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Marriage and children
Certain Bushmen marry very young,
7-9 years for girls, 14 for boys. Most marriages are monogamous
(one partner) though polygamy (more than one) is allowed,
and practiced according to wealth.
In most Bushmen tribes, hunting is regarded as of great importance
in obtaining a wife. If the hunter wants a wife, he will kill
a large, sometimes dangerous animal. The best part of the
meat will be presented to the girl's parents. If they accept
the meat, the young man has permission to marry the girl.
In some clans the marriage is arranged beforehand by the parents.
Children are given particular
instruction on proper social behaviour. Inheritance is patrilineal
(from the father), and includes "land tenure" rights.
Initiation can take place at puberty in certain tribes. A
young man has to prove himself as a hunter before initiation
can take place. Only after this is he allowed to marry. Circumcision
is not practiced for either sex.
Adolescent children often build their own huts next to their
parents.
Clothing
Traditionally the Bushmen did
not wear much clothing and in some instances this is still
the case. 
Usually the men are content with a small piece of skin threaded
on a sinew or cord, passed between the legs and tied in front
round the loins.
The women have a small piece of skin in front, ornamented
with beads made of discs from ostrich egg-shells, and in some
cases a larger one behind.
They seldom wear any covering over the shoulders except in
very cold or rainy weather.
Men and women wear ornaments of
various kinds such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings and hair
ornaments. The necklaces are made from small berries, beads,
ostrich egg-shell, pieces of bone, or the teeth and claws
of animals. The men wear fillets of string or skin, sometimes
decorated with beads round their head. The women will use
ostrich egg-shell for this decoration.
The men have duiker or steinbok
horns full of medicine or snuff round their necks and usually
a skin bag or wallet to contain their personal possessions.
Some of them wear skin sandals,
but generally they go barefooted, and their feet are hard
and callous from constant travelling over rough and hard ground.
Very few Bushmen today wear their
traditional clothing. Due to their absorption into a more
modern world, they have adopted a western style of clothing.
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