Acacomi Yui Caratac
Acacomi’s Victim – the Jaguar:
(Oidábiadé sings a Victory Chant to praise his sons and grandsons on the killing of a jaguar that is referred to in the chant as “The one who caused such awful harm.”)
My chant right now will be about that harmful creature:
You who caused such awful harm in the past, why didn’t you react more quickly, then you could have thrown my grandson down, the one who has the beautiful line-markings as one of his *edopasade (clan possessions). Then you would have seen me slobbering (Note: another way to refer to crying/lamenting) right now, along with the mother of another victim. We would both be lamenting the absence of our loved ones if you had been quicker – they would have become your victims, instead.
O, you who caused such awful harm in the past, you did destroy one of ‘my awesome grandsons’, tearing him apart. (Note: he is referring to Mateo’s dog who the jaguar killed.) But now his great companions consider you a ‘worthless thing’ there on the ground where you met your end.
Oh, you who caused such awful harm in the past, you tried to belittled my grandsons and my sons. But now the news about my grandsons and sons will have reached faraway Filadelphia where my other grandsons live, those who live far away from me. My grandsons whose names are Pojórone and Imeserané will hear about what happened, and the news will go like this: ‘They say Ijnimínayé was hunting honey the other day, but he that causes such awful harm fought with him. Ijnimínayé left him (the jaguar) in the trees and went to call others in the village to take vengeance on the one who causes such awful harm. And they went with Ijnimínayé to where he left the jaguar. And the ones from the village took vengeance upon him and killed him.’ (That is the news that will be broadcast in Filadelfia.)
Oh, you who caused such awful harm in the past, you who tried to belittle my grandsons and my sons by threatening their futures. I spoke to Dosadi’s grandmother by my side. I said to Dosadi’s grandmother by my side: ‘Even though we aren’t cojñone (white people), I consider the young men about me as strong as ‘brush fortresses,’ my young sons and older sons for they are all around me, protecting me.’
Oh, you who caused such awful harm, in vain was your confidence in being able to kill my grandsons and my sons. How is it that you haven’t, as you planned, been able to take one of them as your victim?
Truly what makes my son so important is that he has the *dajeque toguéodedatéi and the *dajeque tuguréodedatéi as his *edopasade (clan possessions). I refer right now to the father of my granddaughters, whose name is Dejabi. The beat and rhythm of my gourd rattle sounds beautiful as I praise Dejabi for what he has done to the one who causes such terrible harm.
You who caused such awful harm, when you roared, you talked in vain about my grandson. You said: ‘As if the one they call Yacamai, that insignificant one, has enough courage to fight against me when I am angry!’
Truly, for so long you belittled my grandson Yacamai, the one you referred to. But when the news first came this is what was said: ‘They say Yacamai has gone after the jaguar!’ And I said: ‘My grandson Yacamai is very important. Iporide is important also. And they are the ones who will kill you who has caused so much harm.’
Now why haven’t you killed one of them as you bragged you would? O, you who caused so very much harm in the past, why haven’t you, as you customarily do, torn to pieces my grandson Ijnimínayé? If you had, I would now be lamenting the demise of one of my grandsons. O, how you tried to kill my younger brother Ugaréjnaidái long ago, or my brother Maríadayé. Surely you could have killed one of them! Why didn’t you put forth more effort to kill them? It’s obvious you didn’t try hard enough, or you would have.
Truly, I am very content with my grandsons and sons, because of what they now have done to you, the one that causes so much harm. The one that causes so much harm, that insignificant one, they tore to pieces and left scattered all over the ground.
And they found you easy to kill and didn’t give you any importance. You belittled my children and my grandchildren. O, you who caused so much harm in the past, very few of my forefathers had courage to fight you. But, truly, my grandsons and my children found you very easy to conquer in these days. And that is how they tore you to pieces just now and threw your body parts all over the ground.
I’ll stop now.
KEY:
*edopasai – clan possession
*dajeque toguéodedatéi – a special kind of road
*dajeque tuguréodedatéi – another special kind of road
O, you who caused so much harm – a way to refer to a jaguar
Oidábiadé – Campo Loro, Paraguay – 1988
Transcribed and translated into English by: Maxine Morarie
