A careful study of the history of Chile from the time that Pedro de
Valdivia attempted to subjugate the Indians, through the colonial
period to the revolution of 1810, when Spanish rule was overthrown and
Chile took her place in the sisterhood of South American Republics;
through the varying vicissitudes of its first half century of national
existence, down to the present time, will reveal the fact that certain
customs and traditions characteristic of the race have been maintained.
In some instances they reflect the influences of changed conditions
and environments; foreign ideas have been engrafted upon the social
structure and the body politic, but in character, and in general
characteristics, the Chileno retains his inheritance from Spanish and
Indian ancestors. This is particularly true of their economic use of
water. It can be safely said that the majority of the working classes
or country people apply water sparingly to their hands and faces only,
and never to their bodies, and many of them are utter strangers to its
personal application.
This does not apply, of course, to the wealthy, educated and traveled
Chilenos, who go annually to the seashore, or other pleasure and health
resorts, such as Panca, Cauquenes, or Viña del Mar, the latter being
the summer playground of the rich. A visit to any of the pleasure
resorts by a Chilean family, be they residents of the country or
city, is an event attended with much pomp and ceremony. They take with
them their horses and carriages, a retinue of servants and an extra
supply of clothes for display for the purpose of impressing other
visitors with their financial standing and social importance. The
vacation season in Chile is usually from the first of January to the
fifteenth of March. For two months government service is transferred
from Santiago to Valparaiso, the president and his cabinet taking up
their temporary residence in Viña del Mar, a suburb of Valparaiso.
The courts are closed and practically all business suspended in the
capital. Members of the diplomatic corps follow the Santiaginas to
the seashore, and the suburbs of Valparaiso, with their hotels and
bathing beaches, are gay with fashionably dressed visitors and social
functions. Many people who indulge in this annual seaside frolic are
compelled to resort to strenuous domestic economy for the remainder of
the year, in order to recuperate from the financial sacrifice made in
the effort to compete in the social exhibit with those who can well
afford the expense. Others whose financial condition will not admit of
their joining the procession of those who appear for a few brief weeks
in the year upon the social stage at Viña del Mar, close the front of
their city residences, and do not appear in public during the vacation
season.
The poor classes who cannot afford a vacation, live in filth and
unsanitary conditions the year round, and during their natural lives.
The dwellings of the poor are built without regard to architecture,
comfort or hygiene, and the domestic condition of the occupants is a
menace to health. The floor of a majority of the huts is the ground,
which during the rainy season becomes damp, and not infrequently muddy.
The refuse water from the houses is thrown any place outside to get rid
of it, and there being no drains to carry it away, it becomes stagnant
and creates disease. Donkeys, dogs, pigs and poultry maintain intimate
social relations with the members of the household, not infrequently
being housed with the family at night.
Chile has several dishes peculiar to and characteristic of the country.
Cazuela is, strictly speaking, a national dish. It is a sort of soup,
served as a first course at any meal, but more particularly for
breakfast. It is made of mutton, “cordero,” or fowl, with various kinds
of vegetables, all cooked together and served hot. It possesses the
merit of including both meat and vegetable, solid and liquid food. In
addition to being inexpensive, it is easily made and is very palatable.
It is extremely popular with all classes of Chilenos and is a dish that
foreigners invariably become fond of after once having tested its good
qualities. A breakfast in Chile without cazuela would be considered a
poor meal. “Puchero,” is another dish of which the Chilenos are fond,
and which is usually served at dinner. It consists of meat boiled with
a variety of vegetables, all being cooked dry, and served without
liquid. “Empanadas,” a sort of meat pie, is also popular and peculiar
to the country.
The zama cuaca is the national dance of Chile. It is danced by all
classes, and is made clownish or genteel, coarse or refined, according
to the different social grades of the participants. In no case can it
be considered vulgar, and when properly danced it is graceful and
attractive. It is danced in couples. The lady and gentleman each carry
a handkerchief in the right hand, which they wave in front of their
partner as they move about the room, keeping time to the lively and
inspiring music of harps and guitars. The music of the instruments is
usually accompanied with the hum of voices and the clapping of the
hands of spectators. The dancers always face each other, except at
certain intervals, when they turn suddenly around and then proceed as
before. Whether in the parlor, in a despacho, a cancha de bola, or in
the open, the zama cuaca is a national favorite, and the music will
always arouse the interest and enthusiasm of everyone present. It is
indulged in on all occasions where people congregate, day or night, and
crowds frequently stop along the country roads to dance the cuaca.
At places where the country and village people congregate on feast
days, “fondas,” enclosures prepared especially for dancing, are
provided. The fonda is enclosed on three sides and is covered with
branches of the arrayan, a flowering bush, which emits a strong, but
pleasant odor. In front of the entrance is a “vara” for topear. Most
of the people attending feast day demonstrations go on horseback, and
there is always a mixed and miscellaneous mounted crowd in front of the
fonda. Inside, seated upon benches, are men and women who divide their
time between dancing and drinking. Those not engaged in the dance keep
up a constant hand-clapping, timing their movements with the music.
Sometimes during the dance, when a woman performs a special evolution
that is thought to be very clever or unusually graceful, some man
in the crowd, perceptibly affected with alcohol, calls out in a loud
voice, “aro, aro.” At the sound of this magic word, which means drinks
for all, the music and the hand-clapping cease and the dancers stop.
Then the woman in charge of the fonda appears and passes to the man who
called “aro,” a “potrillo” (a large glass tumbler) filled with chicha,
or a mixture of aguardiente and milk. The man takes the brimming
potrillo, approaches the dancers, and bowing profoundly, offers it to
the lady. She appears shy, makes several courtesies, accepts the cup,
takes a sip and returns it to the man. After the women dancers have
been served, the cup is passed to the men engaged in the dance, and
later to the spectators, all drinking from the same potrillo until it
is finished. The man calling aro does the honors in passing the drink,
and for anyone present to refuse would be considered an insult that
would probably be resented.
A peculiar feature of the cuaca is the solemnity with which it is
conducted. There is never a laugh or a joke, and seldom a smile. Levity
on such occasions would be considered an indiscretion. The Chilenos
take every phase of life lightly and indifferently, except their
amusements, which are sacredly serious.
A peculiar custom in Chile is that of offering to a friend any
article that he may desire. It is not proper, however, to accept the
proffered gift. The would-be donor is given an opportunity to show
his generosity, and at the same time made happy by having his offer
declined.
There prevails in Chile a pretty custom in salutations, conversation
and in summoning persons, in which the christian name is always used.
It is practiced between members of families, friends, acquaintances,
servants and masters. To strangers it conveys the idea of familiarity,
but on the contrary it is the most polite formality. The christian name
is always used in social, domestic and commercial intercourse where
the parties are known to each other. When strangers are addressing
each other it is always Señor, Señora or Señorita. Friends and even
acquaintances are profuse in the use of personal and endearing terms.
Another method of expressing pleasure when friends or relatives, either
male or female, meet, is to embrace, each passing the right hand around
and patting the other affectionately upon the back.
Politeness is one of the characteristics inherited by the Chilenos from
their Spanish ancestors. Members of the same family, especially among
the better classes, are kind and always considerate of each other’s
feelings and wishes. Family quarrels and disputes are seldom indulged
in, and never in the presence of strangers. Among the middle and poor
classes, there are occasional rows, and sometimes encounters between
members of the same family, but it is usually due to the influence of
drink rather than their natural inclinations. It is a national custom
for the right of correction and punishment to rest with parents, so
long as they and their children live. A son never becomes too old to be
chastised by his father or mother. He may have reached middle age, be
the father of a large family, and even venerably gray, but if either of
his parents sees fit to box his ears, or even to apply more vigorous
methods of punishment for any dereliction of duty or for any offense,
the chastisement is administered with impunity and is accepted without
resentment.
It is the custom among uneducated country people in calculating their
ages, to reckon time from some important event that has taken place
in the country, such as the revolution, severe earthquake, or other
notable occurrences. The great earthquake of 1851, is often used as a
basis for calculating the ages of old people.
An aire is a muscular affliction of the face or neck, which may result
from sitting or remaining in a draught when one is warm or perspiring.
It is a common affliction in Chile, and to avoid the danger, not only
the country people, but those living in cities and towns, are disposed
to keep their rooms closed to the exclusion of fresh air, and to the
great discomfort of the occupants.
Sometimes foreigners on arriving in Chile find the customs of the
country unsatisfactory, according to their theories, and at once
constitute themselves missionaries to “convert the natives,” as they
put it. They proceeded to introduce ideas and methods that conform to
their own standard of ideals. The result usually is the acquisition
of an unsatisfactory lot of experience, without having affected any
changes in the prevailing customs, or even made any impression upon
those for whom the education was intended. The Chilenos are slow to
accept innovations, and quick to resent the presumption of foreigners
who attempt to engraft new ideas and customs upon the ways and
traditions of their country.