Note 256 — Chapter IV · MARKET DAYS

The Indians of Cape Flattery, state of Washington, are said to keep the month of August as a period of repose when no berries are picked and no fish are taken from the sea, except occasionally by children (J. G. Swan, in Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, xvi, no. 220, p. 91). Perhaps the practice was consciously designed to establish a “close season,” though this is probably attributing too much foresight to the Indian. The fish or berries may have been considered unfit for eating in August. After gathering the yam harvest the Bini of Benin keep the first month of the dry season as a time of idleness (R. E. Dennett, At the Back of the Black Man’s Mind, London, 1906, p. 216). Here a period of rest is observed by an agricultural people because they have no special labour to perform. Among the Akikuyu of British East Africa there are three months in the year when little or no work is done, since the crops are then ripening (K. R. Dundas, in Man, 1909, ix, 38). The Yuchi Indians, now in the state of Oklahoma, keep autumn as “a period of combined rest, hunting, and enjoyment.” The winter, also, is passed in idleness and recreation (F. G. Speck, Ethnology of the Yuchi Indians, Philadelphia, 1909, p. 67). Dr. C. G. Seligmann has sent to me, in manuscript, some curious information regarding a division of time observed by the Sinaugolo, a hill-tribe to the east of Port Moresby, British New Guinea. It seems that long ago, according to Sinaugolo tradition, the people had to labour incessantly and enjoyed no opportunity to celebrate their dances and other festive ceremonies. So they instituted what was called the kaba period as a relaxation from the hard work of ordinary life. During this period, which recurred every other year or oftener, the Sinaugolo danced and held their most important feasts. The division of time into kaba and dauka (specially devoted to labour) has now lapsed.