d days" a dance was always held on the occasion of a girl's
second period but that this had long since been abandoned (Cartwright,
1952, confirms).

The basket plays an important part in the ceremony and it would be
considered improper if there were no basket to be thrown to the crowd. It
is best if the basket is well made and can actually hold the ceremonial
bath water. If such a basket cannot be obtained, and they are growing
rarer as the older basket makers die, the bath is poured from a bucket,
but a less fancy basket is still thrown to the crowd. The bath and dusting
are now given to the girl while clad in her slip, in deference to white
notions of modesty which are strictly observed by the Washo. The painting
is carried out only if native pigment is available. The wand is left
unpainted unless native pigments are available.

The ritual of seizing and hiding the wand is carried out perfunctorily.
During a recent dance the girl's uncle took the wand but simply carried it
to the grandmother's house, intending to take it to the mountains later.
However, the stick remained with the grandmother, who was somewhat
concerned about it. It was kept in an upright position, and she constantly
reminded the man that he should take it. He regularly promised that he
would, the next time he came to visit, but just as regularly forgot it. It
may well be that as an adult and an important peyote chief, he was
reluctant to carry out what he considered an old Indian superstition.

There is no indication now that the girls' puberty dance is dying out
among the Washo. It may well be changing in form and developing into more
of a party. As the number of persons who know white dances increases,
these may replace Indian dances. There is some suggestion of this in other
ceremonial activities. And of course the fact that future generations of
Washo girls will attend integrated Nevada public schools and associate
with white students with different aspirations for approaching adulthood
may have important effects on the future of the girls' dance.

Pine-nut flour seems to have taken on an important symbolic role in
latter-day dances. We see no mention of this food in 1919 or 1926. Today
it might be considered proper to delay holding a dance if it was not
possible to get enough pine-nut flour to feed the crowd.

Puberty: Boys (2379-2386, 369-374)

The approaching maturity of a boy cannot be measured in dramatic
physiological terms, an