﻿962 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  varying 
  in 
  size 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  available 
  ground 
  is 
  for 
  potatoes; 
  an- 
  

   other 
  part 
  is 
  for 
  barley, 
  and 
  another 
  for 
  maize. 
  These 
  are 
  the 
  basic 
  

   items 
  in 
  the 
  diet 
  of 
  these 
  Indians, 
  but 
  a 
  little 
  wheat 
  is 
  occasionally 
  

   sown. 
  Next 
  to 
  the 
  house, 
  there 
  is 
  customarily 
  a 
  small 
  flower 
  garden, 
  

   which 
  is 
  purely 
  a 
  business 
  matter 
  and 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  for 
  adornment 
  of 
  the 
  

   house. 
  The 
  Indians 
  have 
  raised 
  flowers 
  ever 
  since 
  they 
  learned 
  that 
  

   the 
  city 
  people 
  will 
  buy 
  them. 
  Some 
  also 
  have 
  small 
  vegetable 
  gar- 
  

   dens, 
  with 
  onions, 
  cabbages, 
  and 
  lettuce, 
  but 
  this 
  too 
  is 
  merely 
  for 
  

   business 
  reasons, 
  since 
  they 
  never 
  eat 
  the 
  vegetables 
  themselves. 
  The 
  

   traditional 
  crops 
  have 
  always 
  been 
  potatoes, 
  maize, 
  and 
  barley. 
  

  

  Around 
  the 
  edges 
  of 
  and 
  between 
  the 
  cultivated 
  plots 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   leave 
  a 
  strip 
  of 
  ground 
  about 
  3 
  to 
  10 
  feet 
  (1 
  to 
  3 
  m.) 
  wide, 
  called 
  the 
  

   "edge" 
  or 
  "shore" 
  (orilla), 
  where 
  they 
  keep 
  their 
  sheep, 
  the 
  family 
  

   cow, 
  and 
  the 
  yoke 
  of 
  oxen. 
  There 
  are 
  always 
  at 
  least 
  two 
  sheep 
  per 
  

   family, 
  and 
  the 
  affection 
  the 
  Indians 
  bestow 
  upon 
  these 
  animals 
  

   amounts 
  almost 
  to 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  cult. 
  

  

  HOUSES 
  

  

  The 
  primitive 
  house, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  memory 
  of 
  the 
  oldest 
  In- 
  

   dians, 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  shed 
  constructed 
  among 
  the 
  trees. 
  

   Such 
  sheds 
  are 
  still 
  made 
  to 
  protect 
  the 
  pigs 
  and 
  sheep 
  from 
  the 
  inclem- 
  

   ent 
  weather 
  and 
  even 
  to 
  provide 
  shelter 
  from 
  the 
  night 
  dampness 
  for 
  

   the 
  chagracama, 
  or 
  caretaker, 
  who, 
  at 
  the 
  harvest 
  time, 
  watches 
  the 
  

   fields 
  to 
  safeguard 
  them 
  against 
  robbery. 
  

  

  The 
  dwelling 
  today 
  is 
  the 
  choza 
  — 
  a 
  crudely 
  constructed 
  hut 
  of 
  poles 
  

   stuck 
  into 
  the 
  earth. 
  It 
  has 
  walls 
  woven 
  of 
  yagua 
  or 
  plam 
  leaves, 
  

   plastered 
  with 
  mud, 
  and 
  whitewashed, 
  and 
  a 
  pitched 
  roof 
  of 
  wheat 
  

   straw. 
  These 
  huts 
  are 
  low 
  and 
  rectangular, 
  measuring 
  about 
  16 
  by 
  

   33 
  feet 
  (5 
  by 
  10 
  m. 
  ). 
  Eecently, 
  it 
  has 
  become 
  the 
  custom 
  to 
  erect 
  a 
  

   little 
  room 
  with 
  a 
  small 
  window 
  inside 
  the 
  house. 
  The 
  chest, 
  the 
  Sun- 
  

   day 
  clothes, 
  and 
  the 
  casket 
  or 
  box 
  of 
  the 
  patron 
  saint 
  of 
  the 
  house 
  are 
  

   kept 
  in 
  it. 
  The 
  hearth 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  principal 
  room 
  and 
  consists 
  of 
  three 
  

   stones, 
  each 
  a 
  truncated 
  pyramid, 
  forming 
  a 
  triangle 
  on 
  which 
  cooking 
  

   pots 
  are 
  set. 
  The 
  bed 
  or 
  beds 
  are 
  fastened 
  to 
  the 
  walls. 
  Each 
  is 
  made 
  

   of 
  four 
  or 
  six 
  poles 
  driven 
  into 
  the 
  ground, 
  with 
  sticks 
  or 
  lengths 
  of 
  

   forest 
  shrubs 
  laid 
  crosswise 
  to 
  form 
  the 
  bed. 
  

  

  DRESS 
  

  

  Men's 
  clothing 
  consists 
  of 
  a 
  hat, 
  shirt, 
  trousers, 
  and 
  poncho. 
  Older 
  

   people 
  wear 
  hats 
  of 
  pounded 
  and 
  blocked 
  hard 
  woolen 
  felt, 
  but 
  the 
  

   young 
  men 
  buy 
  cheap 
  and 
  very 
  inferior 
  felt 
  hats 
  in 
  the 
  city. 
  It 
  is 
  no 
  

   exaggeration 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  old 
  woolen 
  felt 
  hats 
  can 
  last 
  for 
  a 
  century. 
  

   They 
  were, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  old 
  people, 
  brought 
  from 
  "above," 
  i.e., 
  

   from 
  the 
  south 
  or 
  Ecuador. 
  All 
  those 
  who 
  knew 
  how 
  to 
  make 
  them 
  

   in 
  the 
  communities 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  city 
  of 
  Pasto 
  have 
  died, 
  and 
  existing 
  hats 
  

  

  