20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



like this [running her thumb and first finger down the ridge of the 

 nose and then stretching the nostrils wide open with the fingers]. She 

 says to the child, 'You must have a nice nose like the bandurria.' " 



Babies are often born with a dense growth of lanugo on forehead 

 and sides of face, from temples to ear lobes. By the time the child 

 enters school, it has disappeared, but a low hairline, a characteristic 

 of Araucanians in all areas — one not desired by them — remains. 

 (Cf. p. 61.) 



THE mother's bath, THE BABY's BATH 



For a few hours following delivery — probably two — the mother lies 

 quietly on her back, "she must not stir in the least." Then she walks 

 to the family's bathing place, either a river or lake or the Pacific, and 

 there wades directly into deep water. "This brings about good blood 

 circulation." "All the Mapuche women in Coiiaripe still do that," 

 said a non-Araucanian herbalist. "Chileans around here say these 

 women are crazy, but the Mapuche women say that they feel better if 

 they take this cold bath." 



In many instances still the midwife, or one of the other women who 

 was present at the delivery, dips the infant into the water where the 

 mother is taking her bath. "This bath hardens the child to the hard- 

 ships of life," said a mother. "It trains the child early to physical 

 endurance. Formerly the Mapuche could resist sickness ; they were a 

 strong people because of it. Where they are no longer given this bath 

 after birth, the Mapuche are a weak people." No informant knew of 

 an instance where the mother while bathing herself bathed her child, 

 also, in a stream or in the sea after birth. "Maybe it was done a long, 

 long time ago." Cooper's sources say it was (1946, p. JZ'^^' 



Today a substitute for the baby's first bath in a body of cold water 

 is dipping the infant into a dish of cold water or, as the Chileans do, 

 laying it on one's lap and dashing cold water on its back and front. 

 The midwife or one of the women who has attended the birth will do 

 so. Generally fresh cold water is used ; rarely, a decoction. The belief 

 prevails that the cold bath is conducive to the child's good health and 

 well-being. The dish used is one carved from a tree trunk. 



The mother bathes the child frequently during infancy and child- 

 hood ; many do so daily. It is dipped into a body of water, if one is 

 near the home, or it is stood up in a dish in the ruka and cold water is 

 splashed against it. An occasional mother today uses lukewarm water 

 or a decoction, something she learned from non-Araucanians. 



A Cofiaripe mother had seen a non-Araucanian mother bathe a child 



