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A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 1 of 3

Note 687 — Chapter IV · RISE OF THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

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Darwin, op. cit., chap. xx, 597, 598.

Among the Point Barrow Eskimo marriages are formed for "reasons of interest." Sometimes a wife is taken against her will. Yet "women appear to stand on a footing of perfect equality with the men both in the family and in the community." The "wife is the constant and trusted companion of the man in everything except the hunt, and her opinion is sought in every bargain or other important undertaking."—Murdoch, in IX. Rep. of Bureau of Eth., 410, 413, 414. Cf. Egede, Greenland, 144.

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