badinl general social customs 135 



Mother-in-law and Father-in-law Taboo 



In former times the mother-in-law and father-in-law taboo was in 

 full force. No man was allowed to talk directly to his mother-in-law 

 or to look at her, and the same rule held with regard to the attitude 

 of a woman toward her father-in-law. Even accidental meetings of 

 these relatives, as on the road, were attended with great embarrass- 

 ment. The author never learned of any way in which either the 

 mother-in-law or the father-in-law taboo could be relaxed even 

 temporarily, much less done away with entirely. 



Puberty Customs 



From the age of five, children, male and female, were taught the 

 customs of their ancestors in a series of talks always delivered by 

 an elderly male relative, perhaps the father. The specific training 

 differed, of course, for boys and girls and for individuals. Per- 

 sonal training ceased at the age of puberty, when all, both boys and 

 girls, were sent out to fast. For boys this fasting constituted the 

 only puberty rite. After their faces had been blackened with char- 

 coal they were sent to some neighboring hill with the injunction not 

 to return till dawn. Gradually they would be sent out for two, then 

 three, nights; if after that trial they were not blessed they would be 

 advised either to desist entirely or exhorted to fast rnitil they were 

 blessed, no matter how long the time required to secirre the desired 

 result. While fasting the boys and girls used the following formula: 



Waxop' inixjiwina hina'djire na"dje'je wahadjex. 



Spirits am I likely to be blessed? that is why I am praying. 



One old Indian informed the author that in former times the young 

 boys and girls were offered either bread or charcoal for their fast. 

 If they took the charcoal, well and good; but if they took the bread, 

 they were unceremoniously kicked out of the house and the charcoal 

 was thrown after them. From the other statements of this informant 

 one might gather that the young boys and girls generally took the 

 bread, because, he said, after they had been kicked out, they would 

 always resolve to go to the wilderness (in that way running the risk 

 of being captured or killed by an enemy), in order to spite their 

 parents. My informant was of the opinion that the parents pur- 

 posely treated their children roughly, so that they might feel all the 

 more miserable while fasting and thus pray all the more intensely. 



A faster is always told to be careful as to what kind of spirits 

 bless him, as he might be blessed by a bad spirit. Therefore a 

 f aster's blessings are always reviewed by the elders. J.'s old grand- 

 mother used to call the children in at dusk, as the evil spirits are 

 around then. 



