With further advance the mother-descent group is
transformed into a father-descent group, when the clan is replaced by the
gens; and polygamy is a common feature of the gentile organization. In all
of these stages the conjugal and consanguineal regulations are affected by
the militant habits characteristic of primitive groups; more warriors than
women are slain in battle, and there are more female captives than male;
and thus the polygamy is mainly or wholly polygyny. In many cases civil
conditions combine with or partially replace the militant conditions, yet
the tendency of conjugal development is not changed. Among the Seri
Indians, probably the most primitive tribe in North America, in which the
demotic unit is the clan, there is a rigorous marriage custom under which
the would-be groom is required to enter the family of the girl and
demonstrate (1) his capacity as a provider and (2) his strength of
character as a man, by a year's probation, before he is finally
accepted--the conjugal theory ofr the tribe being monogamy, though the
practice, at least during recent years, has, by reason of conditions,
passed into polygyny. Among several other tribes of more provident and
less exclusive habit, the first of the two conditions recognized by the
Seri is met by rich presents (representing accumulated property) from the
groom to the girl's family, the second condition being usually ignored,
the clan organization remaining in force; among still other tribes the
first condition is more or less vaguely recognized, though the voluntary
present is commuted into, or replaced by, a negotiated value exacted by
the girl's family, when the mother-descent is commonly vestigial; and in
the next stage, which is abundantly exemplified, wife-purchase prevails,
and the clan is replaced by the gens.
Pages:
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92