Kamaueni • Origin of the aracu-de-pau and other fish

Paintings by Feliciano Lana

Text based on narratives by
Guilherme Pimentel Tenório, Tuyuka from São Pedro
Higino Pimentel Tenório, Tuyuka from São Pedro

When the Tuyuka arrived at the Tiquié River, six generations ago, they did not know the origin of the fish. They only knew that some were not good for people, for their minds. They found it difficult to bless these fish in order to feed the children. The Tuyuka consider that, when arriving to a strange land, one needs to know the conditions of all the species living there. So, they looked for the former inhabitants of this river and learned the story of Kamaueni from them. It is the story of this river, of the ones who traditionally lived at the Tiquié and who now live in the area of Pirá‑Paraná: the Barasana (Panerõa), Taiwano (Eduria), Yuruti (Suna), Tatuyo (Pamõa)… A shaman came to teach the Tuyuka how to protect themselves from the fat and bitter fish (se wai) that are bad for one’s health.
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It is told that two brothers lived down from the rapids called Jirau of the Ghosts (Watiakasa), above the current border between Brazil and Colombia, left of the Tiquié River. On the right side there was another ghost house called Caiá of the Ghosts (Watiaewa). They were both shamans.
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When feather ornaments and necklaces are made, the men spend several days working and fasting, in an appropriate place, a little far from the house. But Kamaueni was very hungry and said: “Big brother, I have to go to the toilet!” And went to the Caiá of the Ghosts.
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When Kamaueni arrived there, he saw ghost women roasting fish. He could not resist. His body started swelling and became greasy after he disrespected the diet restrictions.
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The big brother saw that Kamaueni’s flesh was melting. Only the head and skeleton were left. The flesh turned into fish. His flesh was falling off, morphing into fish that he cursed, saying that whoever ate them would become violent and aggressive. “This brother of mine is doomed, I am going to abandon him here to die alone,” the big brother thought.
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“My brother is leaving me, I will avenge,” thought Kamaueni. Through his shamanic power, he became like a head and entered the top of his brother shoulder, who then had two heads. Kamaueni’s head did not let his brother eat anything — it ate everything. Skinny, upset, tired of suffering, the brother led Kamaueni to the forest to look for ucuqui to give the head.
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After escaping from Kamaueni’s head, the big brother and all the others locked themselves in the maloca. After eating lots of ucuqui, Kamaueni’s head craved water, left his brother’s neck and went away after the frogs that indicated that there was an igarapé nearby.
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The head climbed on the maloca’s roof ridge, waiting. The old shamans at the maloca attracted a group of lions. Kamaueni wanted to incarnate them, but the lions waited for the head with their mouths wide open e they devoured it. It was the end of Kamaueni’s head. The maloca was free and Kamaueni’s brains turned into bigheaded little frogs.

The complete story

When feather ornaments and necklaces are made, the men spend several days fasting. They must abstain from all food except water and white manioc flour. Then, the younger brother, Kamaueni, became thirsty…

“Big brother, I have to go to the toilet!” he said, feeling thirsty.

“Look, we are making feather ornaments (mapoa). You have to hold yourself! When we finish, we are going to say a prayer before eating! Then we are going to fish in order to dance the first feast with these ornaments! Do not eat anything,” the older brother insisted, warning him.

He knew it! When Kamaueni went to relieve himself down by the harbor, he saw ghost women roasting fish. He felt very hungry. Maybe he was a widower. When he squatted, he heard the voice of his deceased wife. He looked and saw the women laughing. They said:

“Come and eat, boy! You are enduring hunger for so long, many days…”

Feeling enticed, Kamaueni could not resist. He swam to where the women were, besides a jirau full of aracus, which they were roasting. They offered him the fish and he ate. Immediately, the ornament he was making and the stool he was sitting on to work turned black, soaked with fat, becoming stained.

“Ah, this fellow ate fat fish! He’s in trouble!” the big brother thought the very instant he saw this.

When Kamaueni came back and saw that his ornaments and the stool were stained with fat, he was sad to have disobeyed the order. Nevertheless, they finished the feather adornments.

“I told you and you disobeyed. It is your fault indeed! What are we going to do now? Let us go to the first feast with these new feather adornments! Let us find some fish to offer at the feast. At the end of the feast we will eat some of this fish,” the older brother said.

Then they went fishing beyond the mouth of the Abiu (Kanepuya) igarapé, at the Toco de Camarão (Dasiaturuya) creek. They got nothing, the fish turned into shrimp and hid among the logs and leaves. Kamaueni then started to swell, he was nothing but fat.

They went down to the Guariba (Emõya) igarapé seeking fish for the party, but they could only hear howler monkeys. They proceeded to the Pumanako, where all the fish turned into rotten leaves. They went to the Waniserora, the fish became acarás that leave and hide in the ditch. By then he was very fat, becoming fatter even without eating because he ate when he should be fasting. They continued to the Mariya igarapé and closed it with pari. When they finished, Kamaueni said:

“I will go see if there is fish, see if we can catch some!” and climbed up a log to look. The big brother waited for him to scare the fish, so he could catch them with the puçá downstream. Suddenly a shoal of fish appeared. Many fish!

“He must be melting! I think he is melting and his fat is turning into fish,” he thought, and slowly went to look.

“A curse from that fish, a curse from the fish! Whoever eats of this fish will have enemies!” he heard Kamaueni saying from the top of the log. His flesh was falling off, morphing into fish that he cursed, saying that whoever ate them would become violent and aggressive.

“This brother of mine is doomed, I am going to abandon him here to die alone,” the big brother thought. Therefore, he abandoned Kamaueni and left without making any noise.

The brother became more and more deformed, falling into pieces. Only the head was left. They were both shamans. The older brother came rowing quietly. When he switched the row to the other side, the reflection of the row reached Kamaueni.

“My brother is leaving me, I will avenge this contempt,” the brother who was melting away thought.

Through his shamanic power, he became like a head (Kamauenidupua) and entered the hollow between the big brother’s collarbone and the top of his shoulder, and his brother then had two heads. Kamaueni’s head became fully incarnated, the veins incorporated into his brother’s. The big brother would die if he cut Kamaueni’s head. When he went back to his relatives at the maloca, he had two heads.

“What are we going to do? How can we get rid of this head?” the other brothers thought.

That head had no peace. When they had fish to eat, only the head ate. The big brother hardly fed, he was debilitated, as only Kamaueni’s head ate.

“Will our brother die?” the relatives wandered, until they had an idea to try to rid him of Kamaueni’s head.

It was the ucuqui season. At that time, the ucuqui was already very sweet, but did not cut the mouth like now. They prayed for the ucuqui to become sharp. They made up a story.

“There are lots of ucuqui there!” they told Kamaueni.

“I want to eat,” his head said!

They brought home many panacus with ucuqui, but only the head ate everything and wanted more.

“There is more in the forest!” they said, and took the brother with that head to the ucuqui fields, at the mouth of the Puniya igarapé, in Neniroãbu. There, he ate a lot.

“I want water!” he said, as his mouth was already bleeding.

“Eat a little more!” They gave him hot pepper to eat, which made him thirstier.

“I want water!” he insisted.

Then they turned the ucuqui seeds into little frogs (neterõ). All the little frogs croaked to indicate where the water was, and the head left the brother’s neck and went after the water. Each time the head got near the water, the little frogs moved way.

When the head left, the big brother, then without the head, fainted. While Kamaueni’s head looked for water, the big brother was taken home. However, they knew it would come back, and so they tightly closed the maloca.

“Buruburuburuburu…” they suddenly heard.

“Kamaueni is coming, Kamaueni’s head!” they said.

He was a shaman and, when he came, he brought a lightning storm. He landed right in the center of the roof ridge. That is why it is said that the maloca’s roof ridge is never very straight. If he had just leaned there, it would be possible to topple him. However, he incarnated all the pillars of the house, becoming ingrained, the same way he had attached himself to his brother. The maloca became his very body. Nobody could pull it out. There it stayed night and day, talking.

“I want to see my brother!” the head said.

Nobody left the house until all the food was gone, and then they began to starve. If anybody left, the head would incarnate again. The old shamans at the maloca attracted a herd of peccaries, believing that the head might incarnate a peccary and leave with it. It went away, but it came back. They then sent for deer. The head jumped into the deer, but it came back to wait for human beings to incarnate again. They sent for jaguars, for them to eat the head. It did not work! They attracted ferocious jaguars with long fur (poayaiwa), more ferocious. Kamaueni wanted to incarnate them, but the lions waited for the head with their mouths wide open.

“Pa… pa… pa…” They finished it, devouring it. It was the end of Kamaueni’s head. The lions tore it up and killed it. The maloca was free and people could go back to normal life. Kamaueni’s brains turned into bigheaded little frogs.