The Lost Center of the World - Behold the Black Caiman - page 47

salient features of their uniri . They usually traced one meandering stri-
ation of sandy soil, or ugaraijnai . The borders between these places—
paminone erueode —were recognizable by the location of particular
named watering holes, springs or areas where something had happened
and that “everyone knew was part of that pamite datei .”
The pamite dateode regions, in turn, were subdivided into smaller
named regions, paminone dei sona . These were productive spaces, which
included defining topographical features; a dizzying array of named, per-
manent villages, or idaiode ; temporary dry-season camps, or deguiode ; and
hunting areas. Favorite spots where people routinely camped but didn't
build a house were called yocapaingai meque , the same term used to de-
scribe a place where turtles make a shallow depression to sleep but do not
build a nest. The paminone dei sona of any pamite dateode could also in-
clude specific areas set aside for hunting and gathering activities, such as
three-day pimoi trips, or the longer pachabie . These hunting areas rotated
throughout the year. The empty spaces on the dust maps were also an
integral part of each uniri . These were places that were puyaque and off-
limits but symbolically rich. They included burial places, sites of murder
or death, and places where rituals associated with blood, such as taboidi or
ditai , or renewal, such as Asojná, were held. These were not empty spaces
but places of ambivalent spiritual power, whose significance exceeded any
simple economic or utilitarian function. Furthermore, each uniri and the
areas between them also contained places of human absence. There were
places through which people passed but did not stay for various reasons
and the well-defined roads that “break our land,” yocuneone ahugeusori .
In this system, borders were not fixed lines that divided one area
from another. It was impossible for each person to visit all known places
within their lifetime, and those who hadn't did not necessarily know
which particular place corresponded to which pamite date . I was told that
this was common when people moved far away from the areas they were
accustomed to into zones that they had only heard about from their
grandparents, relatives, or others. However, my teachers also strongly em-
phasized that Ayoreo people were rarely lost in the forest, because they
knew where they were at all times. “We knew it because it was our coun-
try.” How, I asked, could they know where they were if they didn't know
which zone they were in? I was told that in such cases, people could
recognize the places they encountered on the basis of something we
might call intuition. Certain individuals were able to discern their pas-
sage into another zone or uniri , even if they had never been there before,
by “searching their minds,” or “their insides.”