I06 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



rock, examined it to make certain that the edge was round, pounded 

 two holes close to the center but a little apart making it look like a 

 two-holed button. Then he ran a cord through each hole, shoved the 

 cap to the middle, held both ends of the cord and swung the cap in 

 circles with one hand, pulled the string taut, released it, and the cap 

 buzzed. 



A child learned to make playthings by observing older children 

 doing so. When a boy wove a ball of cochayuyo, smaller boys sat 

 around him concentrating on what he was doing ; when an older boy 

 whittled a top, they got close enough to see, even lying on their 

 stomachs in order to see better each step in the making. 



Imitating elders in various activities is one of the playtime occupa- 

 tions of children. Playing at riding horseback is a favorite pastime 

 for small children. In the yard of one ruka, a 5-year-old boy and his 

 2-year-old brother straddled a young slender branch, which represented 

 the horse. The older boy had stripped it of all leaves and little twigs. 

 "This is a white horse," he said. They paced about the yard for a 

 little while, then the older boy switched back of himself with a stick 

 as does a rider on a horse. Both boys now galloped. With every 

 switching the "horse" received, the two jolted along faster. Soon 

 they slowed up, paced a little, suddenly twirled around a few times, 

 and then paced about the yard again. Their 19-year-old sister re- 

 marked, "My older sister and I played riding horseback just like that, 

 when we were little." Later the older boy rode a heavier stick alone : 

 he paced, galloped, and twirled as before. Another frequent pastime 

 is for an older child to be the "horse" for a younger brother or sister — 

 the younger one straddling the back of the older one who is on hands 

 and feet. Children were also seen playing at lassoing, one being the 

 man and the other the horse. 



A teacher told of preadolescent boys playing getting drunk, becom- 

 ing intoxicated, and then having a fist fight. "This is exactly what 

 they see the men do at every fiesta, at threshing time, and when a 

 ruka is built," the teacher remarked. "They played this in my kitchen 

 on a rainy day last week." 



Playing house is a common pastime for preadolescent girls. Quoting 

 a non-Araucanian teacher : "From my window I often observe school- 

 girls playing house — there are fathers and mothers and children. 

 Visitors come, riding other children as horses. Clover leaves are 

 served as meals, and water, supposedly yerba mate, is drunk from 

 seashells. Sometimes I am invited and I drink their water and eat 

 their clover." A Boroa herbalist said : "I have never seen a Mapuche 

 child play with a doll or a toy of any kind, but I have often seen little 



