Note 12 — Chapter XIV · BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD CEREMONIES

Several of those who have described this ceremony have included in the description an account of “tying the tali.”12 So far as I could ascertain nothing of the kind is done. I inquired into the point many times and all agreed that it formed no part of the Toda ceremony and that its equivalent was the giving of the bow and arrow. More than one man spoke of the pursütpimi ceremony as “tying the tali,” but the latter expression is merely the equivalent of “marriage ceremony,” and the very man who used this expression denied vehemently that tying the tali or anything else round the neck of the woman formed any part of the Toda ceremony.