The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1912-09-12
Mothers Hold Mass Meeting
and Protest Against Inva-
sion Of FoI-De-R Rolls.
PREFERS GARB TO BEADS

There is a dreadful stir down in the
little port Of ~Inhambane, East Africa
a town of about 1000 persons-Portu-
| guesa, Arabs, Hindu., Parsees. half
| castles and negroes-all because the
governor ordered native women tc
adopt European fashions.
A week or two of mothers meetings
resulted in plans for q strike against
the o~utlandish fol-de-rols OF socalled
civilization.
And back they went to the altogeth-
er. plus a few beads. with q slit drap-
cry of monkey skins, a la directoire,
rs a robe ~d'occasion.
Anyone who knows the native in her
habitat must appreciate her position
and sympathize with her in the protest
against being made to appear a fool.
That is exactly what happens when
she ions European clothes. h de-
murs, Just as Americans would If Chi
"a, having conquered the United
queues and bandaged feet.
The native about Inhambane is q
"Kaffir," which, however, is only a
generic term, serving to distinguish
him from a Hottentot or a Bushman.
The native home is a kraal, a COL
lection of houses, usually situated on
an eminence, though 1T may be nothing
more than a roll in the low coast I'LL
try about Inhambane, which lies in a
Ian of c%ocoanut groves n malaria
breeding mangrove swamps.
Social Line Drawn On Wives.
If it be a chieftain's kraal the hut
which faces the cattle kraal will be the
home Of the great" wife. usually chos-
Ell later than the other wives, SO that
her son may have a better chance OF
inheriting his fathers leadership.
On the one side is the hut of the
right hand wife. usually the first wife.
Her son may not succeed unless all
the other wives have failed to supply
an heir.
She is the keeper of the family medi-
ctnes n charms. The left hand wife
is known as the wife of the ances-
tors" for upon her rests the RESPONSE
bility of providing an heir in case the
great" wife has no son.
From the walls and roof hang arti-
cles of all sorts-calabashes. old blank
cts, dirty pots, medicines, spoons,
punches of feathers. Back in one cor
ncr are piles of mats, assagais, sticks
n dried OK skins. In another a calf
tied to q roof pole. Hens roost about
where they please in the roofing. Big
glaek beetles scuttie across the floor.
The menagerje also includes several
cats, some goats, and perhaps a sick
ly sheep or two. To make the beds
means to clear out the rubbish any
where on the floor and spread down a
ma and a wooden pillow.
The tiny children, comical little tots,
are guiltless OF ever a rag, unless it be
q single thread of beadwork strung
about the loias purely for decorative
effect. They look to~p-heavy, and seem
constantly to be just on the point of
falling down. They are utterly with
out self-consciousness. and always are
laughing, save when they are CRYING,
Girls of 10 or thereabouts are the fan1j-
~ nurse maids. and sometimes they are
only sllghtiy larger than their charges.
The women invariably have n fine
carriage, the curve of their backs be-
Ing graceful and stately, the natural
result of carrying heavy burdens upon
their heads. They are physically well
conditioned, their value consisting
largely in good physique and ability
to work hard.
Fatness is deemed an element of
The fatter they are the pref