Pedópasade
Discoveries of Clan Possessions
Day, night, and iron pertain to these clans:
Ajatiguei Étacõri and Jesai Chiquenoi discovered the things in the world. And they went to far away places before they came to the edge of ‘day.’ But it was Jesai Chiquenoi that went ahead and entered ‘day.’ He went out and entered it. And so it was the Chiquenoi Clan that discovered ‘day.’
The Étacorone reached the edge of night. Ajatiguei, who was a member of the Étacori Clan, crossed through the night. Jicai crossed through the darkness, also. But Ajatiguei kept on going through the darkness until he reached the ‘light of day’ on the other side of it, and that is why the Étacõri Clan took ‘light of day’ for its ‘clan possession.’
The Chiquenone came upon iron, and that is why it belongs to them as a ‘clan possession.’
As a ‘clan possession’ salt belongs to the:
- Picanerai Clan in Paraguay.
- Chiquenoi Clan in Bolivia.
How salt came to be:
It’s said a woman cooked squash. And she threw ‘snot’ into it, and it tasted very good. But her friends didn’t know what made her food so good.
Her grandchildren said, “We will watch Codé (Grandma). We will see what she does to make her food taste good.”
While her grandchildren watched, she threw ‘snot’ into the squash she was boiling. The food she prepared was really good but only they knew what she did to prepare it.
They say that after the grandmother died and was buried, it was she who brought salt into existence in the area where she was buried.
The next day some of the old timers named Ducarajámené and Sugácadé went looking for salt and they found it. They brought it back with them and said, “We have found something to suck on or to use for cooking.
One of their wives cooked squash and seasoned it with the salt and it was very good.
And their sisters said: “Ducarajámedaté, give some to us and we’ll use it to season the food we cook, too.”
That is how the Picanerai Clan made salt their ‘clan possession’ for it was a Picaneré woman who discovered it. They really liked salt.
Igábi was the town the Ayoreos lived in before they separated:
It was in the town of Igábi where the Bolivian and the Paraguayan Ayoreos lived together; but then they fought each other. That’s when they separated and some went to Paraguay.
And when the Ayoreos tell their descendants about what happened, they say to them: “But your grandfathers were all together as relatives at Igábi.”
The names of the big chiefs:
The name of the big chief in Bolivia was Ajúgorocuchátique.
The leader of the Ayoreos in Paraguay was Sugácadé Picanerai. He was almost like a president.
The one who came after Ducarajámené was Yacamaque. Yacamaque was of the Chiquenoi Clan. (In Ayoré they say Yacamaque sat on the back of Ducarajámené; another way to say idiomatically the one who followed him was Yacamaque.)
Explanation of ‘clan possessions’:
What was discovered by a clan or a clan member becomes the clan’s edopasai (it’s clan possession).
Clan members may prohibit others the use of what they consider possessions of their clan.
KEY
pedópasade – general term for ‘clan possessions’
edópasai – clan possession (m)
edópasa – clan possession (f)
Oidábiadé – Campo Loro, Paraguay – 1988
Transcribed and translated to English by: Maxine Morarie.
