children: The Americas 171 wives As with boys, girls were expected to endure the pain in silence Girls in some societies had their skin cut in decorative patterns to make them more beautiful Many Africans permitted adolescent boys and girls a wide degree of sexual freedom Girls and boys might engage in sexual play together before puberty In most cultures women married much older men, and girls often set their sights on older men Among the Maasai, for example, it was not uncommon for men to have prepubescent girlfriends Teenage boys in most cultures could not marry until they were quite a bit older, even if they had already passed the manhood initiation In some societies they were encouraged to form relationships with older women, typically widows The Americas by Angela Herren While little information exists about childhood in early American cultures, archaeological data and material culture remains suggest that these societies welcomed children into the world and celebrated when they defeated the high infant mortality rates In these societies women raised children, teaching them to participate in community and household labor as soon as they were capable Perhaps as the result of shorter life spans, early American peoples did not conceive of childhood as a distinct era in one’s life Parents educated children on their societal roles early in life Skeletal remains indicate that many cultures engaged in the practice of cranial deformation, strapping boards to the soft skull of an infant to induce a permanent profile of aesthetic value in the culture Spanish and mestizo accounts from the 16th century provide the most detailed information on childrearing in the Aztec and Incan cultures Many native North American children grew up in nomadic or seminomadic communities until around 1000, when some groups established a more sedentary lifestyle based on agricultural production Native North American women typically carried their children on cradleboards on their backs while they traveled or worked, and many groups practiced cranial deformation by tying a flat board to the child’s forehead As children grew up, their parents and relatives taught them the duties and values of the community The Mississippian people (ca 750–ca 1500), who inhabited the area around the Mississippi River basin, taught their children to perform household and community tasks and to respect the rituals of the dead Girls learned to perform such tasks as planting and caring for crops, collecting firewood, weaving, preparing ceramics, drying meat, and caring for younger children Boys eventually learned important male activities, like hunting, trading, felling trees, clearing land, and engaging in warfare Like the Adena (ca 1000 b.c.e.–ca 200 c.e.) and the Hopewell (ca 200 b.c.e.–ca 400 c.e.), inhabitants of the area around southeastern Ohio, the Mississippians interred their deceased with many goods and precious items in great earth mounds While the Adena often shaped their mounds like animals, the Mississippians built rectangular mounds and used them as bases for temples Children learned to respect the religious official known as the Great Sun and to participate in the ritual life of the community For recreation, children played with toys of wood and bone, eventually learning to race, gamble, and play chunkey (a game played with stones and spears) like their elders The Anasazi (ca 900–ca 1300), Hohokam (ca 500–ca 1400), and Mogollon (ca 500–ca 1400) cultures of the American Southwest began to live more sedentary lives around 900–1100, though they remained seminomadic until the arrival of Spaniards in the mid-16th century Traditionally, male children learned to hunt deer, rabbit, and other animals with spear-throwers and eventually bows and arrows, while female children learned to gather fruits, roots, and nuts In the more sedentary societies children learned to clear land and cultivate corn, squash, and beans Anasazi boys learned to weave baskets, and girls learned how to make and paint ceramics Ball courts and platform mounds appear at some sites around 550–900, indicating that children would have been exposed to religious and communal activities The Taíno of the Greater Antilles, one of the best-documented cultures of the Caribbean, raised children in small chiefdoms until the arrival of Christopher Columbus (1451– 1506) in the late 15th century According to European accounts, mothers used padded boards to carry children on their backs and practiced cranial deformation Children were born into either the naboria, a lower class that performed hard labor, or the nitaíno, the upper class Owing to the warm climate, Taínos wore little clothing, but they decorated their children with jewelry and protective amulets Children grew up in small, thatched-roof dwellings that surrounded the central plaza of the village Their parents taught them to perform everyday labors, like cooking, hunting, fishing, and cultivating staple crops, such as cassava At times warring neighbors called Island Caribs seized women and children in a process known as bride capture The Aztec, a culture that dominated central Mexico in the 16th century, celebrated the birth of their children with many rituals and festivities Soon after a woman gave birth, a diviner arrived to review the calendar and to determine the nature of the day sign under which the child had been born For example, the day sign Monkey signaled a future in the creative arts, while Flower produced good craftsmen The diviner could mediate the effects of a negative day sign by