Certain ‘objects' requiring special care have a great relevance for the Kaiowa: the chiru (crosses and sticks). At the beginning of time, every extended family received their first chiru, allowing them to obtain the benefits of their power. Failing to care properly for these ‘objects,' however, can generate the opposite effect, causing misfortune and diseases. Consequently many chiru have been carefully conserved and passed on from one generation to the next. Here I trace the trajectory taken by the chiru, reconstituting their paths of distribution and redistribution, as well as the relationships and interactions between shamans and their apprentices. These facts play a key role in the construction of the indigenous knowledge tradition and historicity, all of which influence the contemporary historical situation in which the Kaiowa strive to attain and maintain a desired cosmic equilibrium.
Guarani-Kaiowa; Knowledge tradition; Symbolic objects; Colonial domination