Section II., 1913. [67] Trans. R.S.C. 



A Girl's Puberty Ceremony among the Nootka Indians.* 

 By Edward Sapir, Ph.D. 

 Presented by Duncan Campbell Scott, F. R.S.C. 



(Read May 28, 1913) 



Puberty ceremonies, both for boys and girls, are widespread and 

 characteristic features of the life of primitive peoples. Among the 

 Nootka Indians of the west coast of Vancouver Island, as among so 

 many Indian tribes of western America, it is the arriving at maturity 

 of girls rather than of boys that is signalized by a definite ceremony 

 and by the observance, on the part of the girl, of various chiefly restric- 

 tive measures or taboos. The point of tinie that determines the matur- 

 ity of a girl is naturally considered to be the first appearance of menses. 

 Soon after this, generally about two months later, the father or guardian 

 of the girl gives a feast or potlatch, the essential part of which is a 

 religious ceremony, but which is also meant to give the girl a new status 

 in the tribe, that of one entering upon womanhood. This first ceremony 

 is termed '.aitstlôiff,,'\ which may be translated as "menstrual potlatch," 

 from '.aitsciL "to have a menstrual flow." Though the Nootka Indians, 

 particularly those about Alberni, B.C., are in many respects losing 

 hold upon the traditions of their past, they still cling tenaciously to 

 the observance of girls' puberty ceremonies, although the rigor of the 

 taboos formerly enforced for a length of time upon the matured girl 

 seems to have been allowed to fall away. During a stay of about two 

 and a half months in the fall and early winter of 1910 among the two 



* Published by permission of the Geological Survey of Canada. 



fSomewhat simplified phonetic orthography is here used, a, e, i, o, u have 

 typical continental (Italian) values; e and o are close, u open, i close or open; â as in 

 father ■,1, ô, v, are long and close; ê, î, ô, û are long and open. ■• as finalvowel (after 

 m or n) is weakly articulated open i; " represents w-timbre of breath release following 

 preceding consonant. Some con,sonants may need explanation, c as in English 

 she; tc as in church; q voiceless velar stop, i.e. k pronounced as far back as possible; 

 X, voiceless spirant of fc-positioh; t, voiceless spirantal t, somewhat like Welsh II; 

 L, affricative, of I- position, generally heard as fZ or kl; ' represents glottal stop or 

 "catch."! following consonants indicates that they are glottalized, i.e., pronounced 

 with simultaneous glottal closure but with glottal relea.se sub.sequent to their own 

 release (their acoustic effect is of cracked or broken stops), h and '. are difficult 

 consonants that are peculiar to Nootka; they differ respectively from h and ' in 

 sounding rougher and more strangulated. Breath relea.ses and stress accents are 

 not indicated here. 



