WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — IIILGER 339 



have for the people. "Then we say to them : 'Bless us, your people, 

 with wheat and apples and good weather; bless us with good health 

 and sufficient food ; bring children to our families ; protect our children 

 and keep all evil from them ; bring an increase to our animals, also !' " 

 According to a CoUon Cura informant, prayers are said during the 

 dances. The following is one of these : "1 hope that this prayer of 

 the people, a united prayer, will be answered, father king of the 

 earth and distinguished woman of the kingdom." He wrote it in 

 Araucanian : "Peumguem queme tripapa tayin traun fata chau chau, 

 rey mapu, ray ku/e," and added, "It is a pity that so few persons 

 today know the Araucanian prayers of former days ; when we lived 

 like real Araucanians, like the Mapuche in Qiile still do, everybody 

 could join in the prayers." 



Prayers are said with hands held open at face height, palms toward 

 the colihiie, while standing (today kneeling) near the colihiie at the 

 base of which are the offerings of one's family. Men pray first; 

 women next. Following this, the women sing several songs, again 

 with hands raised to face level and palms toward the colihiie stalks. 

 One song refers to the eagle : "The eagle, the eagle, the eagle ! The 

 eagle stands at midday. High in the heavens he stands, in the wind, 

 in the wind." The men call out a refrain of "Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah !" 

 The women then sing of the puma : "The puma, the puma, the puma, 

 the puma ! I have a good horse. Even though the mountains are high, 

 my horse is good. There is no better horse than mine, says the puma. 

 The puma, the puma, the puma, the puma! He says, I have a good 

 horse ; I have a good horse ; I have the best horse that travels the 

 Cordillera ; as bad as the road may be, my horse always runs !" Again 

 the men answer with the refrain "Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah !" 



The machi now beats the kultrut], and all present clap hands to the 

 rhythm. Dancing, known as paruntun, begins. Each woman joins one 

 hand with a hand of a man. With men to the outside, couples in close 

 formation move forward circlewise in a hopping staccato step, alter- 

 nately on each foot. "Whenever we say paruntun, we mean this type 

 of dancing; it is a sacred dance and everyone is serious during it; 

 formerly we did not dance when we were gay, like we do today." 

 While the paruntun is being danced, the men on horseback ride around 

 the dancers, but a short distance from them. The paruntun ended, 

 the men on horseback form a line and ride toward the sun, praying for 

 the people. 



A CoUon Cura informant listed five dances that are performed dur- 

 ing the rjillatun in his area. They are the dance of the choike (rhea), 

 the mara (patagonian hare), the tregle (a bird), the pano pano mapu 



