CHAPTER6

The Circle of Life:

Creating and Destroying

The dressed gourds hanging from every tree rattled in

the strong prestorm breeze. Mannaca shivered, not with

cold, but with the realization that if the gourds were not

properly decorated and ritually prepared, the tribe would

be vulnerable to attack from the angry spirits of the dead.

Each season of the rains the gourds had to be painstak-

ingly prepared to ward off the spirits of ancients who

might be offended by Mannaca's tribe, who had come

from the distant mountains to live here in the forest.

Mannaca, tribal shaman, followed the ways of sha-

mans before him. He did not know how the ritual of pro-

tective gourds began, but he did know exactly how to

prepare them and when they needed to be hung. Each

year he worked hard on the gourds because he wanted

his people to live in harmony and peace.

That evening a terrific storm broke over the forest.

Mannaca and his tribe huddled in their huts, afraid that

perhaps the storm had been sent by angry spirits who

were not happy with the gourds this season. As the storm

raged, Mannaca fell into a deep trance and had a strange

vision. He saw a huge gourd come down and smash all

the little decorated gourds that he had so laboriously pre-

pared. Then, from inside the great gourd came ancient

ones who began to approach him. He cried out in terror,

certain that this was surely his end when a strange thing

happened. The oldest of the ancient ones stretched out

his hand and comforted Mannaca. "Don't be afraid," he

said. "We will offer you and your tribe no harm. We wish

you to be happy in this place that we once knew. We have

sent the storm to scatter your gourds because you need

them no more. Make a great fire and bum all the rest of

your gourds. We wish a dance instead, in our honor." With

that the ancient one gave him detailed instructions about

the movements of the dance. When Mannaca woke the

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