CH. XI CUSTOMS OP TEE MINAHASSEBS 279 



were simple enough, for the pusaka was not divided upon 

 the death of any member of the family, nor did it in any 

 way change hands. It was somewhat like our famUy heir- 

 looms or entailed property, with this important difference, 

 that no portion of it could be sold or otherwise disposed of 

 without the consent of aU the members of the family. 



With self-acquired property it was naturally otherwise. 

 Upon the death of a man or woman this was divided into 

 two equal parts ; the widow or the widower received one 

 half, and the other half went to the heirs. 



The house belonged exclusively to the man ; it was 

 never regarded as a part of the pusaka, and it always 

 became, after his death, the property of his heirs. If the 

 woman helped her husband in the building of the house, she 

 received a certain compensation for her claim to it. This 

 was sometimes paid in money, but more usually in land. 



There was an interesting difference between the division 

 of the self-acquired property of chiefs and of common 

 peojple which should be noted here. When the wife of a 

 chief died, he received not a half but two-thirds of the 

 property which belonged to her (96), the heirs getting 

 only one-third. 



Of all the curious customs of savage races there is none, 

 perhaps, which has excited more interest, and indeed amuse- 

 ment, than the practice of ' Shunning the mother-in-law.' 

 Many people can call to mind the well-known picture which 

 has been copied into nearly all the books of anthropology of 

 the Kaffir warrior hiding behind his shield as he passes by 

 his mother-in-law, who is crouching on the ground with her 

 face down. The same custom in various stages of complexity 

 and simplicity occurs among many of the wild races of 

 mankind throughout the world. In Minahassa it is posan — 

 that is to say, forbidden — for a man to mention the name of 

 his parents-in-law. If by accident he does so, he spits 



