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Part

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Article

Author[ess]

PP.

I.

Artifactual Anatomies

1.

Objects ... in Northwest Amazonia

Stephen Hugh-Jones

33-59

2.

Alterity among the Mamainde^

Joana Miller

60-80

3.

Urarina Technologies of Companionship

Harry Walker

81-102

II.

Subjectivized Materialities

4.

Being a Thing in The Yanes^a Lived World

Fernando-Santos-Granero

105-27

5.

Masks and Flutes among the Wauja

Aristo`teles Barcelos Neto

128-51

6.

Valuables ... among the Kayapo`

Terence Turner

152-69

III.

Materialized Subjectivities

7.

Matis Theory of Materiality

Philippe Erickson

173-91

8.

Cas^inawa Image-Making

Els Lagrou

192-213

9.

Textual Objects in Runa Worldview

Mari`a Guzma`n-Gallegos

214-34

10.

Materiality in Wakue`nai Ontology

Jonathan D. Hill

235-61

"The idea of creation ex nihilo is virtually absent from indigenous cosmologies. Things and beings normally originate as a transformation or something else. ... Where we find notions of creation at all, what is stressed is the imperfection of the end product." (Viveiros de Castro 2004:477-78)"

{This is likewise the usual doctrine in India : whether Astika, Jaina, or Bauddha.}

"Tukano myths from the Uaupe`s region ... are indeed about creation ex nihilo and squarely in the idioms of parenthood."

{Because redincarnation of souls is commonly believed among South American (and, for that matter, likewise North American) Indian tribes, a metaphor of parenthood would not regularly imply any creation ex nihilo.}

p. 35

"Tukanoan creation myths are unusual both because they do indeed tell of a creation from nothing, of gods who bring the universe and its contents into being through their thoughts, and

{Thought, however, is itself not ex nihilo, but always dependent upon praevious thought, in an endless chain of dependent origination. This fact (of requiring antecedents) is as true of processes as it is of substances.}

The myths ... can be found in ... the Colec,a~o narradores indigenas do Rio Negro".

p. 36

"Starting with an initial, dark, formless, and invisible state,

{Note that a "dark, formless, and invisible state" is not by any means identical with nihil ‘nothingness’. It is more like the primordial condition (designated "Former Heaven") before the praesent-day Heaven (designated "Latter Heaven") was separated from the Earth in Chinese cosmogony.}

these Tukanoan creation myths run through several attempts at creation that culminate in the emergence of the fully human ancestors of today."

p. 62

"internal body ornaments ... can be seen only by shamans ... during curing sessions. ... During curing sessions, the shaman often removes the internal ornaments of his patient".

p. 63

"The Mamainde^ affirm that these threads/bands are our path, our memory, and also that which causes us to dream. Without these bands, we do not know where we are; we fail to recognize our kin and we become lost and sick. ... If the shaman does not retrieve the lost thread/band, the person may die."

p. 67

"The spirit of the da>yukdu cannibal monster – identified as the "owner" (wagin>du) of the spider-monkey and described as a hyper-version of this

p. 68

The thread of the owner of the spider monkey is described as a black, greenish, or grey thread that, to the shaman’s eyes, appears like a spider web. The beads used to make the bands of the owner of the peccary are made from annatto seeds instead of the fragments of tucum palm used by the Mamainde^.

p. 68

"Aparecida Vilac,a (2005) ... on the relationship between ... "body" and "soul," ... observes that, for the the Wari>, a Txapakuran-speaking people from the Brazil-Bolivia border, all beings that possess jam- ("soul" or "spirit") can be ... potentially human. ...

p. 69

However, ... for the Wari> ... the soul gives this body ... instability. This ... capacity ... to ... transformation may always be the result of the agency of other subjects than the ego’s desire. (Vilac,a 2005:452-53 ...)"

p. 69

"at the same time as they affix spirit to the body, ornaments make the body visible to other types of beings, conferring on them the "instability" mentioned by Vilac,a. ... it is ownership of ornaments that makes a person visible to the da>yukdu cannibal monster. ... The same thing happens in dreams – the preferred locus for the actions of spirits – when the dreamer meets the spirit (yauptidu) of a dead kinsman or the spirit owner of an animal species : they [dreamers] may see their [spirits’] bodies covered in ornaments. The anaconda, for instance, may appear in dreams as a man decorated with

p. 70

harpy eagle feathers. The spirit owner of the tortoise may appear as a man draped in necklaces made from tortoise shell."

If I a spirit sees me, it only sees an aspect of myself that I am unable to see : my soul ... . (Lima 2002:12)"

p. 71

[In his dream?] "The future shaman is beaten with the club of the spirits of the dead and

p. 72

faints (/do-/ = "dies"). When this happens, the spirits of the dead give him a variety of ornaments and objects, such as bands of black beads, cotton bracelets and anklets, toucan feather headdresses, gourds, arrows, and

the waluka>du, a wooden sword that some Mamainde^ refer to as "the shaman’s sword."

[p. 78, n. 11 : "The waluka>du was also described ... as a lightning ray that, when manipulated by shamans, can make holes in rocks and tree trunks in order to retrieve the spirits of people that are held captive."] {This retrieval is done during shamans’ dreaming?}

These items are called ... "magical things" (wa>nin wasaina>a~), and are the basis of a shaman’s power."

[p. 78, n. 12 : "The term wa>nindu is often translated by the Mamainde^ as "magic" ... . ... Consequently the term wa>ninso>ga, used to refer to the shaman, can be glossed as "he who has magic/spirit." Marcelo Fiorini (1997) glosses the term wanin, as used by the Wanairisu – who speak a southern Nambikwara language – as "soul" or "vital principle.""]

p. 72

In order not to lose their shamanic power or "magic" (na wa>nindu) ..., shamans must ... ensure that their spirit-wives will not abandon them, taking away their ornaments. When this happens, the shaman’s wasain>du, or "things" – including both his ornaments and his spirit-wife – are said to have "gone away" (na wasain>du >ailatwa). [p. 78, n. 14 : "a powerful shaman should always drink ... for his spirit-woman."]

p. 73

Shamans must ... consummate their marriage with their spirit-wives. ... Married to spirit-women ... from the spirits of the dead, shamans become these spirits’ companions and call them "my kin" (da wainta~du, literally "my many"). People say that shamans are never alone : whatever they do, the spirits of the dead will do with them. Hence, whenever a shaman makes an object, he must remember to leave a pot of manioc beer beside him

so that the spirits of the dead can drink while he works."

{cf. the Bauddha perpetual offerings of beverage to preta-s (homeless spirits of the dead)}

p. 73

"During curing sessions, the spirits of the dead act as the shaman’s auxiliaries, helping him to recover the ornaments stolen from his patients so that he can place them back into their bodies. On such occasions, the spirits of the dead can bring new threads/bands for the shaman to pass on to the person being cured. ...

p. 74

In order to continue acting as the shaman’s auxiliaries, the spirits of the dead must also be offered large quantities of manioc beer during the curing sessions. ... Most of the curing songs ... proclaim that the spirits of the dead are coming to eat, referring to the food as a form of "payment" (na yohdu) for the ornaments they bring to the shaman. ... Curing sessions can thus be described as a type of exchange in which the spirits of the dead give threads/bands to the living in exchange for food and drink."

Through these exchanges, the spirits are placated and made to refrain from sending diseases to harm the living – particularly young children, whose spirits are more vulnerable to their attacks."

"Unlike the body soul (suujue) – bound up in notions of hardness, interiority, and

the "heart" (suujua), as ther seat of thought and emotion --

the shadow soul (corii) is associated with reflections, doubles, and companions."

"birds may act as companions to people as these accompany those walk in the forest, giving advice through song on a range of topics from rising water levels to the imminent death of a loved one."

p.

companionship

82

"Trees may act as companions to each other ... – for example,

aguaje palms are companions of shebon palms;

mahogany is the companion of moena;

lupuna is the companion of caupuri."

83

"Lupuna is always conversing with caupuri ... . They coordinate their work together ... they are neighbors."

"Large game animals ... each have a special type of companion, known as its cojoaaorain, which takes the form of a small bird who advises that animal on a daily basis. The bird is "like its soul" and "for its protection," warning of approaching predators and other dangers.

Cultigens have companions "in order to produce."

Sweet potato, the companion of manioc, is the latter’s "support" and "resistance," and each helps the other to grow."

A shaman’s ceremonial breast band is credited with a vegetal soul (eeura) when first fabricated, but ... after repeated use ... it displayed affection for its owner by .. transforming into a boa and licking his face during a healing session."

"The hammock is prepared for use, and the child for emergence from the birth annex, through the performance by the father or another male relative of a chant cycle known as the canaanai mitu baau.

{There were "Tuamotuan chants "sung at the birth of a high chief."" (K, p. 177)}

This blesses a preparation of achiote and the roots of a piri-piri plant, with which the child and hammock are each subsequently painted in order to "maintain the body" and protect it from harm. Performed throughout the night directly prior to the child’s emergence from the jata and lasting for as long as several hours, the chant invokes an extensive repertoire of beings –

from mythical ancestors

{cf. Kumulipo "repeating the genealogies" ("F&MK", p. 290)}

to species of birds and fish

{cf. Kumulipo "listing the births of plant and animal life" ("F&MK", p. 290)}

to the sun, moon, and celestial jaguar – with the aim of appropriating desirable qualities or relations.

{In the Marquesas, the Vavana chants "recapitulate the conception, birth, growth, and so on of the child, linking these with the mythical birth of the gods" (K, p. 176).}

body-part

of __

in order to __

shoulder-blade

sloth ("an animal said rarely to defecate")

"to build the child’s resistance to diarrhea"

tongue

paucar-bird

"to develop its vocal abilities"

teeth

coati

"to transmit this animals ability to find honey and avoid snake-bites"

shells

snails

"so the baby’s ear doesn’t grow too big" {cf. hearing the ocean-surf in conch-shell; and, conchoidal process of inner ear}

"pieces of wood carved by the mother for the baby’s shadow soul (corii) to "play" with. Their location behind the head and out of reach reinforces this plaything’s immaterial nature."

"The baby’s spirit or shadow soul is said to return to the placenta and umbilical cord after death, ... to find and identify its family and birthplace".

p. 90

Animals having "immunity to attach by egaando are invoked in turn :"

p. 91

"To utilize an egaando, one must first capture and "tame" it (irilaa). ... Once an egaando is found, a shaman immediately blows tobacco smoke on the bowl and places it at the foot of a Brugmansia tree (Brugmansia svaveolens), where its cooperation is gradually enlisted through forms of ritual dialogue (cojiotaa and chairetaa). The Mother of Brugmansia and the egaando are

p. 92

directly addressed in turn ... . ... After several days at the foot of the Brugmansia tree, the bowl is transferred to a baichaje jar and brought inside the house. ... . In further chants addressed to the egaando, the shaman uses his new role as "owner" to ask it to serve him obediently ... and to share its knowledge with him. ... the egaando eventually capitulates to the requests in Brugmansia visions. It is used as a vessel for drinking concentrated tobacco juice, ingested continuously in conjunction with tobacco smoke. The shaman must learn to listen to the egaando "darts" (batohi) ... which sing their songs "through" him as he drinks the tobacco juice".

p. 93

In exchange for the bowl’s continued cooperation, the shaman submits to stringent ... prohibitions.He avoids ... animals with strong colors or patterns, which cause the egaando’s darts to "flee in fear." He leads a solitary existence, eating and sleeping alone ... . ... The bowl is placed by his head when he sleeps and will approach him in his dreams, interrogating his motives for seeking it out ... . He will be asked about his wife, children, and relatives, and

the bowl may make clear its desire ... to "eat the liver" of one of them ... .

{The "Oval ... dish or platter" (HD, s.v. "kaloa") is the name of the lunar-nights sacred to god Kanaloa, who hath (s.v. "Kanaloa", in "Glossary of Hawaiian gods" section of HD) as his "form ... the <ala<ala-pu-loa ...)." (/<ala<ala/ is ‘squid’s LIVER’.)}

The shaman must have mastered the art of dreaming in order to dissuade it and contain its aggressive instincts."

p. 94

"One of my informants recalled that his grandfather, after many months ... with an engaando, had successfully tamed it to the point where he could communicate with it in ... waking ... context. He taught his engaando to watch over and protect his house while he traveled ..., instructing it to "insult," in their dreams, any passing travelers tempted to sleep in the house. Persons so insulted have been known to leap from their beds, shouting, and rung out of the house into the night."