NOMADS OF THE LONG BOW HOLMBERG 



69 



practices that must follow the birth of every 

 baby. On the day after the birth both parents 

 are scarified on the upper and lower legs with the 

 eye tooth of a rat or a squirrel. Usually the 

 father is scratched first. No particular relative 

 or person is responsible for performing this opera- 

 tion, though in the case of the mother it is usually 

 done by the husband. Before the husband is 

 scarified he puts on a necklace or two of coati 

 teeth and winds the new baby sling, which has 

 been covered with uruku, around his neck. He 

 stands by his hammock during the operation. 

 The person doing the scarifying squats down and 

 makes long scratches on the outside of the upper 

 legs from the hips to the knees and on the back 

 and outside of the lower legs from the knees to the 

 ankles. As these scratches are relatively super- 

 ficial, not a great deal of blood flows. Immedi- 

 ately after the operation is finished the legs are 

 washed and covered with uruku. 



After the husband has been scarified, he removes 

 the baby sling and the necklaces; the mother then 

 puts these on and undergoes the same operation, 

 usually at the hands of her husband. While the 

 mother is being scarified, the baby is left lying 

 in the hammock or is held by a cowife or sister. 

 According to the Siriono, this practice of scratch- 

 ing the legs has the purpose of getting rid of old 

 blood, which might cause the child to be sick. 

 It might thus be regarded as a purification rite. 



Except during the scarification rite the parents 

 stay close to their hammocks on the day following 

 the birth, the father resting and the mother attend- 

 ing the infant. They do little cooking themselves, 

 but are fed by other members of the extended 

 family. There is, however, no taboo on their 

 doing some cooking, and occasionally one sees a. 

 mother or father roasting an ear of corn or a root 

 of manioc in the fire at this time. 



The most significant thing that happens to the 

 infant on the day following its birth is that it gets 

 its first haircut in the traditional style of the band. 

 This consists in depilating the forehead to a high 

 semicircle. Since this operation is a very painful 

 one, the mother usually pulls out a few hairs 

 at a time and then lets the infant calm down 

 for a half hour or so before continuing the opera- 

 tion. Actually it is a very frustrating experience 

 for the young baby, who struggles its utmost to 

 avoid the pain. Nevertheless, by the end of the 

 second day the infant is without eyebrows, and 



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the hair on the front part of its head has been 

 pulled out. The removed hair is saved, wrapped 

 in cotton string, and covered with beeswax. It is 

 then made into a necklace, which the mother ties 

 around her neck to promote the growth of the 

 infant's hah. 



The second day after the birth of the child is 

 spent in ornamenting the parents with feathers. 

 Both are decorated hi exactly the same way. A 

 cowife or potential wife of the father usually 

 performs the task. Again the man is usually 

 decorated first. After the hair is trimmed, red 

 and yellow feathers of the toucan are glued into 

 the hair at the front of the head, tufts of curassow 

 down covered with uruku are glued into the hair 

 over the ears, and tufts of breast down of the 

 harpy eagle, (also covered with uruku) are glued 

 into the hair at the back of the head. In addition 

 to these feather ornaments in the hair, both 

 parents are decorated with new cotton string 

 covered with uruku. This is wound around the 

 legs just below the knees, around the arms above 

 the elbows, and around the neck. The face, 

 arms, and legs are then smeared with uruku and 

 the decoration is complete. 



These decorations are sometimes applied to other 

 members of the family, especially to a cowife or, 

 in the case of a multiple birth, to either the cowife 

 or sister of the mother who is designated to take 

 immediate care of one of the babies. In such in- 

 stances the cowives are decorated in the same 

 fashion as the parents. In two of the cases which 

 I observed, boys of about the age of puberty and 

 standing in the ydnde or potential spouse relation- 

 ship to the mother also underwent the same cere- 

 monies as the father, doubtless because they, too, 

 had been having intercourse with the mother be- 

 fore and during pregnancy. The relationship 

 between the parents and the child is thus general- 

 ized to coparents as well. Children and other 

 members of the family, however, are not decorated, 

 although a feather or two may be added to their 

 hah while the parents are being adorned. 



The parents undergo no further rites on the 

 second day after birth, but there still remain the 

 ceremonies that terminate the couvade. These 

 usually take place on the third day after birth, 

 although they are sometimes postponed until the 

 fourth, but they do not depend on any particular 

 circumstances, such as the dropping off of the 

 navel cord. In these terminal rites uruku is again 



