WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 36j? 



had found no Araucanian who would make even a guess as to their 

 origin. None of my Araucanian informants could give any explana- 

 tion as to their origin or meaning. One said, "Our people did not 

 write. These must have been written by other people, not by Arau- 

 canians. Our people made pottery and wove. We painted designs on 

 pottery, but they had no meaning." Quoting Saiko, a non- Araucanian : 

 "In 1948, I dug approximately 18 inches below the surface in this cave 

 [Vega Valle] and found rhea bones, remnants of woven material, 

 and remains of a fireplace. I am inclined to believe that the place in 

 which pictographs are found were lookout points. I believe that the 

 pictographs were either the observer's message or his observations 

 made for the benefit of someone who was to replace him. Maybe 

 Indian traders from the pampa, or from the south, or from Peru or 

 Bolivia painted them." (Cf. also Bruch, 1901 ; Vignati, 1935; and 

 Pedersen, 1953-1954, on pictographs in Argentina.) 



Among pictographs in Territory Neuquen are those on Estancia La 

 Primavera and Estancia Mamuil Malal and in Vega Valle, Colliim Co, 

 Quilaquina, Huechulafquen, Quillen, and Cerro Chenque ; in Terri- 

 tory Chubut there are some on Estancia Nueva Lubecka. 



We viewed those in Vega Valle (about 5 miles from San Martin 

 de los Andes, approximately 180 feet above the highway that leads 

 to Junin de los Andes; pis. 68, 69). All symbols are painted in red, 

 some on the flat sides of protruding rocks exposed to sun and weather; 

 others on angular surfaces of tumbled-down rocks ; still others within 

 a cave. Some symbols are arranged in horizontal lines; others in 

 groups, helter-skelter. In order that they could be better photo- 

 graphed Saiko chalked several (pi. 69, 2). 



Pictographs seen by Saiko in other parts of Vega Valle and in 

 Quilaquina nearby are also in red and are painted in caves and on 

 exposed rock. In Melaquina they are red and in caves only; on 

 Estancia La Primivera they are in caves but painted in red, blue, 

 green, and white. The paint in all instances, Saiko observed, can be 

 removed only with persistent scratching and then with difficulty. He 

 believed the paint to have been a mixture of animal blood and soil. 

 In no case had he found symbols incised in rock and then filled in with 

 paint. 



ORATORY 



Oratory included not only facility in speaking publicly in an elo- 

 quent and effective manner, but also the ability to do so in the proper 

 tone of voice — one similar to a chant. Before an orator gained recog- 

 nition, he had also to prove his reliability as a messenger. A young 



