WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 43 



pasturing them and for raising produce to feed his family well. The 

 average family has 30 to 40 sheep and enough land to raise food so 

 the family is well fed all the year around." In Alepue area, one of 

 the wealthiest families owned 120 acres of land, some of which was 

 still forested. The father had selected the forested land and knew 

 his family would be given title to it as soon as he had cleared it of 

 trees. 



Every person has the right to own land in the area in which his 

 father lived ; in that area, too, he has the right to claim wooded land 

 if he proceeds to clear it of trees — an indication that he intends to 

 cultivate it. A man who moves to another area has difficulty in ac- 

 quiring land there. If he can get no land, he has no pasture and 

 therefore can own no cattle or sheep. Such a man's family obviously, 

 then, is poor ; it has no status in the area — in fact it is only tolerated 

 there. Neighbors will give food to the family whenever it is rumored 

 that it is nearly destitute, but it is always hoped by those who help 

 that the man will take his family to the area where his relatives live. 

 One such family lived in Alepue area and one in Cofiaripe area. The 

 Alepue family lived in the neighborhood of distant relatives, who, 

 in order to relieve themselves of feeding the family, gave it land for 

 a garden and several cows and sheep. The animals were grazed in 

 someone else's pasture. The father was able to buy wheat and an 

 occasional piece of clothing by selling in non-Araucanian villages fish 

 that he caught in the Pacific. When unfavorable weather prevented 

 him from fishing, kind persons in the area gave the family assistance. 

 The father of the Cofiaripe family worked for cash anywhere in the 

 area where he could find work; his wife supplemented his earnings 

 by selling basketry she wove. 



A family exhibited status, if all male members, including small 

 boys, wore hats, and if any or all members wore shoes. Hats and shoes 

 indicated to others that the family had means just beyond those needed 

 for the necessities of life. 



Families definitely not held in esteem were those in which one parent 

 was non-Araucanian, in which there was continuous quarreling, and in 

 which a member was a thief. 



HUSBANI>-WIFE RELATIONSHIP, PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP, 

 BROTHER-SISTER RELATIONSHIP 



My observations have led me to believe that sincere affection, confi- 

 dence, and helpfulness are reciprocated by husband and wife. How- 

 ever, the man dominates the family. His decisions are made as the 



