Fo1klore

Desana: Simbolismo de 10s Indios Tukano consultation of the ethnological literature,

del Vaupes. G. REICHEL-DOLMATOFF. and tapes of various aspects of Desana cul-
Bogota: Universidad d e 10s Andes, 1968. ture from t h e Summer Institute of Linguis-
xiii + 270 pp., illustrations, 3 appendices, tics. Four months after the beginning of t h e
notes, bibliography, analytic index. n.p. study the first tentative compilation and
(paper). editing took place, the informant reading
and commenting upon each page. In June
Reviewed b y ROBERT V. MOREY 1967, one month after completion of t h e
University of Utah manuscript, t h e author and informant visited
VaupQ and were able to confirm much of
For those who have asked if deeper, more the data. I n fact, it was found unnecessary
fundamental models underlie the structures t o change t h e manuscript and it was pub-
studied b y anthropologists, this study pro- lished as originally written. Supplementary
vides an answer. For those who have asked if data obtained during this trip will form a
IKvi-Strausss interpretation of myth repre- new monograph that is now in preparation.
sents t h e thought of the ethnologist o r that The Desana are an Eastern Tukanoan
of the native, this study may provide an tribe of approximately a thousand centered
answer. in t h e Papuri River region, Vaup6s, Colom-
Reichel-Dolmatoff describes this book as, bia. The term tribe is here employed to
above all, an essay in methodology. The designate a number of sibs/phratries recog-
study represents the result of intensive work nizing a common totem but having neither
with a single informant in t h e city. This territorial nor political cohesion. Desana
informant is an exceptional individual in- culture in its outward manifestation is simi-
deed. A Desana Indian, approximately thirty lar to that of other tribes of the region, but
years of age, he was educated in mission upon close examination significant differ-
schools, attended seminary, served in t h e ences expressed in t h e religious system and
army, collaborated in studies with the based upon diverse ecological adaptations
Summer Institute of Linguistics, studied are to be found.
engineering and was employed by the De- It is impossible t o d o justice in t h e brief
partment of Anthropology at the University space allotted. In a complex and minute
of the Andes. In addition t o Spanish he analytical treatment of Desana symbolism
speaks a half-dozen Tukano dialects, has a the reader is first introduced to the creation
profound interest in his culture, and myth and in the body of t h e book the au-
throughout his varied career has maintained thor examines various related themes: (1)
contact with the members of his culture. Creator and Creation, (2) Divinities and
The study represents only a portion of Demons, (3) Symbols and Associations, (4)
the data obtained in over three hundred Man and t h e Supernatural, (5) Society and
hours of interviews and conversations un- the Supernatural, (6) Man and Society, and
dertaken daily for one to two hours in a (7) Man and Nature. The final chapter is
seven month period. The Desana consider given over to conclusions.
themselves hunters, and the central theme The reader is given a hint of things to
selected for investigation was the inter- come when he finds that t h e Desana dis-
relation between men and animals. In t h e tinguish between groups o n t h e basis of tra-
initial phases of the investigation an inven- ditional economic base, i.e., hunters, fishers,
tory of the animals of VaupCs was estab- and horticulturalists. These form a scale a t
lished, their varying characteristics deter- the t o p of which stand the hunters. Hunters
mined, and mythological motifs relating t o tend t o marry fishers; activities and attitudes
certain animals were used t o introduce t h e of the hunt are masculine, those of fishing
question of origins. Later t h e scheme was feminine. There follows, throughout the
expanded in a conscious search for a model book, a series of binary discriminations
of Desana world view. Data were continually based upon the sexual dichotomy: mascu-
rechecked and verified. The responses of t h e l i n e / f e m i n i n e , w i f e -gi ver/wife-receiver,
informant were also validated b y the au- hunting/fishing, earth/water, yellowlred,
thors familiarity with t h e region, detailed raw/cooked, etc.

393
394 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [73,1971

Two opposed, but complementary, mas- and all human activities and attitudes is the
culine and feminine principles in an ex- biological continuity of society; to maintain
panded sense also represent the division be- the system of energy without interruption or
tween the categories of givers and receivers loss (p. 189):
and thus establish a system of reciprocal
relations. This gives rise to obligations be- Object: Means: Results:
tween opposed elements and brings about biological exogamy closed circuit
new creations and procreations. The entire and cul- and of potential
universe is structured upon, and concerned tural con- reciprocity energy.
with, this sexuality in the sense of a mascu- tinuity
line fertilizing principle that works upon a
feminine principle and thus creates new The desired equilibrium, and thus con-
being. The Desana cognitive system appears tinuity, is maintained through the union-
to be analogous to Marxs concept of op- transformation-synthesis of opposites, i.e.,
posites and Hegels thesis-antithesis-synthesis the sexual act, the cooking of food, etc.
(2 la Uvi-Strauss). The creation of the uni- This abstract model is not, of course,
verse (by the power of the sun) was the first conceptualized by all Desana. It is clearly
fertilizing act that established this great the informants view of the tribal religion,
model for the continuity of life. but Reichel-Dolmatoff has assured us that it
The cultural focus of the Desana is the is the model of the informant and not of the
hunt; man and animals live in a state of ethnologist. En el curso de nuestra pesquisa
interdependence conceived in terms of a hemos tratado de orientarla de tal mod0
single cycle of fertilization and procreation. que, en lugar de trabajar como un modelo
They are participants in a single creation, a preconcebido, el mismo informante estable-
single potential of energy from the creator. ciera el modelo de su cultura, tal como el la
The powerlenergy of the sun constitutes a concibe y no como abstraccion del investi-
great closed circuit. This circuit carries a gador (p. 191).
fixed quantity of energy that fluctuates The reader will have to make his own
between man and animals, society and na- assessment; for the reviewer the question
ture. The fertility and fecundity of men and remains unresolved, for it is frequently dif-
animals is procured from this single common ficult to determine where informant ends
basis composed of masculine and feminine and ethnologist begins. Perhaps the promised
energy. Man should not cause an interrup- second monograph, based upon data col-
tion of the circuit; that is, use the energy lected from other informants in the field,
without restoring it. From this fixed amount will clarify and answer this question satis-
of energy man must remove what he needs factorily. Whether the reader is persuaded
only under certain conditions to ensure that or not, this is a study of major anthropo-
it is not lost and can be newly reincorpo- logical significance for those interested in
rated into the circuit. This presents the basic South American Indians and in the study of
economic problem of the Desana: main- myth and religion.
taining a viable equilibrium between the
productive capacity of the tribal territory
and the necessities of human consumption. Folklore of the Great West: Selections from
The central preoccupation of Desana re- Eighty-three Years of the Journal of
ligious thought is to maintain control of American Folklore. JOHN GREENWAY,
human and animal fertility, and around this ed. and commentator. Line drawings by
they have constructed all of their institu- Glen Rounds. Palo Alto, CA: American
tions and cultural models. The means by West Publishing Company, 1969.453 pp.,
which the system is to be maintained is illustrations, index. $10.75 (cloth).
found in the creation myth, and the formu-
Reuiewed by ALICE MARRIOTT
lation by the creator (sun) of rules of incest Central State College
and exogamy. These serve not merely to
regulate human conduct but above all for A professor of southwestern folklore can
the conservation of energy as translated into only give thanks aloud to the Lord for this
the law of reciprocity. The objective of life book, and forthwith order it, as a textbook