ADULTHOOD RITES
A girl’s attainment of puberty or womanhood was an event of obvious
importance and it was recognized as such by all tribes of the Lassen
region with extensive formal ritual and ceremony for each individual
girl. Only the more important and generally employed taboos and rites
are noted below. There was considerable variation in details of such
matters even among the four tribes with which we are dealing.
The girl was secluded in a separate hut for from three to six days and
sometimes during the nights too. The taboos she observed during this
time were much like those imposed on a mother giving birth, but were
even more extensive. The young lady must eat from her own special
baskets, not cross streams, avoid contacting men—especially hunters,
refrain from gazing at the sun or moon, et cetera. Among things she must
do were to wear a basketry cap, or special head bands among some tribes,
and have her hair put up in two knobs wrapped over her shoulders. This
had to be done for her as she was not allowed to touch her own hair.
Carrying the deer-hoof rattle she must run races with other girls, and
dance much also, scratch her head only with a special scratcher, have
her earlobes pierced if this had not already been done, and frequently
her nose septum was punctured too, being kept open by insertion of a
round stick. Among Wintun tribes of the Sacramento Valley some taboos
lasted for from one to three years!
For several nights public dances were held which lasted all night. Since
there was no special ritual for anyone but the girl for whom the dances
were held, these ceremonies were of a joyous nature and were popular and
well attended. In the middle of the night food provided by the girl’s
family was served to all present. Singing with deer-hoof rattle
accompaniment was carried on all night. Intimate affairs between couples
were not unusual during such dances. During the daytime as well dances
were held, but these were of short duration and participated in chiefly
by the women of the village. At the end of the ordeal the girl bathed
and was given new clothes, ending her taboos.
There was no formal ceremony when boys attained manhood except that the
youths were generally sent alone into the neighboring mountains for
several days to seek special “powers” to give them skill and luck in
certain pursuits such as deer hunting, archery, fighting, shamanism, and
the like.
During menstruation all women had to observe many taboos too. These
included eating alone and living in seclusion. They could eat no meat or
fish, fat, or salt, and must not cook. They must avoid sick persons and
hunters, and could not scratch themselves except with the scratching
stick. At the end of the taboo periods of four or five days, they
usually bathed in streams for purification.
Curiously, wives’ menstruations had to be observed by their husbands in
a number of ways. Most common was prohibition of smoking, and they must
eat lightly. Among mountain Maidu the husband could hunt and fish, but
could not eat any flesh; among Atsugewi the reverse was true.