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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 15 



into pieces about 10 inches long, another is hoeing 

 up a round hill about 3 feet in diameter. When 

 the hill is completed, the man with cuttings pushes 

 9 or 10 pieces into one side of the mound, leaving 

 about 4 inches showing above ground. The cut- 

 tings are placed close together and are covered by 

 hand. This process continues until the field is 

 planted. The mounds are about 5 or 6 feet apart, 

 and as the cuttings are placed on an angle on the 

 same side of each mound, the whole field gives 

 one the impression of a cornfield after a strong 

 wind. Although the Camayura give no reason, 

 the slant of the cuttings is in a westerly direction. 

 However, once the manioc plants begin to grow 

 they assume an upright position. 



Manioc, as has been mentioned, is a food crop 

 of primary importance to the Camayura. A crop 

 failure, naturally, would result in a food shortage 

 and consequent hardship to the people. Manioc 

 fields, they are aware, are threatened by enemies. 

 Insect pests, deer, and wild pigs can destroy a 

 field. The plants sometimes do not grow well, 

 possibly because of poor soil or drainage or some 

 form of blight. To protect their fields against 

 these evils the Camayura resort to magic. The 

 fortunes of men, animals, and plants, they believe, 

 are controlled by spiritual beings called mama'e. 

 All plants and animals that are of real concern to 

 them have guardian spirits whose assistance can 

 be solicited. 



Manioc has three of these mama'e, called ihit, 

 ivirdt, and ivet. These spirits are not anthropo- 

 morphic, nor are they considered the souls or 

 spirits of the plant itself. They appear to be, 

 rather, guardians of the manioc plant. Although 

 the Camayura were at a loss to explain the appear- 

 ance of these spirits, they were quite clear as to 

 their symbolic representation. In the village of 

 Tuatuari there is a man by the name of Turutsl 

 who has three wooden posts, on each of which a 

 mama'e is painted. The symbol for the ihit is a 

 T about 12 inches long and 1 inch in diameter; 

 the symbol for the ivirdt is three vertical lines 

 about 36 inches in length; and the symbol for the 

 ivet is a half-moon about 6 inches long. What is 

 singular about these symbolic drawings is that not 

 only the names but the forms themselves resemble 

 the three tools closely associated with the cultiva- 

 tion and preparation of manioc for food. The 

 word ihit is used for the hoe and the symbol bears 



some resemblance to it; the word ivirdt is used for 

 the digging stick which is used in digging up the 

 roots at harvest time — the three fines look like 

 three digging sticks; the ivet is the menyu turner, 

 a flat half-moon-shaped piece of wood which all 

 women use for turning over the flat cakes of 

 manioc meal when they are baking on the cooking 

 plate over the fire. 



It would be a mistake, however, to consider the 

 hoe, the digging stick, and the menyu turner as 

 religious symbols. Only the sacred posts on which 

 these objects are painted represent the mama'e. 

 The Camayura have only these three posts, which 

 are the property of the whole tribe although kept 

 in the house of Turutsi. 



After a field has been planted, the owner of the 

 field, usually the head of an extended family, 

 makes an offering to the three mama'e of manioc 

 by placing a gourd bowl of mohet (mashed sweet- 

 potatoes boiled in water) before each of the three 

 posts. This is believed to assure the good will of 

 the spirits and the protection of the field. If the 

 manioc plants do not grow well, "the field is sick," 

 as the Camayura say; they will then take the 

 three posts out to the field during the night and 

 the owner and his friends, usually shamans, will 

 smoke tobacco around the posts calling on the 

 mama'e to cure the field. 



The Camayura also believe that the field may 

 become "sick" as the result of witchcraft practiced 

 by some enemy, quite often an Indian of a neigh- 

 boring tribe. The owner of the field will, in this 

 case, call on his personal mama'e to reveal the 

 cause, which is usually a small object which has 

 been injected into the field by the sorcerer. The 

 mama'e will show the man where the evil object is 

 hidden so that he can remove it from his field. 



The technical control over manioc production in 

 the eyes of the Camayura is in no way commen- 

 surate with food and the ritual value of manioc. 

 Not only is manioc the basic year-round food 

 supply but it is the food offered visitors during the 

 ceremonial season which opens at the end of the 

 rainy season. The anxieties arising out of the 

 uncertainties accompanying manioc production 

 are, at least in part, compensated for by an appeal 

 to supernatural help. The anxiety is further 

 emphasized by the origin myth of manioc. 



After about 7 months, manioc is ready for use 

 and the owner and his family go into the field to 



