When a little Sakai opens its eyes to the light of this world no religious ceremony greets its arrival.
The woman who is about to become a mother separates herself from the rest of the family and retires by herself to a hut apart, where the floor is very high. Nobody assists her at her confinement because there is perhaps no other event in the existence of a Sakai so involved in tenacious and perilous superstition as is that of birth. Her own husband and the father of the new-born babe dare not cross the threshold of the hut or make the acquaintance of his child until a long time after, that is, until it has got some strength.
Grave of a Sakai man.
p. [194].
It is always feared that by entering the cabin the smell of the child may be carried into the forest by means of which the Evil Spirit would be able to trace it out and do it some mischief. And for the same reason the newly-made mother dare not have contact with any of the adults who go into the jungle to hunt or for other purposes, but has food and water taken her by the children.
It is superfluous to add that for a given time before and after a confinement the presence of a stranger in the village is not tolerated, worse still if he is a white man.
The Alà, seconded by all, both males and females, is inflexible about this, asserting that it would be the death of the babe, and it is a prudent thing to accept the veto with a good grace and to obey the sorcerer's orders without hesitation. Sometimes a stranger is not even allowed to look upon a woman who is in an interesting state, as it once happened to me.