Among the Shuswap of British Columbia widows and widowers in mourning are secluded and forbidden to touch their own head or body； the cups and cooking-vessels which they use may be used by no one else. They must build a sweat-house beside a creek， sweat there all night and bathe regularly， after which they must rub their bodies with branches of spruce. The branches may not be used more than once， and when they have served their purpose they are stuck into the ground all round the hut. No hunter would come near such mourners， for their presence is unlucky. If their shadow were to fall on any one， he would be taken ill at once. They employ thorn bushes for bed and pillow， in order to keep away the ghost of the deceased； and thorn bushes are also laid all around their beds. This last precaution shows clearly what the spiritual danger is which leads to the exclusion of such persons from ordinary society； it is simply a fear of the ghost who is supposed to be hovering near them. In the Mekeo district of British New Guinea a widower loses all his civil rights and becomes a social outcast， an object of fear and horror， shunned by all. He may not cultivate a garden， nor show himself in public， nor traverse the village， nor walk on the roads and paths. Like a wild beast he must skulk in the long grass and the bushes； and if he sees or hears any one coming， especially a woman， he must hide behind a tree or a thicket. If he wishes to fish or hunt， he must do it alone and at night. If he would consult any one， even the missionary， he does so by stealth and at night； he seems to have lost his voice and speaks only in whispers. Were he to join a party of fishers or hunters， his presence would bring misfortune on them； the ghost of his dead wife would frighten away the fish or the game. He goes about everywhere and at all times armed with a tomahawk to defend himself， not only against wild boars in the jungle， but against the dreaded spirit of his departed spouse， who would do him an ill turn if she could； for all the souls of the dead are malignant and their only delight is to harm the living.
3. Women tabooed at Menstruation and Childbirth.
IN GENERAL， we may say that the prohibition to use the vessels， garments， and so forth of certain persons， and the effects supposed to follow an infraction of the rule， are exactly the same whether the persons to whom the things belong are sacred or what we might call unclean and polluted. As the garments which have been touched by a sacred chief kill those who handle them， so do the things which have been touched by a menstruous women. An Australian blackfellow， who discovered that his wife had lain on his blanket at her menstrual period， killed her and died of terror himself within a fortnight.
Hence Australian women at these times are forbidden under pain of death to touch anything that men use， or even to walk on a path that any man frequents.
They are also secluded at childbirth， and all vessels used by them during their seclusion are burned. In Uganda the pots which a woman touches， while the impurity of childbirth or of menstruation is on her， should be destroyed； spears and shields defiled by her touch are not destroyed， but only purified.
Among all the Déné and most other American tribes， hardly any other being was the object of so much dread as a menstruating woman. As soon as signs of that condition made themselves apparent in a young girl she was carefully segregated from all but female company， and had to live by herself in a small hut away from the gaze of the villagers or of the male members of the roving band. While in that awful state， she had to abstain from touching anything belonging to man， or the spoils of any venison or other animal， lest she would thereby pollute the same， and condemn the hunters to failure， owing to the anger of the game thus slighted. Dried fish formed her diet， and cold water， absorbed through a drinking tube， was her only beverage. Moreover， as the very sight of her was dangerous to society， a special skin bonnet， with fringes falling over her face down to her breast， hid her from the public gaze， even some time after she had recovered her normal state. Among the Bribri Indians of Costa Rica a menstruous woman is regarded as unclean. The only plates she may use for her food are banana leaves， which， when she has done with them， she throws away in some sequestered spot； for were a cow to find them and eat them， the animal would waste away and perish. And she drinks out of a special vessel for a like reason； because if any one drank out of the same cup after her， he would surely die.
