46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 79 



men — that is, Jibaros. Even in primitive times they used to wage 

 war on and kill each other, to make trophies of each others' heads 

 and to celebrate tsantsa feasts. The fish kanga^ then, in a fight had 

 been killed by one of his enemies, who later on was changed into a 

 bird, the umbrella bird, called ungtnnl by the Jibaros. The imgihni 

 also made a trophy of the head of the fish hanga. Therefore the 

 mouth of the kanga has still great similarity to the reduced mouth 

 of a human tsa7itsa, and this is the reason why the Jibaro w^arrior, 

 during the time he has to fast, abstains from eating that fish. 



The object of the feast siunnartinyu^ on the other hand, was said 

 to be to promote the material wealth of the slayer, especially for 

 the period falling between this feast and the final victory feast. 

 For the latter he has to make very large preparations and, so to 

 speak, start his economic life from the beginning. Apart from 

 some smaller preparatory work, he has first of all to breed a num- 

 ber of swine and chickens to be slaughtered at the feast, and to 

 make new plantations of manioc, plantain, and other fruits, which 

 will be eaten by the guests. All these preparations, and especially 

 the breeding of the swine which must become full grown, require 

 about two years. Now, according to the idea of the Jibaros, it is 

 precisely the tsantsa wliich will cause the domestic animals and the 

 fields to gi'ow and develop not only in a normal way, but with in 

 extraordinary force. The Jibaros do not find anything contradic- 

 tory in the thought that the spirit of the slain enemy on the one 

 hand entertains feelings of hatred and revenge against his slayer 

 and always looks for an opportunity to harm him, and on the other 

 hand, at the same time, as it were, plays a role as his friend and 

 adviser. The latter, it must be understood, he has become under 

 the influence of the magical conjuration, through the ceremonies 

 performed at the feast suamartinyu. It is therefore of paramount 

 importance that these ceremonies should be carried out in the 

 proper way and with due care, just as it is important thai the slayer 

 himself should continue strictly to observe the rules of fasting. 



After the feast suamartinyu the slayer undertakes a small jour- 

 ney, just as be did after he had " washed off the blood." Before he 

 can make use of the greater liberty with regard to his mode of 

 life which is conceded to him after the said feast, it is considered 

 necessary that the black painting applied to his body at the feast 

 should have completely disappeared. The black dye prepared of 

 the fruit of the Genipa amiericana^ owing to its richness in tannin, 

 is very astringent, and in spite of any washing does not leave m 

 less than four or five days. The slayer as usual retires to the forest, 

 staying in the neighborhood of a sasa^ where he bathes repeatedly, 

 and sleeping at night in a small ranch made close by. After the 

 lapse of some days, when there are no traces left on his body of 



