Fox - Marriage and Family



Marriage. Marriage within one's clan was forbidden. Whether arranged by the couple, a go-between, or through negotiations between families, marriage was validated by an exchange of gifts between families. Polygyny was permitted; however, its frequency is unclear. After marriage, the couple resided with the wife's parents for one year or until the birth of their first child; thereafter they might live in their own lodge or with the husband's parents. Widows and widowers were expected to replace their deceased spouse with a Member of the spouse's lineage; failure to do so brought retribution from the women of the offended lineage in the form of the destruction of the offender's property.

Domestic Unit. Each household consisted of an extended family of between five and thirty persons. Each extended Family constituted an economic unit whose members cooperated in hunting and agricultural activities.

Inheritance. Ritual positions and political offices were controlled by lineages and inherited patrilineally.

Socialization. Corporal punishment of children was rare, the preferred method being forced fasting to instill correct behavior. During her first menstruation, a girl was isolated in a separate lodge for ten days as a precaution against endangering others and herself; during subsequent menstrual periods she was similarly isolated but for shorter periods of time. For boys, puberty was marked by a vision quest, undertaken in isolation, with the object of gaining spiritual power. Girls also sought visions, but not in isolation nor as part of menstrual seclusion.


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