Jaguar: a Yanomamo Twin Cycle Myth as Told by Daramasiwa

Part of the Series: Yanomamo Collection

The richness of Yanomamo mythology is again revealed in this film (compare Moonblood and both Myths of Naro ), as is the remarkable skill of another Yanomamo storyteller. The myth in this case is that of Jaguar, a prominent figure throughout South American Indian mythology. Long ago, Curare Woman tasted bitter, so Jaguar did not eat her. Curare Woman hid her pregnant daughter in the roof above Jaguar's hammock, and sent Jaguar far away to hunt while her daughter was fed by birds whom she protected. One day the daughter pissed all over Jaguar. He smelled the urine and smashed the daughter to the ground, killing her. Curare Woman took the daughter's twin fetuses and hid them in a bark container, where they became hekura spirits. When they grew to be men and became Raware', they sought revenge. Through cunning and with an arrow obtained from the sky's edge, they succeeded in killing Jaguar.

Daramasiwa, who tells the myth, remains hunkering on the ground in one spot, yet through his dramatic body movements and versatile voice he conveys a sense of tremendous distance traveled, and of the qualities of the different characters. This film, together with the films of the Naro and the Moonblood myths, suggests reflections on the nature of performance and communication in Yanomamo culture. At the same time the films remind the viewer of the complexity of the intellectual system in this culture, and might nicely complement a reading of Claude Levi-Strauss' Mythologiques. Filmmaker: Timothy Asch, Napoleon Chagnon