64 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



encountered. From Mendez the expedition proceeded on foot to the 

 headwaters of the Yaupe River. By means of rafts and canoes the 

 expedition passed down the Yaupe to the Santiago River and thence 

 down the Santiago to its junction with the Marahon at the famous 

 Pongo Manseriche, which gorge marks the limit in this direction of 

 the Jivaro territory. 



The Jivaro Indians are divided into upwards of 30 tribes, speaking 

 a common dialect and maintaining similar customs and material cul- 

 ture. They are best known to the outside world for the peculiar custom 

 which they have of collecting the heads of their enemies, whom they 

 have killed in warfare, and shrinking these heads to the size of a small 

 orange while preserving perfectly the features of the victim. Warfare 

 is the very center of existence to the Jivaro Indian and his entire cul- 

 tural pattern is woven around it. War is conducted on the principle of 

 blood revenge, and small boys at the age of 5 or 6 years are instructed 

 daily by their fathers on the necessity of taking blood revenge for 

 their relatives who have been killed in the past. Small boys accompany 

 their fathers on war expeditions in order to become accustomed to the 

 realism of killing and to learn the tactics of warfare from direct 

 observation. 



So actively is head hunting practiced that the women, who gen- 

 erally are not killed in raids, greatly outnumber the men, thus making 

 polygamy a social necessity. Three or four wives to a man are com- 

 mon and sometimes a prominent Jivaro will have as many as 12. 



The Jivaro community consists of a single house in which live not 

 more than 30 or 40 individuals, generally comprising a single family 

 or a group of related families. The Jivaros subsist equally from agri- 

 culture and by hunting and fishing. The principal hunting weapon is 

 the blow gun with poisoned darts, but for fighting purposes the lance 

 and the muzzle-loading shotgun are utilized. There are many causes 

 of war, but by far the most common is the killing, or supposed killing, 

 of some member of the group by someone in another group. The 

 medicine man of his household takes certain drugs, under the in- 

 fluence of which he learns the identity of the culprit. A feast is then 

 held, and war is declared against the household of the supposed killer. 



A very satisfactory ethnological study was made of the Jivaros of 

 the Upper Santiago, and full accounts were obtained of specific head- 

 hunting raids. The Jivaros proved to be an active, intelligent people, 

 disposed to be friendly when treated fairly, kindly in their home life 

 and social relations, and exhibiting ferocity only in connection with 

 the fierce head-hunting raids which have become so indelibly a part 

 of their culture. 



