CHERAN: a sierra TARASCAN village — BEALS 



171 



as early as 8 months, but most later, and some 

 not until 2 years. 



It is said that children begin to speak between 

 the ages of 18 and 24 months. The parents 

 pronounce words for the child, encouraging it 

 to repeat them. The f.rst words are said to be 

 papa, mama, ueksinga ("I want"), and auaka 

 ("eat"). 



The teeth normally appear about the time 

 tortillas are first fed, tliat is at about 8 months. 



Toilet training is not rigorous and little is 

 done until the child is able to walk. Up to this 

 time the infant is usually kept in a diaperlike 

 piece of cloth which is changed when soiled. 

 A shirtlike garment and, at an early age, a 

 small straw hat are the usual clothing. Occa- 

 sionally children learn toilet control before they 

 walk. Probably this is due to training by the 

 mother, but informants were unaware of any 

 efforts in this direction. Even when the infant 

 walks, training is evidently indirect. If the 

 child persists in urinating, after a time the 

 mother cuts down its liquid intake and refuses 

 to change it immediately when its garments 

 are wet. Small children evacuate the bowels 

 normally once in the day and once at night if 

 they have learned some control; when a little 

 larger, they evacuate once a day. The only 

 control recognized by informants was through 

 fixed feeding schedules. Undoubtedly there is 

 more than this, but there were few opportuni- 

 ties of observation and much of the control 

 apparently was so commonplace that inform- 

 ants (who had to be mainly men) were unaware 

 of it. It was felt, however, that in the occa- 

 sional cases where a child had not learned 

 control at the proper age it was because of 

 carelessness on the part of the mother. In 

 general, however, there seems little stress or 

 emotional overtones about the training problem. 

 As soon as children begin to walk, they are 

 dressed in miniature replicas of adult garments. 

 In all cases observed, imitations of the tradi- 

 tional garb were worn. Little girls wore a 

 tiny roUo, while boys wore cotton trousers and 

 shirt. At the age of 2 or 3 the ears of little 

 girls are pierced by their mothers, using a 

 needle. A bit of straw is used to keep the 

 openings clear until earrings are provided, 

 which is usually done very soon afterward. 

 The operation is purely for beauty and is not 



regarded as necessary for any other reason, 

 nor are there any beliefs about the operation. 

 The infant is ordinarily baptized between 10 

 days and 2 months after birth. The tendency 

 in recent years is for the period to lengthen. 

 Selecting godparents is important, for the care 

 of the child in the event of death of the parents 

 may devolve on the godparents, and intimate 

 relations will exist in any event. For this 

 reason people will often refuse to accept the 

 responsibility or do so only after repeated invi- 

 tations. Normally a married couple are sought 

 to act as godparents but sometimes an unmar- 

 ried man serves as godfather. In this case, 

 when he marries, his wife will automatically 

 become godmother. More rarely an unmarried 

 man and unmarried woman are asked to serve 

 as godparents. Agustin R. acted as godparent 

 one time and had never met the woman who 

 served as godmother. 



Most commonly the godfather takes the child 

 to church for baptism unaccompanied by the 

 godmother, but sometimes the godmother goes 

 along and carries the child. The godfather 

 pays the priest the fee for baptism, $2.50. In 

 the case of Agustin R., mentioned above, he was 

 accompanied by his mother who supplied the 

 information the priest needed to enter the 

 baptism in the parochial register. 



When the godfather returns the child to its 

 parents, the godmother goes to the house of 

 the parents for food. She takes with her 2 to 

 5 cakes of chocolate, 2 bars of soap to wash the 

 child, and 3 to 5 pieces of bread worth 10 

 centavos each. If the godfather is unmarried, 

 he gives money to some woman to buy these 

 things and take them to the child's parents. 



The parents of the child prepare beef cooked 

 in broth (curipo), tamales, tortillas, and some- 

 times other things. The godmother eats at the 

 parents' house, and sometimes they invite 

 others. The godfather cannot eat at the par- 

 ents' house, but they send food to him at his 

 own house, which he eats by himself or he may 

 invite a few of his friends in to help him. In 

 the case of Agustin, he was sent 2 chickens 

 cooked in mole sauce, a big pan of rice, a large 

 basket of tortillas and some tamales. He ate 

 most of the food by himself, his parents refus- 

 ing to partake of it. 



