INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTHERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL — OBERG 



79 



again "Is this right?" Keri responded "Now it is." Then 

 Keri let go the red urubu who was furious. 



At that time the moon was made of japu feathers, the 

 sun of toucan and red arara feathers and the red of the 

 sunset of toucan feathers. This was what the ancient 

 ones were taught. If it is different now, as you say, I 

 know nothing about it, nor does anyone else. Then some- 

 one had to blow in order to make the sun turn to fire. 



Keri thought for a long time about what he should do 

 with the sun and the moon. It was always day. Ewaki, 

 also, could not tell him what to do. At last he made a 

 big pot and put it over them. Then it was dark. Keri 

 gave the moon to Kame. When he took away the pot it 

 was day. . . . 



Sleep and Burity Hammocks. I do not know if the 

 necessity to sleep manifested itself with the long contin- 

 uation of clear irradiation by the sun when it was still 

 uncovered, but in any case Keri and Kame wanted badly 

 to sleep, but they did not know how. Discontented, they 

 went to find Ewaki, their always well-informed aunt, who 

 told them where they could find sleep. Po, the lizard, 

 owned sleep. He received Keri and Kame kindly and 

 said, "Oh, my grandsons." They stayed at his house and 

 lay in a hammock of burity and slept. When they awoke, 

 they felt better. The next morning they said goodby 

 and went away taking the hammock which the lizard 

 had given them. 45 On the road, after they had walked a 

 league, they wanted to try to sleep. They lay down in the 

 hammock but were not able to sleep. They tried and 

 tried in vain. They returned then to the lizard's house, 

 they caught him and pulled out his eyelids, of which they 

 took a very large piece. The lizard became very angry 

 but Keri and Kame now had eyelids and were able to sleep. 



Exchange of Heaven and Earth. It was also at that time 

 that Keri left the heaven. "At first the earth was heaven; 

 here, where we are now, the Bakairi were not born. The 

 heaven has a floor, the same as the earth. Heaven and 

 earth are very close to one another; from there one can 

 cross over to here." Keri said to heaven, "You should not 

 stay here. My people die here. And you want to stay 

 here? You are good. But I do not want my people to 

 die." Heaven responded, "I want to stay here." Keri 

 said then, "Then I move." He went with all the people 

 to the earth and the heaven went there where it is now, 

 and where today one is able to see that everything hap- 

 pened as the Bakairi say. 



Fire. Keri and Kame went to Ewaki who sent them to 

 go and get fire. The fox owned the fire. He had it in 

 his eyes where it gave a leap when he wanted to light a 

 fire. The fox (Cants vetulus "catches crayfish and crabs," 

 Brehm Saugeterie II S. 57) had put out a bow-net to catch 

 fish. Keri and Kame went there and found in the bow- 

 net a "jejum" fish and a snail. Keri entered the "jejum" 

 (a smooth lake fish about 4 inches long) and Kame entered 

 the shell. "Each was well hidden in his animal." Th e 

 fox came, singing, and made a fire. Then he went to see 



41 Another time I was told that before there were hammocks, people slept 

 standing up, leaning against trees. Protection against snakes and malignant 

 insects is really one of the greatest advantages of the hammock. 



what was in the net and took the fish and the shell putting 

 them on the fire to roast. But the two brothers poured 

 water on the fire. Furious, the fox picked up the snail, 

 but it jumped into the river and brought more water, 

 poured it on the fire almost extinguishing it. The fox 

 caught him again and wanted to cut him into pieces on a 

 piece of wood, but the snail escaped to the other side. 

 With this, the fox lost patience, and went away very angry. 

 Keri and Kame blew on the almost extinct fire and took 

 it to Ewaki. 



Rivers. Ewaki sent the two boys to get some water. 

 They wandered about for 3 days. There they found three 

 pots which belonged to Ochobi, a watersnake. There was 

 water in the pots; two of them contained good water, but 

 the third, bad water, which one could not drink without 

 dying. They did not touch this third pot, because they 

 only wanted good water. They broke the other two pots, 

 the water which flowed from one was the Paranatinga, and 

 of the other, the Ronuro and Kuliseu. 49 Keri took care of 

 the Paranatinga, and Kame of the Ronuro. Both rivers 

 continued to flow and Keri and Kame ran each after his 

 river ; they each called to the other, so that they would not 

 get lost. Suddenly Kame's voice could no longer be heard. 

 Keri shouted and shouted, but no answer came. Then he 

 made the Paranatinga stand still and wait, and went to the 

 Ronuro. Silly Kame had chosen the worse river, and could 

 not master it, the water had spread and grown and Kame 

 was drowned. An enormous jahii fish swallowed him. 

 Keri came and found the Ronuro standing still, Kame hav- 

 ing disappeared. At once he began to fish, he caught three 

 jahus, one of which was swollen. He opened his belly and 

 saw Kame, who was dead. He laid the corpse on big green 

 leaves and blew on it. Kame got up and said "I slept very 

 well." "No" exclaimed Keri, "You certainly did not sleep. 

 A jahu devoured you." They were bored with the Ronuro 

 and so Keri called a duck and told her to lead the water on. 

 Thus the duck conducted the river farther on and the two 

 boys — who, then, were about 8 years old, as Antonio ascer- 

 tained, comparing them with the son of a German whom we 

 had met in Cuiaba — returned to the Paranatinga, which 

 was patiently waiting. Keri said, "This is the water which 

 we shall take along." 



For three days they walked on with the river toward the 

 valley. Then they came to the fall of the Paranatinga, 

 which was not yet a waterfall but only a dry rock. They 

 took the water up to the falls and then let it wait on the 

 other side. As they wanted to stay where they were, Keri 

 called ducks and pigeons and other birds, which took the 

 water forward. 



House, Fishing, Ceremonial Dances, Tribes. The reason 

 why they stayed at the waterfall was because Tumehi or 

 Tumeng, a grandfather of Keri, lived there. He was the 

 husband of the grandmother, or as we have called her up 

 to now Aunt Ewaki (mother and aunt, great-aunt and 

 grandmother have the same value in kinship relationships). 

 Tumehi was a bat and had a gray-black skin. Old Caetano 

 referred to him sometimes as Semimo (Bak. semimo 



48 In the myth, only the Ronuro is mentioned, hut Antonio added "that was 

 the water of tho Kuliseu River." 



