ABSTRACT
The degree to which younger people, particularly women, are rejecting pollution beliefs and practices in the homeland is a source of considerable discussion and disapproval by both male and female elders. Although Baha and Sakri were Catholic, they still observed some of the customary prohibitions of this form of meetaa, though they had not conducted the customary rituals to establish the quarantine. Quarantines are designed to prevent polluted individuals from coming into contact with the earth spirits. These spirits become angry if an individual in a polluted state approaches their home because they fear that the pollution will affect their family. Neither Baha nor Sakri visited other households except that of Baha's mother, herself a Christian and past childbearing age. The growing incidence of unwed mothers has become one of the most lamented social problems of the Iraqw, both by the older generation and by church and government officials.
