The Curse of Nemur: In Search of the Art, Myth and Ritual of the Ishir

326 Pages·2007·1.909 MB·English

by  Ticio Escobar

THE CURSE OF NEMUR
Illuminations: Cultural Formations of the Americas
John Beverley and Sara Castro-Klarén, Editors
THE CURSE OF NEMUR
IN SEARCH OF THE ART, MYTH, AND RITUAL OF THE ISHIR
Ticio Escobar
Translated by Adriana Michele Campos Johnson
Foreword by Michael Taussig
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH PRESS
Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15260
Copyright © 2007, University of Pittsburgh Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Printed on acid-free paper
10987654321
0-8229-4293-3/ 0-8229-5937-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Escobar, Ticio, 1947-
[Maldición de Nemur. English]
The curse of Nemur: In search of the art, myth, and ritual of the Ishir / by Ticio
Escobar ; translated by Adriana Michele Campos Johnson ; foreword by Michael Taussig
p. cm. — (Illuminations: cultural formations of the Americas)
Translation of La maldición de Nemur.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8229-4293-3(cloth: alk. paper) — ISBN 0-8229-5937-2(pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Chamacoco mythology. 2. Chamacoco Indians—Religion. 3. Chamacoco Indians—
Rites and ceremonies. I. Title.
F2230.2.C5E8313 2007
398.2'08998—dc22
2006025144
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vii
Foreword ix
Translator’s Introduction xv
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction 1
1 The Great Myth 15
2 Feathers and Featherwork 65
3 Corporal Painting 117
4 The Rite 153
5 The Path of the Shamans 211
6 The History 261
Notes 287
Works Cited 293
Index 295

ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Area of distribution of the current Ishir settlements 7
2. Tomáraho man representing ananábseragainst the backdrop
of the Paraguay River 14
3. Depiction of Nemur and Ashnuwerta 31
4. Depiction of an anábserteaching an Ishir to hunt 34
5. A representation of Nemur 43
6. Clemente López, Ebytoso shaman, crowned with a feather headdress
andlarge neck-guard 64
7. Ishir man representing the anábserHo-Ho in a ceremonial scene 84
8. Detail of a man ceremonially adorned with a bracelet, belt, and
double skirt of feathers 102
9. Bruno Sánchez Vera adorned with a crown of feathers 111
10. Three youths recently initiated 112
11. Feliciano Rodríguez ready to play the role of guardian of the anábser
Honta Abich 116
12. Detail from a scene of body painting 135
13. The impression of hands on the back of an officiant at the initiation
grounds 136
14. A young girl with facial paint 139
15. Portrait of Luciano Martínez, Tomáraho sky shaman 145
16. An Ishir man painting his legs black before he enters the ceremonial
circle 149
17. Female ritual of mourning 152
18. A woman of the Tomáraho clan ritually confronts the anábser
Honta Abich 186
vii
19. Ceremonial march of the anábsoroWaho 193
20. Scene from an Ishir ceremony, where the anábserKaimo is being
represented 196
21. Characters personifying the anábserWo 202
22. Tomáraho man spinning the great feathered bundle called kadjuwerta 205
23. Scene from the ritual of Wahé 207
24. ATomáraho shaman,Aligio Estigarribia. 210
25. Ramiro Jara, Ebytoso shaman,painting his body 235
26. A shaman invoking the power of the wasps 238
27. The author records a myth 260
28. Portrait of Vicenta Maura 271
29. Edgar, chief of María Elena, examines the photograph of a woman 279
30. Children whose backs are painted with black lines 285
viii ILLUSTRATIONS
FOREWORD
If you want to learn something about color and feathers—from an Indian
point of view—read this book. It also happens to be of service to literature,
to art criticism, to the comparative study of religions, to shamanism, the prac-
tice of anthropology, and above all to the rethinking of the role of Native
Americans in shaping the self-understanding of the Americas. It is a precious
document, an extension of the delicacy and uniqueness of the thought it
treats. It is as valuable for the way it goes about its task—an anthropology of
anthropology, if you will—as for what it says.
Working his way through stories of how the world came to be, Ticio
Escobar goes on to describe the art of featherwork, bodypainting, and ritual
in the densely detailed shamanism that exists among the Ishir of the Gran
Chaco of Paraguay. The subjectmatter is exotic, which is to say true, in this
case, to the reality depicted. It is also unique. I know of very little written on
featherwork and body painting in the ethnographic literature—let alone in-
tegrated so honestly and hence beautifully into myth,ritual,and native aes-
thetic theory. As regards the latter, Escobar provides the reader with copious
and stupendous material on the use of color, andfor that alone the book de-
served to be translated.A final chapter offers a series of random documents
intended to give a sense of the book’sorigins and the recent history and phys-
ical health of these native people. It is a shocking history, especially in regards
to the role of the Paraguayan army in the Chaco War of the 1930s,and the role
over several decades of the U.S.-based New Tribes Mission.
The Ishir have evaded the missionaries hell-bent on destroying their mythic
and ritual life. Some worked for a tannin company. Others cut down trees to
sell to logging companies. From the stories collected here we learn of non-
Indians using the promise of measles vaccine to lure Indians into working for
them while dying from measles. Priests do the same. Alcohol was a means of
payment and prostitution of Indian woman to Paraguayan soldiers was a sup-
plementary form of income.
ix