338 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



cup and a pottery plate — the cup must be of the traditional type, that 

 is, either pottery or made of the large end of a cow's horn. 



Chicha is then poured into a large vessel, which stands "at the place 

 for God" (probably an altar), and also into small ones. "Formerly we 

 used mudai made of araucaria nuts, quinoa, or wheat. Whatever is 

 used must be drunk through hollowed-out colihlie stalks from tradi- 

 tional-type cups." During the ceremonial some of the beverage from 

 the large vessel is sprinkled "heavenward to God" ; the remainder is 

 drunk by the people. 



Just before sunrise, preparatory to the opening of the ceremony, 

 each man that traveled to the qillatun on horseback mounts his horse. 

 So do the two boys, each in a chiripe and carrying a colihiie tipped 

 with a piece of blue cloth. All now line up in formation, the two boys 

 leading and the men on horseback, each holding a colihiie stalk, follow- 

 ing. Next come the men on foot, each also carrying a colihiie. Then 

 follow the two girls, each wearing a chamall and carrying a chollol 

 (rattle). The women, also on foot, bring up the rear. The procession 

 moves completely around the row of the colihiie stalks several times. 

 Children are not part of the procession, "but they are everywhere ; 

 they do not participate in anything except the eating." 



After a rest period it is time to sacrifice the large animal. The 

 animal is laid on its back, each leg held by one of four men, its belly 

 cut open, and its heart pulled forward. Its pulsating heart is cut into 

 small pieces, and a piece immediately eaten by every ceremonial 

 participant. "I have seen this done by the Aigo tribe at Pulmari, 

 which still performs the ceremonial along the exact traditional lines," 

 said a non-Araucanian. "It is an unbearably cruel thing to see the 

 breast of a living mare cut open and her heart withdrawn. The 

 Curruhuinca tribe at Quilaquina has modernized the ceremonial ; it 

 is no longer done there." An estancia owner in the Malleo area, a 

 non-Araucanian, allowed his Araucanian workers to take animals from 

 the estancia which they said they needed for the performance of the 

 ijillatun, among them a white mare. "I attended the ijillatun as an 

 onlooker," he said. "In due time the men brought the white mare 

 forward, and I knew then that they were about to sacrifice her, that 

 they would pull out her heart while she was still living. I could not 

 bear the thought. I pulled my revolver and shot the mare. The Arau- 

 canians were so angry with me that for some time thereafter I thought 

 they would kill me." 



Prayers at the qillatun are directed to God as the father of all 

 (chau chau) and to the woman with him as the mother of all (papai). 

 Chau chau and papai are reminded, first of all, of the affection they 



