beings are usually resolved through malevolent action that
manifests itself in illness, culminating in the death of the in-
dividual. The general notion of power, such as the la-ka-áyah
of the Mataco, or specific powers, such as the uhopié of the
Ayoré, are the structures that ontologically define the super-
natural beings as well as people who have been consecrated
by them.
The spectrum of supernatural beings encompasses ev-
erything from shamans and witches, in the cases of the
Guiacurú or the Mataco, to the state of “amorous exaltation”
known to the Pilagá. For an integral understanding of the
peoples of the Chaco it is important to consider the contri-
butions of these special personages and states of being, which
contribute a unique cultural identity to each group’s cosmol-
ogy. In almost all the ethnic groups of the Gran Chaco the
shaman occupies the central role in religious tasks, some-
times defending and protecting, and, at other times, injur-
ing. When engaged in healing practices, he can combine var-
ious techniques, such as singing, shaking rattles, blowing,
and sucking, and can command the collaboration of familiar
spirits who are generally powerful owing to their demonic
nature. An important aspect of Gran Chaco religions is the
idea that one or many souls are incarnated in an individual.
Once the individual is dead, these souls, or spirits, enter a
demonic state. Although they are directed to an established
underworld, they continue to prey upon human communi-
ties.
THE ZAMUCO FAMILY. The two members of the Zamuco
language group are the Ayoré and the Chamacoco of Para-
guay, in the northeastern Chaco.
The Ayoré. The religion of the Ayoré (Ayoreo, Ayor-
eode) is expressed primarily in an extensive set of myths. All
natural and cultural beings have their origins related in
mythic tales, and in certain cases in various parallel myths.
The morphology of the myths centers upon the metamor-
phosis of an ancestral figure into an entity of current reality.
Each tale narrates events that occurred in primordial times
and is accompanied by one or more songs, which may be
used for therapeutic (sáude) or preventive (paragapidí) pur-
poses.
Despite the abundance of tales, it is possible to classify
the Ayoré myths in different cycles as they relate to a particu-
lar supernatural being or theme:
(1)The cycle of ancestors. Each tale in this cycle recounts
events in the life of an ancestor (nanibahai). These gen-
erally end with the ancestor’s violent transformation
into an artifact, plant, animal, or some other entity of
the cosmos, and with the establishment by the ancestor
of cultural prescriptions (puyák) governing the treat-
ment of the new being and punishments for ignoring
these prescriptions.
(2)The cycle of Dupáde. A celestial supernatural being, Du-
páde is associated with the sun; he causes the metamor-
phosis of the ancestors.
(3)The cycle of the Flood. The tales of the Flood (gedekesna-sóri) describe an offense inflicted on lightning by the
nanibahai, their punishment in the form of a continual
rain that inundated the world, and the survival of a few
Ayoré, who became the first aquatic animals.
(4)The cycle of “water that washes away.” These tales de-
scribe a flood (yotedidekesnasóri) similar to that that ap-
pears in the preceding cycle, which was caused by
Diesná (“cricket”), the ruler of water.
(5)The cycle of the Asohsná bird. This bird (Caprimulgidae
spp) is surrounded by numerous puyák. The central tale
of this cycle relates the life of the female ancestor who
created this bird. Asohsná is a supernatural being who
established the annual ceremony that divides the year
into two segments, one of which is characterized by an
incalculable quantity of restrictions.
(6)The cycle of Asningái. This cycle relates the courage of
an ancestor named Asningái (“courage”), who threw
himself onto the fire, transforming himself into an ani-
mal with certain morphological characteristics. It also
established the meaning of slaughter, an important in-
stitution among the Ayoré, since an individual could
rise to the status of chief (asuté) through contamination
by spilled blood.
Illness is thought to be caused in almost all cases by the indi-
vidual’s violation of puyák. The cure is entrusted to the iga-
sitái, those who have knowledge of sáude, whose power can
undo the illness through the powerful word of the ancestors.
The shaman, or daihsnái, arrives at this state through an ini-
tiation that involves the ingestion of a strong dose of the juice
of green mashed tobacco, which enables him to assume a spe-
cial potency called uhopié. When an individual dies, the body
(ayói) and mind (aipiyé) are destroyed; the soul (oregaté)
moves to the underworld (nahupié).
The Chamacoco. The narrative of the Chamacoco,
which recounts sacred events, is called “The Word of
Eˇsnuwérta.” This tale constitutes the secret mythology of
those men who have undergone initiatory ordeals and con-
tains the social and religious knowledge of the group.
Eˇsnuwérta is the primordial mother. The myth is connected
to the women of primordial times who were surprised by
harmful supernatural beings (axnábsero). “The Word of
Eˇsnuwérta” includes the actions of these axnábsero, charac-
ters to whom Chamacoco reality is subordinated. The physi-
ognomy of these supernatural beings is similar to that of the
Ayoré ancestors in that current reality originates from their
transformations and their deaths. The distinctive characteris-
tic of the axnábsero is their malignant power (wozós) over
people.
The foundation of the social order is presented in this
myth, since Eˇsnuwérta instituted the clans as well as the male
initiation ceremonies in which the participants identify
themselves with the principal deities of the myth.
The Chamacoco shaman (konsáxa) exercises a power ap-
propriate to a specific region of the cosmos; for this reasonSOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS: INDIANS OF THE GRAN CHACO 8633