74 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



father and to obey him in all things ; never to answer his father back ; 

 and to follow these instruction until his father's death. 



Parents recognized their responsibilities in the training of their 

 children. "We watch our children closely. We do not allow them to 

 say anything that is not true; if they tell an untruth, somebody will 

 say that their brother is the devil. Really we are very strict with our 

 children in such things as lying or stealing." Alepue schoolchildren 

 said that they had been told by parents not to play on the way to or 

 from school ; not to steal ; not to leave gates in fences open ; not to 

 get clothes dirty ; not to fight ; not to pilfer at home ; and not to tear 

 their clothes. 



Communities recognize parents as the proper instructors. Inform- 

 ants made excuses for children whose homes were disturbed because 

 parents disagreed and quarreled, were untrue to each other, or were 

 not law-abiding. It was said of such parents : "No wonder their 

 children are so poorly trained ; there is no one in that family who can 

 give them proper instructions ; neither parent is doing right," or 

 "One wonders how those children can grow up to be good. Since 

 the parents are not doing what is right, they can give their children 

 no corrections," Older relatives, today as formerly, often take it 

 upon themselves to give good advice to growing boys and girls during 

 the days of the qillatun. 



Generally speaking, the small child has great freedom and is not 

 coerced into learning, "Since it does not have much comprehension, 

 it cannot be taught much. The best way to bring up a small child is 

 to ignore what it does ; as it grows up, it will learn what is expected 

 of it," As children develop, however, they are expected to learn 

 within the limits of their comprehension. 



Variations in mental and physical development are recognized. 

 "Quite certainly a child that has difficulty learning to walk or to talk 

 should be helped; children are not all alike; some grow up as they 

 should; others have to be helped. There are similar differences in 

 grown-up people: some are slower than others." Quoting a non- 

 Araucanian teacher: "If a child cannot comprehend well, parents 

 merely say in a matter-of-fact way that he has a poor head ; that he 

 just cannot learn fast. They are never ashamed of a retarded child." 



Parents are aware, too, of variations in response to character train- 

 ing. No explanation is given for a difficult child ; it is hoped that it 

 will grow up without giving serious trouble. On one occasion a father 

 requested me to take pictures of himself and his children in the proc- 

 ess of harvesting grain. His 7-year-old daughter who was helping 

 him was either unwilling or frightened ; she said she did not wish to 



