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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 15 



boiled, and eaten only by tbe old men. Birds are 

 skinned, cut up, and boiled or broiled on a tripod 

 platform. 



Tbe Camayura make no alcobolic beverage, 

 drinking only water or water mixed witb menyu. 

 Wild boney, wben found, is eaten directly from 

 tbe comb. 



ORGANIZATION OF LABOR 



As bas become clear in tbe preceding discussion 

 of tbe processes of production, the major division 

 of labor is on tbe basis of sex. Men are the real 

 cultivators of the soil, for they perform the clearing 

 and the planting of the fields. Men do the fishing 

 and the hunting. Of the manufactures they 

 make the canoes and bows and arrows, weave 

 the baskets, carve the seats and gourd vessels, and 

 build the houses. Women, on the other hand, do 

 the spinning and weaving, make their uluris, make 

 the pottery, process the food products, prepare the 

 food for consumption, fetch water, and take care 

 of the children. Women alone plant and pick 

 cotton. Both sexes participate in the harvesting 

 of manioc, sweetpotatoes, and maize, and in pick- 

 ing piqui, collecting firewood, paddling while 

 traveling in canoes, in processing fish, and in 

 making necklaces from beads or shell disks. 



There is no clearly defined division of labor by 

 age. Young people undertake adult activities as 

 soon as they are able. In one family in which 

 the mother had died, a girl of 10 processed manioc 

 and did the cooking for her father and two smaller 

 children. As has been said, boys follow the older 

 men when they go fishing and hunting. Men and 

 women continue to work as long as they are able. 

 As they grow old they perform the more sedentary 

 activities, such as wood carving, the making of 

 arrows, and the preparation of ornaments. 



Certain activities, like house building, planting, 

 and fishing with timb6, are carried on collectively, 

 all the men of the village participating in the task. 

 Wben collective labor is undertaken it is under 

 the supervision of the chief, although some other 

 man may actually oversee the work, as in house 

 building where the owner is the organizer. In col- 

 lective enterprises the chief informs the whole 

 village either the night before or at dawn of the 

 day during which the work is to take place. He 

 not only outlines what is to be done but gives 



detailed instructions as to who is going to perform 

 the various phases of the work. For instance, in 

 collective land clearing and planting, the chief 

 appoints the axmen, hoemen, and the stalk cut- 

 ters of manioc. No one, the Camayura claim, 

 refuses to obey the chief. The chief himself 

 works with the other men and there are no tasks 

 from which he is exempted. This is also true of 

 the chief's wife or wives. 



As has already been mentioned, bow making 

 is specialized, there being at present four Cama- 

 yura who are experts in this task and who make 

 all the dark rectangular bows which the Camayura 

 possess. Certain men are also experts at making 

 canoes and ornaments and others are expert 

 bird hunters. Shamans, of course, are specialists, 

 their vocation depending upon a vision which 

 they must experience in order to practice curing 

 or other shamanistic activities. 



There is no true division of labor in the same 

 sense that two or more exclusive specialists are 

 required to produce a given article. In collective 

 enterprises, like house building, canoe making, and 

 fishing with timb6, there are separate tasks, but 

 these tasks can be performed by anyone, the per- 

 sonnel being interchangeable. In making a bow 

 the specialists perform every task, from cutting 

 and curing the woods to shaping the bow and 

 preparing the bowstring. 



OWNERSHIP AND INHERITANCE 



The Camayura have no large accumulations of 

 property. Houses, tools, weapons, ceremonial 

 articles, and ornaments are sufficient for current 

 needs and for the requirements of exchange. Cli- 

 matic conditions, the nature of the resources, and 

 the methods of production do not demand the 

 regularized storage of food products. Excesses 

 of foods occur either by chance, as in fishing, or 

 during an exceptionally good piqui harvest. As 

 has been stated, manioc is kept in the ground until 

 required. Crop failures or sickness among men, 

 of course, create times of shortage and even distress. 



Every married man owns his hammock, bows 

 and arrows, dishes, a tuavi for keeping feathers, 

 and various small gourd and basket containers for 

 his tools and paint. When he goes on a trip be 

 folds his hammock into a small bundle and hangs 

 it on one end of his bow, while on the other end 



