334 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 1 33 



the yard of a non-Araucanian (pi. 'j^, 5, (5) ; they step backward and 

 refuse to touch them. Some scold because the stones are not in pos- 

 session of Araucanians ; none knows the origin of the stones or their 

 significance. One stone was found at the edge of a high cliff; the 

 other had fallen from there into a dry river bed. 



PRIVATE PRAYERS, PERSONAL SUPERNATURAL POWERS 



Private prayers are said on many occasions today, as formerly. 

 They are said for a safe landing before crossing water ; when a 

 thunderstorm rages ; when starting a fire ; to prevent floods and 

 famine ; for a good harvest ; and for success in fishing. To avert dan- 

 gers of an electric storm, Kolupan drops on the fire a pinch of wheat, 

 which he has reserved for this purpose, and prays, "Oh, God ! You 

 who created the earth protect me, your son, and your people, also. 

 Let this thunderstorm pass by, and let it do me no harm." A woman 

 in her sixties throws on the fire a pinch of anything edible she may 

 happen to have in her house — "it may be wheat, yerba mate, peas, 

 beans, or sugar," and prays. "When I have done this the storm in- 

 variably passes by," she added. 



To prevent floods every person — man, woman, and child — who 

 walks or rides past a barren plot of land near Pucura must go onto 

 the plot and perform the rjoaltun (pray while dancing on one leg). 

 The plot is about 9 yards in diameter. Dancing is done within the 

 plot and three times around its circumference. "I saw my father and 

 mother do the qoaltun," said a 16-year-old girl ; "I did not have to 

 do it, for I did not pass the place ; I merely went with them to the 

 place, and then turned around and came home." Kolupan demon- 

 strated the rjoaltun by placing one knee under the other, and hopping 

 forward. 



No informant claimed personal supernatural powers ; nor did any 

 know of anyone who claimed such powers, except sorcerers. 



TRIBAL RELIGIOUS CEREMONIAL : THE NILLATUN 



The tribal religious ceremonial is a public community prayer ac- 

 companied by sacrifice, known as the qillatun. No complete sequential 

 account of the manner in which it was conducted in the early days, or 

 of the modified form of today, was obtained. The following informa- 

 tion, however, was collected. 



Old Araucanians speak of the ceremonial as qillatun, or qillapun ; 

 young Araucanians and non-Araucanians almost exclusively as the 

 camaruka; an occasional person calls it by the Spanish word "roga- 



