(^ SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



a feeling of closeness to one another. "As soon as anyone is sick in 

 a home, neighbors come to offer their assistance ; they will sit up with 

 the sick person's family all night." Neighbors will be at hand, too, at 

 threshing time and when a ruka is to be built. It was not unusual for 

 informants to offer me special help. "You must come to Maiquillahue 

 on the day that the r)illatun closes : there you will see many of our old 

 silver ornaments, for the women will all wear theirs then." "If we 

 were not so busy with the harvest, I would ride up the Cordillera to 

 where the araucaria nuts grow and fetch you some. It is a little early 

 for them to have ripened, but some may have fallen by now because 

 of recent strong winds." 



PRIDE, PATIENCE, MODESTY 



The finest compliment that can be paid an Araucanian man, woman, 

 or child is to express an appreciation of his intelligence; and contrari- 

 wise, one of the most insulting things one Araucanian can say of or to 

 another, or to a non-Araucanian, is that he is stupid, or that he acts 

 senseless ("is crazy"). Disparaging remarks about another almost 

 without exception concern the intelligence. An Araucanian will speak 

 of his keen intelligence quite frankly and with conviction, and without 

 a thought of conceit or boasting. On an occasion when I admired a 

 choapino (type of hooked rug) , the 40-year-old woman who had woven 

 it remarked : "One needs good intelligence to carry through a design 

 such as I have in that choapino," and added with humor, "The Chilean 

 women would not be able to do it !" "I want to tell you everything as 

 well as I can," said a 60-year-old man, "so that you will know that 

 the Mapuche have intelligence." 



If an Araucanian has but a slight suspicion that his intelligence is 

 questioned he shows resentment. On occasions when I sought to 

 clarify or check items of information, or get additional details on a 

 point, I could expect an answer such as, "We covered that on Monday. 

 Let us go on to something else !" or "I told you that once. What is the 

 next question?" One day a woman who did repeat, did so very re- 

 luctantly. Much annoyed and chagrined, she said not to tell anyone 

 that she had repeated it ; that it really reflected on my intelligence and 

 on her ability to tell a thing well the first time. "Since you did not 

 comprehend it, I shall use demonstrations like I use for a child," She 

 repeatedly punctuated her acount with : "Do you really comprehend 

 this now ?" or "Shall I talk more slowly ?" 



Differences in intelligence are recognized. A non-Araucanian 

 teacher complained to a young Araucanian about an improperly con- 



