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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



10 they may guide the plow and do other field 

 work, for short times. By as early an age as 

 1.5, boys may be working for wages. When a 

 boy begins to accompany his father and to aid 

 in his work, he no longer plays with girls. 

 There seems no rule about this, but about this 

 time, when a boy is not workirig, he goes into 

 the streets and plays with other boys of his 

 own age, while the girl no longer plays outside 

 but always stays near her mother unless sent 

 on an errand. On rare occasions, if a child is 

 disobedient, he may be struck once or twice 

 with a rope or switch. 



At a little more than 6 or 7 a girl may be 

 carrying about a younger child and caring for 

 it much of the time. Soon after this she begins 

 to grind on the metate, not as a help, but simply 

 to learn how. The mother also gets a small 

 water jar, and at an early age the girl accom- 

 panies her mother to get water. Girls observe 

 the mother in the kitchen and gradually begin 

 to take part in the activities. By the age of 8 

 a girl may be going alone to the mill with maize. 

 If disobedient, girls may be punished in the 

 same way as boys. In general, it is the opinion 

 in Cherun, and this was borne out by all obser- 

 vations, there is very little disobedience or 

 punishment at this time and the relations be- 

 tween father and son and mother and daughter 

 are close and affectionate once the child begins 

 active participation in the adult activities. 

 The period of conflict, then, seems a rather 

 limited one, between the time when a child is 

 no longer carried about and the time when it 

 begins to participate in the adult life. These 

 remarks again are based on very inadequate 

 data and observation. 



Some time between the ages of 6 and 10, 

 usually toward the upper limits of the age 

 period, the child is usually confirmed. There 

 is very little ceremony involved, but when a 

 visit from the Bishop is expected there will be 

 a period of some weeks beforehand v.'hen chil- 

 dren will be in.structed and adults will confess 

 so they may receive communion. For the event 

 a new pair of godparents is sought. These 

 godparents in theory assume the same responsi- 

 bility as do the godparents of baptism. Actually 

 the bonds seem to be much less close and the 

 duties much less. 



Boys and girls play together a good deal until 

 aged 8 or 10. Varieties of tag games are com- 

 mon. Boys also play among themselves fre- 

 quently. For small boys at present, small 

 home-made wagons with four wheels, usually 

 with no method of steering, are one of the more 

 popular playthings. Older males in the house- 

 hold make the wagons. Balls made of rags are 

 also used. They are thrown and, at times, are 

 used with a hockeylike game in which the ball 

 is hit with curved wooden sticks. The street 

 is used as a field and the object is to hit the ball 

 past opponents (Beals and Carrasco, 1944). 

 January is a favorite time for this game. 

 Small boys amuse themselves by roping pigs, 

 and about the time of the fiesta of the patron 

 saint they may attempt to ride the pigs. 



The most popular boys' game probably is 

 marbles. The common mai'ble game is "follow 

 the leader." It is sometimes played for centa- 

 vos. The rainy season is the most popular 

 time, because the rain lays the dust and pro- 

 vides clean, hard surfaces. Quite popular is 

 top spinning, which is most played in June and 

 July. Top fighting is a common form. The 

 first player throws his top at a ring. If he 

 misses, his opponent attempts to hit the top 

 with his own. He may split the first top, for 

 the points are sharpened, or win it. 



Stilts are made, especially in October and 

 November. They are small, peeled pine trees 

 with one of the branches left projecting near 

 the bottom. This is almost exclusively a boy's 

 amusement, but one girl was seen walking on 

 stilts. Hunting birds with sling shots (mostly 

 of the rubber-band type) is most common in 

 May and June. A ring and pin game, made of 

 wood in Paracho, is played by all ages. 



A favorite sport from March through May is 

 kite flying. Kites of small boys are about 7 by 

 9 inches; those of larger boys are about 2 by 

 3 feet. They are six-stick kites made with 

 sticks all the same length and requiring a tail. 

 They are commonly in bright colors. Big boys 

 tie razor blades on the tails of their kites and 

 fight each other. They try to maneuver their 

 kites into the top position where they can be 

 dropped and cut the strings of the other kites. 

 There is a slight element of danger in this; one 

 boy got his cheek laid open in 1940. 



