kaksten] 



BLOOD REVENGE, WAR, AND YItlTORY FEASTS 



53 



Eitgmnue^ hej! 



Pingerati^ hej! 



Maketi^ hej! 



The word noa means " woman." Kanutpia, kahetpia^ numbintint/a. 

 nihirseisaka., are different expressions for the sexual act, Nihantsi 

 sur-uchu=^^ may the tsantsa grant it;" "mA;«*?ie?'#«"=" may it be 

 true;" eitgamue^'''' so we will do;" ping erati='''' raay it be nice;" 

 maketi^'' it is enough." 



Of an altogether different kind is the conjuration now beginning. 

 It is the mysterious song to the bird kungupi^ a Avord therein repeat- 

 edly pronounced. The soft melody seems to indicate that the song of 

 kungupi is in part a prayer, in part a conjuration. The youths, 

 while singing, dance in a ring round the pillar as before. 



The melody is the following: 



ll J J' J 



^^ 



fc=i 



* » 



Kun--^u-pi,kun-^u-pi kun-^^u-pi , kun-^u-pi. 



(■j) J J" i = 



^ 



kun-^u-pi . kun-<^u-pl , kun"^u-pi , kun'^u'pi- 



Rep.ad.lib. 



Kungupi is a mysterious nightbird which the Jibaros regard with 

 superstitious dread, believing that the soul of the murdered enemy 

 may take the shape of that bird and then send them sickness and 

 death. AVhether we are here dealing with a purely mythical bird, 

 or a really existing one, I have not been able to ascertain. To the 

 mind of the Jibaros, of course, it is a real bird; but no one of the 

 whites living in the regions inhabited by these Indians knows any- 

 thing about the bird kungupi. Very long ago, the Jibaros told me, 

 one of their ancestors had suddenly died at a feast, and his death 

 was ascribed to the bird kungupi^ the shape of which the killed enemy 

 was supposed to have taken. Since that time, at every tsantsa feast, 

 they sing a special conjuration to the ominous bird in order to pre- 

 \ent the repetition of such an incident. 



Having for a while merely repeated the word kungupi in a certain 

 melody, the dancers continue with the phrases mmia^ nuchaki^ kung- 

 upi., kungupi^ and iruimina^ niichakU kungupi.^ kungupi^ which is a 

 formula for conjuring away the fatal bird {uiuimiva=^go away; 

 michaki^'' raay you get cold!" "may you stiffen!" — an expression 

 frequently used in similar conjurations). 



Another conjuration of the same kind is the following chant : 



Yawanu ikyama^ 



YawQ/mi ikywma., 



