ABSTRACT
The Men's House is usually the largest building in a tribal settlement. It belongs in common to the villagers; it serves as a council chamber or town hall, as a guest-house for strangers, and as the sleeping resort of the men. When marriage and the exclusive possession of a woman do not follow immediately upon initiation into the tribe, the institution of the Men's House becomes an effective restraint upon the sexual proclivities of the unmarried youth. An institution so firmly established and so widely spread may be expected to survive by devotion to other uses, as the earlier ideas which led to its foundation fade away. As guard posts where the young men are confined on military service and are exercised in the arts of war, these houses often become a serviceable means of defence. The religious worship of the community often centres in them. Often they form the theatre of dramatic representations.
