Chugúpẽre Poringai Adode
Asojna, the bird god, was our enemy long ago:
When we’d stop some place and eat honey, that would be where she would kill us. She would curse us and finish us off. Or when an Ayoré would eat food and then sharpen something, they would die.
The old men would wake up the younger men when it was time for the bird festival:
The old men would say: “Wake up and follow Asojna away from camp into the jungle.” We’d go out of camp toward the west.
We’d blow the whistle when it was morning but still dark. And we’d wear our long white feather neck-pieces, our jaguar headdresses, and whistle necklaces. We’d wear our whistles as we left camp, the Bird’s whistles.
We’d finish adorning ourselves and the little boys would place our things before us: our honey gourds, our ropes, our bags, our axes. And we’d take our things along with us as we left to hunt honey. But we’d spread out and we would be fasting.
We’d hunt honey and then, when we returned with honey, the men would whip us. Then we’d drink water from wooden bowls, balsam wood troughs, and gourds. We’d drink, but spit out the first mouthful that would wet our dry mouths. We’d quickly spit out the first water, but drink the next.
And we’d eat ‘doridie’ fruit first (scraping the leaves off on our lower front teeth). The women would get up very early to go for ‘doridie fruit’ and then it was that they’d tell their children: “These are for your father.” And they’d scrape out the mealy white parts.
We’d eat honey afterwards. We’d eat other food afterwards, as well.
We’d reach the camp when the sun was past the middle, and we’d make crosses to put before us as we entered camp. (They put the crosses in front of them and then the Bird couldn’t get past them and harm the women.)
When we reached camp we would bathe and get all cleaned up.
And the women would make crosses and place them between them and the men. The men that lived long ago claimed that “Asojna” feared crosses.
We’d reach camp and a singer would quickly start singing with his rattle. But at midnight the singer would stop and we’d all go to sleep. The good singers sang with rattles for it was claimed the ‘rattle’ belonged to Asojna according to the men who lived long ago.
The women would say to their children: “Don’t look at them. They’re holy (taboo) and it’s forbidden to look at them.” And both the women and the children would strictly avoid looking at the men.
Some of the little boys would be where the men were, but the women were not permitted to be among them.
Dejabi – Campo Loro, Paraguay – 1988.
Transcribed and translated to English by: Maxine Morarie.
