WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 243 



excessive amounts over needs may arouse jealousy, and jealousy may 

 cause disaster through black art. It appears that each person has a 

 right to own land in the area in which his father lived; attempts to 

 acquire land in other areas are usually futile. 



The wearing of a hat by male members of the family, and shoes by 

 all members, gives a family status — it indicates to others that the 

 family has acquired means beyond the immediate necessities of life. 

 A family in which one parent is non-Araucanian is not held in high 

 esteem; neither is a family in which there is continuous quarreling, 

 or in which there is a thief. 



The man dominates the family. On the whole, men seemed con- 

 siderate of their wives and were helpful when needed. The impression 

 given in the literature that women were slaves to their husbands was 

 not substantiated by my observations. Occasionally, however, a man 

 did beat his wife to the extent that she committed suicide. In 

 many things the man confers with his wife, but it is he, as the father 

 of the family, who makes the decisions, and they are final. 



Members of a family have an appreciative interest in each other. 

 Affection is mutual between parents and children, and is lifelong, 

 generally. An occasional father is cruel, even brutal, to his children. 

 Having a favorite child is not institutional. There are no brother- 

 sister taboos today. Although one very old informant related that 

 brothers and sisters in the early days spoke little to each other, it is 

 doubtful that there was a taboo. 



Children's behavior. — A very small child is bathed by its mother 

 when the mother takes her own bath which is usually daily in all 

 seasons, generally just before sundown. Older children take their 

 own baths. All bathing is done in running water or in lakes. Girls of 

 a family bathed at one time ; their brothers at another time. Bathers 

 scatter along the shore, some distance apart. No soap or substitute 

 is used. 



The hair is washed when bathing and is occasionally shampooed 

 with suds made from bark. Winds do the drying. If a luster is 

 desired, the hair is rinsed in human urine. Formerly, a boy's hair was 

 cut neck length; today it is cut Chilean fashion. Formerly, a girl's 

 hair was never cut ; not infrequently, today, it is. A girl's hair hangs 

 loose or is twisted or braided. It is held from the face by means of 

 a band. Rarely are children infested with lice. 



Girls today wear earrings ; boys seldom do. Many boys and girls 

 wear one or several rings ; none wears a necklace. Both beauty and 

 personal appearance are taken note of. 



Chums are not institutional, but an occasional boy or girl has one. 



