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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 10 



Finally, the personality of the adult Siriono is 

 itself a logical consequence of a lifelong struggle 

 to secure enough to eat. His early education in 

 the family, his later contacts with his fellow tribes- 

 men, and his final exposure to a harsh and rigorous 

 environment all teach him that to survive he must 

 be aggressive, individualistic, and uncooperative. 

 These are the outstanding personality traits of the 

 adult Siriono. The strong dependency relation- 

 ships formed in infancy and early childhood do 

 not persist. Gradually but prematurely they are 

 displaced by traits of independence, so that when 

 an Indian has reached adulthood he displays an 

 individualism and apathy toward his fellows that 

 is formidable. 



The apparent unconcern of one individual for 

 another — even within the family — never ceased 

 to amaze me while I was living with the Siriono. 

 Frequently men would depart for the hunt alone— 

 without so much as a good-by — and remain away 

 from the band for weeks at a time without any 

 concern on the part of their fellow tribesmen or 

 even their wives. On one occasion Ndekai, his 

 wife, and their clubfooted son stayed away from 

 the band for 6 weeks, wandering from one place 

 to another in search of food. When they left they 

 told no one about then - plans, and while they 

 were gone, no one showed the least concern about 

 them. After returning from such a long absence, 

 Ndekai was not even greeted by his tribesmen, 

 although they eagerly tried to secure some of the 

 meat he brought back with him. Such experiences 

 indicate that were it not for the fact that the 

 band supplies sex and marital partners, the family 

 could be an independent social group among the 

 Siriono. 



Unconcern in one's fellows is manifested on 

 every hand. On one occasion Ekwataia, a 

 cripple who, although he was not married, had 

 made an adjustment to life, went hunting. On 

 his return darkness overcame him about five 

 hunched yards from camp. The night was black 

 as ink, and Ekwataia lost his way. He began to 

 call for help — for someone to bring him fire or to 

 guide him into camp by calls. No one paid heed 

 to his requests, although by this time he was but 

 a few hundred yards from camp. After about half 

 an hour, his cries ceased, and his sister, Seaci, 

 said, "A jaguar probably got him." When Ek- 

 wataia returned the following morning, he told 

 me that he had spent the night sitting on the 



branch of a tree to avoid being eaten by jaguars. 

 His sister, however, although she manifested a 

 singular unconcern for his smwival the night 

 before, complained bitterly that he gave her such 

 a small part of his catch. 



Such traits of character as have just been men- 

 tioned in no way indicate that the average Siriono 

 is maladjusted and unstable. On the contrary, 

 he seems to have made a relatively stable adjust- 

 ment to harsh environment and to a culture that 

 offers him little reward. The Siriono data would 

 indicate, however, that man in the raw state of 

 nature — and the Siriono may be regarded as the 

 quintessence of such a man — is anything but 

 cooperative, generous, submissive, or kind. 



By way of recapitulation and conclusion a 

 number of generalizations are suggested for further 

 refinement and investigation in other societies 

 where conditions of food insecurity and hunger 

 frustration are comparable to those found among 

 the Siriono. 



(1) Such societies will be characterized by a 

 general backwardness of culture. A concern with 

 food problems will so dominate the society that 

 other aspects of its culture will be little developed. 



(2) The primary drive of hunger will dominate 

 all other basic drives. 



(3) The sex drive will be mobilized principally 

 through the drive of hunger. 



(4) The food quest will be painful and fatigu- 

 ing. 



(5) Secondary drives generally will be little 

 elaborated. 



(6) The strongest secondary drives will be 

 those based on the primary drive of hunger. 



(7) Appetites for eating will be strong. 



(8) Anxieties about food will be intense. 



(9) Aggression will be expressed largely in 

 terms of food; if not, such aggression will be so 

 severely punished that it will be almost entirely 

 repressed. 



(10) Prestige will be gained and status main- 

 tained largely by food-getting activities. 



(11) Positions of power and authority will be 

 occupied by individuals who are the best providers 

 of food. 



(12) Etiquette and ritual with respect to food 

 will either be lacking or it will be elaborated to a 

 pronounced degree. 



(13) Fantasies and dreams about food will be 

 common; if not, the subject of food will be so 



