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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 10 



ply a household of his own with game. At this 

 age, girls, too, are ready for the responsibilities 

 of adulthood. 



PUBERTY RITES 



There are no puberty ceremonies for boys. Girls, 

 however, are required to undergo certain rites 

 before they are eligible for intercourse or marriage 

 Sexual intercourse, with a girl who has not under- 

 gone these rites is strictly taboo and is believed to 

 be followed automatically by a supernatural 

 sanction of sickness and death. 



Unfortunately I never had an opportunity to 

 witness the puberty ceremonies for girls, but after 

 I had been wandering with the band of Aciba- 

 e6ko in September and October, 1941, I was told 

 upon returning to Tibaera that a number of young 

 girls from the band of Eantdndu were then in the 

 forest undergoing these rites. I asked Eantandu 

 to take me to where the ceremonies were being 

 held, but he showed a great reluctance to do so, 

 or even to suggest someone who might accompany 

 me. He said that the rites were taboo and, besides, 

 that he did not know where they were being held. 

 I finally persuaded him, however, to suggest 

 another Indian who agreed to accompany me. 

 We set out in quest of tin' ceremonial party, but 

 after walking about half a day, we met the 

 participants returning. 



From what information I could gather from 

 informants — members of the party and the girls 

 themselves — it seems that all young girls are 

 subjected to these rites shortly before they are 

 married. Menstruation is not a prerequisite for 

 undergoing the ceremonies. Just what the pre- 

 requisites are I was never able to determine, be- 

 yond the fact that the girls must be of about 

 puberty age. The ceremonies do not take place 

 at any particular times or places. They are held 

 whenever there are a few girls whose parents 

 decide that they are of about the right age to be 

 married. 



The ceremonies are held near a water hole or 

 stream about a day's journey from the house. 

 Before proceeding to this site, the girls' heads 

 are completely shaved with a bamboo knife. 

 They are accompanied into the forest by their 

 parents, and usually by a few old men and women 

 who are members of the extended family. Some 

 hunters may go along to supply the party with 

 game. Upon arriving at the water hole or stream, 



the men construct a raised platform of poles on 

 which the girls are required to sit during the 

 ceremonies, which last for about 2 or 3 days. 

 During this time they are subjected to repeated 

 baths to purify them for intercourse and marriage. 

 They are also told what foods they can and cannot 

 eat during the period following the rites and before 

 marriage. Adult members of the party sing and 

 dance a great deal during the ceremonies. After 

 about 2 or 3 days of such activity, the party returns 

 to the house. 



Following these rites in the forest, the girls are 

 not immediately available for intercourse and 

 marriage. They must wait until their hair has 

 again grown to the length of their chins, which 

 takes about a year. During this time they are 

 subjected to the following food taboos. They can- 

 not eat guan, macaw, monkey, curassow, toucan, 

 anteater, coati, harpy eagle, parrot, paca, arma- 

 dillo, opossum, porcupine, fox, and eggs of any 

 kind. The reasons for not allowing them to eat 

 these foods were never made clear to me except 

 in the case of eggs, which are believed to cause 

 multiple births, and porcupine and anteater, which 

 are believed to cause the birth of clubfooted 

 children. The following foods, however, are not 

 taboo: all vegetable foods, fruits, fish, tortoise, 

 peccary, tapir, deer, agouti, duck, alligator, cormo- 

 rant, otter, and squirrel. 



In addition to being subject to food taboos, 

 adolescent girls, after they have undergone the 

 ceremonies that take place in the forest but before 

 they are eligible for marriage, must do considerable 

 work for the first time in their lives. In many 

 instances they have already been betrothed to 

 potential husbands and therefore spend consider- 

 able time preparing themselves for marriage: 

 carrying firewood, twining string, spinning thread, 

 grinding maize, weaving baskets, making pots, and 

 collecting food. 



After the rites of puberty have been completed, 

 a girl is no longer regarded as yukwdki (a girl), 

 but is free to have intercourse with her potential 

 husbands and to be married to one of them. In 

 this connection it is interesting to note that there 

 were a number of girls at Tibaera already married 

 or having intercourse who had not yet menstru- 

 ated. Ngidrt (Bow), a boy, for example, was 

 married to Yiklna (Owl-monkey) while I was 

 living at Tibaera. She was about 10 years of age 

 and showed no signs of maturity at this time. 



