Untitled - Smithsonian Institution

Olbrechts] the swimmer MANUSCRIPT 121
black walnut). If these nuts are eaten, the child will have a horribly
broad nose.
Salt is to be used as scantily as possible. No reason for this could
be given. W. said he thought it was "because salt makes meat
(and therefore also flesh) swell." (See p. 65.)
No trace of the belief in the result of unsatisfied picae could be
found.
Apart from the food taboos there are qidte a number of restrictions
and injunctions which a pregnant woman has to observe.
She should not be visited by a menstrual woman.
She should never loiter near the doorway. Whenever she has to go
in or out of the cabin she must do so briskly. If she loiters at the
doorway "the child will be slow in jumping down."
Every morning she should go to a near-by creek or spring, accompanied
by her husband, and both should wash their faces, hands, and,
some say, their feet. This custom has nothing to do with the ceremonial
going to water observed at every new moon, and is of a totally
different nature. It seems to be practiced solely for hygienic pur-
poses, although there is no telling but this might be a mere rationaUzed
explanation of an act that had formerly a religious significance. One
informant, Del., gave as a reason, that it was done simply to midtiply
the opportunities for going out of doors. (See p. 122.)
She should not comb her hair backward, as the hair of the child, when
grown, would not fall smoothly along its head, but would grow bristling
and unkempt.
She should not wear a neckerchief, nor a belt of cloth or bead work;
nor should she have an apron tied around her waist. If she disregards
any of these injunctions the child will have the umbilical cord twisted
round its neck, and will be suffocated.
She should not see a corpse; but should she have to accompany a
burial, where at the graveyard everybody is supposed to cast a last
glance at the face of the deceased, any pregnant woman is given the
opportunity to precede all those present; for, should others look at the
corpse before she was given a chance, this would result in serious
obstacles for her delivery.
"In the times of long ago," W. told me, "pregnant women were
not allowed to see masks; now they are no longer so careful about this.
But in olden times such powerful witches existed that they could make
the unborn child look as horrible as the mask its mother had looked at.
But now they are no longer so powerful." (PI. 13.)
husband's taboos
A considerable portion of the taboos that have to be observed by the
future father has probably been lost. Yet some of them still exist, and
are still observed by the more conservative members of the tribe.