The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 10 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 10 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
(M42) Among the Shuswap Indians of British Columbia, who are neighbours of
the Thompsons and Lillooets, “a girl on reaching maturity has to go
through a great number of ceremonies. She must leave the village and live
alone in a small hut on the mountains. She cooks her own food, and must
not eat anything that bleeds. She is forbidden to touch her head, for
which purpose she uses a comb with three points. Neither is she allowed to
scratch her body, except with a painted deer-bone. She wears the bone and
the comb suspended from her belt. She drinks out of a painted cup of
birch-bark, and neither more nor less than the quantity it holds. Every
night she walks about her hut, and plants willow twigs, which she has
painted, and to the ends of which she has attached pieces of cloth, into
the ground. It is believed that thus she will become rich in later life.
In order to become strong she should climb trees and try to break off
their points. She plays with _lehal_ sticks that her future husbands might
have good luck when gambling.”(126) During the day the girl stays in her
hut and occupies herself in making miniature bags, mats, and baskets, in
sewing and embroidery, in manufacturing thread, twine, and so forth; in
short she makes a beginning of all kinds of woman’s work, in order that
she may be a good housewife in after life. By night she roams the
mountains and practises running, climbing, carrying burdens, and digging
trenches, so that she may be expert at digging roots. If she has wandered
far and daylight overtakes her, she hides herself behind a veil of fir
branches; for no one, except her instructor or nearest relatives, should
see her face during her period of seclusion. She wore a large robe painted
red on the breast and sides, and her hair was done up in a knot at each
ear.(127)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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