The Saint Paul globe., 1904-01-31
PoIyandry Is Cause of
Ruin of Indian Race

continue the practice of furnishing the
,, they did not know; it had always been
| thus since the days of King Ravana.
who is King Ravana?"
"A mighty giant monarch living far
away from Madras. He banished the
Todas to this territory, excluding them
| from their beautiful homes, the great cit
| leg, all their great riches.
| consistency with which the Todas main
| tain their sway over the weak minded
| native races. Among them the Bagadas
are the worst blackmailed of them all.
| If one of their rich men marries he has
| to pay each male Toda one-quarter or
one-haf of rupee-that is, 10 to 20
cents-on pain of being kidnapped and held
prisoner until the liege lords are paid in
| full.
| These people had no literature, and
even its traditions on things divine live in
memory M aofv only AS As already stated the
stricting the rest of the community as to
the number of gods they choose to wor-
ship. Your correspondent encountered
( the. transmigration of the soul. All hope
to live after death in the great heavenly
empire of Orunoor, which corresponds in
ell things with the happy hunting
grounds of the American Indian. The
| women are well treated and seem to keep
| the men in sort of subsection.
Girls Do the Courting.
The girl does the courting herself and
cannot be forced to marry against her
will. This is only fair when it is con-
| sfdered that she marries not one but half
dozen men by the one act and is there
| fore binding herself to one of them. The
| man, on the other hand, may refuse the
hand offered him. If he accepts he is ex-
| pected to present six or eight buffaloes to
| the young lady's parents and that settles
| the bargain.
| The husbands brothers do not live with
the couple--they may have wives of their
mo 90 hot LOFT
in-law at all times, and the woman must
| treat them in all ways like full-fedged
husbands, tending their cattle, looking
after their garments, etc.
The only festivals which the Todas cele-
| brate are the festivals of the dead. To
make them more impressive three to five
burials are held at the same time. In
these the bodies do not figure. for they
are cremated almost Immediately after
death. The festivities last three days and
attract great crowds not only from the
| tribes. The Kotas. for instance, must
| furnish the music, while another tribe
| brings extra provisions.
The relatives of the dead remain dur
ing the first day of the official funeral in
and around the late residence of the de-
| ceased, while the latter's brothers drive
together the buffaloes that are to be
! sacrificed. Upon the morning of the sec
ond day the ashes are placed upon an
altar erected of stones and covered with
new linen. The natives make speeches
I and murmur prayers and each touches
| the ashes with his or her forehead. After
| ward it is buried, the relatives throwing
a few handfuls of dirt into the hole. On
the third day the buffaloes that have
been goaded on to wildness are slaughter
ed with many cruel ceremonies. for the
| coming feast One of the bulls is killed
! by the elder priest, and when he falls
| the other priest plunges knife into his
in the flowing. blood and the latter is
| spattered into the ashes While. this
| goes on the soul of the dead person is
supposed to depart from what was once
his or her earthly sheath.
XIII superfIuous Females.
The Todas do not eat meat. They live
entirely on cereals and milk. The milk
| they do not want themselves they sacri-
soil. soil The Oily other religious rite they
perform Is salute offered to the rising
and also to the sinking sun.
A French traveller whom your. CORE
| spondent met accounted for the fact
! that the Todas degenerate on account of
! polyandry while other Indian tribes de-
vote to that form of marriage fiourished
| in spite of it. by saying it clearly proved
| their European origin.
| This deduction would be correct If the
| ancestors of this curious race hailed from
Rome. If on the other hand, they were
| Greeks, the argument would be rather
weak. for polyandry was practlced In IN
| instance. The French savant showed
your correspondent a passage in Hum
boldt's writings, in which it is stated that
| the Orinoco Indians in South America
practiced polyandry. as well as some @
| Cossack tribes in Russia that are fast
disappearing A Toda woman who has
not at least five husbands is looked upon
| with contempt by her sisters and friends.
The waning numerical strength, Of the
| tribe has forced the men to special efforts
| in respect to levying tribute Of certain
cereals among the neighboring communi-
| ties The practice Is to send the young
| fellows. after harvesting time, into the
valley. where they drive out all the males,
| taking UP their residence with the women
until the grain is forthcoming, which they
carry off swiftly to support their own
| ing their physical beauty. their. whole
| warlike appearance stand them In good
stead.
It seems that there is one more reason
| for the rapid decline of the race besides
| that mentioned. Like other warriors of
| ancient times of whom history tells. the
| Todas kill all superfiuous females soon
after birth. and any girl baby born I,so on
| is superfiuous, for these four days are
| 'sunIucky," aud no aAlf-rAsnAnti1nR Toda
U