Marriage and Family
When a man wished to marry he spoke first to the woman and then to her family. Permission of the sachem was also necessary.440 The bride’s parents were paid a sum of wampum or other goods to compensate for the loss of their daughter, and the union was solemnized by the sachem.441 A man might get help from his relatives to pay the bride-price.442
If a woman felt that she was being ill-treated or became displeased with her husband for some other reason she would leave him.443 One way was to run away and join whatever tribe her husband’s group happened to be warring with at the time.444 When a man wished to be rid of his wife, he sent her away from him. Adultery was one reason for divorcing a wife.445 A woman with the reputation of an adulteress might not be able to find another man who would marry her; such women sometimes became prostitutes.446
Wampanoags were polygynous. When a man took additional wives, one, usually the first, remained as the chief or principal wife with some degree of authority over the other wives.447 In actual practice, not many men had more than one wife at a time. Sachems, powerful powows, and men of rank and wealth might have additional wives; apparently not all of these chose to do so.448
There were two reasons given for having multiple wives. First, an additional worker made a more productive household.449 Second, a man might take an additional wife after the birth of a child; sexual relations between husband and wife were prohibited until the infant was weaned, which might be a period of more than a year.450
It was not common for anyone to live alone. Single persons lived with their families, and widows, widowers, or divorced persons usually also lived with relatives until another marriage was made.451