242 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



to cure, a machi is asked to perform over the child. No Araucanian 

 was known to have been born bHnd, or to be color blind ; deafness is 

 very rare. Left-handed children and adults were met; so were 

 stutterers. 



No Araucanian child is ever without a home : a deserted or 

 orphaned child is adopted ; in instances, also, one from a normal home 

 is adopted. 



Servants were not institutional; second and third wives probably 

 rendered all services needed. Neither was slavery institutional, unless 

 persons held as hostages and not redeemed could be looked upon as 

 such. 



Names. — According to informants, the child was given its personal 

 name by its father, usually on the day of its birth (especially if a 

 boy) ; occasionally, not until it was a year old ; rarely, not until it was 

 2 years of age. According to Cooper's sources, the naming feast 

 followed the days of the mother's seclusion after delivery, usually 

 after 8 days, or sooner. 



Either the father selected the name and gave it without ceremony, 

 or someone outside the family selected it, and either this person or the 

 father gave it at a naming ceremony. The name was generally that 

 of a relative. In instances these customs still prevail. Occasionally a 

 boy's name is changed. 



The origin of names is not clear. In all probability names did not 

 originate in dreams — unless those of the machi did — or in unusual 

 circumstances or observations made in connection with stones, birds, 

 or similar objects. It appears that each machi was given a new name. 

 No informant had heard of a naming or kinship system known as the 

 kuga or kunpem. 



Feminine names are distinctly different from masculine ones ; no 

 prefixes or suffixes are added to indicate gender. Araucanians had no 

 surnames until Whites introduced them for important permanent 

 records. The father's personal name then became the child's surname. 



A nickname may be attached to an individual. Elders often call a 

 girl by a diminutive of her name as an expression of affection. 



The family. — Members of all families, especially those of a cacique, 

 were, and are today, expected to have stamina, self-respect, and 

 courage, and to be helpful and law-abiding. All families, today, that 

 live according to accepted social standards and whose economic situa- 

 tion is adequate have about them an air of independence and self- 

 respect, and are respected by others. No one in any area was spoken 

 of as owning excessive amounts of land, oxen, cattle, or sheep — the 

 measure of wealth. A family's need is the criterion of its possessions ; 



