WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER I5 



two upright poles that are driven into the ground about a foot apart. 

 In PanguipuUi area the woman not infrequently clutches a rope sus- 

 pended from the rafters of the ruka. One of the women assisting her, 

 usually the midwife, or any of those present— or the woman's hus- 

 band, if no one else is present— kneels behind the woman, embraces 

 her about the abdomen, and presses it with both hands. Sometimes a 

 man's belt is tied about her waist and lowered with the progress of 

 the delivery. After the child is born, its parents thank God that it has 

 arrived and ask Him to help the child to continue to live and grow to 

 maturity. 



After delivery, "while the mother's body is still half sick," she is 

 given a decoction made by boiling silvestre salvia, linaza, sanguinaria, 

 and kariil'awen, an aquatic plant. The mother has collected these from 

 fields and open spaces and brooks before the birth of her child and 

 has them ready for use. The midwife brings none with her. If the 

 mother bleeds during delivery or afterward, she is given a decoction 

 of qalaurjalau, a plant found in brooks. 



Some midwives, "wise ones," know how to assist at difficult de- 

 liveries. According to Cooper's sources, they practiced cephalotomy 

 when need was indicated (1946, p. 732). Quoting a Cofiaripe in- 

 formant: 'Tf a child is not born within four days after labor pains 

 begin and there is no wise midwife available, the mother usually dies. 

 If the midwife is one who knows, she will boil flaxseed and lubricate 

 her hand with the oil that comes to the surface. Before lubricating 

 the hand, however, she cleans it well and cuts all fingernails of it 

 close, except one, either the thumb or the first finger. Then she in- 

 serts her lubricated hand into the cervix, tears the sac with the one 

 fingernail retained, and usually the baby is soon born." If all known 

 means have been resorted to unsuccessfully, it is believed an evil spirit 

 prevents the birth, and a machi is hired to perform a machitun. (Cf. 

 pp. 115-121 for performances of machitun.) 



During the present study an Araucanian midwife delivered a 

 Chilean woman of one of a pair of twins. The other, not yet delivered, 

 was thought, by Chilean women neighbors, to be dead. The midwife 

 mixed water, vegetable oil, urine of those present, and ashes which 

 she obtained by burning some of the woman's hair. Everyone present 

 encouraged the woman to observe the midwife prepare the mixture. 

 The woman drank two-thirds of a glassful of it, gagged violently, 

 and gave birth to the twin, alive. 



The baby's birth is not announced, nor is it celebrated by feast or 

 ceremonial. Usually, however, a lamb or sheep is slaughtered and a 



