TWILIGHT SINGING: ORNITHO-ANTHROPOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS ON A KADIWÉU ORIGIN MYTH

Abstract

This study discusses two relationships involving humans and birds, as narrated in the Kadiwéu origin myth. One of these relationships concerns the three detective birds, called by the demiurge to find the thieves of his fish - the ancestors of human beings. The other relationship involves the only bird that was able to see the thieves - allowing the demiurge to find and "humanize" them - and the thieves themselves. With regard to the first relationship, starting from a structuralist point of view, I argue that these birds form a natural series of differences used by the Kadiwéu to think metaphorically about a controversial cultural series that is assumed as homologous. Moving on to the second relationship, I interpret it through the perspectivist hypothesis, arguing that the limpkin saw the proto-human thieves at the moment when he put on their "clothing", after eating cooked food. Finally, we try to combine these two relationships in order to approach the framework of the mythical thought of this Amerindian people.

Key words:
Origin Myth; Shamanism; Kadiwéu; Structuralism; Perspectivism