DonsET.] STANDING OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY, ETC. 267 



weak, her husband was willing to help her by hoeing with her. The 

 woman did the work which she thought was hers to do. She always 

 did her work of her own accord. The husband had his share of the 

 labor, for the man was not accustomed to lead an idle life. Before 

 the introduction of fire-arms the man had to depend on his bow and 

 arrows for killing the buffaloes, deer, etc., and hunting was no easy task. 

 The Indian never hunted game for sport. 



CATAMENIA. 



§ 97. The sexual peculiarity was considered as " Wakan'da;a'(j!ica n ," 

 pertaining to Wdkanda. In the myth of the Rabbit and the Black 

 Bears, Mactcinge, the Babbit, threw a piece of the Black Bear chief 

 against his grandmother, who had offended him, thereby causing her 

 to have the catamenia. From that time womeu have been so affected. 

 Among the Omahas and Ponkas the woman makes a different fire for 

 four days, dwelling in a small lodge, apart from the rest of the house- 

 hold, even in cold weather. She cooks and eats alone, telling no one 

 of her sickness, not even her husband. Grown people do not fear 

 her, but children are caused to fear the odor which she is said to 

 give forth. If any eat with her they become sick in the chest, very 

 lean, and their lips become parched in a circle about two inches in di- 

 ameter. Their blood grows black. Children vomit. On the fourth or 

 fifth day, she bathes herself, and washes her dishes, etc. Then she can 

 return to the household. Another woman who is similarly affected can 

 stay with her in the small lodge, if she knows the circumstances. Dur- 

 ing this period, the men will neither lie nor eat with the woman ; and 

 they will not use the same dish, bowl, and spoon. For more than ten 

 years, and since they have come in closer contact with the white people, 

 this custom of refusing to eat from the same dish, etc., has become ob- 

 solete. Dougherty stated that in the young Omaha female, catamenia 

 and consequent capability for child-bearing, took place about the twelfth 

 or thirteenth year, and the capacity to bear children seemed to cease 

 about the fortieth year. This agrees in the main with what the writer 

 has learned about the age of puberty (§ 80) and the law of widows (§ 98). 

 La Fleche said that the change of life in a woman occurs perhaps at 

 forty years of age, and sometimes a little beyond that age. 



WIDOWS AND WIDOWEES. 



§ 9S. Widows. — A widow was obliged to wait from four to seven 

 years alter the death of her husband before marrying again. This was 

 done to show the proper respect to his memory, and also to enable her 



