WHOLE VOL, ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 273 



Diapers consisted either of a piece of homewoven cloth or of iin- 

 tanned skin of a very young guanaco or lamb, with wool closely 

 clipped. The skin was rubbed to softness first with a stone (pi. 74, 6) 

 kept for the purpose of softening hides of any kind, and then between 

 the hands. When in use, the wool side was toward the child. If the 

 diapers were of homewoven cloth, the mother had either woven 

 proper-sized ones or she had cut off pieces from worn-down home- 

 woven clothing or bed coverings. Specially made ones were woven 

 of single-spun untwirled yarn ; twirled yarn would have made the 

 cloth hard. Diapers were approximately 18 inches square and were 

 worn in skirtlike fashion, overlapping in front. An expectant mother 

 prepared several diapers. Soiled ones were washed in water with 

 leaves of chacay and reused. 



The baby's first clothing was its diaper and a wraparound. If the 

 diaper was of cloth, a soft, closely clipped skin of young guanaco or 

 lamb was wrapped over it ; if a young guanaco or lamb skin served 

 as a diaper — which it might in very cold weather — the mother wrapped 

 a piece of woven cloth about the skin. All was held in position by 

 binding around the baby a woven band, generally a yard long and 4 

 inches wide. 



By the time a child is able to speak it is expected to tell its toilet 

 needs. "When they are able to use words they ought to be able to 

 tell about that, too. I slapped their bare buttocks whenever they wet 

 or soiled themselves ; they soon learned to tell it then." 



CRADLE, TRANSPORTING BABY, HAMMOCK 



Cradleboards were of two types, both approximately 18 inches wide 

 and 30 inches high. One type — the one described by the oldest in- 

 formants — consisted of an inverted U-shaped frame made either of 

 a bent colihiie peeled of bark, or of a braid of willows. The sides of 

 the U were held in position by the backrest to which they were fas- 

 tened. The backrest was a netting of either strips of colt hide or 

 rope of colihiie bark, or of sheep pelt. It ended approximately 6 inches 

 from the foot end — the bend of the U was the head end. 



The second type, used occasionally today, was rectangularly shaped 

 and consisted of a backrest made of peeled split colihue stalks. The 

 stalks were placed alongside each other, either horizontally or verti- 

 cally, and tied near the ends to two unsplit colihiie stalks (pi. 74, i, ^). 

 Tyings on both types of cradles were done with strands of tendon 

 found along the spinal column of the horse — "this is exceedingly 

 strong," Kolupan noted. He apologized for using twine in tying the 



