The Bororo are firmly persuaded that were any man to
touch unconsecrated maize or meat, before the ceremony had been
completed, he and his whole tribe would perish.
Amongst the Creek Indians of North America, the _busk_ or festival
of first-fruits was the chief ceremony of the year. It was held in
July or August, when the corn was ripe, and marked the end of the
old year and the beginning of the new one. Before it took place,
none of the Indians would eat or even handle any part of the new
harvest. Sometimes each town had its own busk; sometimes several
towns united to hold one in common. Before celebrating the busk, the
people provided themselves with new clothes and new household
utensils and furniture; they collected their old clothes and
rubbish, together with all the remaining grain and other old
provisions, cast them together in one common heap, and consumed them
with fire. As a preparation for the ceremony, all the fires in the
village were extinguished, and the ashes swept clean away. In
particular, the hearth or altar of the temple was dug up and the
ashes carried out.
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