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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 10 



adults seldom go more than 10 feet from the house 

 to urinate. 



Infants are usually bathed at least once a day. 

 If the band is on the march, infants often receive 

 shower baths from the frequent rains that fall. If 

 the band is settled, the mother usually repairs to 

 the water hole or stream in the late afternoon to 

 bathe both herself and the baby. If not, she 

 usually bathes the baby in the house from a 

 calabash of water. In washing tlie infant's hands, 

 which she may do more frequently, the mother 

 fills her mouth with water and squu-ts it on the 

 baby's hands, rubbing them briskly at the same 

 time. 



Until a baby is about 6 months of age, he gets no 

 other nourishment than mother's milk. Soon 

 after, however, he may be given a bone to suck on, 

 and his mother begins to supplement his diet with a 

 certain amount of premasticated food. As the 

 infant grows older, he is given more and more 

 premasticated food, so that by the time he is 1 year 

 of age, about 25 percent of his diet consists of foods 

 other than mother's milk. During this time, 

 however, he is never denied the breast if he wants 

 it. In fact, children are rarely, if ever, fully 

 weaned until they are at least 3 years of age, and 

 occasionally one sees a child of 4 or 5 sucking from 

 his mother's breast. 



Weaning, like toilet training, is a very gradual 

 process. The rapidity with which it occui's 

 depends largely on how soon another child is 

 expected in the family. If the mother soon 

 becomes pregnant, the infant is discouraged from 

 sucking; if no child is expected, the process may be 

 lengthened considerably. In weaning, the mother 

 usually applies beeswax to her breasts, so that the 

 child receives no reward for his sucking. This 

 method is also employed when the mother is ill 

 and does not want her child to suck. Foul-tasting 

 substances, siich as excrement, are never smeared 

 on the breasts to discourage a child from niu-sing. 



Because of the limited time which I spent with 

 the Siriono, I am unable to supply accurate in- 

 formation concerning the age at which such habit 

 patterns as creeping, standing, walking, and talk- 

 ing fii'st appear in children. In all of these re- 

 spects, however, Siriono infants seem to fall within 

 the normal human range. Parents do little to 

 hasten the maturation process. As habits begin 

 to form, of course, an infant is encouraged to 

 develop them for himself, but if it represents any 



strain for him to creep, to stand, or to walk, little 

 attempt is made to force him. If, for instance, 

 an infant is lying on the floor near his mother's 

 hammock and wishes to come to her, he is encour- 

 aged to do so by creeping or, if old enough, by 

 walking, but if he starts to cry, which is recognized 

 as a sign that it is too difficult for him, the mother 

 gets up from her hammock and picks him up. 



One of the most painful and frustrating experi- 

 ences that every infant must regularly undergo is 

 that of having his eyebrows and the hair from his 

 forehead depilated. A newborn baby receives 

 his first haircut the day after birth and is subjected 

 to periodic depilations about every 2 weeks there- 

 after. These are not endured without avoidance 

 and pain. Mothers almost always have to hold 

 infants very forcibly while giving them a haircut, 

 and it is only after a child has reached the age of 

 about 3 years that he resigns himself to this 

 operation without whimpering. "\Mienever I heard 

 infants howling terrifically, I could be sure they 

 were receiving their semimontlily grooming. 



The Siriono are proud parents. They spend a 

 great deal of time in fondling and playing with 

 their chOdren and are delighted to display them 

 to anyone foreign to theu- camp. I found that 

 one of the best ways to gain the confidence of the 

 Indians was by taking an interest in their children: 

 in bringing them presents, in playing with them, 

 and in curing them of such ailments as hookworm. 

 Their interest in children was also clearly reflected 

 in their conversations with me, for I Mas bombarded 

 with questions as to how many children I had, 

 where they were living, etc. In order to avoid 

 some explanation of my bachelorhood, which they 

 would not have understood or which would have 

 seemed ridiculous to them, I always told them that 

 I had a wife and several children (I even supplied 

 the names) waitmg for me at home, and that as 

 soon as I had obtained the information which my 

 "father" had sent me to gather, I was going to 

 return to my family. 



Males are definitely preferred. A pregnant 

 woman always expresses a desire to give birth 

 to a boy. The preference for males, however, is 

 not much reflected in the amount of love or care 

 given an infant. Parents spend as much time 

 fondling a girl as a boy. Even clubfooted children 

 and other deformed infants are shown no lack of 

 partiality in this respect. 



