340 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FOX WOMAN. (ETH. ANN. 40, 
also Marston, 1. ¢., pp. 171, 172; Owen, Ll. ¢., pp. 69-71; W. Jones, 
Fox Texts, p. 318. As in many other cases, Miss Owen’s statements 
can not be confirmed by the present writer in their entirety. As the 
Religion Dance is of only recent introduction (from the Potawatomis), 
any puberty ceremonies connected with it must either be modern or 
only recently attached to it. It may be added that although puberty 
rites for boys have practically been given up, those for girls still 
persist. As is well known, there are similar practices among many 
Indian tribes. 
2 “The middle of summer:’’ nipenwi is the time when Indian corn, 
pumpkins, squashes, and beans are mature. This will be about the 
middle of summer. 
8 As stated, the girl’s maternal grandmother was dead; the term 
grandmother in the present instance is only a courtesy-term. 
4 This may sound strange, but the point is that ‘‘a bashful girl” is 
one who giggles, ete. A girl who giggles, ete., according to the Fox 
point of view, is extremely apt to succumb readily to sexual advances. 
4 The reader will doubtless notice how rarely the girl’s brothers are 
mentioned in this autobiography. This is probably because Fox 
brothers and sisters do not associate with each other except when 
they are young. The same kind of segregation takes place, or did 
until recently, in a number of Indian tribes, e. g. the Omaha. Even 
at the present time the segregation obtains among the Foxes. A Fox 
boy would not dream of taking his sister to an Indian dance or a 
moving picture show, or a circus, etc. Nevertheless Fox brothers 
and sisters are fully as fond of one another as white brothers and 
sisters are. It is simply a matter of different etiquette. 
16 The lay reader will doubtless ask why it is that the girl’s maternal 
uncles would be ashamed of her conduct, while her father is not men- 
tioned. And with us, all relatives would feel disgraced if a kins- 
woman were immoral. A considerable digression is necessary to 
explain the situation from the Fox point of view. Among the 
Foxes the well-known “ joking-relationship” exists between a girl 
and her maternal uncles, as it does in a number of other Indian 
tribes; but in addition to this, there is a special bond between them: 
a girl’s maternal uncle is supposed to give her advice, and if he loves 
her, he will buy almost anything for her. If a girl is sensible, she 
will follow her maternal uncle’s advice, and in this way get along 
comfortably. [The word for ““my maternal uncle’’ is ne‘ci'sa‘*'.] 
The case of paternal uncle is entirely different. [The word for “my 
paternal uncle”’ is no's“’, the same as that for ‘‘my father.”] He 
will have little to say regarding her, provided her own father is 
living, though he will call her netane's**, which is the same word for 
‘my daughter.’ If he is more intelligent than her father, he might 
give her good advice, but that is as far as he could go. If, however, 
