NOMADS OF THE LONG BOW HOLMBERG 



83 



inherited from his younger brother who died. 

 One of the chief's other brothers also had two 

 wives who were sisters. In the other polygynous 

 union, the man had inherited his second wife from 

 his mother's brother who had died and left no 

 other brothers to whom she could pass. On the 

 whole, plural marriages tend to occur among the 

 chiefs and the better hunters, who are people of 

 the highest status. 



Divorce is relatively easy and is usually caused 

 by adultery or by too frequent intercourse with 

 potential spouses to the neglect of the real spouse. 

 The men always divorce the women, i. e., they 

 "cast them out" or "throw them away." In 

 instances of this kind, the woman usually imme- 

 diately marries one of her potential spouses with 

 whom she has been having sex relations. Divorces 

 are not common. Women are an asset as long 

 as they can work and hear children, and more 

 than one wife is a mark of status. Thus, although 

 men frequently threaten to divorce their wives 

 so as to keep them in line, they actually rarely 

 ever do so. 



The children of divorced couples always remain 

 with the mother. The father changes his resi- 

 dence back to that of his relatives or to that of 

 his new wife. He continues to supply his children 

 with food, however, at least until the mother 

 remarries. Relations between divorced couples 

 are not particularly strained. No stigma attaches 

 to a divorced woman, and she may even occasion- 

 ally indulge in sex with her former husband. 



ADULTHOOD 



Adulthood is the time of life when responsibili- 

 ties are the greatest and status the highest. 

 Among the Siriono this state is signified by mar- 

 riage and is attained when children are born. 

 Bachelors and spinsters, of whom there are few, 

 have little position in this society, where survival 

 depends on all types of cooperation between 

 husband and wife. 



The Siriono are ushered into adulthood pre- 

 maturely if not abruptly. Younger than in most 

 societies one must take the role of an adult, for 

 younger than in most societies one grows old and 

 dies. The rigors of life being intense, there is a 

 50-50 chance at least that one's parents will not 

 be alive when one reaches the childbearing age. 

 Consequently boys and girls are frequently 



married before they have undergone the physio- 

 logical changes that accompany adolescence. 



While the obligations of adulthood are not ex- 

 treme (the needs of the society are minimal), the 

 struggle for survival is intense. There is no secu- 

 rity of food; there are long and forced marches 

 through spiny jungle and swamp; there are many 

 sleepless nights of wind, rain, and insect pests; 

 there is constant threat of disease and death. 

 In short, the natural environment is harsh, and 

 the techniques which the culture has developed 

 for dealing with it are crude and insecure. Hence 

 a person must be on the alert most of his waking 

 time to procure the bare necessities of life. 



While ceremonial life is almost negligible among 

 the Siriono, membership in full adulthood is 

 signified by participation in a bloodletting cere- 

 mony and drinking feast which is called hidai- 

 iddkwa. This is about the only ceremony per- 

 formed by the Siriono. It was never held while 

 I was living with them, but the marks on the 

 arms of adult men and women were visible 

 evidence that it is occasionally performed. 



Hidai-iddkwa, or arm piercing, is never carried 

 out until one is adult and has had children. As 

 Eantandu told me, "When a woman has had a 

 child and a man is father of a child, they are 

 ready for hidai-iddkwa." The principal reason 

 for holding the ceremony is to get rid of old blood — 

 to rejuvenate one. Eantandu said, "The blood is 

 heavy; it must be 'thrown away'." Hidai- 

 iddkwa also performs the magical function of 

 increasing the supply of food. 



Under strictly aboriginal conditions the cere- 

 mony is apparently held once a year, when the 

 trees are flowering and there is an abundance of 

 honey. Men and women collect large quantities 

 of honey, and mead is brewed. While the mead 

 is maturing, people participating in the ceremony 

 have their hair cut, and are decorated with feathers 

 and painted with uruku. 



The ceremony begins with a drinking feast. 

 The men hold one; the women another. Children 

 are tended by those too young to take part or by 

 those not participating in the ceremony for other 

 reasons. Singing and dancing are a prominent 

 part of the festival. When the participants reach 

 a drunken stage, they pierce each other in the 

 arms with a dorsal spine of the sting ray, and the 

 blood is let into small holes in the ground. Men 

 usually perform the operation both on themselves 



