346 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



Saiko had seen several grave markers, figurines cut out of wood, 

 in old Araucanian cemeteries. They were approximately 30 inches 

 high, and reminded him of pictures he had seen of Easter Island and 

 other Polynesian island wood carvings. 



Formerly, there was no exterior sign of mourning, but families 

 grieved to the extent that they moved to another locality and lived 

 there until their grief \vas no longer keenly felt. Today the Argentine 

 custom of wearing a black band on the upper part of the sleeve is 

 followed. Women sometimes also wear a black belt and black shawl. 



There is a belief in life after death. The Araucanian word for the 

 spirit of the dead is alw9 ; for life after death, ka mapu (other world) . 



GOVERNMENT 

 THE CACIQUE AND THE POLITICAL UNIT 



In the early days, the management of government was in the con- 

 trol of the cacique (lorjko). At times he was assisted by men known 

 as inka or kellu, among them the captain and sergeant of the qillatun. 

 His advisory body consisted of men of families who owned consider- 

 able property ; such men, known as iil'men, were summoned for con- 

 sultation at the will of the cacique. In Huechulafquen, where Kolupan 

 was reared, Takumai was the kellu ; ul'men there were of the families 

 known as Takuman and Paillakaye. 



A cacique's jurisdiction extended over a lofche, a group of 20 to 

 60 families that recognized him as their cacique and that, when 

 spoken of, were designated by his name. "The Argentines call these 

 groups tribes. They fabricated that word," said Kolupan. "We call 

 these lofche. The only lofche of importance today — that is, one that 

 can deal with the Argentine Government as an equal — is the Namun- 

 kura of Collon Cura. Old people that gave the other lofche importance 

 have all died. No informants knew the meaning of the words kuga 

 and elpa mentioned in Cooper's sources (1946, pp. 722-723). I am 

 inclined to believe that the words had their origin in the Quechua 

 language and mean the same as lofche and do not indicate a clan or 

 gens (cf. Revista Chilena de Historia y Geografia, vol. 10, pp. 154- 

 155, 1914, and Hilger, 1954, pp. 38-40). 



Within a lofche groups of families were related by ties of kinship. 

 Names of groups, influential over the years, in the order of their im- 

 portance were Namunkura, Kolunkura, Kallfiikura, Katriikura, 

 Katrial, Paniiwal, Paniinau, Melinamku, Lir)koan, Pariiifilu, and 

 Kayun; important, but less influential ones were Treolil, Kolupan, 

 Kintoman, Cheokipan, and Mafike. 



