INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTHERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL — OBERG 



53 



everything, yet specific myths relate only the 

 creation of the sun, moon, man, and many of the 

 primary elements of their culture. It would ap- 

 pear that the land, rivers, trees, animals, and fish 

 already existed, for we first hear of Mavutsine 

 walking around Morena and feeling lonely. 



In the creation story wood plays an important 

 part. Noitu, the first woman, was made of wood. 

 The word Noitu seems to contain the stem utu, 

 grandmother. Mavutsine then married Noitu who 

 gave birth to the sun and the moon. According 

 to the Camayura, the sun and the moon are 

 brothers but not twins. The ancestors of the 

 Camayura were made by Mavutsine from the 

 wood of the camiuva tree. The word camiuva 

 appears to be made up from the two stems cami 

 plus uva. Uva in Tupi is the leaf of a tree. The 

 word Camayurd also is made of two stems, cama 

 plus ivird. Ivira in the Camayura dialect means 

 tree. The stem cami or cama looks surprisingly 

 like the Arawak word kame, sun. If this analysis 

 is correct the Camayura are people of the sun tree. 

 The camiuva tree has, even today, magical sig- 

 nificance and is in a sense the sacred tree of the 

 Camayura, for from its wood they make the cen- 

 tral posts which support the ridge pole of the 

 house and the posts used in the annual ceremony 

 for the dead. 



The mythical period did not end with the crea- 

 tion of Noitu, the sun, the moon, and the ancestors. 

 There appears to have been a time during which 

 all these beings lived together at Morena in a 

 village called Morenawas. In this period many 

 events took place, only some of which were clearly 

 described to us by the Camayura. The sun, kuat, 

 seems to have been a great benefactor in his own 

 right. He taught all the Indians how to use timbd 

 in fishing. After Mavutsine had made the jakui 

 flute he handed it to the sun who played it so 

 well that Mavutsine gave it to him. The sun 

 then taught the ancestors how to play it and 

 presented it to them as a gift. Later he taught 

 the Camayura all their songs and dances and the 

 puberty rites which they must practice. Among 

 these ceremonies the annual kwarup is of the 

 greatest importance. The word kwarup seems to 

 contain the stems of kuat, sun, and irup, father 

 or ancestor. The moon, yai, although a lesser 

 figure, also performed creative acts. He taught 

 the people how to make fire, in addition to per- 



forming rather a foolish act by creating the enemy 

 Indian tribes. The mythical ancestors also per- 

 formed many miraculous and culturally important 

 acts. Yanamd, for instance, created tupan, 

 thunder and lightning, well known in Tupi my- 

 thology. From aikdn, the fish, Yanamd obtained 

 the bull-roarer (urivuri) in exchange for toucan 

 feathers. Later Yanamd gave the bull-roarer to 

 the piqui tree who taught him how to make piqui 

 oil. Kanarati, another ancestor, captured the 

 large hawk (apacani) which brought death to the 

 world, and rode into the sky on its back visiting 

 the world of spirits. The Camayura now believe 

 that the airplane is apacani returned. In these 

 mythical times, too, there was a great flood, 

 although the Camayura gave no clear account of it. 



The four ancestors appear to have had incestu- 

 ous relations with Noitu, for although Mavutsine" 

 made two women at the time he created the ances- 

 tors they say nothing about these women marry- 

 ing the four men. Noitu, who sometimes is 

 described as being a woman, is also described as 

 a jaguar. She is the wife of Mavutsine, the 

 mother of the sun and the moon, and also the 

 secret wife of the four original ancestors and it is 

 from her that the Camayura sprang. Mavutsine" 

 himself could take on many forms. Sometimes 

 he is described as having no thumbs. 



In the myths there is also a hint of evil caused 

 by the shortcomings of the original ancestors. 

 The Camayura made a bad choice when they 

 ignored the guns and chose the bows; they are 

 weaker than the white men because of this mis- 

 take. For their carelessness in not guarding the 

 original manioc field planted by pakoin, manioc 

 has never grown so well since. The capture of 

 the hawk (apacani) brought death to the world. 

 Incestuous relations with Noitu angered Mavut- 

 sine and may well have caused his departure along 

 with Noitu, the sun, and the moon. 



THE MAMA'E 



Before Mavutsine" and the other mythical beings 

 left, he created the mama'e spirits to watch over 

 the welfare of the Camayura. The word mama'e 

 appears to be derived from the word amd, mother. 

 The spirits are individualized and intimately con- 

 nected not only with the health of the people but 

 also with the growth of the animal and plant 

 species upon which the welfare of the people 



