ABSTRACT
After a kekpopam ritual the bride goes into seclusion in her mother's house until the next harvest time or, if she becomes pregnant before then, until the fourth or fifth moon of pregnancy. The seclusion is fairly strict; the bride is expected to spend the greater part of the day in one of the small cubicles otherwise used for storing food supplies, which are built on one or both sides of a Yako woman's house. A secluded bride is expected to eat plentifully and should be given more meat than is ordinarily available in a Yako diet. During this period of seclusion the bride wears a distinctive costume. Her hair is allowed to grow and is dressed in a series of spikes all over her head. In Umor when the period of seclusion ends the bride has, before going freely about the village, to make a ritual circuit, visiting a number of sacred sites known as akota.
