Note 587 — Chapter IV · RISE OF THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

McGee, "Siouan Indians," XV. Rep. of Bureau of Eth., 202; and especially his "Seri Indians," ibid., XVII, Part I, 279-87; cf. Ratzel, Hist. of Mankind, II, 125, who says the marriage ceremonies often mean ability to support a family. The Point Barrow Eskimo takes his wife for "reasons of interest." He wants her for household duties; and conversely she desires a good hunter. The mother usually chooses for her son the prospective bride, who is expected to serve a probation as "kivgak" (servant) in the future mother-in-law's kitchen; but sometimes the man goes to the woman's house to become a member: Murdoch, IX. Rep. of Bureau of Eth., 401.