Tribal life was harsh in many aspects. An unforgiving belief in spirits and sorcery left people ever fearful of harm that might come to them by fault of their own wrong-doing or the black magic of another. Infanticide was widely practiced, as was cannibalism. Taboos surrounding men’s ‘secret business’ were strictly enforced and violation brutally punished, including death and sexual slavery for women. Women were often stolen or traded, and their sexual favours were used in bargaining and peace-making, as well as in group copulatory rituals. Widows were obliged to become wives to their brother-in-law. Polygamy was common, with men in some tribes having more than a dozen wives. Incest was not uncommon. Marriages were arranged, invariably involving young girls being passed to the older initiated men.  Many tribes practiced sub-incision (slitting the penis along the underside; medically, known as urethrotomy or, more colloquially, whistlecock). Pre-teen girls were ritually deflowered, commonly by their promised husband, with a finger or stick. Various forms of genital mutilation were practiced, including slitting the perineum and forcibly enlarging the vaginal opening manually or by lacerating it internally with a stone knife.[lii] This is not to say that family and tribal life were without affection and joy, especially when times were good and food plentiful, but it does caution against romantic notions of family bliss in a paradisial garden.

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/uncategorized/the-corrupting-myths-of-indigenou...