88 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll. 79 



fancy that they can keep the feared spirit at bay, and which are the 

 same as those resorted to for keeping off a living human enemy. 

 Thus the measure to keep the trophy tied to the murderous weapon, 

 the "demoniacal" chonta lance, the rattling with the shields at the 

 most important ceremonies, the attempts to ins.pire the spirit with 

 fear by making noise, by threatening movements and dancing, and 

 to " Avash off" its malignity and desire for revenge by washing the 

 head in a magical solution, all illustrate, in different ways, the prim- 

 itive conception that the Jibaros have about the supernatural beings 

 and the possibility of influencing them. 



It seems somewhat more difficult, at first glance, to understand 

 the fundamental idea mentioned in the third place, namely, that the 

 trophy, in case all rites are properly performed at the feast, is 

 turned into a real fetish and becomes a source of blessing to the 

 slayer himself and his whole family. The power which the trophy 

 is supposed to possess, of course, is due to the spirit attached to it, 

 just as the natural magical power of the living human body depends 

 upon the soul or vitality inherent in it. The souls or spirits of dead 

 ' men are endowed with a special energy and potency, and among the 

 Jibaros, as among other South American Indians, all gods, spirits, 

 and demons seem to be nothing but departed human souls. From 

 this point of view there is hardly anything strange in the idea that 

 the spirit of the killed enemy, over which the victor has acquired 

 complete domination, is able to confer upon him all those material 

 blessings which are mentioned as the most important effects of the 

 tsantsa. Among many Indian tribes in Ecuador and elsewhere there 

 prevails the custom that the surviving relatives offer a special cult 

 to the deceased family father, in Avhich different kinds of food, 

 drinks, etc., are laid upon his tomb. In case the departed spirit is 

 satisfied with this cult, he is believed to reward his loving relatives 

 by making their fields flourish and bear fruit, and by increasing their 

 domestic animals; that is, by bestowing exactly the same benefits as 

 are expected from the head trophy duly initiated. The difference 

 between this religious act and the mode of treating the spirit of a 

 slain enemy adopted by the Jibaro Indians appears to be that in 

 the former case we are dealing with a real cult with offerings, while 

 in the latter we are dealing with a purely magical conjuration which 

 is supposed to exert an irresistible force upon the being to be in- 

 fluenced. That the Jibaros consider the latter means the more 

 effective appears from the extraordinary importance ascribed to the 

 so-called tsantsa feast. Some of the ceremonies at this feast also, as 

 we haA'e seen, have for their object to increase by artificial means 

 the natural power of the trophy, in much the same way that an 

 electric battery is charged with electric force. 



