First Voices
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Stars
By playing the flute, love is declared or the return of the hunters is declared. With the sound of the flute, the Waiwai Indigenous bring together those they have invited. For the Tukano, the flute weeps; and for the Kalina, it speaks, for it is the trumpet that shouts out. The sacred flutes are hidden and the woman who shows her face deserves death.
On the banks of the Rio Negro, the flute assures the power of sons. The sacred flutes are hidden and any woman who appears deserves death
In very remote times, when the women held the sacred flutes, the men brought in the wood and water and prepared the yucca bread.
The men tell that The Sun became outraged to see that women reigned over the world. The Sun came down to the forest and fertilized a virgin, slipping the juice of leaves between her legs. Thus was born Jurupari.
Jurupari stole the sacred flutes and brought them to the men. He taught them how to hide them, to guard them, and to celebrate ritual festivals without women. He told them, besides, the secrets they should pass on to their male sons.
When Jurupari’s mother discovered the hiding place of the sacred flutes, Jurupari condemned her to death, and her little parts made up the stars in heaven.
Translation ©2023. Terence Clarke. All rights reserved.
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