QUEER PEOPLE.

Grey River Argus, 29 October 1926, Page 6

QUEER PEOPLE.

New wonders of the world are continually crowding in upon us, yet spread over the world are races whose customs have not altered much in a thousand years, writes Lieut-Colonel P. T. Etherton, in the “Daily Mai).’’ There are, for instance, the headhunters of Sumatra, who regard the human skull as the aristocratic form of wine cup. If contemplating marriage you cannot achieve your desire until you have presented your fiancee with a number of heads, which are afterwards preserved in a casket like the freedom of the City of London. Only after a certain number of heads have been placed beneath the foundations can you take up residence in your new house, and the finest form of internal decoration is not a picture but the skulls of your enemies. In the Papuan Islands, to the north-east of Australia, where cannibalism, is popular, charms of human arm bones worn' round the neck are fashionable. Girls before marriage are shut up in a cage made from palm and cocoanut leaves. The old women of the tribe do sentry-go over the cage and the girl is allowed out 1 for a brief spell once every day, but beyond that quits it only on her wedding morn. In the Arctic Circle water for washing is taboo, and so the Eskimo mother licks her baby clean before consigning it to its cot of walrus hide and sealskin.

Years ago I spent some time among the Blackfoot Indians of the Far West, whore, if aspiring to the rank and dig* nity of a warrior, a- strenuous ordeal awaited you. The would-be warrior was fastened to a stake, incisions were made in the muscles of the chest, and through them cords of cowhide were passed and secured to the post. The lad could free himself only by letting the thongs burst through the muscles. The hideous struggle might go on for two or three days; some of the more stoical would saw themselves free within twenty-four hours. Throughout the ordeal men and women wore continually pa.ssi.ng and the candidate could have a drink if he wanted it ot be released if he felt unable to go on.

But in either case he was doomed. Feminine dross would be his for the rest of his days, war and manly sports were prohibited, and, worst of all, no woman, however ugly and repulsive, would look at him. Small wonder, then that the Blackfoot warrior came out with flying colours. But it is probably in South America that you find most strange customs. Marriage there, especially among the remote tribes of Brazil and Bolivia, is a strenuous affair. Custom demand’s that on the birth of a child the father shall eat only roots and nuts for a year His wife must not do any work cr cooking—the mother-in-law or grand-■ .mother, if there is one, docs this for them—and the father must not scratch (himself or partake of certain dishes, for fear his child may be unduly fat or lean, blind, deaf, or dumb. In fact, for months he is menaced with disaster to his heir.

If you aspire to being a medicine man the course extends over nine or ten years. You must undergo solitary confinement in the jungle and practically fast for twelve months, you must be able to dance and work yourself into a frenzy and keep it going for whole nights in succession, and you must have the capacity of a Fa I staff •for strong drink and yet maintain a steady eye and straight, pace. Also, you must be. able to swing heavy clubs for hours on cud, smoke strong tobacco, J/ and spit upon your patient with force and accuracy from a distance of t!

yards. Of all the many tribes with which 1 have come in contact, the Kalmyks of Central Asia are the most fascinating. They retain customs and beliefs whose origin may be sought far back in the mists of intiquity. Their weddings are always on horseback, for the belle of the encampment has to be caught and gives the lead in a breakneck race to the young men aspiring to her hand. To ward off undesirable lovers sho has a heavy whip, and a well-directed slash across the eyes puts the unwelcome suitor out of action. The Kalmuks drink copiously and often of “kumis” —fermented mare’s milk—from leathern bottles, exactly asj the Jewish patriarchs or their nomadic forebears did centuries before them, and it is regarded as the champagne of 1 ;he wedding feast.