16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 79 



tribe, with which his own stands on no friendly terms, is assassinated 

 by these secret enemies of his own people, who can not abstain from 

 taking the opportunity. Such an occasional assassination may be 

 the signal for a general war of extermination between the two tribes. 

 This was, for instance, the original cause of the war which, during 

 my sojourn on the Rio Upano, was carried out between some tribes 

 of the Upano and the Santiago on one side, and the Huambiza 

 Indians on the Morona on the other. The son of an influential In- 

 dian on the Rio Santiago had, on account of some old quarrel, been 

 murdered while traveling through the land of the Huambiza Indians. 

 The tribesmen of the murdered Indian applied to the Jibaros on the 

 Upano for assistance. The assistance was given, some 40 Upano 

 Indians going down the river to join their friends on the Santiago 

 and marching with them against the Huambizas. 



Whereas the small feuds within the tribes have the character of 

 a private blood revenge, based on the principle of just retaliation, 

 the wars between the different tribes are in principle wars of ex- 

 termination. In these there is no question about weighing life against 

 life ; the aim is to completely annihilate the inimical tribe, all mem- 

 bers of which form one organic whole and are animated by the same 

 feelings and mode of thought. The victorious party is all the more 

 anxious to leave no single person of the enemy's people, not even 

 small children, alive, as it is feared lest these should later appear as 

 avengers against the victors. As already pointed out, it is also solely 

 in such wars against foreign tribes that trophies are made of the 

 heads of the enemies killed. 



Although the Avars of the Jibaro Indians are in their nature noth- 

 ing but wars of revenge, they never aim at territorial conquests. 

 The Jibaros, on the contrary, fear and detest the country of their 

 enemies, where secret supernatural dangers may threaten them even 

 after they have conquered their natural enemies. The sorcerers of 

 the hostile tribe may have left their witching arrows everywhere, on 

 the road, in the forest, in the houses, with the result that the invad- 

 ing enemies may be hit by them when they least expect it. The land 

 of the enemy is therefore abandoned as soon as possible. Besides, 

 the Jibaros who inhabit endless virgin forests, where they can make 

 new settlements almost anywhere, have no need of conquering the 

 territory of other tribes. 



HOW THE FEUDS AND WARS ARE CARRIED OUT 



Having seen how the wars originate among the Jibaros, we will 

 now examine in detail how these wars are carried out. 



When among the Jibaros a family father, especially a chief or a 

 great warrior, dies, and a medicine-man, by drinking natema^ has 



