account of the Floridan expedition of Alvar Nuñez, commonly known as Cabeça de Yaca, or Cow's-Head, it is mentioned that the parents-in-law did not enter the son-in-law's house, nor he theirs, nor his brothers'-in-law, and if they met by chance, they went a bowshot out of their way, with their heads down and eyes fixed on the ground, for they held it a bad thing to see or speak to one another; but the women were free to communicate and converse with their parents-in-law and relative.[1] Higher up on the North American continent, customs of this kind have often been described. In the account of Major Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, it is observed that among the Omahas the father- and mother-in-law do not speak to their son-in-law, nor mention his name, nor look in his face, and vice versâ[2] Among the Sioux or Dacotas, Mr. Philander Prescott remarks on the fear of uttering certain names. The father- or mother-in-law must not call their son-in-law by name, and vice versâ, and there are other relationships to which the prohibition applies. He has known an infringement of it punished by cutting the offender's clothes off his back and throwing them away.[3] Harmon says that among the Indians east of he Rocky Mountains, it is indecent for the father- or mother-in law to look at, or speak to, the son- or daughter-in-law.[4] Among the Crees, it is observed by Richardson that while an Indian lives with his wife's family his mother-in-law must not speak to or look at him, and it is also an old custom for a man not to eat or to sit down in the presence of his father-in-law.[5]
In some parts of Australia, the mother-in-law does not allow the son-in-law to see her, but hides herself if he is near, and if she has to pass him makes a circuit, keeping herself carefully concealed with her cloak. Also, the names of a father- or mother-in-law and of a son-in-law are set down among the
- ↑ Alvar Nuñez, in vol. i. of 'Historiadores Primitives de Indias;' Madrid, 1852, etc., chap. xxv.
- ↑ Long's Exp. vol. i. p. 253.
- ↑ Schoolcraft, part ii. p. 196.
- ↑ Harmon, p. 341.
- ↑ Franklin, 'Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea;' London, 1823, pp. 70–1. See Waitz, 'Anthropologie;' vol. iii. p. 104.
