Page:The sexual life of savages in north-western Melanesia.djvu/74

Rh the main strands in the social fabric. But in their personal relations the strictest taboo divides brother from sister — and prevents any sort of intimacy between them.

As woman is debarred from the exercise of power, land ownership, and many other public privileges, it follows that she has no place at tribal gatherings and no voice in such public deliberations as are held in connection with gardening, fishing, hunting, oversea expeditions, war, ceremonial trade, festivities and dances.

On the other hand, there are certain ceremonial and festive activities in connection with which women have a great deal both to say and to do. The most important of these in solemnity and sanctity, as well as the most imposing in display and extent, are the mortuary ceremonies. In the tending of the corpse, the parade of grief, the burial with its manifold rites and long series of ceremonial food distributions: in all these activities, which begin immediately after the death of any important tribesman and continue at intervals for months or even years afterwards, women play a large part and have their own definite duties to fulfil. Certain women, standing in a special relationship to the deceased, have to hold the corpse on their knees, and fondle it; and while the corpse is tended in the hut, another category of female relatives performs a remarkable rite of mourning outside: a number Rh