Puberty
Brazil. Among the Urubu-Kaapor people of Brazil, South America, when a young woman has had her first period, she goes into a room in her home covered with palm leaves to spend time alone for a month. She only eats cooked white cassava flour and white tortoise meat. She sleeps in a hammock (a type of bed made of rope that is hung above the floor) as it is believed that some magic will escape if her feet touch the ground. On the seventh day of her time alone, the young woman's father cuts her hair very short. Her legs are scratched with the tooth of an agouti, which is an animal that looks like a guinea pig. Pieces of cloth are wrapped around the woman's forehead and abdomen (tummy), and large ants are put inside the cloth. After the woman has been bitten by the ants a few times, the cloth is removed. The Urubu-Kaapor people believe that the woman will learn how to be strong if she suffers some pain. After the young woman has finished spending a month alone in her room, she makes a meal and a special drink from cassava and gives it to her family and other people in her village. The young woman is now considered an adult and can wear a necklace of feathers and a waistband with flowers. She also puts pink makeup made from plants on her face.