KARSTBN] BLOOD REVENGE, WAR, AND VICTORY FEASTS 79 



ancient ceremonial languaj^e, and their exact meaning is unknown 

 even to the Indians themselves, but their general significance is clear. 

 The different refrains refer to different details of the ceremonies 

 going on within the ring of the dancing women — when the slayer 

 puts the tsantsa on the top of the chonta stick, when he wets it with 

 the magical solution, when he puts it into that solution, when the 

 medicine man washes it, when he dries it, etc. — and they are supposed 

 to give more emphasis to the action taking place for the moment. 

 That the efficacy of an action is enhanced when it is repeated in words 

 is an idea deeply rooted in the minds of the Jibaros. 



After the introductory dance ihidmhrama has taken place, and 

 while all are still standing in the rows in which they were arranged 

 for this dance, manioc beer {nihamdnchi) has to be ceremonially 

 drunk. This is not a manioc beer of the common kind, but a special 

 beer brewed of roasted manioc (see p. 66), which is supposed to have 

 a particular efficacy. In front of the men, arranged in two rows, five 

 women take their stand, each holding a pininga filled with the manioc 

 beer. The first and the second of these women are the wife and 

 daughter of the slayer. The slayer himself is the first to drink of 

 the beer, stepping forth to the women and taking a sip from the 

 pininga of each of them. Then he goes back to the other men, seizes 

 the priest by the arm, leads him forward to the women, and makes 

 him in the same way drink a little from the dish of each woman, 

 Avhereupon he follows him back to the place where he was previously 

 standing. The same is repeated with every one of the other war- 

 riors, who have to step forward and drink by turns, according to 

 ^ge and dignity, the oldest warriors who have killed many enemies 

 and celebrated many tsantsa feasts going first and the younger men 

 afterwards. Only the eldest men are led to the women by the slayer, 

 the younger men stepping forth at a sign given by him, or without 

 a sign, in the order in which they are arranged. 



With the drinking of the nihavidnchi the day's official ceremonies 

 are finished. They are followed by the usual general drinking bout 

 and by a common banquet. The principal i^ersons of the feast and 

 other men or women who have taken part in important conjurations, 

 however, have to fast as before, abstaining particularly from eating 

 pork. The four warriors who had performed the ceremony yahtinyu 

 with their shields and lances are not allowed to drink the same quan- 

 tity of manioc beer as the other men. The drink is served them, not 

 in the usual large piningas, but in the small clay dishes mentioned 

 before. These dishes are placed on the ground in a row and filled 

 with beer, and the four warriors take their stand in front of them, 

 ranged in a row. A sign being given them, they suddenly run forth, 

 all at the same time seizing their piningas and quickly emptying 



