IDNO

P.9266.ACH1

Description

On Catalogue Card: “Witoto “war” gathering”.

A large crowd of Witoto men and some children lined up in front of a malokas (Indian communal house) for a 'war gathering'. The men are wearing moh-hen (loin-cloth) and holding aloft probably 'Brummagem goods' axes, which may have metal blades. [TC 01/06/1999, updated JD 20/10/2019]

Place

S America; Colombia; North West Amazon

Cultural Affliation

South American Indian; Witotoan; Witoto [Huitoto; Uitoto; Ouitoto; Fitita; Guitoto; Hitote; Huitata; Huito; Huitato; Huitota; Komiuvedu; Komiovedu; Murui-Muinane]

Named Person

Photographer

Whiffen, Thomas William

Collector / Expedition

Date

1908 - 1909

Collection Name

Mounted Haddon CollectionWhiffen Collection

Source

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Publication: Reproduced in Whiffen, T. W., 1915 as Pl. XXXII with the caption: “Witoto war gathering (Some Brummagen Goods)”. [TC 01/06/1999]

Related Image: A duplicate print is at the RAI, reference 36167, and annotated by Whiffen in pencil on the reverse as "War Gathering.
Witoto.
Some Brummagem goods."
Photocopies of Whiffen prints at the RAI are held in the UCMAA archive, reference W19/1/3. See Whiffen Collection record for further details on RAI collection. [TC 09/06/1999, updated JD 02/10/2019]

Context: “Brummagem goods” possibly refers to the axes being held aloft, which may have metal blades.
The axes which the men hold aloft appear to be metal axes, which would have been acquired through trade, as previously stone axes were used. Whiffen notes that "the best articles for barter I found were axes" (Whiffen, T. W., 1915: 91). It can be seen from this image that considerable numbers were acquired. Whiffen also describes strategy and weapons in detail (ibid: 115-119), but although he mentions swords, bows, clubs and shields, he does not mention axes in the context of warfare. [TC 01/06/199]

Bibliography Reference: Whiffen discusses warfare in the region, explaining that "all the tribes north of the Japura have a mortal antipathy to all those south of the river" (Whiffen, T. W., 1915: 60) and that a "state of endless warfare" in the region "is based not on avarice but on fear" (ibid: 61). He states that "the Boro, Resigero, and Okaina may not love each other, but they agree in their detestation of the Witoto" (ibid: 60-61). Steward also discusses warfare in the region, explaining that "considerable hostility has prevailed between the Witotoan tribes and even between communities of Witoto. Causes of war are the desire to take prisoners and vengeance against shamans, who are presumed to have caused sickness (1963: 756-757). [TC 01/06/199]

Context: Whiffen explains that "the men wear little or nothing but what the Witoto call a moh-hen, that is, a strip of beaten bark-cloth carried from front to rear between the legs and tucked in at either end over a string or strap of bark-cloth bound about the waist" (Whiffen, T. W., 1915: 72). He informs us that "the Amazonian boy is first provided with a breech-cloth when he is five years old. His earliest lesson is in its manufacture, for every Indian fashions his own clothing" (ibid: 73). He then describes how the loin-cloth is manufactured and notes that it is never removed "in the sight of man or woman" and is buried with a man when he dies (ibid: 74). Steward notes that boys and men "wear a bark-cloth breech-clout after the age of five or six years (1963: 753). [TC 01/06/1999]

Bibliography Reference: Whiffen discusses Indian communal houses (malokas) at length (Whiffen, T. W., 1915: 40-48). He notes that in the homestead "there is but one great house, thatched and ridge-roofed like a gigantic hay-rick ... this is the home of some three score Indians" in which "there are no divisions for each family" (ibid: 40). He notes that the house is a temporary dwelling which falls into disrepair and is burnt every two to three years, at which point the inhabitants move to new location (ibid: 41-42). He then discusses how the site is chosen and the building constructed (ibid: 42-44). He notes that "the far end of the house - where there is usually another small entrance - is the portion reserved for the chief and his family" (ibid: 46) and that "each family has its own fire" (ibid: 47), with their hammocks slung around it and possessions slung in the rafters above. He explains that "at ordinary times there will be possibly from fifty to sixty people in the tribal house, but on the occasion of any festivity as many as two hundred will crowd in" (ibid: 48). He also provides plans and diagrams of the house (ibid: 41, 43, 45,46) and an illustration of the type of palm used for thatching (ibid: pl. VI). Menimehe houses, he notes, are "more open" than those of other groups (ibid: 51). [TC 01/06/199]

Bibliography Reference: Steward also discusses Witotoan villages and houses, explaining that "the typical Witotoan community consists of a single large multifamily house, though some villages have several large houses" and that these are built on "a dry site ... some distance from the river" (1963: 752). Plate 81 depicts a "Witoto communal house" similar to those depicted in the Whiffen Collection photographs. Steward notes that "the sociopolitical unit is the exogamous, patrilocal community which usually occupies a single large house and is divided into family groups. Local exogamy seems to prevail even when the community has several houses" (ibid: 755). Steward and Faron (1959: 314) also discusses Witotoan houses. More recent analyses, such as that by Hugh-Jones on Barasana cosmology, demonstrate that the Indian house can be interpreted structurally as a significant metaphorical representation of the cosmos, myth and society (Hugh-Jones.S. 1979). [TC 01/06/1999]

MAA Exhibition: A reproduction of this image was displayed in Collected Sights in the section The Americas with the descriptive label:
“Large crowd of Witoto men and children in front of a communal house. Whiffen discusses the construction and social significance of these houses at length in his book The North West Amazons. Many of the men are holding axes in the air. The caption for this photograph, ‘Witoto war gathering (some Brummagen goods)’, refers to the ongoing warfare between the Witoto and neighbouring communities and the importance of metal axes for trade.” [Alex Nadin 10/12/02]