uted in the forest, and the location of prime collecting sites is 
well known by the Tatuyo. 
SEED COLLECTION 
In 1977, the harvest of Erisma and Monopteryx overlapped 
during an eight-week period toward the middle of the rainy 
season. Women collected small amounts of seeds as they trav- 
eled to and from their cultivated plots; and, during the height of 
the harvest, both men and women devoted entire working days 
to seed collection. Figure 2 shows the cumulative collection rates 
for both seeds from April 12 through June 12, 1977. The total 
amount of Erisma collected was 1311 kg. Considering that this 
seed has an edible portion of about 24%, this represents some 
314 kg. of edible food. A total of 723 kg. of Monopteryx seed 
was collected during the same period. This is considered to be 
100% edible as collected. During a period of intensified collec- 
tion in the fifth week, some 310 kg. of Erisma fruits and 180 kg. 
of Monopteryx seeds were gathered by the men of the village as 
part of a traditional “Yurupari” ritual. 
SEED UTILIZATION AND STORAGE 
Erisma. During the harvest season, small quantities of Erisma 
seeds are eaten raw or toasted. They have a pleasant although 
occasionally bitter taste. Eaten raw, they leave a thin film of 
wax-like fat on the roof of the mouth. 
Collected in quantity, Erisma seeds are cooked and prepared 
for storage in the form of a “butter”, referred to below as “bati- 
butter”. The method of preparation is as follows: the fruits are 
boiled in water until the inner seed is cooked and the woody 
pericarp softened. The outer shell, or pericarp, is then easily 
removed, taking with it the thin skin covering the seed. The 
® “Yurupari” is used here as a general term for a type of dance festival, communal ritual 
common in the northwest Amazon involving the use of sacred trumpets and the 
exchange of forest fruits. Wallace (1889:241), who traveled the Vaupes River in the 
1850’s, was the first to describe these rites. A recent analysis of this ritual among the 
neighboring Barasana is provided by Hugh-Jones (1974). 
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