Aboriginal Marriage

In Aboriginal society, it was against the law to marry against authorization. The marriage ceremony was carried out by the bride’s uncle from the mother’s side, placing a firestick between the bride and groom on the ground. It symbolized the binding in marriage. A divorce could occur if the uncle threw away a firestick as a signal.

 An Aboriginal male was expected to be married between the ages of eighteen and twenty. There wasn’t a limit to the number of wives, but the male must have at least one before the age of twenty. The males and females did not choose who they wanted to marry. Some problems occurred when older males got younger females and the younger males didn’t.