. Bulletin. Ethnology. % a b Figure 31.—Yuruna carved wooden toys (?). (Drawn from specimens, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belem.) RELIGION AND SHAMANISM The principal figure in Shipaya religion is the god Kumapari, son of another god of the same name, and father of Kunyarima, whose uterine brother was Arubiata. Kumapari stole fire from the tapir hawk and created man from arrow-reeds, making the Shipaya first of all, whence his title of Sekarika (Our Creator). The brothers carry out a series of diffi- cult tasks, by order of Kumapari, who in these episodes bears the title Marusawa (Tupi: moru
. Bulletin. Ethnology. % a b Figure 31.—Yuruna carved wooden toys (?). (Drawn from specimens, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belem.) RELIGION AND SHAMANISM The principal figure in Shipaya religion is the god Kumapari, son of another god of the same name, and father of Kunyarima, whose uterine brother was Arubiata. Kumapari stole fire from the tapir hawk and created man from arrow-reeds, making the Shipaya first of all, whence his title of Sekarika (Our Creator). The brothers carry out a series of diffi- cult tasks, by order of Kumapari, who in these episodes bears the title Marusawa (Tupi: morubisawa, "chief?"). In these adventures Kun- yarima gives proof of intelligence and courage, while Arubiata tries in vain to imitate him, always failing and saved only through his brother's intervention. Kumapari, angry with all men, goes away down the Xingu, to the north, where, at the end of the world, sky and earth meet. At first of human shape, he now has the form of an old jaguar. He has turned into the god of war and cannibalism, and is the object of a real cult. Con- secrated to Kumapari were: medicine men to whom he would directly manifest himself; their helpers; and the god's wives, who never married men and had certain religious duties. Sometimes Kumapari or the two brothers ordered statues (upasi) to be made: cylindrical posts with human heads carved and painted on them by the demon's wives. A ceremony (zetabia) would take place in front of the statues with two large flutes of thick bamboo, held by these women. Among the many other gods or spirits of the earth and sky, the most important are the terrible Apu-sipaya (Jaguar of Heaven), the aquatic demon, Pai, and the Great Snake, Tobi, from whose ashes sprang all cultivated plants. Respect for these spirits, the help they can give men, and fear of their anger and malevolence constitute, together with magic and the worship of souls, Shipaya supernaturalism. The soul is composed of two parts: the awa, which a
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