40 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 10 



ROUTINE ACTIVITIES OF LIFE 



DAILY ROUND 



"Early to bed and early to rise" is the motto of 

 the Siriono, who usually retire to their hammocks 

 as soon as night falls and who are up and about 

 before the crack of dawn. Actually their day 

 begins a couple of hours before dawn. Retiring 

 as they do about 7 or 8 o'clock in the evening, 

 they are generally awake by 3 a. m., when they 

 begin to sing impromptu songs as they engage in 

 the routine of roasting a cob of maize, a piece of 

 manioc, or some camotes, or of warming up a pot 

 of food left over from the night before. Such 

 activity is continued until daylight, by which time 

 they have eaten and the day's work has begun. 



In the early morning a Siriono hut must be ap- 

 proached with caution so as to avoid stepping on 

 the innumerable piles of excreta that have been 

 fresUy deposited just outside of the house during 

 the night. Although adults retire to a respectable 

 distance from the house to defecate during the 

 day — there are no special latrines — their nightly 

 behavior in this respect is restricted by the intense 

 darkness, the annoyance of insect pests, and the 

 fear of evil spirits, and they seldom go very far 

 from the house. Moreover, the excreta are rarely 

 removed the following day, but are left to gather 

 flies, to dry up, or to be washed away by the rain. 

 Thus after a few weeks' time the immediate en- 

 virons of the house become rather unbearable to 

 the unaccustomed. The only care taken in this 

 respect is to avoid defecating directly in the house, 

 on the traUs leading out from the house, or within 

 about 10 yards of a water hole. 



The activities of the day begin with little 

 ceremony. Such health and cleanliness measures 

 as wasliing the teeth, face, or hands, or combing 

 the hair, at such an early hour of the morning, 

 are quite unlaiown to the Siriono. True, one may 

 go to the hole or a brook for water early in the 

 morning, but it will be used for drinking or cooking. 

 Moreover, at this time of day almost no attention 

 is paid to one's neighbor. This is clearly reflected 

 in the native language, which contains no such 

 salutations as "Good morning" or "Good night," 

 and it is rare to ask a neighbor how he slept the 

 night before or to inquire of a sick relative whether 

 he has improved during the night. Most early 

 morning preoccupations, in fact, revolve aroimd 

 the happenings in one's immediate family, within 



which, however, neither loud conversation nor 

 squalling children ever seem to be lackmg. Espe- 

 ciaUy are complaints registered: one may have 

 been bothered by mosquitoes the night before; 

 another may have been bitten by a vampire bat; 

 a third may have bm-ned himself, having fallen 

 out of his hammock into the fire dm-ing a night- 

 mare. 



On a typical day, when settled or on the march, 

 the men are off to hunt at the break of day. If 

 they have not had time to eat before they leave, 

 they may take with them a piece of roast meat, 

 maize, or manioc, to munch as they go along the 

 trail. When men remain at home, they usuaUy 

 occupy themselves in repairing arrows, making 

 bows and digging sticks, etc. If the band is fairly 

 settled at the time, the men hmit in all directions 

 from the house, but if the group is on the march, 

 the himters usually proceed in a circuitous route 

 through the forest in the direction of the camphig 

 spot decided upon for that night. In any case 

 the women are usually left behind to care for the 

 children and to carry out the routine household 

 duties or, if on the march, to pack up the gear 

 and transport it to the next camping spot. As 

 camps are rarely moved during the rainy season, 

 and not more often than every 10 days or so during 

 the dry season, a partial stability is maintained 

 over considerable periods of time. 



WhUe the men are out hunting, the women 

 may be occupied in any number of routme house- 

 hold tasks, such as brmgmg in firewood, grmding 

 corn, cooking, weaving baskets or mats, coiling 

 pots, drying tobacco, or repairing hammocks. 

 The women also devote a considerable part of the 

 average day to the spiiming of cotton string, which 

 is extensively used m arrow making. Since most 

 of these household duties are pursued around the 

 hammock and the fire, gossip and conversation are 

 freely indulged in thi-oughout the day, and there is 

 almost always a pot of something cooking on the fire 

 with which the women and children nourish 

 themselves while the men are gone. 



The men usually return from the hunt between 

 4 and 6 o'clock in the afternoon. Some type of 

 food has already been prepared, awaiting their 

 arrival, and while the men are eating, the women 

 occupy themselves in dressing the day's kill for 

 the evening meal, which will be eaten as soon as it 



