INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTHERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL OBERG 



55 



any man observed a woman looking at this flute 

 she would be subject to gang rape and then left 

 to die in the forest. Another version of the story 

 states that the woman is obliged only to have 

 sexual intercourse with all the men in the village 

 in order to assuage the anger of the jakui. As 

 the men in the village include the father and many 

 who are brothers of the woman, this act would 

 imply incest. Gang rape, however, does not seem 

 to apply in case a woman breaks the taboo in 

 connection with the other sacred objects. 



These five objects date from the mythical past. 

 The jakui, kurutai, jakui ikatu, and the yokakd 

 are gifts from kuat, the sun, while the urivuri was 

 given by aikdn, the dogfish, who assisted in plant- 

 ing the original manioc field. They all have 

 powerful mama'e who, although the special guard- 

 ians of fish, can be called on for other kinds of 

 assistance also. 



There are other sacred objects that represent 

 mama'e which are not tabooed to women and in the 

 rituals of which women can, in some cases, partic- 

 ipate. These objects and their attendant mama'e 

 are closely allied to certain plant species of great 

 importance to the Camayura. Among these are 

 the three posts representing the mama'e of manioc, 

 the headdresses representing the mama'e of the 

 piqui tree, the jatoba tree, the genipapo tree, and 

 the urucu bush. 



The three manioc mama'e are represented by 

 three sacred posts on which the conventional 

 symbols are painted. The ihit is in the form of a 

 T about 12 inches in length. The ivet is a half- 

 moon about 6 inches in length, and the ivirdt, three 

 vertical lines about 36 inches in length. It is in- 

 teresting to note that the word ihit is also used for 

 the carved stick with which manioc roots are dug 

 from the ground, and the ivet is of the same shape 

 and size as the menyu turner (ivep). The word 

 ivirdt signifies wood or tree, the term also being 

 used for the digging stick employed in planting, 

 which we sometimes heard as ihirdt or ihird. The 

 similarity between the spirit emblems and the 

 principal tools used in cultivating and preparing 

 manioc for food is striking. 



Although the Camayura stated that rituals were 

 performed in connection with the growth of manioc 

 we were not able to observe them. Von den Steinen 

 (1894), however, refers to masks and masked 

 dances, called hiivat, in which 2 staves 80 cm. long, 



called haete, were used. The resemblance between 

 the word ivet and hiivat is close, and when he de- 

 scribes the staves as having dogfish teeth attached 

 to a triangle, fixed to a T at the end of the stave the 

 comparison with the T-shaped Ihit is difficult to 

 avoid. Von den Steinen then goes on to explain 

 that the hiivat is a fish dance similar to the koahdlu 

 of the Aueti. The only direct connection we were 

 able to obtain between manioc and fish was the 

 origin myth in which the mythical gull (pakoiri) 

 obtained the help of fish, particularly the dogfish 

 (aikdn) and the wahiu to plant the first manioc 

 field. Although the Camayura did not state that 

 the symbols represented fish, it may very well be 

 that the symbols represent fishlike guardian spirits 

 who originally gave the Camayura manioc and the 

 implements for its cultivation and use. Of course, 

 if in the future some observer were able to see and 

 analyze the manioc ritual, presumably the con- 

 nection between the myth, spirits, symbols, and 

 manioc itself would be clarified. The writer feels 

 fairly certain, however, that the symbols do not 

 relate to actual fish or to the mama'e of fish 

 (yakuyeep) but to fishlike guardian spirits. 



There are two headdresses which represent 

 mama'e that are considered by the Camayura to 

 be closely connected with the piqui tree and its 

 growth. One is the kinemeu which looks like a 

 skullcap of woven buriti fiber, to the top of which 

 is fixed a cross about 12 inches high. The cross 

 is said to represent an insect which lives in dead 

 buriti trees and which the Camayura draw on 

 paper, as shown in figure 2. The other is the 



Figure 2. — An insect, which lives in dead buriti trees, 

 represented by cross in headdress, as drawn by the 

 Camayura. 



mask maiourawd which represents another insect 

 similar in form to that represented in the kinemeu 

 but with longer antennae. 



