WHOLE VOL, ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 32I 



Kolupan, "and then notice that she had a little one. Or a man might 

 kill a guanaco, and then see its little orphaned offspring. Such a little 

 animal was taken home and there raised by the children. It became 

 their pet. It might walk away from home, some distance into the open 

 country, but it would always return to the children." Today, an occa- 

 sional child has a pet animal, such as a kitten, cat, dog, or chicken 

 (pi. 63, 2). 



SWIMMING, HORSEBACK RIDING 



In the early days all children learned to swim ; at present, in general, 

 only boys do so. At the time of my visit, 70-year-old women swam, 

 but their 20-year-old granddaughters did not know how. All children 

 in the early days rode horseback, and many do so today. 



HEALTH 



PREVENTIVES OF ILL HEALTH ; CAUSES OF ILL HEALTH, 

 PHYSICAL AND MENTAL 



Children, it was believed, would develop robust bodies if they were 

 breast fed, always bathed in cold water, made to go without food in 

 the early part of the day, given much raw meat to eat, and made to 

 walk barefoot. "My father was brought up that way ; he lived to be 

 130 years old and was never sick at any time in his life. How our 

 young Araucanians of today will keep well is difficult to say; they are 

 given coffee with milk early in the morning, and marmalade, too ! And 

 no raw meat!" Both Araucanians and non-Araucanians spoke of 

 Araucanians older than 100 years who had never been sick. "At 

 present my eyes bother me ; they feel sore," said an informant older 

 than 100 years. She maintained her own house, cooked her own 

 meals, kept chickens, and spun yarn, "but I cannot weave any more ; 

 my arms get too tired now when I weave." Deep wrinkles crisscrossed 

 her face ; her hair was slightly gray, and she had lost most of her teeth. 



Causes of ill health lay in sorcery. Quoting Kolupan : "When sick- 

 ness comes upon you, someone has done you harm; witches (kalku) 

 have done it. There are always a few persons around that have the 

 powers of witchcraft. They either put poison into your food, or, 

 when they are not where the food is, they do harm from a distance. 

 If an antidote can be obtained early, you can get well again ; if not, you 

 will have to die. Most herbalists and machis know which plants to use 

 or what to do as an antidote." He then told the following as an ex- 

 ample of how the cause of sickness could be discovered : "This 

 happened when I was a child. Olul, someone whom no one ever saw 



