WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS.
§ 98. Widows.—A widow was obliged to wait from four to seven years after the death of her husband before marrying again. This was done to show the proper respect to his memory, and also to enable her to wean her infant, if she had one by him, before she became enceinte by her next husband. When a woman disregarded this custom and married too soon, she was in danger of being punished by the kindred of the deceased husband. If they could catch her within a certain period, they had the right to strike her on the head with knives, and to draw the blood, but they could not inflict a fatal blow. Now, if widows are under forty years of age they can marry in two or three years after the death of the first husband; but if they are over forty years of age, they do not remarry.
§ 99. Stepmothers.—Some are kind, others are cruel. But in the latter event there are certain remedies—the husband may separate from his wife, or else some of the kindred of the children may take charge of them.
§ 100. Widowers.—Men used to wait from four to seven years before they remarried; now they do not wait over one or two years. The kindred of the deceased wife used to take a man's ponies from him if he married too soon. Sometimes they became angry, and hit him; but if he waited a reasonable time, they had nothing to say. There is a similar custom among the Otos and Pawnees. Sometimes a man loved his wife so dearly that after her death he remained a widower a long time. At last some of the kindred of the deceased woman would say to one another, "See! this man has no one to sew his moccasins; seek a wife for him (among our women)." Then this would be done, and he would be induced to marry again.