Do we not ourselves speak of "a thirst for knowledge"? Here the milk tree is a shorthand for the process of instruction in tribal matters that follows the critical episode in both boys' and girls' initiation--circumcision in the case of the boys and the long trail of lying motionless in that of the girls. The mother's role is the archetype, of protector, nourisher, and teacher.For example, a chief is often referred to as the "mother of his people", while the hunter-doctor who initiates a novice into a hunting cult is called "the mother of huntsmanship (mama dawuyang'a)". An apprentice circumciser is referred to as "child of the circumcision medicine" and his instructor as "mother of the circumcision medicine". In all the senses hitherto the milk tree represents harmonious,benevolent aspects of domestic and tribal life.