58 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



ADULT BEHAVIOR 



BATHING, CARE AND DRESSING OF THE HAIR, PERSONAL ADORNMENTS, 

 PERSONAL APPEARANCE 



Adults bathe often; many do so daily, even during the winter 

 season. "Our people have always bathed much." Bathing is done in 

 flowing water, in rivers or creeks or under waterfalls or at springs. 

 No soap or substitute is used when bathing. 



The hair is frequently washed ; shampooing is done when bathing 

 is done. Soap is used by those who have it ; others make suds by rub- 

 bing the bark of quillay between the hands. During the present study 

 a 70-year-old wonian took a bath standing in the river a little distance 

 offshore, all but her head covered with her shawl (pi. 29, 2). After 

 her bath, still standing in the river, she washed her hair. She parted 

 it from neck to forehead, soaped one side well with a bar of soap, 

 and rinsed it thoroughly by splashing it with handfuls of water which 

 she scooped up with both hands as she stooped from the waist; then 

 she treated the other side in the same manner. She noted, "I wash 

 my hair every third day, but I bathe every day." She now fine-combed 

 it. "I use this comb because my son gave it to me; I prefer to use 

 a brush." She dressed her hair in one of the traditional fashions, 

 twisting the hair on the right side and holding the end in her mouth 

 to keep the twist intact ; then she twisted the hair on the left side and 

 took the ends of the two twists with opposite hands, slung them over 

 her head, crossed them at the back of the neck, and brought them 

 around the head just above the ears and close to the hairline over the 

 forehead. Here she crossed them again and tucked the ends under and 

 over the twists. It was 6 : 20 p.m. She walked ashore where she 

 picked up three headbands woven of yarn, one approximately an inch 

 in width and i^ yards in length, and two narrower ones about a foot 

 in length. The shorter head bands had several horse hairs attached 

 to one end. "These bands I use when I dress up my hair; I wash 

 them every time I wash my hair." A machi in Alepue area wore a 

 3-strand braid of reddish hair on the crown of her head ; ends hung 

 loose (pi. 29, j). The hair is brushed, when wet, with a hairbrush 

 made of roots of calle calle, coral, or riina (p. 48). An adult woman's 

 hair is never cut. "Formerly parents would not have tolerated even a 

 young girl's hair to be cut — a girl with short hair was no longer ad- 

 mired." A woman, today, parts her hair over the crown from forehead 

 to neck and then either twists (natrowe) or braids each half. Always 

 the ends are secured by being rolled into yarn or strips of cloth; 



