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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



linear body build which was repeated in the 

 children, "who looked as though a wind would 

 blow them away," yet otherwise seemed healthy. 

 As an exception, there was cited the case of two 

 girls with red hair and blue eyes in one family. 

 The children were not seen and might have been 

 albinos, but the large number of persons who 

 have visited the United States suggests other 

 explanations. Another case was cited in which 

 the parents had black hair and the fairly dark 

 skin common among Tarascans. Three sons 

 all had dark-red or auburn hair, and the skin, 

 although equally dark, showed also darker spots 

 resembling freckles. In later years the freckles 

 spread until the skin became a solid color, 

 darker than that of either parent. 



Occasional exam]iles occur of children appar- 

 ently deficient in mentality. Some continue to 

 show childish reactions and behaviors, laugh 

 a great deal without occasion, do not care for 

 their clothing, eat badly, and do not seem to 

 understand well even when approaching adult 

 years. Nevertheless, no adults were encoun- 

 tered who seemed to exhibit insanity or feeble- 

 mindedness. 



Few special attentions to infants are recorded. 

 There is no use of ashes or leaving of corn ears 

 or fire pokers with infants when they are left 

 alone, but a broom of .straw may be left at the 

 head of the child's bed for protection against 

 evil if the mother wishes to leave it for a few 

 minutes. Children are nursed freely whenever 

 they desire the breast. Although some evi- 

 dence of shyness was evident, for example, some 

 mothers draped their rehozo over the breast, 

 nursing takes place in a variety of public cir- 

 cumstances, on the streets or on the roads, and 

 even while riding on a burro. Through the 

 first year or so the child sleeps with the nipple 

 of the mother's breast in its mouth at night. 

 Perhaps as a result of this there is a virtually 

 complete absence of thumb sucking at all ages. 



Infants are ordinarily carried by their 

 mothers, almost invariably wrapped in the 

 rehozo. Even if the child is carried in the arm, 

 the rehozo is slung around the child and over 

 the shoulders to take part of the weight. 

 Ordinarily a small child is slung more or less 

 horizontally in the rehozo on the mother's back. 

 One end of the rehozo goes under the left arm, 

 the other over the right shoulder, the two ends 



crossing on the chest and being either tied or 

 tucked under the opposite arms. When a little 

 older the child kneels on the top of the rollo or 

 thick pleats at the top of the skirt or sits on the 

 rollo with legs on either side of the mother's 

 wai.st. In either case the child is held in place 

 by the rehozo. Men often carry infants in their 

 arms, while small girls frequently carry their 

 younger brothers and sisters in the same way 

 as their mothers. The infants seem to inter- 

 fere with the older child's activities very little. 



Occasionally a boy will be seen carrying an 

 infant in a rehozo. While this is not common, 

 the boys seemed entirely unself-conscious and 

 were not teased at all. Almost never is an 

 infant put down until it is able to walk. As 

 indicated above, it sleeps with the mother and 

 is permitted to nurse at any time, often sleep- 

 ing at the breast. 



Children are not weaned until 18 to 24 

 months ; rare cases are reported of children 

 nursing to the age of 3 or 4. Weaning is aided 

 by anointing the nipple with some bitter or 

 piquant material, for example, chile. Weaning 

 is done because of belief the child needs to have 

 better nourishment, not because of boredom or 

 feeling that the mother may suffer from pro- 

 longed nursing. Solid food is given the infant 

 as early as 3 or 4 months, when a little fruit 

 may be offered, such as banana. Tortillas are 

 not given until 8 months. Milk, soup, and 

 mild foods are first given the child. Cooked 

 vegetables are fed at about 3 or 4 years. Chile 

 is not fed children until they are well-grown, 

 or adult, according to one informant. 



Although children are rarely put down, after 

 they are several months old they may occa- 

 sionally be placed on the ground and permitted 

 to crawl for brief periods. Occasionally chil- 

 dren walk on all fours rather than on their 

 knees. They are not permitted to try to walk, 

 even though they wish to, until they are judged 

 old enough to do so without causing curvature 

 of the legs. 



When children are permitted to attempt 

 walking, a wooden bar is hung from two ropes, 

 which in turn fasten to a single rope suspended 

 from a tree or beam. The child is stood up and 

 persuaded to hold the bar, \vhich moves arid 

 forces the child to walk. Some children walk 



