272 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



implement of silver around." The implement was not sterilized. To 

 keep the piercing open, a bit of gold ore or an earring was inserted ; 

 or if these were not at hand a little piece of wood or thread was used. 



Persons invited to the ceremony of piercing and naming were 

 usually relatives. Important families also invited caciques, three or 

 four of them. "It was like a fiesta." A generous meal of meat and 

 mudai (fermented drink of masticated cereals) was served, and com- 

 petitive games, such as palin and awar kuden or awar meyud (cf. 

 pp. 318-319), were played. A dance, known as paruntun (cf. p. 339), 

 was also performed. A similar celebration was held when the name- 

 sake of any member of the family came on a visit. 



Occasionally, when a baby's ears were pierced, the ceremony known 

 as katawe was performed by one of the grandmothers of the baby. 

 The grandmother lifted a little of the skin on the back of one or both 

 hands of the baby and pierced it crosswise with the claw of a puma, 

 or, if no claw was available, with the point of a small knife or the 

 needlelike silver implement. The implement was passed back and forth 

 a few times, and then urine was injected under the skin through the 

 opening. This was done not only to accustom the child to pain, which 

 it might have to endure in later life, but also to let those present 

 know that the performer had a grandchild that could endure pain. 

 No medicine was applied to the pierced skin. 



Following the katawe on the child, it was not unusual for adults to 

 have a katawe performed on themselves. An adult man might ask 

 someone present to lift the skin on the back of his hand so that he 

 might pierce the skin on his own hand in the same manner ; or the 

 sister of the child's father might ask to have the skin on the thigh of 

 her right leg or her ankle pierced ; or the mother of the child, the skin 

 above her left breast. "This is still done today." It is done for several 

 reasons : to avert suffering for the child in later life ; to express sym- 

 pathy to the child in advance for pain it may have to endure ; and to 

 indicate the desire of these adults to participate in any pain that the 

 child may have to endure. Following the katawe the child is lifted on 

 a horse and ridden around the place. 



"talcum powder," diapers, baby's first clothing 



To prevent chafing in the baby's groins and armpits, the sap of 

 leaves of maqui or corecore was applied. It was obtained by rubbing 

 the leaves between the palms of the hands until both palms were well 

 covered. If chafing had already set in, the woman squeezed out the 

 juice with one hand directly onto the chafed area. Grease of puma 

 or other animals was not used. Today talcum powder is used. 



