Los espíritus-jaguares: cráneos-trofeos y chamanismo entre los mojos (siglo XVII)

Abstract

Head-hunting realized by the Mojos of the eastern Savannah of Bolivia, before their concentration in the Jesuit missions at the end of the 17th century had a peculiarity unique on the South American continent. It associated the skull-trophies of human beings with the skull-trophies of jaguars. This article offers a new examination of the Jesuit sources concerning these practices as a whole. Based upon the contrasts and the similarities of the Mojos’ ethnography with others, better known, cases of trophy-hunting in the eastern lowlands (Amazonia, Gran Chaco) and taking advantage of the modern ethnography of nearby groups (Chimane and Yurakaré), it shows that this coupling is embedded in a particular shamanic complex where the jaguar plays a leading role. Among the Mojos, this feline acquired the status of a sui generis spirit, unique in its capacity of displaying a publicly visible body.

Keywords

• shamanism
• Mojos
• head trophies
• indigenous war
• hunting
• Jesuit ethnography