INDIAN MARRIAGES. 



53 



Incestuous cohabitation is common with the 

 Indians, and in some instances, they will 

 espouse several sisters at the same time ; but 

 so far from adopting the custom of others in 

 presenting their wives, or daughters as a mark 

 of hospitality due to a stranger, the Chipeways 

 or Saulteaux tribe of Red River, appear very 

 jealous of them towards Europeans. There is 

 something patriarchal in their manner of first 

 choosing their wives. When a young man 

 wishes to take a young woman to live with 

 him ; he may perhaps mention his wishes to 

 her, but generally, he speaks to the father, or 

 those who have authority over her. If his 

 proposal be accepted, he is admitted into the 

 tent, and lives with the family, generally a 

 year, bringing in the produce of his hunting 

 for the general mess. He then separates to a 

 tent of his own, and adds to the number of 

 wives, according to his success and character as 

 a hunter. The Indians have been greatly cor- 

 rupted in their simple and barbarous manners, 

 by their intercourse with Europeans, many of 

 whom have borne scarcely any other mark of 

 the Christian character than the name ; and 

 who have not only fallen into the habits of 

 an Indian life, but have frequently exceeded 

 the savage in their savage customs. When a 



