A man usually marries his brother's
widow, unless she object, and he may adopt the orphans as his own
children. Divorce is easily effected, but is rare among the better class
of people in the tribe. The unions of such people often last for life; but
among persons of a different character divorces are common. Their social
discipline is not very severe. Punishments by law, administered by the
"soldier band," are only for serious offenses against the regulations of
the camp. He who simply violates social customs in the tribe often
subjects himself to no worse punishment than an occasional sneer or
taunting remark; but for grave transgressions he may lose the regard of
his friends. With the Hidatsa, as with other western tribes, it is
improper for a man to hold a direct conversation with his mother-in-law;
but this custom seems to be falling into disuse.
The kinship system of the Hidatsa does not differ materially from that of
any of the cognate tribes. When they wish to distinguish between the
actual father and a father's real or potential brothers, or between the
actual mother and the mother's real or potential sisters, they use the
adjective ka'ti (ka{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED H~}t{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}i), real, true, after the kinship term when the
actual parent is meant.
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