WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 7 



of a certain locality, in which case "the Huilliche are the people in 

 the south around Osorno and still farther south; the Picunche are 

 around Puerto Saavedra, to the north ; the Pehuenche are east of here, 

 east of Alepue, in the Cordillera [Andean highlands] ; the Puelche 

 are in Argentina; the Mapuche are here [Alepue] and in Tolten, 

 Panguipulli, and Boroa. But all these people are Mapuche. They 

 speak Araucanian dialects, but all can understand each other except 

 for distinctly different words for the same things ; we must learn these 

 words." "We people here in Panguipulli," said an informant from 

 that area, "are Pehuenche because we live in the Cordillera not far 

 from where the araucarias grow, and we are related to the Argentine 

 tribes; but we are Mapuche." To quote a Boroa area informant, 

 "When we speak of the Pehuenche among ourselves we mean the 

 Mapuche that live up there in the Cordillera where the araucarias 

 grow. They live up there, and also across from there in the Argentine 

 where the araucarias also grow." 



Informants in any one area of Chile covered in the present study 

 when speaking of Araucanians in the other areas called those of 

 Alepue area on the Coastal Range the Mapuche of the Coast ; those 

 in Panguipulli and Cofiaripe areas, the Mapuche of the Cordillera; 

 and those in Boroa area, the Mapuche of the Plains. I use the term 

 "Araucanian" for all areas, but in quoting informants I use the word 

 "Mapuche." 



Culturally the Chilean Araucanians were an agricultural people 

 when the Spaniards first met them, and they are today. They had, 

 and still have, domesticated animals. Hunting, which played a minor 

 role in the early days, is nonexistent today. Fishing and gathering 

 shellfish are today, as formerly, a means of subsistence. 



Linguistically the Araucanians are an independent family, their 

 language being classified as Araucanian. Dialectic differences occur 

 from region to region; also, some words found in one region are 

 foreign to other regions. Father Sigifredo, who spoke Araucanian 

 well, remarked, "The various tribes of Araucanians, namely the 

 Mapuche, the Huilliche, the Pewenche, and the Puelche — all call them- 

 selves Mapuche — speak nearly identical languages. It is said that 

 these various peoples do not understand each other, but that is not 

 true." 



PRENATAL FACTORS 



STERILITY AND FERTILITY 



Of a childless couple the woman is believed to be the sterile person. 

 Kind people say she is sick. In general she is not respected ; in some 



