28 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



Cofiaripe area it is a mixture of juice of the inner bark of the alamo 

 and salt. "It smarts, but soon the teeth drop out without pain. The 

 first set of teeth is not the real set ; it must come out." 



The child creeps before it walks ; it is expected to creep when about 

 a year old. The mother of a 2-year-old boy explained that her child's 

 left side had been lame since birth; except for this "he should be 

 walking by now and no longer creeping." Creeping is usually done on 

 hands and feet. "A healthy child always crawls on all fours." An 

 occasional child slides along on a hip ; a sickly one "may slouch along, 

 sitting down." Having been tied to a cradleboard does not incapaci- 

 tate the child for creeping. 



Walking is an event in human development. — So are the ability to 

 carry out an order, puberty (which ends childhood), and marriage. — 

 "It is an important thing in any human life to be able to walk." It is 

 not celebrated, however. From birth until the child is able to walk, 

 it is spoken of as "a small child" (pichiche) ; as soon as it walks alone, 

 as "the small child walks now" (pichiche rjsillai). An endearing ex- 

 pression used by the mother with reference to her son who has just 

 learned to walk is "My little boy is growing up now" (pichi altawefii) ; 

 with reference to her daughter "she is little woman now" (pichi 

 domo). 



If a child does not walk when about two years old, it is helped to 

 learn to do so. A 2-year-old boy was given such help during an inter- 

 view. His mother supported him under his armpits while his 5-year- 

 old sister swung one of his legs forward and then the other. Having 

 done this a few times, she slid backward and coaxed her little brother 

 to move toward her. The interpreter had seen a mother put a stinging 

 insect, agrillo (kunir) kuniq), under the knee of a child that was not 

 making a normal attempt to walk. To get away from the sting of the 

 grillo the child took steps forward. 



Sometimes a child learns to walk by being put into a small home- 

 made 3-wheeled pushcart. The framework of the cart is of armpit 

 height and is made of quila. It is topped off with two boards upon 

 which the child rests its arms. The wheels are cross sections of a 

 young tree trunk. "My sister has a little boy in such a cart now." 



Parents take notice of a child's first laugh and first words, "and are 

 glad the child is growing up right, but no one celebrates the events." 

 A mother will say with joy, "Now, my baby speaks. Everybody in the 

 family will be glad and pass the word along; it means the child is 

 normal." Nothing was done to assist the child in developing early 

 speech. "If we knew of anything to do, we would do it for my brother. 

 He is older than 2 years and can speak only a few words." 



