54 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



depends. The Camayura state that all the 

 Upper Xingu tribes have these spirits. The ole 

 spirits of the Trumai, papataim of the Waura, the 

 apapalu of the Iwalapeti, the mopit of the Aueti, 

 and the etseke of the Cuiciiru and the Calapalo are 

 referred to by them as mama'e. They also add 

 that shamans from various tribes often work 

 together in soliciting the aid of the mama'e. 



The mama'e are said to live in the woods and in 

 the air and can be seen and heard by the shamans 

 or initiates. They appear to have various forms 

 and some are much more powerful than others. 

 When a man speaks of his own mama'e, he de- 

 scribes them as being dwarfs with white hair and 

 long black beards. The mama'e connected with 

 plants are described as being birds, insects, ani- 

 mals, and fish. In some cases no description of 

 the spirit was obtained beyond the symbols 

 carved on posts or masks. 



When questioned as to what happened to an 

 individual after death the informants kept repeat- 

 ing "mano, hopap" (dead, finished). In an effort 

 to ascertain whether the informants knew what 

 the question on hand was, we explained the idea 

 of soul and ghost. The informants appeared to 

 understand, for one man claimed that the Suya 

 have such a belief. He related that a captured 

 Suya woman got up one night to put wood on 

 the fire and saw her dead brother standing nearby; 

 but he then went on to say that the Camayura do 

 not see people after they are dead. The above 

 statement appears to indicate that the Camayura 

 believe in ghosts (ang) but that they do not see 

 them or fear them. 



RITUALS 



The ritual center of the Camayura village is the 

 jakui or flute house. Although at present only 

 partly built, the Camayura informed us that when 

 completed all the sacred objects used in the dances 

 would be kept there. Among these sacred ob- 

 jects, the three jakui flutes appear to be of the 

 greatest significance. These flutes are about 36 

 to 40 inches in length, 3 inches in diameter, and 

 are made of cane (perhaps a large piece of uba 

 cane). Just back of the mouthpiece there is a 

 hole and at the lower end there are four holes used 

 for finger stops. A series of diamond-shaped 

 designs in black cover the upper surface of the 



flute. When playing the flute the player is seated 

 on a stool, his head thrown back and his arms 

 stretched to the limit so that his fingers can reach 

 the stops at the lower end. During ceremonies 

 the three flutes are played together, the players 

 being seated next to one another. The jakui 

 flute has a deep resonant tone not at all unpleasant 

 to a white man's ear. 



These flutes, as has already been mentioned, 

 were made by Mavutsine" and presented to the 

 Camayura by the sun, who also taught them the 

 jakui songs and the dances which accompany the 

 tunes. The jakui flutes, in addition, have a power- 

 ful mama'e, called by the same name, which ap- 

 pears in the form of a bird. The term jakui is 

 also the Camayura word for the jacobi, a large 

 bird related to the curassow family. 



Another flute which is considered sacred and 

 dates from the mythical past is the kurutai. This 

 flute is similar in form to the jakui but is only 20 

 inches in length and about 1% inches in diameter 

 and is made of bamboo. It also has a mama'e 

 and is kept in the flute house, but we were unable 

 to determine the form of its mama'e. 



Closely associated with the jakui flutes is the 

 sacred jakui ikatu mask which may be no more 

 than a symbol for representing a mama'e of the 

 same name. The mask is carved from wood in 

 the likeness of a human face. These masks are 

 well described by Von den Stein en (1894) who 

 associates them with the fish dance of the Auetf 

 and Camayura. 



The yokakd is a special gourd rattle that is used 

 in many of the dances, particularly in the kwarup. 

 As this rattle was not seen, no description of it- 

 can be given. 



Another sacred object of great importance is 

 the urivuri, bull-roarer. It has a mama'e of the 

 same name and was given to Yanamd by aikdn, 

 the dogfish. The bull-roarer is about 18 inches 

 in length, is shaped like a fish and is covered with 

 painted zigzag lines or diamond-shaped designs in 

 red over a black or white surface. 



At least these five sacred objects are tabooed 

 to women in so far as women are prohibited from 

 touching or even seeing them. These objects are 

 kept wrapped in bark and fiber wrappings when 

 not in use. If a woman were to see any of these 

 objects her hair would fall out, she would swell, 

 and become very ill. In the case of the jakui, if 



