WHOLE VOL, ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 2$ 



are laid to its sides before it is swaddled. In its waking hours, its arms 

 and hands are free. 



The cradleboard serves several purposes, one of which is to insure 

 correct posture as the child grows. Quoting an Alepue woman: 

 "When a child is in its cradle its legs and arms are straight down. It 

 is because of this that the Mapuche have those straight legs and erect 

 backs ; seldom is there one that has bowed or bent legs. Too many 

 Mapuche today want to do away with cradleboards and follow those 

 stupid Chilean customs." A Conaripe father thought a child was too 

 confined when tied to its cradle : "My three oldest children were each 

 tied to a cradleboard. But when my three youngest children were 

 babies, there were enough older ones to tend to them and carry them 

 around. Anyway, I do not think a child develops well when it does 

 not have its freedom of movement." 



A baby in its cradle relieves the mother of its care while she is busy. 

 "A mother who weaves has the baby in its cradle right close to her ; 

 the baby watches her weave then." "Whenever a baby cries, it is tied 

 to its cradle and set against the wall. From here it can see other per- 

 sons, and see what they are doing. Babies seem to like it, for they are 

 quiet then." A baby that gets restless or seems tired will have its arms 

 brought out from under its swaddling bands. 



Furthermore, even a young child can be assigned to tending a baby, 

 if the baby is on its cradleboard. The child will play with the baby, 

 talk to it, or rock it, by moving the weight of the cradle alternately 

 from one foot to the other. An 8-year-old boy tended a neighbor's 

 baby in its cradleboard by rocking it and saying "choo" as each foot of 

 the cradle hit the ground, "I do not want the baby to begin crying," 

 he said. A grandmother was seen doing so for mere enjoyment. Oc- 

 casionally she stopped rocking, and talked to the baby. 



A cradleboard provides a place for the baby's daytime naps. If the 

 baby falls asleep in its cradle, the cradle is laid on the floor and the 

 canopy erected over the baby's face. At night the baby sleeps out of 

 its cradle with its mother. "That is the place for a baby at night; 

 certainly not in the cradle !" 



Also, the cradleboard provides a means of transporting the baby on 

 its mother's back when she walks a short distance, "like to the neigh- 

 bors." Most women carry a cradled baby by slipping each arm through 

 a loop, the ends of which are fastened to the cradle ; several women 

 carried one suspended from the forehead by means of a band. If long 

 distances have to be traveled, the mother rides horseback and places 

 the cradle in horizontal position on the saddle in front of herself. 



