14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, I33 



sister. Informants thought it would be cruel to send the children away 

 from their mother while she is giving birth. Said a Cofiaripe mother : 

 "Strangers are not allowed at the birth. But most certainly all the 

 children should be there, now when their mama is sick. She is never 

 away from her family, and why should not all her children be there 

 when she gives birth to one of their brothers or sisters ? In any event, 

 the baby is being born in their home. Where should they go ?" Quot- 

 ing a Panguipulli father, "Certainly, the children are all present at a 

 birth. Where else should they go ? They belong in the same ruka with 

 their mother." All boys and girls in a school in Alepue said they had 

 been present at a birth, except ones who were too young when a birth 

 occurred to remember it. 



The expectant mother drinks a cooled herbal decoction of leaves, 

 stems, and roots of culantrillo when she begins to have labor pains. 

 This maintains good blood circulation. The ingredients are boiled for 

 only a short time. Cooper notes that Gusinde gives a variety of medic- 

 inal plants used to facilitate birth (1946, p. 732). 



According to an Alepue woman the pains of labor can be lessened 

 if the midwife pricks everyone present, including the children, with a 

 needle. Hence, as soon as labor begins, she noted, people gathering in 

 the house are pricked and they sing appropriate songs. After the baby 

 is born, there is beating of drums and the people dance. Other in- 

 formants said this was not the usual thing. 



No informant had heard that letting a live lizard slide down the 

 body of the expectant mother facilitated birth, something believed by 

 the Blackfeet (from writer's unpublished field notes). No one knew 

 of any animal associated with birth. 



Informants knew of no medicinal remedy to alleviate labor pains. 

 Cooper mentions Datura stramonium as being used in recent times to 

 deaden pain (1946, p. 732). "Sometimes the child comes soon; some- 

 times not for a long time, in which case the woman suffers much. We 

 have no remedy for these pains. The mother must bear them. Labor 

 pains usually begin at night, and by sunrise the baby is born. A child 

 that is born at dawn or before the middle of the forenoon will be 

 healthy and will grow to maturity. If it is born in the afternoon or 

 evening, it usually dies — but births seldom occur at these times of the 

 day." 



Formerly women knelt while giving birth. This is in agreement 

 with Cooper's sources also (1946, p. 732). Today most women kneel 

 though an occasional one lies on her back. She kneels on something 

 that can be discarded, such as a piece of threadbare homespun cloth 

 or a worn-down sheep pelt. Generally she braces herself by gripping 



