a man died, his brothers took from their sister-in-law 

 as many horses as they pleased. Sometimes they were gen- 

 erous and allowed a grown-up daughter or son of the dead 

 man to keep some. Another informant stated that after a 

 man's death, his brothers took all the property they could, 

 especially horses. The family tried to prevent them. 



There are no fixed rules as to inheritance. When a wealthy 

 man dies, there is generally some jealousy as to who is to take 

 his property and his family. Those who are not satisfied 

 sometimes kill horses or destroy property of those who took 

 the belongings of the dead man. Each one tries to get as 

 much as he can. There is little generosity or charity towards 

 the wife and children. Adult sons of the deceased may be 

 anxious to secure some of the property; but, as they are in 

 mourning, they cannot resist. It is generally brothers and 

 sisters of the deceased who go to take his property. 



In the absence of any gentile or other organization regulat- 

 ing marriage, the only bar was that of known relationship. 

 Cousins could not marry. As to distant relations the rule 

 was not so strict. If relationship was discovered after a 

 marriage, the marriage was not annulled. 



