Punnie, one of Armow's daughters, was, in her youth, affianced to
Sebeucktelee, but when she reached a marriageable age became the wife
of Conwechungk, her adopted brother. The pretext for this new
arrangement was that Sebeucktelee's father had not made payment at the
time he made the wedding contract, and that Punnie loved Conwechungk
better anyhow, and would take advantage of the omission of the
intended father-in-law. It made no difference that Conwechungk had
another wife--in fact, it was all the better on that account, for he
would have one for himself and another to loan around to his neighbors.
When I left Depot Island I noticed that he had not only loaned his
first wife away, but had traded his dearly beloved Punnie for
Tockoleegeetais' wife for an indefinite period, while Sebeucktelee had
taken to his bosom Netchuk, the discarded wife of Shockpenark. But life
is altogether too short to allow of a complete and reliable record
being made of the social gossip of an Esquimau village. Intermarriages
are common, and everybody is related to every one else in the most
intricate and astonishing manner. I once read of a man who married a
widow, and his father, subsequently marrying the daughter of this same
widow, was driven insane by trying to ascertain the exact relationship
of their children.
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