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Angami women: physique and dress |
| text: |
The women, like the men, are on the average taller than the women of most hill races, and are comparatively fair, with a ruddy glow of health in their cheeks. They are well made and active, and frequently very pretty when young, but their hard life soon proves fatal to good looks. They do not go in quite so much as the male sex for personal adornment. As Captain Butler remarks: ' This is a noticeable instance of the female withdrawing from the contests wherever she finds a male rival in the same field of indulgence in and love of personal decoration,' which with them shows itself chiefly in a large number of necklaces of all sorts and sizes, from large pieces of shell ( three or four to a necklace) to those of the smallest glass beads. One or two large brass rings hang from their ears. When very young and unmarried, the girl's heads are shaved entirely; when married, the hair grows long and is braided and tied in a knot at the back, or is allowed to fall in waves all round, confined only by a small fillet of cane. |
