234 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



(of which there is a surprising number) come 

 from another. The ethnologist's comment that 

 a child looks like a parent is greeted with in- 

 terest, but not with pride or particular pleasure. 



It is popularly believed that the first tooth 

 appears at the age of 8 months, and my own 

 chance remark that my son's first tooth appear- 

 ed at 4 months was greeted with polite incre- 

 dulity. Ears of baby girls are pierced at from 

 a week to 3 months after birth by the mother, 

 godmother, or close female friend or relative. 

 Some women are preferred for their known skill, 

 though it is not a profession and no payment 

 is made. The lobe is rubbed with alcohol, a 

 steel needle held in fire and dipped in alcohol, 

 and drawing a red silk thread, pushed through 

 the ear. If any other color of thread is used 

 infection is believed to follow. The thread is 

 tied and left for about 3 weeks, the normal 

 healing time, after which a small metal ring is 

 inserted. A mixture of tomato and salt may be 

 applied to the wound if it is slow in healing. 

 If piercing is not done during the first quarter 

 of the moon the wound is believed to heal 

 slowly and to look ugly. 



Child development seems to be considerably 

 slower than in our own society, e. g., few chil- 

 dren walk before 18 months, and few words are 

 spoken before 2 years. Parents sometimes try 

 to induce children to say papa, mama, tortilla, 

 and the names of other children in the house- 

 hold. But few intelligible words are common 

 before 2 years of age. Hair of children is not 

 cut until they are able to talk. It is believed 

 that cutting hair of young children retards the 

 learning process. A key is sometimes placed in 

 the mouth of a backward child "to open the 

 mouth; to make it talk." Parents show pride in 

 the development of their children by pointing 

 at their ears, nose, eyes, and so forth, and ask- 

 ing them what they are. Attempts to teach 

 children to walk are rarely begun before about 

 18 months. At this time the mother may pass a 

 belt under the arms of the child, holding the 

 ends and thus giving added support to the legs. 

 Lucia Peiia was considered very advanced by 

 her parents because at the age of 17 months 

 she taught herself to walk. At 23 months she 

 was saying no words that an outsider could 

 understand. 



Older children often help infants learn to 

 walk. Guillermo's daughter Lupe, age 2, is 



observed, held by one hand by brother Miguel, 

 and by the other by cousin Teresa, age 8, who 

 herself carries a baby in a rebozo. Together 

 they walk the delighted Lupe around the patio 

 shouting "la borrachita, la borrachita ("the lit- 

 tle drunkard, the little drunkard"), all of them 

 obviously enjoying the sport. Thumbsucking is 

 relatively rare, perhaps owing to the common 

 use of pacifiers and to ready access to the breast. 

 Miguel, age 5, is told by Guillermo one morning 

 to stop sucking his thumb. Wlien asked why 

 he does not want him to do so the father gives 

 an unexpected answer, "Por los microbios" ("on 

 account of microbes"). Among infants diarrhea 

 {posiciones, from deposiciones) is the most fear- 

 ed of all diseases, probably followed by whoop- 

 ing cough and other respiratory ailments and 

 stomach upsets. The fearful toll of these ill- 

 nesses is indicated in table 51 (p. 272). 



Weaning, done at about 2 years of age, usual- 

 ly is accompanied by few difficulties. From 

 about a year on children are accustomed to solid 

 foods such as atole, bread, bananas, beans, and 

 milk. When the time comes for the formal break 

 the infant is sent to sleep with its grandmother 

 or some other female relative, and usually 1 to 

 4 nights is sufficient. In stubborn cases the bit- 

 ter juice of the unidentified sdbila plant is 

 smeared on the nipple. Nursing sometimes 

 continues for 3 years, but should the mother 

 again become pregnant she must quickly wean 

 the infant lest it become etico ("consumptive"). 



Tzintzuntzan parents generally are more tol- 

 erant of the meddlings of their young children 

 than parents in our society, and voices are raised 

 in anger with relative infrequency. 



One day Lucia Pefia, age 23 months, was 

 watched while the members of her family were 

 glazing pottery, preparatory to firing it. First 

 she walked over to her father and smeared the 

 white pottery which he was painting. He quietly 

 picked her up and set her down a few meters 

 away. Soon she was back doing the same thing. 

 Again he picked her up and set her down a bit 

 farther away. Again she came back, and this 

 time he called his 12-year-old niece, Celia, to 

 tMe her and entertain her. Celia casually pick- 

 ed her uj) each time she drew near to her father, 

 and allowed her to wander around, breaking a 

 few small pots. No attempt was made to tell her 

 she should not break them or to keep her where 

 she could not do it. Never was she made to feel 



