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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 9 



although they no longer perform them. As one 

 would expect, the ceremonial season opened at 

 harvest time. This was a period of abundant food, 

 enabling the people to remain in their villages. 

 The fresh garden foods, no doubt, were a welcome 

 change from stored foods, fish, game, wild roots, 

 fruits, and herbs — besides adding vigor alike to 

 the bodies of men, women, and children. 



The cutting of the first ripened ears of maize 

 was celebrated by dancing the kochovomini'ti. 

 This masked dance was organized by one of the 

 moiety chiefs at whose house the feasting took 

 place. A number of men would repair to a tem- 

 porary shelter where they painted themselves, put 

 rhea feathers around their waists, glued cotton 

 on their faces, and placed a net over their heads. 

 After making themselves as frightening as pos- 

 sible the disguised dancers sallied forth. They 

 went from door to door in the village telling the 

 women and children that they were the ghosts of 

 dead Indians, throwing sticks, and going through 

 various antics. When the women and children 

 saw the masked dancers they ran away and hid 

 in real or imagined fright. 



After tiring themselves the dancers went to the 

 house of a xmati mhe. or moiety chief, who supplied 

 the dancers and others with honey beer. The 

 dancers were supposed to drink until they could 

 not remain on their feet. The more a man drank 

 the more honor he gained in the eyes of his friends. 

 This dance appears to have had a religious signifi- 

 cance in the past. It was associated with the gath- 

 ering of the fii-st harvest and with the ghosts of 

 the dead. It may be a very ancient Arawak fea- 

 ture dating from the time when the Terena were 

 still predominantly agricultural. 



On the day following the kochovonunefi, the 

 Terena played a game called pmtuti. A man, 

 selected for his mai-ksmanship in throwing sticks, 

 would dress, paint, and mask himself as on the day 

 before. The game consisted in throwing sticks at 

 other men who tried to approach him. The 

 pirltatK or masked player, came into the village 

 from the fields and hiding behind houses he would 

 try to hit as many people as possible. The men 

 of the village tried to approach within touching 

 distance and if anyone touched the plaj'er he would 

 be the winner. The game continued until some- 

 one was able to touch the plntuti. The Terena 



explain that this game was a form of training for 

 war. 



Later in the autumn season, when the Pleiades 

 were high in the sky, the ofu'o^koti, or shaman 

 dance, was performed. As this dance is directly 

 connected with shamanism, it was described under 

 that heading. The next ceremonial act was the 

 performance of the chiiktu-hu, or "tadique*' as it 

 is called in Portuguese. This game is still played 

 by the Caduveo and appears, in the past, to have 

 had a wide distribution in the Chaco. 



The chakiK'ha was, in fact, a contest between the 

 members of the two moieties and was customarily 

 played shortly after the oheo'koti. Each moiety 

 chief, unati a^she, put on his short ceremonial 

 shiripd a7id numerous necklaces and painted his 

 face black and white. The two chiefs would then 

 sit down cross-legged facing each other in the 

 village plaza. Each held in his lap a small drum, 

 pooku, made by stretching a coati skin over a clay 

 pot, and in his hand a kcdl-itdaka ■ each chief was 

 surrounded by the adult members of his moiety. 



When the chief commenced to sing, the contest 

 began. Small groups, equal in number, were se- 

 lected from each side and began a mock fight, trj^- 

 ing to knock each other down. It was customary 

 f(jr the members of the unati to begin, the com- 

 moners coming later, and even the women partici- 

 pated in the final stages of the contest. The game 

 consisted in each man or woman trying to knock 

 down his or her opposite number. In this fight 

 only bare hands could be used and it appears to 

 have been something like a boxing match. While 

 the mock battle was on the chiefs continued to 

 sing, beating their drums with one hand and shak- 

 ing their gourd rattles with the other. Wlien all 

 members of one side had been kjiocked down, an- 

 other group was selected. The winners were al- 

 ways loudly cheered by their respective moieties. 

 After the mock fight was finished the winners 

 would be lauded and the feasting and drinking 

 would begin, each moiety eating apart from the 

 other. 



In the past, then, the kochuiwnvmeti, pit'lfutl, 

 o/ieo^kofi, and the chukuchu were the principal 

 dances and games performed during the harvest 

 season. This does not mean, however, that the 

 Terena did not perform ceremonials at other times 

 of the year. Marriages, puberty ceremonies, and 

 events connected with succession of chiefs were 



