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Show Fear of Coui'ship May Destroy Bororo Indians The Bororo Indians are dying out. They ilve on the Amazon. An expedition expe-dition returned from their homeland reported that no ailments or urges toward race suicide are to blame for the doom of the 2,000 tribesmen who survive. The doom of the Bororos isn't caused by any fear of arried life. It is just that those jungle hunters are afraid of courtship, and both the young men and the girls seems to have ample reasons. If a young Bororo feels attracted to a girl and sees his love requited, he must ask her parents for her hand, and, as proof of his ability to support her by his industry, he must make a cudgel and hand it to his prospective father-in-law. The parent par-ent then tries that appliance on the youth's head. If the cudgel holds good, the wedding wed-ding is in order. The insensible bridegroom then is carried away into safety by his friends. However, if the instrument breaks on contact with the amorous young man's skull and Bororo skulls are unusually solid then it is a sign i that his qualifications are poor, and that his request has been rejected. Even the prospective bride doesn't come out unscathed from the Bororo engagement ceremonies: While the bridegroom nurses his bruised head, the girl's friends tie her to a tree and beat her to chase evil spirits from her body. The honeymoon thus is spent mostly by the young couple in nursing each other's wounds. Such is the courtship tradition of the Bororos, and returning explorers explor-ers point to it to explain why those Amazonian denizens are marriage shy, and are dying out. |