the sun but also to the animals. The Paresi-’Kabishi, an Ara-
wakan tribe in the western Mato Grosso, have a secret cult
in which the snake demon Nukaima and his wife are repre-
sented by a huge trumpet and a smaller flute. The Alligator
Jump dance of the old Mojo (an Arawakan group) is consid-
ered to be the equivalent of the snake cult of the Paresi. At
the climax of this alligator cult feast, a procession is formed
in which twelve men play nine-foot-long bark trumpets.
Women and children are not allowed to see the proceedings;
were they to do so, they would allegedly risk being swallowed
by an alligator. The cultural wave responsible for the use of
sacred wind instruments in the reproduction of the voices of
spiritual beings apparently died out in the upper Xingu cul-
tural area.
The flutes, which are taboo for women, are stored in
special flute houses like those of the Arawakan Mehináku.
They are associated with a mother spirit (mama’e) who has
the form of a bird, the jacu (Crax spp), and is represented by
masked dancers during the ceremonies. Among the Ca-
mayura (a Tupi group), the Jacu feast was organized for the
purpose of obtaining help from three manioc mama’e whose
assistance was needed to guarantee success with a new mani-
oc field.
Human and plant fertility. Among the Kaua (an Ara-
wakan group) and the Cubeo (a Tucano group) in the north-
western Amazon region, fertility rites are obviously connect-
ed with a human generative power. At the end of the masked
dances, in which the dancers represent animals, the partici-
pants unite to perform the Naädö (phallus dance). They hold
artificial phalluses made of bast fiber in front of their bodies,
and with coital gestures they mimic the scattering of semen
over houses, fields, and forests.
Farther to the west, we encounter the primal father
Moma of the Witóto, a superior god who has a strong influ-
ence on the fertility of all useful plants. Moma is responsible
not only for the flourishing of the planted crops, including
manioc and maize, but also for useful wild fruits. In his
honor, the Okima, the festival of yuca (manioc) and of the
ancestors, is performed. Those under the earth are invited to
participate in the festival by their worldly descendants above,
who stamp their feet or beat rhythmically on the ground with
“stamping sticks” that are fitted with rattles. In the ball game
festival known as Uike, the soul of Moma is believed to be
present within the ball, which is bounced back and forth on
the knees of the persons participating. Additionally, this ball
symbolically represents the fruits that are brought to the
feast, the idea being that the bouncing ball makes the same
movements as the fruits in the branches of the trees.
Among the Jivaroan people in Ecuador, the cult of the
earth mother Nunkwi is restricted to those cultivated plants
whose soul is believed to be feminine—for example, manioc.
The soul of the earth mother resides within a strangely
shaped stone (nantara) that has the power to summon
Nunkwi. The association between fertility of human females
and the growth of plants considered to be feminine receives
obvious expression through the rule that every woman who
plants a manioc cutting must sit on a manioc tuber. The
same theme is expressed in the ritual for the first manioc cut-
ting that is taken from a field whose yield is intended to be
used at the Tobacco festival. The cutting is painted red, and
the woman to be honored places it against her groin.
Even the tsantsa, the fist-sized shrunken head trophies
of the Jivaroans, are connected with the fertility of the fields.
The power that resides within these heads is expected to be
transferred into the crops as the successful hunter, wearing
the trophy around his neck, passes the fields. From the tro-
phies the hunter also receives information concerning the
fields, which he passes on to the women who tend them. The
Quechua and Aymara peoples of the central Andes region
frequently call upon Pachamama, the goddess of the earth,
who is essentially responsible for the fertility of plants and
who is believed to live underground. In addition to being
connected with many celebrations, she is also associated with
many daily rituals. The cult devoted to her originated in pre-
Hispanic times. It has survived to the present, a persistence
that is undoubtedly related to Pachamama’s identification
with the Virgin Mary.
For the cultural areas of eastern Brazil, the Gran Chaco,
the Pampas, and Patagonia (including Tierra del Fuego), in-
formation concerning gods or spirits related to the fertility
of cultivated plants is partial, has little significance, or is com-
pletely lacking.
THE SOUL, THE DEAD, AND ANCESTORS. Most of the Indian
groups of South America believe that a human being has sev-
eral souls, each residing in a different part of the body and
responsible for numerous aspects of life. After death, each of
these souls meets a different fate. One of the most interesting
examples of this idea is found among the Guaraní-
Apapocuvá (Nimuendajú, 1914). One soul, called the ayvu-
cue (“breath”), comes from one of three possible dwelling
places: from a deity in the zenith, who is the tribal hero; from
“Our Mother” in the east; or from Tupan, the thunder god,
in the west. In its place of origin the soul exists in a finished
state, and at the moment of birth it enters the body of the
individual. It is the shaman’s task to determine which of the
three places of origin each soul comes from. Soon after birth
the breath soul is joined by another soul, the acyigua
(“vigorous, strong”). The acyigua resides in the back of a per-
son’s neck and is considered to be an animal soul responsible
for the temperament and impulses of that person, which cor-
respond to the qualities of a particular animal. Immediately
after death the two souls part company. The ayvucue of a
small child goes to paradise, the “Land without Evil.” The
destination of the ayvucue of adults is another afterworld that
lies just before the entrance to paradise. The animal soul or
acyigua transforms itself into a much-feared ghost, called an-
géry, that persecutes mankind and must therefore be fought.
Research on a number of Indian tribes indicates that
meticulous preservation of the bones of the dead is a wide-
spread practice. Such action, which is similar to the preserva-SOUTH AMERICAN INDIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW 8583