Tooker] ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE HURON 123 



wood, gave birth to a child as soon as they arrived, and immediately 

 were on their feet again (S 130) ?^ 



After the child was born, the mother pierced its ears with an awl 

 or fish bone and put in it the quill of a feather or other object to keep 

 the hole open. Later, wampum beads or other things were suspended 

 from it and hung around the neck of the child, however small it might 

 be. Some made the child swallov^ grease or oil as soon as it was born 

 (S127). 



A name was chosen from the great supply of those available. Some 

 names had no meaning; others did, such as yocoisse, the wind; ong- 

 yata^ the neck; tochingo, crane; sondaqua, eagle; scouta^ the head; 

 tonra, the belly ; and talhy^ a tree (S 128) .^^ 



The child was breast-fed (S 128). During the 2 or 3 years the 

 child was being nursed, the father abstained from sexual intercourse 

 with his wife (JR 8: 127).-^ The child was also fed meat that the 

 mother chewed well. If the mother died before the child was weaned, 

 the father took water in which corn had been boiled and filled his 

 mouth with it. Then, putting the child's mouth against his own, he 

 made the child swallow the liquid. Women used the same method to 

 feed puppies (S 128) . 



During the day, the child was put on a cradleboard (2 feet in 

 length and 1 in breadth) wrapped in fur or skins (C 141; S 129). 

 The cradleboard sometimes had a rest or small piece of wood bent 

 into a semicircle under the feet. The cradleboard was stood up on 

 the floor of the lodge, except when the child was taken outside. Then 

 the child on the board was carried on a woman's back by means of a 

 belt across the forehead, or it was wrapped up and carried in her dress 

 above the girdle either in front or back so that it could look from side 

 to side over her shoulders (S 129) .^^ 



The cradleboard was usually decorated with little paintings and 

 strings of wampum beads. The child was swaddled on the board so 

 that there was an opening in front of its private parts through which 



2^ Now a midwife helps in the delivery (Shiinony 1961 a: 207) and also did so 150 years 

 ago (Jackson 1S30 b : 20). 



^* Sagard's statemeut that the name of a child was chosen from a great supply of 

 names may refer to the Iroquois custom of choosing a name from those thought to be 

 owned by the clan, but not being currently used because the persons bearing them had 

 died (see note 57, p. 45). 



2' The present average duration of nursing, 1 year to a year and 9 months for boys and 

 2 years for girls, is approximately that reported by the Jesuits, although the figures 

 indicate that the period may have been shortened somewhat. The post-partum sex taboo 

 seems not to be currently practiced, but rather prolonged breast feeding is used as a 

 common method of contraception (Shimony 1961 a : 209). 



=« Although the cradleboard is not used now (Shimony 1961 a: 209), it was used in 

 the past by the Iroquois (Beauchamp 1905: 167-169; Jackson 1830 b: 20-21; Morgan 

 1852: 76-77; 1901(2) : 57-59) and Wyandot (Finley 1840: 48). 



