KABSTENJ BLOOD REVENGE, WAR, AND VICTORY FEASTS 89 



A curious idea appears in the tsantsa feast, in that the victor him- 

 self on the one hand is believed to be in danger from the spirit of 

 the killed enemy, but on the other hand, on account of his having 

 gained possession of the enemy's head, is invested with a special 

 mysterious power. Moreover, he is able to transfer this power by 

 contact to other persons and to things. This explains why the victor 

 must, in the way that we have seen, assist, for instance, at the brew- 

 ing of the manioc wine for the feast and at the preparation of the 

 sacred drink natema. Similarly, something of his power is trans- 

 ferred to his wife and daughter and may, through them, become 

 effective in agriculture and in other departments of life. 



AVith a similar mysterious power the priest {wliuea) and the priest- 

 ess {ohdha) are endowed. As a " priest " or conductor of the cere- 

 monies at the feast, as stated before, only an old warrior can officiate, 

 who himself has killed at least one enemy and celebrated a victory 

 feast. His insight, experience, valor, and other prominent military 

 qualities, acquired during a long life, and especially the magical 

 power he has acquired by slaying his enemies, seems to be conceived 

 almost as a physical reality, and his power can, like that of the 

 victor, in a certain degree be transferred to other people. It is for 

 this reason that he is always holding the hand of the victor at the 

 most important ceremonies, the idea being that the action in question 

 will thus attain more emphasis and importance. The same holds 

 good of the priestess, through whose cooperation all actions per- 

 formed by the women, and particularly by the wife and daughter of 

 the victor, secure the tone and stress necessary. 



The important role that the women in general play at this feast 

 of the warriors is naturally due to the fact that the 'principal object 

 of the tsantsa is to promote those phases of the economic life of the 

 Indians with whidi the women have most to do; first of all, agri- 

 culture and the increase of the domestic animals. 



The tsantsa of the Jibaro Indians, thus, is not a " trophy " in the 

 common sense of the word ; not exclusively a mark of distinction or 

 a visible proof that an enemy has been killed. The Jibaro warrior 

 not only tries to take the life of his enemy, but above everything 

 wants to secure control of his soul. Conformably to this, the so- 

 called einsupani is not merely a victory feast in the sense familiar to 

 us, but at the same time, and first of all, a kind of mystery feast 

 which, when we are able to penetrate into its real meaning, throws 

 an interesting light not only upon the social life of these Indians 

 in general and the ideas they connect with their wars, but also upon 

 their, in some respects, rather far-reaching religious views. 

 2119°— 23 7 



