Book
The palm and the Pleiades: initiation and cosmology in northwest Amazonia
Cambridge University Press • (24) • Published In 1979 • Pages: xvi, 332 , plates
By: Hugh-Jones, Stephen.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This monograph, an amended version of the author's doctoral dissertation, is based on fieldwork carried out among the Barasana Tukano Indians of the Vaupés area of Colombia between September 1968 and December 1970. In this study Hugh-Jones presents a detailed analysis of one particular ritual complex known as the Yurupary cult involving Fruit House and He House ceremonies of initiation. In his description of the elements of these ceremonies, the author delves deeply into Tukano religious symbolism and its relationship to myth and ritual. In addition to the above, various theoretical discussion are presented in the document which attempt '…to provide an empirical test for some of the grand generalisations that Leví-Strauss had offered concerning the structure of South American Indian mythology and its relation to Indian thought and culture' (p. xii). A selection of mythological text will be found at the end of this work.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cosmology
- Mythology
- Spirits and gods
- Organized ceremonial
- Ceremonial during infancy and childhood
- Puberty and initiation
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Tukano
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1998
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- South America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Amazon and Orinoco
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 1996
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- September 1968-December 1970
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- September 1968-December 1970
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Barasana Indians; Vaupés region, Colombian northwest Amazon
- NotesAdditional notes
- Stephen Hugh-Jones
- Based on author's thesis, Cambridge University, 1974, which was presented under title: Male initiation and cosmology among Barasana Indians of the Vaupés area of Colombia
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 317-322) and indexes
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 78005533
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Tukano Indians