Norwich bulletin., 1914-07-25
PECULIAR ADoRNMENTs
 IN NORTHERN NIGERIA
The Women Wear Tails and Both Sexes Decorate Body With Designs

Washington, D. C., July 24.-In the remote part of northern Nigeria. not yet under the complete control of the British, there dwell people whose women wear tails and are proud of them, according to a statement issued at Washington, D. C., today. The statement is based on the investiga- tions of Major A. J. N. Tremearne, who has served in Nigeria both as a
 police and political officer.
 True it is that these tails are not
 of flesh and blood, but none the less
 they play an important part in the
 social life of the people, for they are
 the outward and visible sign of the matronly dignity" says the Society.
 When a woman of the Kango-o.
 KaiI, or of four other neighboring
 the Jaba-becomes a bride, she puts
 off forever the simple g1rdle of twist
 ed grass that up to that moment has
 been her sole adornment, and assumes
 the apron of leaves and the tremend- ously significant tail, or kunnock as it
 is called.
 'In each of the tribes, the kunnock
 varies in form, sometimes long and
 thin, at others short, mushroom like
 and stumpy. or shaped like a long
 bell. These tails are made of palm
 fiber plaited or bound together wi-h
 string and usually stained with a red
 earth. which is also used for the fur
 ther adornment of the lady's
 body. Often the kunnock is worn
 quite plain. but the more ambitious
 modes prescribe an establishment of
 brass wire and colored glass beais.
 The Kangoro women are distinguished by the Quaker-like simplicity of their attire; they wear the shortest and
 plainest of tails, a few beads around the neck. and perhaps a really fasl- I1I l l 11-A leglet of beads; but the kunnock it. self remains in all its native severity, "The ladies of the KajI tribe, how ever, affect a greater elegance; their tails are of greater length, the 'stumps' being covered with intricate designs worked in brass and copper wire, while the wheel-shaped terminal is gay with colored beads set in a bed of liquid rubber of which there is a great deal in the country. In this tribe the kun nok is generally worn over a bunch of leaves or grass similar to that which the ladies of all the tribes depend from their girdles in front Some times a Kajji matron who desires to be a leader in the fashionable world will wear tiny iron bell just aboTe the tail. but this is of rare occur renee and the bell is not often seen ''To add further to their beauty, 1 both the upper and lower lips of these women are pierced In order to admit a l fiat. round disk of wood called the l tichiak. which is usually about the
 size of a half dollar. The lips of he l little girls are pierced when they gre seven or eight years Of age. and 8 | piece of wood inserted and worn for a l time until a larger one takes its place 1 the opening thus being gradually en- | larged until a full-sized tichiak can l be carried without discomfort. The l object of this singularly discomfortins ] adornment is to prevent the women | from eating dogs, which are consid-
 cred the greatest delicacy by the men l of the tribes.
 1 Both sexes decorate their bodies 1 with regular designs: the chests and i backs of the little girls are scarified al l a very early age. When they arrive al marriageable age, the girls undergo s i further ordeal, for two sets of paralie | lines are cut both on the chest and the l back, and as soon as possible afr al
 marriage the head lines are ma ie l These consist of a number of sho-i 1 cuts across the forehead, extendine from ear to ear. and 13 long, slantine
 lines are cut on each from ear tc 1 chin"