Note 26 — RELIGION

In addition to the articles of food which women are forbidden to eat at all times, there are certain other things which are prohibited during pregnancy. Neither the woman nor her husband may eat tortoise or pangolin,26 indeed she must not even touch a tortoise, and her husband, though he may touch one, may not bring one into the house or allow anyone else to do so. The wife may not eat bear’s meat or the kill of any wild animal, and if her husband eats any of these things he must sleep apart from her the following night. It is most important that neither the husband nor the wife should kill a snake during this time. Were they to do so the expected child would have a tremulous tongue. Some pregnant women even object to a snake being killed in their presence. It is also forbidden to an expectant mother to cut her hair. Any hairs which fall out are carefully collected and twisted into the hair-band. At the time of delivery the woman lies on her side and is attended to by an old midwife called Oshangessi (“thrower-away of afterbirth”). The husband and female relations may remain present. The household goods are only put outside when delivery is delayed. In cases of very painful birth the father either makes fire with a fire-stick and fumigates the woman, or exchanges drinks of hot “rohi madhu” with her. Occasionally the father spits on his fingers and puts a little of his saliva on the woman’s stomach. This is regarded as an infallible remedy in cases of difficult delivery.27 The Oshangessi, the moment the child is born, calls it by some name other than that which is to be its real name, in order that the evil spirits (tsandhramo) who are listening at the door may be deceived and go away, thinking they are in possession of the real name, which is not given till six days later in the case of a boy and five days later in the case of a girl. The name finally chosen is invariably one which has been borne by a member of the clan before. The false name having been given, the Oshangessi washes the child and puts a little boiled rice into its mouth. The navel string is put into a “chunga” and carefully kept by the parents in their house. If it were thrown away and eaten by a dog or pig or otherwise destroyed the child would die. The Oshangessi wraps up the afterbirth in bits of rag and tsampen (wild lemon) leaves in the case of a boy and michem leaves in the case of a girl, and putting it in a little basket hangs it up on a michem tree, a tree with white flowers, well out of the way of dogs and pigs, who would cause the death or serious illness of the child if they ate it. There is one such tree on the outskirts of every “khel” which is used for afterbirths.28