Plains Indians- Polygamy
Polygamy comes from a Greek term called ‘often married’. Polygamy was when a Plains Indian married more than one wife. Most females got married at the age of thirteen to fifteen to men that were the age of fifteen to twenty years old. The normality of a marriage was having one partner to love and care for whereas polygamy for the Plains Indians was having more than one wife. This meant more chances of having more children, which was why they were polygamists but mainly because it would show how respected they were.
Polygamy gave chances of men or women to have or produce more offspring. More children meant the Plains Indian men would have to hunt and gather food for their family. The most common food the Plain Indians ate was buffalo skin. The men would go out and capture the buffalo with their bow and arrows and other weapons, then later return to their wives and children who would then cook the food for their families living in tipis to eat.
Sometimes polygamy meant the men struggled to fend for their families in order to feed them, as buffalos were hard to spot in different climates. Struggle for food suggested their wives would have to starve.
Rich men would often marry lots of wives to show how powerful they were. More women, meant that the men were respected more and more wives also contributed to families wealth, however the negatives were women were led to starve, argue with their husbands other wives. Jealousy was very common for the women because the men would sometimes treat one of their wives with more
respect, love and affection whilst the other would be left to starve, cook, clean and even to be used as a slave. If the men didn’t think the wife was showing enough love towards them, then they would have to say the words ‘I throw her away’ and separation and divorce would occur.
N Ditta