. Bulletin. Ethnology. 244 SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS [ BuU. 143 Fire making.—Fire was formerly made with the hand-twirled drill, the tinder being cotton or shredded bark. Ceremonial fires, particularly of the Talamanca Group, are still lighted in this way. Fire is also made by striking a machete against a stone and catching the sparks on tinder, but no special strike-a-lights are used. Fire is seldom allowed to go out, being kept smoldering in punky wood or punky fiber hung in a protected place. Firebrands are carried when traveling. Beadwork.—Necklaces of bone beads and perforated teeth ar
. Bulletin. Ethnology. 244 SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS [ BuU. 143 Fire making.—Fire was formerly made with the hand-twirled drill, the tinder being cotton or shredded bark. Ceremonial fires, particularly of the Talamanca Group, are still lighted in this way. Fire is also made by striking a machete against a stone and catching the sparks on tinder, but no special strike-a-lights are used. Fire is seldom allowed to go out, being kept smoldering in punky wood or punky fiber hung in a protected place. Firebrands are carried when traveling. Beadwork.—Necklaces of bone beads and perforated teeth are very rare at present. Beads of European origin are strung into necklaces and woven into collars. The Guaymi make collars with designs of various colors, the beads being strung on pita fiber thread (fig. 56).. Figure 56.—Guaymi technique in making beadwork collars. ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION The majority of the Guaymi produce a surplus of food, but some people have insufficient land or other resources, such as labor, to supply them- selves with enough to eat. In addition, there are orphans, disinherited families, and certain unfortunate individuals who are paupers. Such people are largely absorbed as agricultural labor. Guaymi economy depends upon agriculture, but remnants of what may have been an aboriginal system of trade between the Tropical Forest and the Savanna may be observed in operation. In addition, commodities of European origin, such as cattle, clothing, machetes, fishhooks, sugar, and to some extent salt, have to be obtained from the Panamanians. This necessity has forced the people to adopt money and methods of exchange which are apparently completely foreign to their tradition. In spite of nearly 400 years of dealing with Europeans, the Guaymi do not yet under- stand the use of money. The less conservative groups, who have vague and usually erroneous ideas of European practices of exchange, obtain. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page i
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