Among the Matacos or Mataguayos, an Indian tribe of the Gran Chaco,
a girl at puberty has to remain in seclusion for some time. She lies
covered up with branches or other things in a corner of the hut,
seeing no one and speaking to no one, and during this time she may
eat neither flesh nor fish. Meantime a man beats a drum in front of
the house. Among the Yuracares, an Indian tribe of Eastern Bolivia,
when a girl perceives the signs of puberty, her father constructs a
little hut of palm leaves near the house. In this cabin he shuts up
his daughter so that she cannot see the light, and there she remains
fasting rigorously for four days.
Amongst the Macusis of British Guiana, when a girl shows the first
signs of puberty, she is hung in a hammock at the highest point of
the hut. For the first few days she may not leave the hammock by
day, but at night she must come down, light a fire, and spend the
night beside it, else she would break out in sores on her neck,
throat, and other parts of her body. So long as the symptoms are at
their height, she must fast rigorously.
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