toy; cassava squeezers

26 wife-catchers on a string. These are miniature manioc or cassava squeezers, which are used in a game known as 'wife-catcher'. The game involves one player holding one end of the 'wife-catcher' whilst the other player of the opposite sex inserts his or her finger in the other open end of the object. If the other player pulls the 'wife-catcher' and realises that the other participant's finger is still 'entrapped' within the hole at the other end, then it means he has found himself a 'wife' or she has found herself a 'husband'. I do not know if this is a traditional Amerindian game or an Amerindian version of other modern games. Purchased in Georgetown and made in Kabakaburi Mission.

A long woven tube with a loop at one end, woven from yellow and dark brown plant fibres in a pattern of diagonal stripes. The weaving is quite loosely done so that the tube is flexible. At one end the tube is open (so you can out your finger in); at the other, it is slightly tapered and attached to a ring or loop of fibre. A string has been threaded through all the loops to tie the wife-catchers together.

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