Note 1 — Chapter VI · General Social Life

I was unable to learn anything in support of Montano’s statement that immediately after the birth of a child the mother rushes to a river with it and plunges into the cold water.1 On the contrary, the child is not washed at all until it is several days old, and the mother does not go to the stream until at least two days have elapsed. It is customary to bury the placenta. The birth of a child is not made the occasion of any special festivity. The naming is usually done on the day of birth, but it may be done any time within a few days. It is not common for the parents of the child to do the naming, though they may do so, but some of the old people of the tribe generally gather and select the name. Names of trees, objects, animals, places near which the child was born, or of certain qualities and acts or deeds all furnish material from which to select. For instance, if a child is born under a guijo tree he may be called “Guijo;” a monkey may be playing in the tree and the child will be named “Barac” (monkey); or if the birth was during a heavy rain the child may be called “Layos” (flood). Usually the most striking object near at hand is selected. Like most primitive peoples, the Negritos use only one name. If the child is sickly or cries very much, the name is changed, because the Negritos believe that the spirit inhabiting the place where the child was born is displeased at the choice of the name and takes this means of showing its displeasure, and that if the name is not changed the child will soon die.