ABSTRACT
This chapter shows the relationship between female puberty ceremonies and so-called menstrual taboos. Anthropologists have usually treated these rites independently and have regarded taboos associated with menstruation as symbols of a woman's defilement. The onset of menstruation is regarded by the Navajo as a time for rejoicing, and the young woman becomes a tribal symbol of fecundity. Treating one Native American society, the Oglala, the chapter demonstrates that myths and rituals related to female puberty in general and to menstruation in particular are aspects of the same phenomenon, which emphasizes the importance of the female reproductive role. It focuses on the female puberty ceremony and myths and rituals associated with menstruation at the micro level of analysis. The function of the menstrual taboo then is not to enunciate the pollutive nature of the female but to give structure to what otherwise is a period of antistructure.
