NOMADS OF THE LONG BOW — ^HOLMBERG 



85 



quarreling that occur around the fireside, when she 

 is performing the routine household tasks that 

 must be done each day. While she enjoys about 

 the same privileges as her husband, the perennial 

 presence of young children often prevents her from 

 participation in the recreational activities that do 

 exist. 



The period of adulthood among the Siriono can 

 hardly be termed a happy one. At best, an adult 

 can look forward to occasional periods of food 

 satiation, sexual satisfaction, and relief from 

 anxiety and pain — a few years during which to 

 bring his children to maturity so that they may 

 carry on. By the time a person is 30 years of age, 

 his powers begin to wane, and as he approaches 40, 

 he is already in the category of old age. Shortly 

 thereafter, he must make way for his grand- 

 children and face his declining years in dependence 

 and neglect. 



OLD AGE 



The aged experience an luipleasant time of it in 

 Siriono society. Since status is determined largely 

 by immediate utility to the group, the inability of 

 the aged to compete with the younger members of 

 the society places them somewhat in the category 

 of excess baggage. Having outlived their useful- 

 ness, they are relegated to a position of obscmity. 

 Actually the aged are quite a burden. They eat 

 but are unable to hunt, fish, or coUect food; they 

 sometimes hoard a young spouse but are unable to 

 beget children; they move at a snail's pace and 

 hinder the mobility of the group. 



Where existence depends upon direct utihty, 

 however, longevity is not great. The aged and 

 infirm are weeded out shortly after their decrepi- 

 tude begins to appear. Consequently, the Siriono 

 band rarely contains many members who belong to 

 generations above the parent or below the child. 

 At Tibaera there were only four grandparent- 

 grandchild relationships, and great-grandparents 

 and great-grandchildren did not exist. Although 

 this is a hazardous guess, the average hfe span of 

 the Siriono — discounting infant mortality — prob- 

 ably falls somewhere between the ages of 35 and 40. 



Besides the inability of the aged to perform as 

 well as younger members of the society, certain 

 physical signs of senescence are also recognized. 

 Women who have passed through the menopause 

 are assigned to the category of anility. Deep 

 wrinkles, heavy beards in men, gray hair (occurs 



very rarely), stooped shoulders, and a halting gait 

 are regarded as signs of old age. 



When a person becomes too ill or infirm to 

 follow the fortunes of the band, he is abandoned to 

 shift for himself. Since this was the fate of a sick 

 Indian whom I knew, the details of her case will 

 best serve to illustrate the treatment accorded the 

 aged in Siriono society. The case in question 

 occurred while I was wandering with the Indians 

 near Yaguaru, Guaraj'^os. The band decided to 

 make a move in the direction of the Rio Blanco. 

 While they were making preparations for the 

 journey, my attention was called to a middle-aged 

 woman who was lying sick in her hammock, too 

 sick to speak. I inquired of the chief what they 

 planned to do with her. He referred me to her 

 husband who told me that she would be left to die 

 because she was too ill to walk and because she 

 was going to die anyway. Departure was scheduled 

 for the following morning. I was on hand to 

 observe the event. The entire band walked out of 

 the camp without so much as a farewell to the 

 dying woman. Even her husband departed with- 

 out saying good-by. She was left with fire, a 

 calabash of water, her personal belongings, and 

 nothing more. She was too sick to protest. 



After the band had left, I set out in company 

 with a number of Indians for the Mission of 

 Yaguaru to cure myself of an eye ailment. On my 

 return about 3 weeks later, I passed by the same 

 spot again. I went into the house, but found no 

 sign of the woman there. I continued my journey 

 down the trail in the direction of Tibaera and 

 soon came upon a hut in which the band had 

 camped the day I parted from them. Just outside 

 of this shelter were the remains (and hammock) 

 of the sick woman. By this time, of course, the 

 ants and vultures had stripped the bones clean. 

 She had tried her utmost to follow the fortunes of 

 the band, but had failed and had experienced the 

 same fate that is accorded all Siriono whose days 

 of utility are over. 



DISEASE AND MEDICINE 



The principal ailments of which the Su'iono are 

 victims are malaria, dysentery, hookworm, and 

 skin diseases. Among the aboriginal groups still 

 surviving in the forest, venereal diseases and 

 tuberculosis are as yet unknown, but under con- 

 ditions of contact, these maladies have been 



