Note 9 — Chapter XIV · BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD CEREMONIES

The husband and wife return to the tree with the bow and arrow, and the relatives of the pair come to the spot. The father of the woman promises a young female calf, the offspring of a given buffalo, which he names, saying after the name pòl todein, or “calf I have given”; thus, Kemars pòl todein would mean, “I have given a calf, the daughter of Kemars.”9 Then husband and wife salute certain people by bowing before them and raising their feet to the forehead (kalmelpudithti). The wife salutes in this way all her male relatives and those of her husband older than herself—i.e., she salutes those whom she would salute in this way under normal circumstances (see Chap. XXI). The husband salutes all the male10 relatives of his wife, irrespective of their being older or younger than himself.