24 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



The bandless cradle was not used in Aleque area; in Boroa area it 

 was used almost exclusively. Two Alepue women examined with 

 interest a bandless one pictured by Cooper (1946, p. 733, %. 78) and 

 discussed and evaluated it. "This netting [pointing to the backrest] 

 is not what we make ; we use a piece of wood for a backrest — two or 

 three, if they are small ones. This is how a Mapuche cradle should 

 look: [One woman drew two parallel lines and connected the upper 

 ends with a line bent above each of the parallel lines.] We are wonder- 

 ing who made this cradle [illustrated in Cooper] ; do you know ?" Pan- 

 guipulli informants said the bandless type was easily made. "You 

 take two boards so wide [approximately 2 inches] for side pieces, or 

 if you cannot find boards, chop two small straight limbs off a tree and 

 peel them of bark. Use these for side pieces. Then find some small 

 boards for the backrest, burn holes into the ends of them and also into 

 the poles, and tie them all together with thongs." 



Several cradles in use during the present study had parts fastened 

 together with nails ; all others, and also most museum specimens, were 

 tied together with leather thongs or cords. Holes for tying had been 

 burnt into the wood with hot irons. 



There are no standard measurements for a cradle other than that it 

 should be big enough for a baby. An informant said that the length 

 of the backrest should be the distance indicated between his hands (28 

 inches) and the width approximately half that distance. The entire 

 length, he thought, should approximate 34 inches "for the cradle must 

 have two feet on which to rest. These must be some distance below 

 the baby's feet. When the baby has outgrown the cradle, the cradle is 

 no longer used. It is generally not used after the baby walks, but I 

 tied my babies to theirs even then, for I knew then where they were — 

 they could not get out my sight." 



A cradle is not made ceremonially ; no part of it is ornamented ; no 

 toys are attached to it. It is padded with either a piece of sheep pelt 

 with wool side toward the baby or a piece of worn-down chamall ; both 

 are soft. Lashings are passed through knitted loops attached to the 

 framework of the cradle or through perforations along the edges of 

 the pelt or chamall, in which case the pelt or chamall is securely fas- 

 tened to the framework. Lashings are woven bands, and only one band 

 is used in lacing a baby to its cradle. In general, one end of the lashing 

 is fastened to the first loop at the head end of the cradle, and is then 

 passed through a loop at a time, alternating from side to side, until 

 the foot end is reached. Here it is fastened into the last loop, and any 

 unused lashing is tucked under the lacing somewhere. A baby is 

 swaddled before being tied to its cradleboard. If it is to sleep, its arms 



