Tódode Cucha
These are things our fathers feared when they were still in the jungle:
- guĩorátudie: Our fathers feared the fruit of the *guĩorátudie trees, for they brought about death – for it’s said that their fruit was poison. They never ate it raw. They cooked it and only ate it after it was very well-cooked. When it had been a long time on the fire, then they ate it; they didn’t eat it while it was still raw. They would cook it for one whole day and half of another before they ate it.
- tójnanie trees: We’ll also mention that our fathers feared the *tójnanie trees. Our mothers used it for dyeing their thread; they washed their hands well when working with it for it could cause them harm. They would rub dirt on their hands first and then wash them with water. The tojnanie tree brings dreams, according to our foremothers; when they slept and dreamed about the tójna tree, they would experience what they dreamed about, according to our foremothers. When they dyed their thread in the juice of the tójna, they were very careful not to get any of the juice on themselves. They also feared that if a young, unmarried girl were to pierce the tojna fruit, she would quickly start her period.
- caniójnane trees: The same thing happened with the *caniójnane fruit, when they would pierce the fruit, they would start having a period and the young women would stop eating.
- abuedie: We also feared the *abuedie cactus plants. The fruit of this cactus has red skin and is very red inside the skin, also. When the men who lived long ago had hard stools they would say: “I’m constipated; I’ve been eating the fruit of the cactus. And they would become afraid. They feared that if they got constipated they would be in agony trying to pass the stool. In reference to their stools, they can get very hard. This is what made the men who lived long ago so fearful of the diet they had in the jungle.
- datuadie, porade: The cactus fruit *datuadie and *porade both cause people to be constipated, also.
- esodie: These were trees they feared, but there were others: they feared the fruit of the *esodie tree that was black and milky white inside. It’s said, if they would swallow the seeds it would make them constipated. When their stools are hard and they are constipated, they get scared. And so they don’t eat the seeds.
- dũjanie: They also feared the *dũjanie tree that has fruit similar to the fruit of the esodie trees, but are red in color; if they ate the seeds of the dũjanie fruit they would get constipated. Among all the things they feared, being constipated was at the top of the list.
- seeds of the watermelon: Our fathers feared the seeds of the watermelon. That is why they would grind the seeds and eat the meal. When our fathers were constipated after eating watermelon, it was like it was with those different cactus’. Their stools would get so hard that they would be in agony when they couldn’t pass the stool. The seeds of the watermelon caused constipation and pain.
- cuyadie: Our fathers feared the fruit of the *cuyadie trees also long ago. We couldn’t sleep with our heads in the direction of that tree, for they claim our grandfathers did and they dreamed and died. They also fear the tree when its trunk is being burned to bring it down; it’s claimed that it could fall on someone or bring fierce jaguars to eat them.
- cuya edóraque: A woman that eats unshelled fruit from the *cuya tree will get slapped in the face by her husband.
- deer droppings: Our fathers also feared deer droppings. The deer would defecate and leave droppings behind, and our fathers would be afraid to sleep with their heads in the direction of the droppings. If they did, they’d dream about the droppings and the spirit (power) of the deer would come for them. (If deer blow on you, your stomach swells and you die.)
- where deer have rubbed their antlers: They also feared the trees where deer had rubbed their antlers, for deer do rub the nubs of their little antlers against trees. They would burn the exposed roots of the tree so that the tree where the deer had rubbed its antlers would burn down.
- small armadillo scratchings: They also feared where the small type of armadillos scratched in the jungles. Our mothers did not put their heads toward the scratches of the armadillos when they slept.
- scratch marks of the anteater: They also feared the scratch marks of the anteater in the jungles and they didn’t sleep with their heads toward the anteater’s scratch marks. If they slept in the direction of these scratch marks, they say they’d be destroyed by fire.
- animal trails: When animal trails crossed they feared this also. They feared all excrement and droppings of animals, and they stayed away from them. And they didn’t make their camp on any animal trail. If they did, they thought the animal would come for them, so they really feared following a road which was the trail of an animal. And they didn’t make their camp on any animal trail. They also feared trails made by animals and were afraid to lay down in their direction.
- excrement/droppings of animals: They feared all excrement and droppings of animals, and they stayed away from them.
- turtles: They also feared turtles, the ones that we ate out there in the jungle. They feared them. And they always reminded us children to wash our hands when we ate turtle. They feared we would dream about turtles and the turtles would take us away.
- anteaters: They feared the anteaters and were careful about washing the grease from their hands when they ate the meat. They said that when our grandfathers dreamed of an anteater it would come after them and enter them and make them behave like them; our grandfathers would act like anteaters and scratch the ground. They would dream and then the anteater would come for them and that was why they were careful about washing the grease of the anteaters off their hands. The things that we feared were the things our grandfathers told about.
- armadillos: There were many other things they feared about the armadillos. To dream about an armadillo would either cause you to die, or it would come and take you off. And it’s the same with lizards or iguanas. It was just as dangerous to dream of them as it was to dream about armadillos. It was fatal to dream of them, or to be taken off by them. Our grandfathers were afraid of these things. There were many things that our grandfathers feared.
- wild pigs: They feared wild pigs, so after eating their meat they never slept with the grease on their hands. They feared to go on their trails. The pigs might see a person they wanted while the person was dreaming about them, and they would come and take that person off . And there’s lots of things our fathers feared. And they also feared the ruts the wild pigs make in their paths.
These things were what our fathers feared long ago when they roamed the jungle:
Both our fathers and our mothers had fears. (This is just what I say, though, I don’t really know much about what our fathers used to fear.) What I do know is that our fathers tried not to sleep in the direction of the things they feared, and they would burn the things they feared. Very many were the things our fathers feared long ago.
Very many were the fears of our grandfathers. For a long time we who were their descendants had the same fears.
But in these days we no longer fear these things. That’s because we have observed the non-ayoreos who do not fear these things, because they believe in God. And now we see more clearly so we don’t fear things. But before that, we continued passing on to other generations the fears of our grandfathers, because we believed what they told us about the animals coming to carry us off.
Oidábiadé relates what Dejabí said about one of their fears:
Once Dejabi ate wild pig after they were in Campo Loro, and he called attention to his greasy hands and said, “Look, everyone, I’m going to prove to you that the Lord has power over our taboos. I am not going to wash my hands before I go to sleep, and I won’t dream about the wild pigs and nothing will happen to me.”
This startled everyone, and in the morning they asked him if he’d dreamed about the wild pigs. And he said, “No, and I slept just fine.”
Later on his hands broke out in a rash, and they said, “Aha! It’s the wild pig!”
But Dejabi said, “It’s not the wild pig at all. Probably in the beginning this happened to our grandfathers – their hands itched from the grease, and they just made up that taboo so that people would remember to wash their hands to prevent them from getting a rash!”
Other things our grandfathers feared:
Our Grandfathers feared tapirs and the tapir’s paths, because they believed they would come and take them off. So they would do the ceremony for ridding themselves of the guilt of blood whenever they would kill a tapir. Those who dreamed of them would walk like the tapir walks – põ-põ-põ. They were very careful to not lie down with their heads toward the droppings of animals. And there are probably many other things they feared when they lived in the jungle.
They also feared the livestock of the non-ayoreos:
And they were very careful of their droppings and would not get anywhere near them. They were careful not to make camp near the droppings of cattle. That’s because, according to our grandfathers, cattle also can carry people off. While a person is dreaming about a cow, it would come and carry him off. For they said, what you dream about has the power to become your reality.
They feared things left out in the jungle:
They never got near things left out in the jungle or clearings made in the jungle. We knew that there were non-ayoreos who fought each other long ago, and that there were many paths and clearings made by them, and artifacts left behind. And we saw the possibility of those people who lived long ago returning to kill us. We did not know who they were or where they came from, these men who lived long ago. But we have seen evidence of them having been on our land, and found the places where they fought long ago. (Could it have been the *Chaco War?)
*The Chaco War (1932-1935) was the result of a territory dispute between Bolivia and Paraguay.
Oidábiadé – Campo Loro, Paraguay – 1985
Transcribed and translated to English by: Maxine Morarie.
