448 tltE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 



the way of his enjoyment. Such a custom amongst savage nations can easily be ex- 

 cused, too, and we are hound to excuse it when we behold man in a state of nature 

 as he was made, following a natural inclination, which is sanctioned by ancient cus- 

 tom and by their religion, without a law or regulation of their society to discoun- 

 tenance it, and when, at the same time, such an accumulation of a man's household, 

 instead of quadrupling his expenses (as would be the case in the civilized world), 

 actually becomes his wealth, as the results of their labor abundantly secure to him 

 all the necessaries and luxuries of life. 



There are other and very rational grounds on which the propriety of such a custom 

 may be urged, one of which is as follows: As all nations of Indians in their natural 

 condition are unceasingly at war with the tribes that are about them for the adjust- 

 ment of ancient and never-ending feuds, as well as from a love of glory to which in 

 Indian life the battle-field is almost the only road, their warriors are killed off to that 

 extent that in many instances two and sometimes throe women to a man are found 

 in a tribe. In such instances I have found that the custom of polygamy has kindly 

 helped the community to an evident relief from a cruel and prodigious calamity. 



The instances of which I have above spoken are generally confined to the chiefs and 

 medicine-men, though there is no regulation prohibiting a poor or obscure individual 

 from marrying several wives other than the personal difficulties which lie between 

 him and the hand which he wishes in vain to get, for want of sufficient celebrity in 

 society, or from a still more frequent objection, that of his inability (from want of 

 worldly goods) to deal in the customary way with the fathers of the girls whom he 

 would appropriate to his own household. There are very few instances, indeed, 

 to be seen in these regions where a poor or ordinary citizen has more than one wife; 

 but amongst chiefs and braves of great reputation and doctors it is common to see 

 some six or eight living under one roof, and all apparently quiet and contented, 

 seemingly harmonizing and enjoying the modes of life and treatment that falls to 

 their lot. 



Wives in this country are mostly treated for with the father, as in all instances 

 they are regularly bought and sold. In many cases the bargain is made with the 

 father alone, without ever consulting the inclinations of the girl, and seems to bo 

 conducted on his part as a mercenary contract entirely, where he stands out for the 

 highest price he can possibly command for her. There are other instances, to be sure, 

 where the parties approach each other, and from the expression of a mutual fondness 

 make their own arrangements and pass their own mutual vows, which arc quite as 

 sacred and inviolable as similar assurances when made in the civilized world. Yet 

 even in such cases the marriage is never consummated without the necessary form of 

 making presents to the father of the girl. 



SQUAW MEN. 



It becomes a matter of policy and almost of absolute necessity for the white men 

 who are traders in these regions to connect themselves in this way to one or more of 

 the most influential families in the tribe, which in a measure identifies their interest 

 with that of the nation, and enables them, with the influence of their new family con. 

 nections, to carry on successfully their business transactions with them. The young 

 women of the best families only can aspire to such an elevation, and the most of them 

 are exceedingly ambitious for such a connection, inasmuch as they are certain of a de- 

 lightful exemption from the slavish duties that devolve upon them when married un- 

 der other circumstances, and expect to be, as they generally are, allowed to lead a 

 life of ease and idleness, covered with mantles of blue and scarlet cloth, with beads 

 and trinkets and ribbons, in which they flounce and flirt about, the envied and tin- 

 seled belles of every tribe. 



These connections, however, can scarcely be called marriages, for I believe they aro 

 generally entered into without the form or solemnizing ceremony of a marriage, and, 

 on the part of the father of the girls, conducted purely as a mercenary or business 

 transaction, in which they are very expert, and practice a deal of shrewdness in ex- 



