1800-1950 / Field Notes

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Blood Revenge, War, and Victory Feasts among the Jibaro Indians of Eastern Ecuador
Field Notes, 1923

Blood Revenge, War, and Victory Feasts among the Jibaro Indians

Anthropologist Rafael Karsten's account of a Jívaro victory feast describes the natéma ceremony, in which the vision-inducing drink made from Banisteria caapi and tobacco is prepared ritually and drunk communally. The passage covers preparation, the emetic effect, and beliefs that the visions foretell prosperity.

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