womanhood. During the time she lived alone in the tent she was supposed to wear the robe both day and night…. When her time had expired and the doctor had given his consent the parents of the girl were accustomed to make a great feast and all the people in the village were invited to attend. When all were assembled the screen or the door of the tent was raised and the girl was seen sitting with her back to the guests dressed in the garb above referred to. This was removed by a woman authorized by the doctor to do this work and as soon as this sign of her degradation had disappeared the girl commenced to sing and dance before all the people present the songs and dances that she had been previously taught for this occasion…. After the feasting and congratulatory speeches were ended the rest of the night was spent in dancing. This custom has completely died away with the death of the last Sa-ag-ga [shaman].2 [Charles Harrison, November 25, 1912]
During her seclusion a girl was visited exclusively by her female relatives—older sisters, mother, grandmother, and, perhaps most important, father’s sisters (sqa?anləng). From the latter she received formal instruction in womanly behavior: how to behave toward one’s husband, how to rear children properly, standards of etiquette. Appropriate female behavior included submission, contentment, and industry (Dawson 1880:130B), endurance, modesty, a retiring disposition, and moderation in eating and drinking (Curtis 1916:126). Instruction and the various taboos enjoined upon the girl were designed to elicit these qualities.3
Childhood was both actually and symbolically terminated by the surrender of childhood toys and trinkets to the father’s sisters during the period of seclusion (Murdock 1934b:250). At the end of her seclusion the girl’s transition to womanhood was given public acknowledgment, as noted by Harrison above. Florence Davidson reported only that a small potlatch was given by the young woman’s mother to women of the opposite moiety, particularly, and sometimes exclusively, to the young woman’s father’s sisters.
With menarche, the Haida female acquired a significant, if negative, power. Menstrual blood was considered extremely polluting. It could detrimentally affect shamanic powers, hunting and fishing equipment, the abundance of certain food resources, and a man’s economic powers or his luck at gambling. Hunting, fishing, and gambling paraphernalia were kept outside a house in which a menstruating woman dwelled, and during her periods a woman was forbidden to walk in front of a man or step over salmon spawning creeks. Florence Davidson summed up Haida conceptions of this female power by remarking, “Once women change their life, they [men] are scared of them.” She added, however, that a woman would not consider purposefully using this power against a man, though such uses of polluting power have been reported from a few other cultures (for example, see Strathern 1972: 255 for New Guinea).
Marriage usually followed shortly after the təgwəná seclusion. Murdock (1934a:359), Swanton (1909:50), and Harrison (November 25, 1912) credited a girl’s mother with playing a decisive role in her marriage; according to Murdock, she arranged the marriage. Harrison contends that a young man took the initiative in selecting a prospective bride, but adds that the girl’s mother had to approve. Though Murdock (1934b: 251) notes that the wishes of the young couple received consideration in marriage arrangements, Florence Davidson’s personal experience suggests that a young girl could not override the wishes of her elders. Also in Florence Davidson’s case, somewhat contrary to the ethnographic accounts, marriage negotiations were between her husband-to-be (and his group) on the one hand, and her father and, ultimately, her maternal uncle, on the other.4 According to Florence, traditionally as well as more recently, “the girl’s uncle decided who she married. As long as your uncle thinks it’s all right, they all agree with him.” The traditional marriage ritual that followed the negotiations is described in some detail by Swanton (1909:50–51).
Beyond the prescriptions of moiety and lineage exogamy, bilateral cross-cousin marriage was preferred: a girl would marry a real or classificatory father’s sister’s son or mother’s brother’s son.5 Some pairs of Haida lineages reveal long histories of these preferred intermarriages. Several examples can be seen in Florence’s genealogy. Residence after marriage was initially with the bride’s parents because of the requirement of bride service; following that, residence was avunculocal, that is, with the husband’s maternal uncle. In the event that the preferred pattern of cross-cousin marriage was followed, a girl would likely remain in her natal home for the duration of her marriage.
Polygyny was practiced but, according to all accounts, was not very common. Dawson, writing in 1878, noted that “[polygyny] was formerly more usual, but was always mainly or entirely confined to recognized chiefs. I could hear of but a single instance in which a man yet has two wives…. Three or four wives were not uncommon with a chief in former days …” (Dawson 1880:130B). There are no ethnographic data on the relationship between co-wives. Florence Davidson reports, however, that her “grandfather,” Albert Edward Edenshaw, had two wives, the elder of whom was the mother’s sister of the younger (see genealogy). His first wife encouraged him to take her sister’s daughter as a second wife. The relationship between these two women was evidently quite harmonious.
According to Curtis (1916:121), most marriages were of relatively short duration. The separation of spouses (Curtis mentions only husband leaving wife) was common, and if a man simply left his wife, there was no redress. If a man mistreated his wife or abandoned her for another woman, however, he was held liable to her parents (in particular to her mother; see below). If a woman committed adultery, neither she nor her lover were accountable to her husband, though the latter might seek revenge. Rather, the lover was accountable to the woman’s mother. Adultery was grounds for divorce among the Haida.
Large families were desired and it was expected that a woman would become pregnant within a few months following marriage. Florence Davidson noted that the inability to conceive was invariably blamed on the woman. When pregnant, a woman continued her routine daily activities, modified only by the observance of a number of taboos, almost all of which were designed to protect the developing fetus and assure an easy delivery. For the same reasons, the child’s father and other household members were also subject to certain restrictions.6 Parturition, according to Murdock (1934b:248), took place within the house, but according to Florence Davidson, women traditionally gave birth outside the house in a small hut specially constructed for the occasion. She noted, “They used to say they have the baby outside, not in the house because they have respect for their house keeping clean.”7 The afterbirth, soiled bedding, and clothing were later burned, and the mother remained in relative seclusion for ten days (Murdock 1934b:249).
Within the household, Murdock reports (1934b:252), a husband exerted but mild authority over his wife, which he was ashamed to show in the presence of others. Harrison, on the other hand, saw male authority as more decisive:
The father was beyond any question master in his own house. To the mother belonged a peculiar domestic importance but both she and her children always obeyed the will of the actual lord of the household. The father was a master without being a tyrant; the mother was a subject without being a slave; and the children did not act in opposition to their parents’ wishes…. [August 19, 1912]
Harrison does not expound on a woman’s “peculiar domestic importance,” and the other ethnographic accounts offer no clues. Regarding the status of wives, Dawson, more in line with Murdock, notes that “the women appear to be well-treated on the whole, are by no means looked upon as mere servants, and have a voice in most matters in which the men engage” (1880:130B).
In her narrative, Florence Davidson remarks that a woman should have respect for her husband and look up to the men of the community as the leaders of the people. With age, however, appeared to come a measure of authority for a woman. A mother-in-law, for example, exerted some influence over her son-in-law who was expected not only to provide her and her husband with food but was required to pay her a considerable amount of property should he commit adultery. A woman could exact a similar property settlement from the suitor of her adulterous daughter (Swanton 1909:51). Following menopause, which apparently had none of the negative
