Shuar Family

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us.
Luke 1:78

Shuar family
Ecuador SA, 1954
photo by Bill Gibson

Here is a typical family. A man with his two wives and several children. In this case, the two wives are sisters, the husband is a believer who kept his family intact because it would have been an extreme hardship on whichever wife he “divorced”, and he cared for them both. As you can see the youngest wife is pregnant.

Often women would encourage the husband to marry a younger sister because it was more likely that they would be able to live in harmony, and when two women shared the work, life was easier.