Desana Texts and Contexts

601 Pages·2016·12.38 MB·English

Nr.62

G. Reichel-Dolmatoff
ntext

Universitatsbibliothek Wien
FB Bildungs-, ,Lit-, Sprachwiss
19121
" 1111111111 I

II
hrIimau 1989
G. Reichel-Dolmatoff
Desana Texts

and Contexts

Wien-Fohrenau 1989
ACTA ETHNOLOGICA ET LINGUISTICA

Editor
Nr.62 Engelbert Stiglmayr 1989
Series Americana 12
Cueditor
(Series A l11ericdn<J)
Johannes Wilbert
Los Angeles
Wien·Fohrenau 1989
© 1989 by Elisabeth Stiglmayr
\lcdi.eninhaber. Ycrlcger und Hersteller: Elisabeth Stigllllayr. Herausgeber lind
Redaktion: Dr. Engelbert Stiglmayr; beide Wienerstr.af~e 141. A-2822 f7bhrenau.
Contcnts 5

CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. ... . . . . . . 7

The Texts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~O

The Informants . . . ... . . . .. . . 26

Acknowledgements .... . . ... . ........ ... ....... . ... '28

The Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

1 Creation Myth (Torame) . ... ........ . ... . . 35

2 In the Beginning (Mirf) ... . ... . ... . .. . .. . ...... . 67

3 On Origins (T oraJlle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

4 On Origins (Begeyeri) . . . . . . . . . .. . ........ I 19

5 Tile Origin of Life (Torame) ... .... . .. . . .. .. . . . . .. 150

6 Yajr Woman (Torame) ......... . ............ . ... 155

7 Narcotic Snuff and First Origins (13egeyeri) ........ .. .. 159

8 The Origin of Yaje (Begeyeri) ... .. ..... . .......... 166

9 First Contacts (13egeyeri) .. . . . ... . . ... . . . .. . ..... 173

10 First Origins (Torame) ..... . .. . ... . ........ .... . 178

11 First Beginnings (Begeyeri) . . . . . . .. . . . .... . .. ... 181

12 The Adultery of Bone Person's Wife (Miri) .. .......... 182

13 The Adultery of Sun's Wife (Payat' eg" e)

13 The Adultery of Sun's Wife (Payatege) . . . . ..... 199

14 The Death of the Son of the Sun ·· a (Payatege) ... ..... . 203

15 The Death of the Son of the Sun - b (Payatege). .. .215

16 The Sun 's Adulterous Wife (Payatege) .... .. ......... 223

17 The First Death (loraJlle) ... . ....... . .... . .. .225

18 Sun Recovers his EJr PcndJnt s (Torallle) . . . , . . . . . . .231

19 On Desana-Maku Contacts (Begeyeri) ... ........ . .... 232

20 On Desana Sibs (Begeyeri) .. . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 234

21 On Desana Sibs (Mir!) .. .. . . . . . . . . ... . ... . . .. . .. 240

The Flood (ivliri) ........... . ........ . ..... . .. 246

II
23 The Flood and Conflagration (Torame) . . ..... . .... ... 248

24 The Moon and the Stars IPayatege) .. . ... . . . .... . ... 252

.25 Blood People and the Jaguars (Tonillli') . .. .. . . . ...... 254

26 Marriage to a Tapir Woman (Torallle) ........ .. . 271

27 Marriage to a Fish Woman (Mir!) . . . . . ... . .... . . 279

28 Marriage to a Fish Woman /Tonime} . . .. . ... .. ...... . 294

29 . The Dolphin People (Mid) .......... . . .... ....... 303

30 The Man Who Fell Apart (Torame) . . ...... . .. . ... . . 308

31 Thunder and His People (Payategc:) .... . .......... . . 329
6 Cuntents
32 Marriage to a Vulture Woman (Mirf) .. . . . . . . ... . .. . .. 333

33 The Wanderings of l'eeri Woman (Miri) ............... 346

34 The Tree People (Miri) J . . . . . ......... . .. . ... . .. 361

35 Day People Rape Women (Tonime) .......... . . ..... 374

36 The Wanderings of Bush Dog (Begeyeri) .......... . ... 380

37 Starch Person introduces Horticulture (Mirf) ........ . .. 453

38 Tinamou and OppOSSUIll (Tonl.me) .. . . . ... . . . .. 46 1

39 The Eagle People (M iri) . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . 469

40 A Maku's Visit to the Piranha People (Tonime) . . . ...... 473

41 First Alliances (M iri) .. .... . . .. '" . .. . ... .. . .... 481

42 Night Women (Begeyeri) ... . . . .. ...... . .. . . . . . .. 487

43 How Night came into Existence (Tonime) ..... . .. . . . . . 493

44 The Faithlessness of Vine Woman (Miri) ..... . ... .. ... 497

45 Ant Gatherer and Spirit Toad (Miri) . ....... .. ...... . 506

46 The Disguised Husband (Payatege) . . ....... .. ...... . 510

47 On Maku Servants (Payatege) . ............ . .. . .. .. 5 11

48 The Boy with Sores (Mirf) . .... . .. . .. . . . .. . . . . ... 513

49 The Boy with Sores (T orame) ... ... . .. .. . . .. . . . ... 515

50 Bisiu (Tonime) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Summary . .... ....... . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . 527

Index .. .. . .. .. . ... . .. . .. .. . .. .. ... .. . .. . ..... 535
Introductiull 7
Introduction
The present volume contains fifty texts of the Desana Indians. re­
felTing to the mythical and historical origins of this rain forest tribe of
the Colombian Northwest Amazon. The text were recorded by me in the
field , between 1966 and 1969, froll1 four [)esana shamans.
The materiul presented in this volume is part of u much lurger
corpus of texts which I wus ;]ble to record, and which I shall present in
the fu ture. These, as yet unpublished m<lteriuls. consist of Desana spell s.
songs, and other rituul texts: my ths ancita les of tile Pira-Tapuya, Uan;]no,
l3arJ. Tutuyo. ;]nl! Tukano proper: and;] large nUll1ber of shamanic texts
from the l3ura sa na .
I must briefly I'ekr to the origin ami purpose of this project of
textual analysis which has occupiel!me for th;]t muny years.
In 195~ I had tile opportunity to make u brief visit to the Vaupcs
territory und to survey the area of MitLI . the district c;]pital. and some
spo ts ne~lr tile confluence of tile "ira-parana ;]nd the Apapo ris rivers.
During previous yeurs my cthnogruphical interests had been mainly con­
cerned with tile Kogi Inliiuns. a Cllibcllan-speaking tribe of the Sierra
Nevada de Sunta M'Ht;]. in northern ColOIllbia, a very complex culture.
compurable only to the advanced societies 01' Mesoamerica. In the course
of this work. which had begun in the early forti es. I h,ld often felt the
need to become ,Icquainted with a simple tropic;]1 rain forest people, in
order to bring my Kogi material into a proper perspective. Now my brief
glimpse of the Vaupes Indians had opened a new perspective. and I was
eager to learn more ;]bout these forest peoples. But circumst;] l1ces m;]de
this impossible ,II that time. It W~IS only in 1966 that a ch,1I1ce meeting
with a Vaupes Indian named Antonio Guzman Jed to my rene wed interest
in this region ;]nd. eventually, made me formulate a longterm research
project. Cuzman. a lI1ission·educ;]ted [)esana. had come to the Universid;]d
de los And es, in Hogo[,i, where, a few yea rs earlier, I had founded tllC
Department of AntlHopology, and h,ld become an uuxiliary research as­
sistant, Llpon my recon1il1enci~ltion. I have described th ese early beginnings
of my Vaupes studies, in another publication (Reici1el·DoI11<Jtuff, 19(8).
III [ruefu(' [iun
In th<.lt saille ye<.lr. 1966, 1 tr<.lvclled with C;ulmil)) tll thc Vaupc s, in ordcr
tll Illilkc <.I survcy of field cond itiolls <.Illll rc seil rch possibilities. Th e results
of tll ese <.Ippreci<.ltions were publi~hed by Ill e ill a report ill which [ callcd
,,(telltioll to <.I IllIJnber 01' urgellt resc<.lrch Ilceds. together witll " ple,1 for
proillpt <.Ictioll.
At tll<.lt tillle, seve ral aspect s of the Vaupcs situ,llioll had become
l'lear to IllC. [n the first place, the traditional ntitLIIl'S of the Tukano,II1'
'peakillg tribes were I·apidl y disappearing ulld er mi ssion ary prl'ssurC. and
tlte l<.Ibm conditions imposed by the local represelltativcs of the national
cultllrt:. In thc seco nd place. TukanoHn culture, from wh<.l t I 11<Ill observed
so far. contailled thoug ht patterns. psychological insights, and ad<.lptive
!llechanisills which clearly constitut ed Ill<ljor intellectual efforts a I\now·
ledge Ill· which might great ly enrich ollr own civilis<.ltioll. Thirdly, ill order
\cl S<.IVl' this cu ltural Ileritagc ami. at tile S<.Illle tilllC', to call the ,lltclltioll of
a wide re;ltiership to the soc ial allll ethical problcills posed by the declinc
of this abor iginal culturc. I thought th,lt 1I1ltilropoiogy would be dble to
t,lke a Icadill g part ill redressing 1I balance which Ilad becilupsct by it!'lOr­
;lllce. bigotry , and greed. and the res tordtioll of which W<.lS nece~s;w. k,,·
the dillinllt. but lIecessary. tr;IIlsitioll from tribalism to nlltional idellti·
ficat iOIl.
Thc first to real·t to Illy report Oil ITse<lrch needs in Ille V<lUPl;SWL'rC
I·rench <llld British '1Ilthropologists. Patrice Bidou. rmm P'·(li'cS'or l.evi­
Strauss's Ldbmato ire d',"ltIHopologie sociale, ,Iild Stephen alld Christine
Hugh-Jolles, frolll Proressor Sir Ldillund Leach's Cambridge scmin;.!r.
promptly arrived tll work ,1I1long tile Tatuyo and I~arasana respect ive ly
and , eventually, mCiIlY others arrived and undcrt ook regional surveys ur
lucal studies 01' other Tllkalloall grollpS. 13y the late sixties a Ilumber of
re sl',lrc h rroject s wL're under way, and III a ny of the newcomers sl'cilled
to Ilave I·orgottcn abollt IIOW this era of Vaupcs studies Iud hegun.
[ myself h<ld hecome int erested in shaJllanism and the shaJllanic
world view, and ill y wor k Oil th ese topics h,IS continued over the years.
My previous Kogi experience had taught 11IC that tl~xtual Jllatl'lials were
of the essellce d· olle wished to approach the pmblcJlls or symbolic
systcms, and so. aftcr an initial phase of genc,·al reconnaissance, I began to
m"kc J systelllatic reL"lHd ()I' sham<lnic texts, sllch <I S myths and talcs,
spells ,1I1ei songs, gCllea logics. ,Ind descript ions or ritual. So far. hardly
any native tex ts or thc [)CS,lIla wt're kllown in prillt, except foj· two short
collections or my th s and spells (Rcichel·Dolmatoff. 1975, p-p. 205 -224:
1976), and the allalysis or a shalllJnic initiatioJl (Reichel·[)olillatoff,
1981). ;\)1 other eX'lIllples or Desana oral literJtllre had beell published in
III fro(/lic fiO/1 9
SpJnish or Portuguese, ;J fact which seriously diminished their analytic
value (Amorim, 1928, pp, 427 430; Reichel-Dolinatoff. 1968, pp, 17­
25; Umusin, 1980)
Shamans arc the intcliectu,Jis of their societics and, in the Vaupcs
territory, were much In;Jligned by missionaries Jnd Bible trJnslJtors, They
lived in relative isolation or incognit(), but oncc I had established contact
with them I was well received and they readily offered, not only to dictate
tcxtual matcrials into my tape recorder, but also to COlllment freely on
them and discuss with me whatever te.\tual episode I might wish to clarify
for myself. It was this last point that intel'es ted me most. Obviously, it was
not sulTicient to record a text, transl;Jte it, and then attempt to analyse
it back home, without having the possibility to ask questions, I\s I con­
ceived my task, whJt was most needed was J detailed discussion of e;Jch
text, ill the field and within the context of a functioning society; what I
hoped t:l Jcilieve was J discussion of etymological and senwntic points,
of mctaphors, analogies. and mental images; or men, animals and plants
tllat were thc protagonists and props of thcse myths and tales. And in
these discussions had to takc pal'l other knowledgeable people , other
ciders, and men of intellect , and not only the narrator. It was with thcse
objectives in mind that I began my work of recording, translating, and
co mmenting,
During the last dceades the study of aboriginal myths has entered
a new and. intellectually, highly challenging phase. Claude Levi-Strauss
and a growing group of scholars innuenced by him have greatly advanced
anthropological thinking by their acute analyses of native mythologies
and their symbolic structures, and it may well be said that this develop­
ment, oriented by this brilliant mind, has come to constitute the climax
of twentieth-century ethnology. Levi-Strauss and his followers in structur­
alism have opcned new avcnues in intcrpretation, avenues which, although
marked by only few clearly legible guide-posts, can carry the reader
into such a wondrous and wcll-ordered landscape that he cannot but
continuously cxpress his admiration before so ingenious an al'lifice. And
sometimes it becomes difficult to decide which to admire more; the vision
of this great and seductive master, or thc complexity of the inner world
of thc Indians, that provides the screen on which scene after scene ex­
presses man's struggle for adaptation to his environmcnt. and to his own
biological and psychological self.
Much of Levi-Strauss's mythological materials had been collecJed
among the Inciians of the South American tropics and wilcn, in the sixties,
I turned my attention to the equatorial rain forest tribes of the Vaupes
10 lntroduc tion
territory, I was able to obtain a number of myths or , at least. of myth
motifs, that were very similar to those analysed by Levi-Strauss. In going
over these parallels I was struck b.y certain differences of interpretation. In
my work on the Vaupes tribes I was approaching the field of myth in a
much more limited manner than the wide sweep of structuralism would
have recommended. I had always been more interested in ethnographic
minutiae and in myth content rather than in form, and ill this manner my
research. had taken me in a very different direction from that of the
structuralists. Levi-Strauss's work was not concerned so much with
empirical reality than with dimensions of thought that seemed to lie quite
outside of the sensorial experience, but wllich I believecJ to underlie myth
and ritual. In my approach I was not conce.rned with structure and
comparisons, not even with coincidences of content but , quite simply,
with the Incpans' formulation of a world view, and with their particular
way of adaptation and survival. In other words, in my Desana studies I
went back to things. I worked not only with people, but I concerned my­
self with their natural environment; by this I cJo not only mean that I
tried to study their 'ecological adaptation , but t[wt I attempted to under­
stand the native point of view of what man's relationships were to nature,
in terms of mental altitudes.
In order to grasp the content of myths and tales, I have tried to
combine several aspects. First of all, I decided to work through the native
language; second, I have only used texts which I personally have recorded
and which carryall the authority of the n~tive speaker's diction and con­
viction; and, third, [ elicited from Illy info/mants an analysis as detailed as
possible, together with a full discussion of the ethnographic details in
which each text was imbedded. I am fully aware of the dangers inherent
in native exegesis, but I believe that it does contribute a perspective whicll
is very valuable, and which is missing in most publications on South
American Indians. Mytlls and tales Ilad to be studied witllin their full
context, and had to be interpreted with the active assistance of the
Indians. I was less interested in wllat the myths expressed in structuralist
terms, than in what they meant to the narrator and his audience.
The range of ideas expressed in Desana origin myths and tales shows
several divisions which, although not always clearly delilll ited , can serve
as a general outline to this Introduction. A first division refers to the
Creation of Man. It is understood that this act of creation was ac­
complished by the Sun Father, a divine being whose representative, called
panlllri rnahsi!', the Progenitor, visited this eurth and travelled on its rivers
in search of a spot where to establish mankind. Nowhere the creation of