﻿Vol.2] 
  HIGHLAND 
  TRIBES, 
  S. 
  COLOMBIA 
  — 
  HERNANDEZ 
  DE 
  ALBA 
  947 
  

  

  The 
  Pdez 
  family 
  is 
  completely 
  under 
  the 
  authority 
  of 
  the 
  father, 
  

   whose 
  wife 
  and 
  children 
  obey 
  him 
  implicitly 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  punished 
  by 
  

   him. 
  Nonetheless, 
  the 
  father 
  must 
  obtain 
  his 
  wife's 
  permission 
  to 
  

   sell 
  or 
  exchange 
  goods 
  she 
  produced, 
  such 
  as 
  bags 
  for 
  coca, 
  sashes, 
  

   etc. 
  Precise 
  etiquette 
  is 
  maintained 
  between 
  fathers 
  and 
  godfathers 
  

   (compadres) 
  . 
  Whenever 
  a 
  man 
  meets 
  his 
  father 
  or 
  his 
  godfather, 
  he 
  

   must 
  kneel 
  to 
  receive 
  his 
  blessing. 
  The 
  fathers 
  and 
  godfathers 
  must 
  

   embrace 
  whenever 
  they 
  meet. 
  In 
  one 
  case 
  a 
  young 
  man 
  was 
  the 
  

   godfather 
  of 
  his 
  father's 
  new 
  son 
  by 
  another 
  wife, 
  so 
  that 
  in 
  meeting 
  

   his 
  father 
  the 
  young 
  man 
  had 
  to 
  kneel 
  bareheaded, 
  and 
  then 
  stand 
  

   with 
  his 
  hat 
  on 
  and 
  embrace 
  his 
  father 
  as 
  a 
  godparent. 
  The 
  father 
  

   did 
  not 
  call 
  him 
  "son" 
  but 
  "compadre." 
  

  

  LIFE 
  CYCLE 
  

  

  Childbirth. 
  — 
  A 
  very 
  old 
  custom 
  among 
  these 
  peoples 
  is 
  that 
  at 
  child- 
  

   birth 
  the 
  mother 
  should 
  retire 
  to 
  a 
  special 
  house 
  or 
  go 
  to 
  the 
  moun- 
  

   tains. 
  If 
  she 
  was 
  delivered 
  in 
  the 
  home, 
  she 
  and 
  the 
  baby 
  were 
  bathed, 
  

   and 
  then 
  the 
  family 
  left 
  the 
  hut 
  and 
  built 
  a 
  new 
  one 
  elsewhere. 
  

  

  Today 
  both 
  the 
  Moguex 
  and 
  Pdez 
  have 
  a 
  special 
  hut 
  for 
  childbirth. 
  

   The 
  day 
  after 
  the 
  child 
  is 
  born, 
  the 
  mother 
  is 
  placed 
  in 
  a 
  hole 
  up 
  to 
  

   her 
  head 
  and 
  bathed 
  with 
  an 
  infusion 
  of 
  leaves 
  of 
  "moquita," 
  after 
  

   which 
  she 
  washes 
  the 
  clothes 
  and 
  objects 
  worn 
  during 
  delivery. 
  Sh 
  

   then 
  returns 
  to 
  work 
  and 
  lives 
  again 
  at 
  home. 
  In 
  the 
  special 
  hut, 
  a 
  

   Pdez 
  woman 
  is 
  assisted 
  in 
  childbirth 
  by 
  another 
  woman, 
  or, 
  as 
  a 
  last 
  

   resort, 
  by 
  her 
  husband, 
  who 
  must 
  bathe 
  immediately 
  afterward. 
  

   Two 
  days 
  later, 
  the 
  mother 
  circumcises 
  her 
  son 
  or 
  destroys 
  the 
  vir- 
  

   ginity 
  of 
  her 
  daughter. 
  Four 
  or 
  five 
  days 
  after 
  the 
  birth 
  and 
  after 
  

   the 
  first 
  bath, 
  the 
  father 
  takes 
  the 
  child 
  to 
  the 
  sacristan 
  of 
  the 
  commu- 
  

   nity 
  for 
  baptism 
  with 
  water, 
  and 
  then 
  returns 
  it 
  to 
  the 
  mother. 
  The 
  

   afterbirth 
  must 
  be 
  buried 
  or 
  burned 
  at 
  the 
  place 
  of 
  the 
  birth. 
  About 
  

   15 
  days 
  later, 
  the 
  mother 
  takes 
  a 
  bath 
  and 
  washes 
  her 
  child 
  and 
  her 
  

   clothes 
  and 
  objects, 
  and 
  returns 
  home. 
  Later, 
  the 
  child 
  is 
  baptized 
  

   with 
  oil 
  in 
  the 
  church 
  by 
  the 
  priest 
  with 
  the 
  godparents 
  present. 
  

   This 
  is 
  an 
  occasion 
  for 
  general 
  dancing 
  and 
  drunkenness. 
  

  

  Puberty. 
  — 
  At 
  puberty 
  a 
  girl 
  was 
  formerly 
  taken 
  by 
  her 
  parents 
  to 
  a 
  

   hill, 
  placed 
  in 
  a 
  hole, 
  and 
  bathed. 
  Each 
  Indian 
  then 
  took 
  her 
  a 
  gift. 
  

   Pittier 
  de 
  Fabrega 
  (1907) 
  notes 
  that 
  at 
  a 
  later 
  period 
  a 
  girl's 
  puberty 
  

   was 
  celebrated 
  with 
  the 
  "Itsa-k6" 
  dance, 
  the 
  girl, 
  bathed 
  with 
  chicha, 
  

   remaining 
  in 
  the 
  hole. 
  Today, 
  a 
  woman 
  must 
  retire 
  during 
  her 
  

   menstrual 
  periods 
  to 
  a 
  special 
  hut, 
  where 
  other 
  women 
  bring 
  her 
  food 
  

   and 
  build 
  a 
  fire 
  to 
  warm 
  her. 
  Afterward, 
  she 
  bathes, 
  washes 
  her 
  

   clothes 
  and 
  objects, 
  and 
  then 
  returns 
  home. 
  

  

  Men, 
  until 
  recently, 
  underwent 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  initiation, 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  

   were 
  taken 
  to 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  sacred 
  lagoon 
  of 
  Juan 
  Tama 
  or 
  to 
  the 
  

  

  