The myth of the Moon... (original) (raw)

The Myth of the Moon of the Siriono (Mia) of Eastern Bolivia, its Axiological Dimension Mario Califano 1992 The purpose of this article is to examine the axiological dimension in a South American ethnic group on the basis of a mythical character-the "moon" of Dshyasi of the Siriono (Mia) of Eastern Bolivia. This is not a random choice and we intend to conduct a phenomenological analysis based on cultural facts made explicit in the mythical horizon. This interest in assessing the Siriono cosmovision arised from the contrast found between the briefness of their narratives, practically limited to that of the "moon," and the richness of axiological meanings therein. In fact, starting from this main myth we had access to the hunter's ethical code sustained by the Uranian deity, thus opening the universe of value. The narrative and the personal testimonies regarding the past and present behaviour of this religious figure allow for different levels of analysis in order to establish the relations which any axiology should keep with the cultural praxis in giving sense to life itself. Being a repository of a specific valuable quality, the theophanies become prototypes of reference around which is centered the ontological and existential dimension of the members of a given ethnic group. The fact of visually perceiving Dshyasi in the expanse of the sky and of mentioning him when speaking are both part of the feeling, understood as a structure of the being-in-the-world. (1) 1. The Sources The first knowledge of the existence of a sidereal deity among the Siriono is owed to Wanda Hanke (1942), who provided a very brief information. Almost ten years later, Allan R. Holmberg (1950) published his well-known monograph on "Nomads of the Long Bow. The Siriono of Eastern Bolivia" which during over thirty years would become the most important reference material on this ethnic group and which served as groundwork for many theoretical studies, particularly concerning kinship, Holmberg transcribes a short tale on the moon, but he linguistic difficulties encountered due to the ack of trained translators, together with his poor theoretical formulations, conspired to 1-Holmberg's investigations were conducted in the area of Casarabe located some 80 km to the NW of Trinidad, capital of the department of Beni, where there was a concentration of Siriono belonging to different bands. In those years, the late 40s. protestant missionary activities had been increased and the Siriono became the focus of scientific attention. As regards Holmberg's theoretical point of view, we shall quote a paragraph from "Nomads of the Long Bow" which speaks for itself: "Attention should be called to the fact that anticipatory responses toward food in Siriono society may be due, in part at least, to the conflicting factors that affect the quest for food. These conflicting factors seem to be much more pronounced among the Siriono than among most other peoples. On the one hand, a man is strongly motivated (and eventually forced, of course) to go in search for food because of a mounting hunger drive, a desire for prestige, or the need for a sexual partner. On the other hand, he is also strongly motivated to lie in his hammock and to postpone the search for food as long as possible, because of the painful, fatiguing, and otherwise punishing aspects of the food quest. Before a Siriono picks up his bows and arrows to go on a hunt he doubtless asks himself: 'Should I or should I not go?' His stomach stimulates him to go; his relatives tell him to go; he may be motivated to leave by a desire to eat tapir, to seduce a potential wife, to acquire or maintain status, or for any number of other reasons. But when he recalls his last or earlier hunt-an occasion when he came back empty-handed after having tramped all day through jungle and swamp, when he was chided by his relatives for his lack of success or sill, and when he returned with his feet full of spines and thorns and his body covered with wood ticks and insect bites-his ardor to leave is likely to be considerably dampened. Under these conditions he is apt to try to get food first by some other means, and if unsuccessful, even to lie down in his hammock for a while until the hunger drive, or the social pressure to go hunting, becomes unbearable. In any case, if there is food around, he is not likely to expose himself to the rigors of the jungle before it is all consumed, for if he departs under these conditions he is certain to find when he returns that the food has already been eaten by someone else. These conflicting factors are doubtless responsible for much of the behavior toward food" (Holmberg 1950: 94 f.).