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Miwok Material Culture: Indian Life of the Yosemite Region (1933) by S. A. Barrett and E. W. Gifford

HEAD DEFORMATION

Heads were habitually deformed, being flattened in the back by the hard cradle; and the forehead pressed and rubbed from center to sides with the mother’s hands, to make a short and flat head. This pressing was done each morning and whenever the mother was holding the baby. The process of forehead flattening was called petubak (C). Moreover, the nose was pressed to flatten it, and the eyebrows were rubbed apart.

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