WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 3O3 



A 40-year-old man believed that incorrigible children came from 

 poorly adjusted families. "If a man from a good family marries a 

 woman from a good family, they will bring up good children. For- 

 merly, it was easy to rear children, so the old people say ; and I found 

 it so. I never whipped a child ; I talked to each one. It is not easy 

 today to rear children." 



Spanking a child before it was old enough to comprehend the reason 

 for it was thought to be senseless and even harmful, for it might 

 frighten the child and upset its mental poise. An informant believed 

 that the reason a child that was playing nearby during an inter- 

 view showed fear of a dog and chickens, and was frightened by a 

 noise — an unusual thing for an Araucanian child — was that it had 

 been whipped without knowing the reason for it. "Such a child gets 

 nervous, and can no longer be managed with words." 



Children old enough to comprehend were punished for lying, for 

 answering back, and for persistent disobedience. "My mother hit 

 me over the head once because I refused to learn to weave," said a 

 woman in her sixties ; "I preferred to ride a horse and tend the sheep 

 and lasso calves. When I wove, I had to sit and sit and sit. But now 

 that I am old, I am glad I know how to weave ; I find weaving a 

 profitable pastime." 



Switching was done with a switch (wishka) made either of braided 

 reeds of junquillo or braided thongs of young horse hide, usually 

 about 16 inches long. It was kept at the junction of the rafters and 

 the wall, or the mother kept it tied to her belt. Switching was done on 

 calves and ankles, or on thighs and buttocks, while the child was held 

 between the knees of the one administering the switching. "I was 

 switched by my mother once," said an old woman and laughed at the 

 memory of it. She passed up the question why she was switched, prob- 

 ably because her 13-year-old granddaughter was listening. "Sometimes 

 sons at 30 were switched," she continued ; "but in general sons at that 

 age were obedient ; nor did they answer back." 



PRESENT-DAY FORMAL EDUCATION 



There are 10 state rural schools in the Araucanian country today, 

 intended for Araucanian children ; only one area is without a school. 

 When teachers are available, Araucanian children attend well. Most 

 persons older than 20 had attended school only a very short time, if 

 at all. "The teacher liked me and asked me one day why I was not 

 attending school," a 56-year-old man noted, "so I decided to try it. 

 I attended five days, and I learned something each day." "My son 



