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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



objects used in these rites. The fact that the 

 period of seclusion was not a specified number of 

 months but depended upon the development of 

 the young person appears to indicate that the 

 educational aspect is of primary importance. 

 Camayura society is not a differentiated society. 

 There are no occupational, warrior, ceremonial, or 

 shaman classes which a man could join through 

 special training and initiation. Every man par- 

 ticipates fully in economic activities, is a warrior 

 if need be, is his own shaman, and a dancer in the 

 tribal rituals. Obviously some are more expert 

 than others, some become specialists in economic 

 crafts, and some become flute players and skilled 

 shamans. But every man is taught the rudiments 

 of these skills and during his first illness a man is 

 taught, through the smoking of tobacco, how he 

 can get in touch with the mama'e. When a young 

 man or woman comes out of puberty seclusion he 

 or she is a mature individual equipped with the 

 knowledge, beliefs, and values that his culture 

 provides. 



Important in the orientation of a man to the 

 Camayura world is the proper exercise of sex and 

 the attitude toward pain. Continence is pre- 

 scribed before important undertakings because it 

 is believed that the mama'e, upon whose good will 

 success depends, are angered by sex, for they do 

 not like the smell of men who have had sexual 

 relations. If a shaman, who has had sexual rela- 

 tions the night before, is suddenly called upon to 

 perform, he will take an emetic to purify himself. 

 Vomiting, as we have seen, is a recognized way of 

 ridding one of evil or uncleanliness. Wrestlers 

 and dancers, too, avoid sex for some days before 

 putting on a performance. 



As the pleasures of sex must be enjoyed with 

 caution and proper regard to the attitude of the 

 spirits, so pain must be endured unflinchingly. 

 We have noted that scarification is sometimes 

 inflicted upon older children as a form of punish- 

 ment. To even the threat of scarification boys 

 respond with overt signs of fear. But at puberty 

 both boys and girls are subjected to repeated 

 scarifications with the yaydp, scraper, until they 

 can endure the pain without flinching. Tamapii 

 refused to let me take a photograph while he was 

 scarifying Nilo because Nilo could not yet endure 

 it without showing pain. Thus, scarification and 

 the avoidance of sexual relations go hand in hand. 



To be successful, to be a man in the Camayura 

 pattern, pleasure must be restricted and pain 

 endured. 



MARRIAGE (APITAHOK) 



When young men and women come out of 

 puberty seclusion they are given new names by 

 which they will be addressed for the remainder of 

 their fives. They are now told to spit if they 

 accidentally mention the names of their future 

 in-laws. If they wish to refer to a person whose 

 name they cannot use they must say the child of 

 or father of so-and-so. 



Marriage rules prescribe that one must marry a 

 cross-cousin. Long before the children are mature 

 the parents have arranged the marriages and the 

 young people know who their future spouses are. 

 All these arrangements, of course, depend upon 

 the availability of young men and women in the 

 right kinship categories. 



When referring to marriage the Camayura use 

 the term apitahok which contains the words api, 

 mother's brother, and hok, house, and which 

 appears to mean no more than to-go-to-the- 

 mother's-brother's-house. Genuine Camayura 

 marriages, that is, marriages not involving capture 

 or marriage outside the tribe, are solemnized 

 during the kwarup ceremony. The young people 

 come out of puberty seclusion during this cere- 

 mony, and the young man cuts the hair of his 

 future wife and the young woman tonsures her 

 future husband. This act, publicly performed, 

 unites them in marriage. 



After the marriage ceremony the young husband 

 goes to live in the house of his father-in-law. As 

 has been pointed out before, until a child is born 

 the marriage is considered temporary. Once a 

 child is born, however, and all concerned are 

 satisfied with the marriage, the husband takes his 

 wife and child to his father's house. He is now a 

 mature man with all the rights and responsibilities 

 of a tribesman. 



A model young man is polite and respectful to 

 his wife's family, friendly and cooperative toward 

 his brothers, and obedient to the decisions reached 

 by the chief and the older men. Skill in fishing, 

 farming, and the crafts bring him the respect and 

 admiration of his fellows, but prestige and renown 

 are gained through wrestling. All young men 

 undergo training in wrestling, and out of these 



