THE BANTU OF KAVIRONDO 213
activities of boys and girls respectively, (d) Adolescence, marked by the circumcision rites, which raise the young men to the status of warriors and full membership of the tribal society by grouping them all together into an age-grade, which, cutting across the clans, comprises the young men of the whole tribe who have been circumcised in the same year, (e) Matrimony, marked by the wedding festivities which do not only establish a bond between husband and wife but between the kinsmen and clans of both and, finally, (/) parenthood, marked by the ceremonial setting up of an independent household and homestead and the acceptance of man and wife into full married status in the tribe which is indicated by the termination of avoidances with the actual and all classificatory parents-in-law. Old age, while not marked by a ceremonial initiation', implies a gradual elevation in status and influence, as the principle of seniority operates in all relationships.
These different rites de passage have a great similarity to one another. They all serve the same purpose, viz. to accept the individual into an existing group or relationship pattern and to bind him to the obligations and standards of behaviour which membership of the group or participation in the new relationship entail. The following features are found in all or nearly all of the rites that mark the entrance into the various phases of life: (a) A mutual ceremonial utterance of the term of address that signifies a particular relationship or membership of a group. The utterance of these terms is not incidental, nor is it a mere symbol,,but it actually establishes the relationship, with all that it entails, just as its opposite, the avoidance of certain terms, severs a relationship or prevents it from being established, (b) The type of behaviour which characterizes the new status in the group or the nature of the relationship between certain categories of people is acted in a pantomimic performance, (c) Gifts are exchanged between the persons who enter a mutual relationship; when a person is initiated into membership of an existing group, a common feast and dance are held which at the same time strengthen the unity of the whole group, (d) Commandments are given to the initiate by a close paternal or maternal relative, in the course of which he is instructed in the standards of conduct which henceforth are expected from him. While these commandments are given, the initiate observes definite rules of ritual, and the person who speaks the commandments drives home each sentence by spitting bear