It is quite different among the Koryaks, the neighbours of the Chukchee. They demand abstinence from the girls before marriage, and there is rarely any transgression against this law. Pregnancy before marriage is a disgrace, and unmarried mothers are forced to give birth in the wilderness. Children born before marriage are killed. After the advent of puberty the girls sleep in their "combinations," which are fashioned in such a way as to exclude undesirable intercourse. Intercourse between engaged couples is also looked upon as sinful. Sometimes the girl lives with relatives in another place for a time, or is kept hidden until the bridegroom works off at her parents' home the service which he owes to them. Incest is strictly avoided, for it is feared that the evil-doers must die in consequence of it. The various prohibitions existing at the present day with regard to the marriage of certain consanguineous or adopted relations are only of recent date; they were unknown formerly (Jochelson, p. 733). Perhaps the other existing sexual customs are also the result of missionary activities.
The above examples, chosen at random, plainly show that the conceptions of sexual morality generally held by primitive people are different from those prevalent under European civilisation. Very often these primitive customs have been greatly influenced or altogether exterminated by the example or the power of the European colonists. Whether this was of benefit to the races cannot be discussed here.
After all, European morality is not so very superior to that of the "savages." As Georg Friederici (p. 85) pertinently says: "Almost everywhere in our society we shut our eyes to the fact that our young men do what is forbidden to them, but is permitted to the Melanesian and Polynesian girls. We admit the State regulation of prostitution or, to avoid greater scandal, even street prostitution; yet we set out in moral indignation to reform the customs of primitive peoples which have proved their value and are consistent with their moral laws. Having nothing better to put in their place, we merely introduce among them what happens to be our own canker."
Everywhere the fight against the traditional moral ideals has resulted merely in the introduction of prostitution, with all its corruption. We should therefore refrain from reforms that are misplaced, and should not attack customs that cannot be replaced by better ones, and that do not stand in the way of colonisation.
III COURTSHIP CUSTOMS
Very often we find among primitive people that marriage is preceded by a pretended bride capture, though the couple themselves and their relations have agreed to the union. This gave occasion to the belief that the capture of women was formerly a widespread and original form of marriage. The pretended capture does not, however, seem to imply the existence of true "marriage by capture," but rather seems to indicate the fact that formerly brides were often given to men against their will and had to be forced to go with them. The fact that often the abducting bridegroom is in fun beaten by the brothers or other male relations of the girl does not exclude this conclusion, for the thrashing may be a later embellishment of the game of abduction, its purpose being to increase the pleasure of the guests by satisfying their spectacular desire. It is worthy of note that in Assam among the matriarchal Garos there is a pretended capture of the bridegroom. It would be a mistake to conclude from this that formerly mother-rule actually existed among the Garos. In the report on the ethnographical survey of the Indian Central Provinces (V., p. 53) it is stated that it was formerly customary among the Kulams to capture men for those of their girls who would otherwise have remained unmarried.
Among the peoples whose girls are married at a very young age no wooing is customary, as, e.g., among the Dravidian Indians, the Australians, their near relations, and others. Marriage in these cases takes place without any or with very little ceremony (Jagor, Spencer, Howitt). It has been impossible so far in India to check the evil custom of child marriage; on the contrary, it is becoming more prevalent among the animistic tribes.
Child engagements rather than child marriages are prevalent among many peoples, as among the Asiatic Polar races and the Eskimos of North America. But among most of these peoples free courtship exists. Thus Jochelson writes about the Koryaks in the extreme north-east of Asia: "If a Koryak falls in love with a girl, he generally sends a match-maker to the father of the girl; but this is not always the case, and particularly so if the parents do not agree to the son's choice. Frequently the young man, without telling anybody of his intentions, goes to the girl's home and does all the work there which is seemly for a man. The father-in-law accepts his services also in silence. If he is pleased with the bridegroom, he entrusts him with commissions; otherwise he lets him feel that he must leave the house. The bridegroom's service lasts from six months to three years. This service cannot be conceived as 'payment' for the bride, for the wealthier of the Konaks could pay with reindeer instead of working off the price of the bride. Besides, the bride receives a dowry of reindeer, which is worth much more than the service given by the son-in-law. This service is only an empty formality, if the wooer is an older man. It rather seems as if the main purpose of the service is to put the bridegroom to the test, for it is not the actual work done that is of most importance, but the harsh treatment that he has to endure and the meagre and laborious life that he is forced to lead. The service comes to an end whenever the father-in-law decides. The man then leads his bride home without any formality, although she at first pretends to struggle against it; she gives up this pretence as soon as the man succeeds in touching her sex organs. Should a girl really not care for the man intended for her, she will attempt to escape in reality; but she is ultimately forced by her parents into marriage. Often, however, the girl's inclination is taken into consideration before she is given into marriage."