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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



and that of his wife at the end. opposite to that 

 occupied by his father- and mother-in-law. 



The primary functions of the house chief consist 

 in the organization of the economic and ceremonial 

 activities of his house group. In decisions con- 

 cerning the whole village, the house chiefs and the 

 tribal chief form a council and decide on a course 

 of action. The tribal chief then announces the 

 decision to everyone after dark or before sunrise 

 the next morning and each house chief organizes 

 his group to carry out the decisions, whether it be 

 planting, fishing, house building, visiting, or 

 ceremonial activity. He is master of his own 

 family only. While others have to ask his per- 

 mission to live in the house, he has no power to 

 prevent families from leaving the house tempo- 

 rarily or permanently. Like the tribal or village 

 chief, the house chiefs are elderly men, all are 

 shamans, and all participate every night in meet- 

 ings held around the fire in the central plaza. 

 Here they smoke, discuss matters concerning the 

 village, and make their decisions. Some of the 

 house chiefs are important men, not only among the 

 Camayura but among the other tribes as well. 

 When an Indian is asked who is the chief of the 

 village he will mention the chief's name but will 

 immediately name one or two other men who are 

 considered chiefs as well. Among the Camayura 

 they always refer to Marica as an important man. 

 They also usually mention Juruna who was 

 captured as a boy from the Juruna tribe. This 

 appears to indicate that personal prestige is 

 important, this prestige arising not from a 

 possession of great wealth but from ability to be 

 a good provider and good organizer of economic 

 and ceremonial activities, 



THE FAMILY 



Although the family may be monogamous or 

 polygamous, monogamous families are by far the 

 most common. Only two men were observed 

 with more than one wife, each having two wives. 

 Each family hangs its hammocks together but 

 not necessarily always in the same part of the 

 house. Near them, the husband and wife keep 

 their personal belongings such as bows and arrows, 

 urucu paint, gourds of oil, baskets, waterpots, 

 ornaments, and materials used in manufacture of 

 twine, beads, and featherwork. At night each 

 wife keeps a small fire going near her hammock. 



In the two cases where a man had two wives it 

 was the younger wife's hammock which was 

 slung under that of the husband. 



Although the family is always a part of a house 

 group and carries on the basic economic activities 

 in cooperation with the other members of the 

 household, the family, nevertheless, has consider- 

 able autonomy. A man may take his wife and 

 children into another house or even to a neigh- 

 boring tribe. One man with two wives spent 

 several weeks with the Trumai collecting terrapin 

 eggs and planting manioc; a number of families 

 remained in the camp of the Expedition for several 

 weeks — during our stay in the region. Although 

 families moved about at will, they never lost 

 their rights in the house group to which they 

 belonged. 



The relationship between the cowives is very 

 close and no apparent disagreements or conflicts 

 were observed. They process manioc, fetch wood 

 and water together, alternate in cooking food, and 

 share in the care of each other's children. Younger 

 sisters still below the age of puberty often five 

 with their married sisters, participating in adult 

 activities, particularly grinding manioc meal and 

 baking menyu. 



The authority of the husband over his wife 

 increases gradually. For a year after marriage he 

 lives with his father-in-law and is under his 

 control. During this period he works in the field 

 of his father-in-law, fishes for him, and carries 

 out any tasks demanded of him. The wife also 

 is still under the control of her father and mother. 

 This is considered a test or trial period. If the 

 young couple are agreeable to one another and 

 if a child is born or on the way and the father 

 likes his son-in-law the marriage is considered a 

 success. But if these conditions are not present, 

 the man himself or his father-in-law can terminate 

 the marriage. These marital circumstances are 

 illustrated by the case of Tamapii's daughter 

 Tipurf. She is still, by common assent, accepted 

 as the most beautiful woman in the tribe. When 

 she reached puberty she was married to the cham- 

 pion Iwalapeti wrestler, but because the husband 

 was not able to keep her from consorting with other 

 men Tamapu sent the wrestler away and gave 

 Tipuri to the wrestler's brother, Canatu, her 

 present husband. Canatu is also a good wrestler 

 and is also a hard worker. The couple now have 



