Quichua Songs to Sadden the Heart: Music in a Communication Event

Author(s): Barbara Seitz

Source: Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana , Autumn -
Winter, 1981, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Autumn - Winter, 1981), pp. 223-251
Published by: University of Texas Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/779939

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Barbara Seitz Quichua Songs to Sadden
the Heart: Music in a

Communication Event

Quichua-speaking Indian women living

in the jungle lowlands of eastern Ecuador (Oriente) possess a rep
of songs by which they can transform the disposition of other hu
beings and thereby alter the course of human events. From Februa
December, 1979, I conducted a field study in a small indigenous
munity (llacta) near Puyo, Pastaza Province.1 Working mainly w
women, for whom song is the only medium of musical expression,
became fascinated with a category of songs described as llaquichina
tani or "I sing to make sad." From the singers' explanations I lea
that the performance of a llaquichina song constitutes a critical act
larger communication event that involves the singer, her personal
helper, jungle imagery, and an often distant recipient. The recip
was told, may perceive the song's message in any one of a variety o
guises but most often perceives it in the form of a bird's song or c
This paper will first introduce the people, the dynamics of their
tional life ways, and their continual struggle to maintain the ecologi
resources necessary for survival, without sacrificing ethnic pride o
tural continuity. Next will follow a detailed discussion of the llaqui
song tradition: its purposes, origin, transmission, themes, and cont
Then I will analyze the event as communication, examining first it
mary communicative functions according to the participants in the
event. And, finally, I will examine several secondary communic
functions fulfilled by the performances.
The Quichua-speaking Native Americans with whom I worked
the vicinity of a growing urban center, the town of Puyo, capital
province of Pastaza. They call themselves Runa or "human" and
language runa shimi or "human speech," and their lives center upon
relations with tropical rain forest ecology. Their tropical forest lif
distinguish them from the Quichua-speaking peoples of the Andean
highlands, while in the Oriente they share many cultural similariti
with two Jivaro cultures, the Jivaro proper (Shuar, studied by Har

Latin American Music Review, Vol 2, No. 2, Fall/Winter 1981

?1981 by The University of Texas Press 0163-0350/81/020223-29 $02 20

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224 : Barbara Seitz

1972) and especially the Achuara. These Puyo Runa, a subgroup of th

Canelos Quichua, are also culturally distinct from the Quijos Quichua
centered around the town of Tena to the north of Puyo.
According to N. E. Whitten, Jr. (1976: 7) and Oberem (1974), the
Canelos Quichua represent a union of Achuara and Zaparoan peoples,
with carriers of the culture having been Quichua-speakers. Missionary
activities mark the history of the area from the sixteenth century to the
present. Circumstances resulting from the rubber boom of the late nine-
teenth and early twentieth centuries stimulated settlement around Puyo
by both natives and nonnatives. For the Runa, Puyo offered a respite
from exploitation going on to the east. In relation to the nonnative
penetrators, the Runa exercised control over trade goods from the
south, east, and north and over goods locally produced. The Runa als
served as guides for exploration and as ambassadors to other native
non-Quichua-speaking peoples. During the years that followed, up to
the present, the Puyo Runa have attempted to deal with and to profit
from the presence of nonnatives, rather than to ignore or violently
oppose them.
The arrival of Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company explorers and de-
velopers transformed the town of Puyo from a Catholic mission trade
town to a center for national expansion. Gradually the Puyo Runa were
pressured to leave the town itself. One of my informants cried when she
spoke of her family's exodus. Pointing to the landscaped plaza with its
tropical flowers in downtown Puyo, she exhibited some of the anguish
experienced by her family when they were forced to leave. Bitterly she
recounted how as a youngster she had lived and played in the home her
now-deceased father (a powerful shaman) had built on the piece of land
that today is the central plaza of Puyo. In 1959 Puyo became the capital
of the new province of Pastaza. The population soared to four thousand
by 1962, ten thousand by 1972, and today is estimated at twelve thou-
sand. Relations between the Runa and the town continue to be marked
by Runa attempts to participate in political and economic affairs and by
the colonists' subjugation of the Runa to second-class status.
The Puyo Runa reside in settlements, called llactas, that are subdivi
sions of a larger territory demarcated by President Velasco in 1947 as
the Comuna SanJacinto. Later, in the early 1970s, the government
awarded large sections of the comuna to colonists and renamed the ter-
ritory Comuna Ind'gena de Puyo. Each llacta was founded by a powerful
shaman after he established alliances and pacts with the spirits and souls
in the locale. Canelos Quichua shamans are considered by the other
natives of the Oriente to be the most powerful in the area.
Puyo Runa culture is marked by a dual cultural identity represented
by the concept of Sacha Runa-Alli Runa. This duality characterizes the

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 Quichua Songs: 225

individual Runa and also the general culture. The Alli Runa, "good
[Christian] Indian," makes adjustments in his traditional life ways to
accommodate and profit from the presence of the church. The Sacha
Runa, "jungle person," lives in an alliance relationship with the powers
of the soul master spirits Amasanga, Nunghui, and Sungui and with his
personal spirit helper(s), seeking knowledge and vision. This duality of
identity and cultural compartmentalization is particularly apparent in
the case of the Puyo Runa (N. E. Whitten 1976: 219).
The Canelos Quichua engage in swidden slash-mulch cultivation on
sections of cleared jungle one to two hectares in size, called chagras.
There men cultivate plantains, bananas, naranjilla and maize, while
women raise manioc, the primary life staple, and other root crops.
Naranjilla is sold as a cash crop. Men also fish, hunt, and cultivate fish
poisons, hallucinogens, and medicinal herbs.
Women maintain a tradition of fine pottery making, producing some
of the finest pottery in Central, North Western, and Upper Amazonia.
Painted on the vessels are designs of highly symbolic and personal con-
tent (N. E. Whitten 1976, Whitten and Whitten 1978). The family unit
is very highly regarded and close-knit. Husband and wife share respon-
sibilities equally. The household unit, called huasi, guarantees the indi-
vidual's membership in his ayllu, family or kinship maximal clan, by
virtue of his mother's continuity through the pottery tradition and his
father's continuity through soul acquisition.
Puyo Runa ideology places primary value on the acquisition of
knowledge (ricsina), vision experience (muscuna), and a self-conscious
learning process (yacha) that they seek to control. In everyday circum-
stances the Runa seek knowledge through observation of the natural
environment and of human behavior, as well as through conversation
with members and nonmembers of the culture. Vision experiences, also
a source of knowledge, contribute to increasing understanding of the
dynamics of the mind, of the processes of formation and transforma-
tion, and of Runa relations with the spirit world. Dreams provide
another source of vision and are an important aspect of everyday exist-
ence. Periodically Runa seek to induce vision by means of drugs in
order to achieve a prolonged reorientation in the spirit domain and, as
the drug effect subsides, to experience simultaneous orientation in both
the spirit realm and the "waking" world.
The person who learns to control his visionary experience and who
has achieved great knowledge takes on the identity of shaman (yachaj).
All individual Runa seek a degree of control over their own vision
experiences and try to understand the mechanisms involved. To the
extent to which they accomplish this they, too, can exert a degree of
influence over people and events in their own lives. The llaquichina song

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226 : Barbara Seitz

tradition is a special instance of this effort to control visionary experi-

C 1ce .

Besides drugs and dreams, other means for achieving vision in

music and the consumption of large quantities of chicha and/or of
potent alcoholic beverages. (Chicha, a slightly alcoholic manioc g
produced by women, provides a primary nutritional and ritual e
in the culture.) Also, contact with certain substances, such as sou
stones and the stuffed dead bodies of particular animals, sloths or b
for example, can enhance vision. Dance, a specific kinesic behav
also aids in the achievement of vision.
The Puyo Runa perceive in the universe a system of interrelated ele-
ments (animals, humans, souls, and spirits), competing for control of
unevenly distributed power. Certain of these elements have greater
strength than others, and persons allying themselves with those elements
gain increased personal power not only over their own lives but also
over people, events, and, to a degree, nature.
According to Puyo Runa cosmology, the inhabitants of the earth,
sky, and water domains include animals, humans, and spirits. Every-
thing possesses a soul. Upon death the human soul continues to exist
independently in nature or takes up residence in one of a variety of
forms. Spirits, which also possess souls, relate to humans and things in
a special way. The Runa perceive the universe, its structure, and its
inhabitants in terms of a system of transformational relationships.
Aspects of a person's spiritual character and consequently of the per-
son's behavior may be transformed, say the Runa, by changes in spiri-
tual alliances and by soul acquisition. These changes can be the result
of the person's own actions or may involve actions taken by others (e.g.,
shamans or women singing llaquichina songs). Persons who exhibit a
marked behavior are occasionally said to be possessed by the spirit of a
recently deceased relative who manifested similar behavior while alive.
This kind of behavioral change, seen as the result of shifting relation-
ships among humans, spirits, and souls, represents a ramification of
Puyo Runa cosmology. Such radical change in behavior and/or disposi-
tion, which also occurs in conjunction with llaquichina songs, is aptly
described as a transformation. To transform is defined as "1. to change
in form or structure," or "2. to change in condition, nature, or char-
acter" (The Random House Dictionary 1978). Shamans can induce transfor-
mation; certain substances are considered transformational; and llaqui-
china songs, it will be seen, are transformational by way of a communi-
cation event.

The Runa employ ecological imagery to organize souls and spirits

into groups according to "sign-images" (Fernandez 1974: 120) that con-

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 Quichua Songs : 227

stitute transformations, in turn, of still more highly concentrated

master-images (N. E. Whitten 1978: 839). Canelos Quichua cosmology
has three such master-images: Amasanga (spirit of the forest), Nunghui
(spirit of domesticated garden soil and pottery clay), and Sungui (spirit
of the water domain). These three, like the three physical domains of
earth, sky, and water, are interrelated in a complex system of associa-
tions and transformations. The Jivaro cultures share beliefs in Nunghui
and Sungui, and Amasanga's manifestation as waterfall spirit, paccha
supai, has been described as identical to the Jivaro spirit, Arutam
(N. E. Whitten 1978: 839, 843).
While Nunghui is exclusively female and Amasanga is usually con-
sidered male, Amasanga and Sungui both have male and female mani-
festations. All three master spirits present themselves in a wide variety
of forms. Among others, Nunghui may appear as a brown snake, a
bird, or a toad. Amasanga male may be a huge black jaguar, a piece of
petrified wood, or a waterfall spirit; in female form he may be an
enchantress, the spirit of noncultivated soil, or the spirit of the river
rapids. In a tripartite female form he is known to be a dangerous
murderess. As a monster he has two faces, one female, the other male.
Sungui, regarded as the source of all power and perhaps of life itself, as
yacu mama, takes on forms ranging from fog, rain, and mud to under-
ground rivers, a turtle, or a stone. The basic color manifestation of
Amasanga and Nunghui is iridescent black (yana) (N. E. Whitten
1978: 842-847).
Today the Puyo Runa and other indigenous groups in the Oriente
appear to be countering the pressures and cultural impact of church,
state, and town by forming political organizations called federations
(Reeve 1979) and by expanding their paradigms to include new ele-
ments without a change of basic ideology or world view (see
MacDonald 1981; Belzner 1981; N. E. Whitten 1978, 1976, 1976a).
The Puyo Runa continually demonstrate their adaptability by
expanding the sphere of reference of their traditional sign-images to
incorporate new knowledge and the changes in their ecology that have
resulted from governmental policies, national and foreign business,
tourist traffic, missionary activity, and colonial expansion.
Within this cultural framework Puyo Runa women today maintain
belief in the transformational nature of a communication event that
involves song performance. They reportedly share this tradition with the
Jivaros (Shuar and Achuara) of the Oriente. The women regard song as
a highly purposeful and powerful medium of communication that oper-
ates through the cooperative participation of humans and spirit helpers.
The women decide the intent of the song and initiate song performances

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228 : Barbara Seitz

summoning the assistance of spirit helpers. Of all the acts involved in

the total communication event, the song performance is the single most
critical element.

Definition

Puyo Runa women describe these songs using the term llaquichina. This
verb consists of the stem llaqui, meaning "sad," and the suffixes -na, a
verbalizer, and -chi, meaning "to cause to become" or "to make." Thus
llaquichina means "to cause to become sad" or "to make sad." The songs
described by this verb cause a person to feel overwhelming sorrow and,
while in this extreme emotional state, to experience a change of heart.
The songs have the potential to bring about change but are not guaran-
teed to work on any given occasion. Their success or failure is said to
depend upon the quality of the relationship between the singer and her
personal spirit helper.
A personal spirit helper is believed to reside within a woman from
birth, but only as she reaches maturity does she begin to become
acquainted with this spirit through vision experiences. Throughout her
life she may acquire other spirit helpers as well.

Origin

Llaquichina songs are said to have existed for countless centuries, to have
been sung by the rucuguna (ancestors), and to have passed from genera-
tion to generation up to the present. In response to questions concern-
ing the origin of the songs my informants indicated their assumption
that the songs had always existed, perhaps at times only as soul and
spirit essences in the universe, but always as part of a continuum that
knows no beginning.
Though all animals are said to know how to sing, none are given
credit for having taught songs to men. Animals, along with the rest of
nature, including the soul substance and spirit forces of the environ-
ment, are recognized rather as a source of inspiration for musical con-
ceptualization and song content.

Transmission

The women with whom I worked indicated that songs are learned pri-
marily by listening to older relatives' performances. Uyashayachangui,
"Listening you learn," I was told. With few exceptions, the vast

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 Quichua Songs : 229

majority of any given woman's song repertory was learned during ado-
lescence and young adulthood from older female relatives who sang the
songs frequently. Eventually I came to understand that what is trans-
mitted is core plots and a style of melodic and verbal composition.
Neither text nor melody is set, both being largely improvised. After
some discussion the singers clarified that they learned each song listen-
ing to a relative sing it, but that in actual song performances the words
come from the singer's heart, shungu, inspired at least in part by a per-
sonal spirit at the moment of performance. (Shungu is translated as
heart, will, stomach, and is also the place where the personal spirit
resides.)

Themes

The themes expressed in the llaquichina songs represent primary con-

cerns and values of the Runa culture. Listed below are the five prima
themes and the lines and phrases most commonly associated with them.
These lines and phrases are subject to subtle variation and do not
always appear in the songs exactly as presented here.
Theme of Personal Substance:

Shayag huarmi mani Reflective woman of substance am I

(Literally: Who knows how to stop woman am I)
Theme of Vision:

Tiag huarmi mani Inspired woman am I

(Literally: Who knows how to be seated woman am I)
Llaqui shunguta churana To sadden the heart
(Literally: Sad the heart to make)

Theme of Dual Locale:

Caiman . . chiman . . Here . . . there . . .

(Literally: Around here . . around there . ..)

Theme of Invincibility:
Mana tupanata pudihuanguichu You won't be able to me
(Literally: You will not have the power to meet me
Mana pihuas binsihuana huarmi Woman whom no on
mani am I

(Literally: Not any

Theme of Loyalty:
Mana jichungachu t
(Literally: He will n

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230 : Barbara Seitz

The theme of personal substance permeates the song repertory and is

expressed in statements most often employing the verb shayana (to be
discussed at some length further on in this paper) and also at times by
the verb yuyana, meaning "to think." The phrase Shayag huarmi mani or
"Reflective woman of substance am I" occurs with greater frequency
than any other single line. Besides their primary transformational func-
tion, the songs serve as vehicles for self-affirmation, and the woman
boasts of her personal substance in the course of a song. She sings
about her ability to overcome any and all personal circumstances
through her powers of reflection and interaction with her spirit
helper(s).
The second theme of vision is dominant in Puyo Runa culture. Tiag
(from the verb tiana) was given the literal translation "knowing how to
sit" by my informants. Tiana, according to Orr and Wrisley's dictionary
of the Quichua of the Oriente, Vocabulario Quichua del Oriente (1965),
means "to be" and tiarina means "to sit." My informants, however, con-
sistently translated tiana as "to sit." The image presented is that of the
personal spirit being mounted upon the singer. According to this inter-
pretation the singer becomes the passive recipient of the act of sitting
that the spirit perpetrates upon the singer. Contemporary Quichua-
speaking shamans of the Oriente describe themselves, while in an
altered state of consciousness during ritual, as the seats or benches
(bancus) upon which spirits come to rest (N. E. Whitten 1979). The
shaman relates that the spirits then speak through him. Singers with
whom I spoke describe the spirit as manifesting its presence through
inspiration in the song performance. Although the singers take primary
credit for their song lyrics, they say that the words come from their
shungu, which is the place where the spirit resides.
Statements of dual presence relate to the vision experience but repre-
sent a third and separate theme that occurs with frequency throughout
the llaquichina song repertory. The key terms caiman ("here" or "around
here") and chiman ("there" or "around there") indicate the nature of this
event, in which the singer with the assistance of her personal spirit
helper creates an intellectual, emotional, and psychological environment
and then projects it to the locale of the recipient.
Jatun yana rumijahuaibi On the big black rock above
Shayag shayarisha Reflective I'll be reflecting
Caiman tu, chiman tu Here to there, singing tu
Caiman tu, chiman tu [ Tu is the sound of the condor]
(Lines 26-29 of Juana's performance of "Condorta," July 1979.)
The fourth theme derives from the first two in that it is by virtue of
the woman's personal substance and her vision experiences that she pos-

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 Quichua Songs : 231

sesses the capacity to exist independently. Many of the songs contain

statements of invincibility as the singer affirms her ability to evade the
recipient, to avoid being dominated by him or her. This theme reflects
the cooperative nature of social relations, including marriage, in Puyo
Runa culture, where men and women share equal status and authority.
The final theme of loyalty occurs with frequency in songs directed to
the singer's husband and reflects the high value placed upon permanent
commitment and sharing in marriage. Affinal soul substance passed
from father to child through the mother makes the family a tight unit.
Also, because of the tradition of shared labor, with separate but comple-
mentary duties according to sex, the union of man and woman consti-
tutes a dynamic working force in Puyo Runa society. Finally, Puyo
Runa women are keenly aware that men of the neighboring Achuara tra-
ditionally take several wives. Many of the husbands of Puyo Runa
Quichua-speaking women are bilingual Achuara who have adopted the
Puyo Runas' life ways. In these llaquichina songs, the women, worried
by the absence of their husbands or lovers, remind them that marriage
in Puyo Runa culture means loyal commitment in a permanent and
exclusive relationship based on equality and sharing.

Contexts

Performances of llaquichina songs take place in several contexts. Context

is here defined to include that which precedes and that which follows
the performance, as well as the total environment in which it takes
place. The general context can be analyzed into various specific con-
texts, and these then can be investigated and compared for their vary-
ing significance and the insights they provide into the total transforma-
tional communication process.

Music as Context

The context of music in the llaquichina songs has its primary significance
in the special capacity of music to function as a medium for communi-
cating with spirit and soul forces of the universe. To be effective the
song must be sung; a melody must accompany the text even if it is
thought-sung rather than vocalized. Specific melodies are not critically
connected to specific messages. Singers exchange melodies freely, sing-
ing a song with one melody, then another, and singing the same
melody with various texts; but this in no way diminishes the imperative
of a music context for the song performance.

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232 : Barbara Seitz

Music, for the Puyo Runa, transcends the usual separation of the
physical and spiritual domains, allowing the singers to experience simul-
taneous contacts in both and to communicate at once with spirits, souls,
and humans, near and far away. In the llaquichina songs music not only
supplies an open channel for the transport of the singer's message but
also is said to actually evoke the presence of the personal spirit who will,
in turn, carry the singer's message to the recipient. Through the
musical dynamic the singer is herself reoriented in a vision-receptive
state of altered consciousness.

The use of music to communicate with the supernatural is especially

common among Amerindians (Herndon 1980: 72). Merriam describes
parallel tradition in North America among the Flathead, who use song
to evoke the presence of their guardian spirit; the recipient is said to be
made aware of the message through the power of the guardian spirit
and to register the message abstractly as in a dream (Merriam 1967:
60). Among the Tepehuas in Mexico, Boiles (1967) found songs that
although textless exhibit complex linguistic properties. Olsen describes
music-induced altered consciousness among the Warao shamans of the
Orinoco delta, whereby the shaman is enabled to communicate with th
spirit world (Olsen 1979). Robertson reports for the Mapuche of Argen
tina a "property of transcendence" during song performances of tayil,
whereby experiences from more than one domain of the singer's life are
brought to bear upon one another (Robertson 1979: 405). Anthony
Seeger, who has studied song genres among the Suya Indians of North
ern Mato Grosso, Brazil, points to the "transcendent" nature of music
as a possible clue to how music conveys meaning (Seeger 1979: 391; se
also Seeger 1980).
For the Puyo Runa, music as a vehicle for transformation constitutes
a useful tool. Music is seen as a compelling force that acts upon the sen
timents, conveying information and precipitating intellectual response
through emotional stimulation: first sorrow, memories, and longing,
then a willful decision to alter the recipient-singer relationship. As
transformational substance, music partakes of the dominant cultural
belief in the transformational nature of reality; as a compelling force,
music participates in the ideological dynamics of power play; through
onomatopoetic mimicry of animal communication music exhibits the
close relationship between the Puyo Runa and their physical context; a
improvised melody, music expresses the context of the individual singer
as she responds to the circumstances of the occasion; and, as a partner
to a poetic text, music shares many of the style characteristics of its lin-
guistic context. Finally, as a vision-inducing agent, music occupies a
position of highest value and distinction in Puyo Runa culture. Music

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 Quichua Songs : 233

thus provides a critical and dynamic context in llaquichina song perform-

ance.

Occasion as Context

Singers describe subcategories of llaquichina songs according to the cir-

cumstances motivating the performance. These circumstances, in turn,
define a social context, in that the songs primarily concern human rela-
tionships and are directed to human recipients, using spiritual assistants
as intermediaries to accomplish the desired communication and trans-
formation. The primary objective of all llaquichina songs is to transform
a human social relationship so as to improve it; the change may be
from less to more affectionate or from more to less hostile and threaten-
ing. The following subcategories are not mutually exclusive: some songs
can serve for more than one type of occasion, while others are appropri-
ate to only one specific occasion.
A primary subcategory of songs contains those sung to the husband
or to a lover as recipient, motivated by his absence. These songs are
called specifically cari bultiasha ("man returning") and are said to cause
the man to come directly into the singer's presence, desiring to remain
committed to her; they may emphasize loyalty, love, or the desirability
and seductive qualities of the singer.
A second subcategory of llaquichina songs, closely related to the first
and simply called by the name llaquichina, is made up of songs that can
be used to beckon the woman's husband and other loved ones. The
songs provoke feelings of longing and the will to return to visit the
singer.
A third group contains songs that are sung at gatherings where
chicha is being served and emphasize the woman's role as mediator in
Puyo Runa culture. In the circumstances of this song performance the
woman sings while serving chicha, in order to guide the person drink-
ing to altered consciousness and vision experience. These songs are
referred to by the term upiushca (literally, "having drunk").2 Intoxication
for the Puyo Runa constitutes a state of reoriented consciousness
wherein visions are received through contact and communication with
the spirit world. This is the only context in which the recipient is
actually present at the performance of a llaquichina song. This subcate-
gory of songs overlaps with others in that many songs that are
appropriate to other circumstances can be used for this one as well. On
the other hand, some upiushca songs are appropriate only to this occa-
sion.

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234 : Barbara Seitz

A fourth context involves circumstances of anger caused by the

singer's belief that she is the object of unwarranted criticism. She feels
that her husband, child, another family member, or possibly even the
community as a whole has treated her harshly, and she seeks to replace
the anger with respect and affection. In a fifth context the singer angrily
threatens a hostile and dangerous or potentially dangerous recipient,
striking fear into his or her heart in order to protect herself and her
family. In a sixth subcategory, motivated by real or potential danger,
the singer predicts her ability to transcend all threatening circumstances
and thus to escape the danger by means of superior spiritual substance
rather than by direct acts of violence against the enemy.
Two other circumstances, less frequently mentioned and represented
in the repertories of my informants by only a few songs, are associated
with arrival or departure from a home: songs for a safe arrival and
warm welcome are more common and constitute a seventh group. The
eighth subcategory is associated with the leave-taking of a young woman
going to take up residence near the home of her new husband's family.

Physical Context

Except for the chicha-associated songs, private settings are preferred.

Listeners would generally include only the singer and probably one or
more of her children, and perhaps another female relative or friend.
The most common settings are those places where women spend their
time, that is, in the house, in the chagra (field), or on the jungle trails. If
she wishes extreme privacy she will sing the song silently, thinking its
text and melody but not vocalizing them. If at home she may sit quietly
with her legs tucked up under her or with them extended in front; she
may be sewing, making beaded wrist bands, or working clay for
pottery. She may sing while walking through the jungle, while dancing
at the height of visionary experience in a fiesta, or while working bent
over manioc plants in the chagra. In short, she may be involved in
almost any activity that offers sufficient privacy.
Physical setting, while not of particular relevance in most instances, is
of general relevance to the whole conceptualization of music and song.
Descriptions of human relationships take the form of stories about ani-
mals' relationships with one another and with their general surround-
ings. Animals occupy an important place in Runa cosmology. The
Runa believe their ancestors received their souls from animals before
creation, and the acquisition of animal souls is a primary function of
the male in hunting. The Runa listen attentively to the calls and cries of
the various birds and other animals, learn to mimic them, and associate
emotions with them. In the songs the calls and cries of animals are used

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 Quichua Songs : 235

to convey the mood the singer wishes to transmit to the recipient.

Hence, the songs incorporate a high degree of connotative and affective
communication, as in the following:
Caiman ai ai ai Here ai [sound of the monkey's cry]
Chiman ai ai ai There ai

Ju ju ju juju [Bird's song]

Huacasha shayarisha Crying, reflecting

Mau mau mau [Sound of the tiger eating]

Micusha shayarini Eating I reflect
Through conversations with the singers I became aware of certain
associations they make between the physical and the spiritual domains:
the asociation of women with the water domain and with the seductive
powers of female water spirits; the prominent role of the sun and its tra-
ditional association with Amasanga, the male forest master spirit; and
the association of women as manioc cultivators, chicha-from-manioc
producers, chicha servers, and chicha vision mediators with Nunghui,
female master spirit of the soil and root crops.

Linguistic Context

In the song texts the basic terms of the message are presented by meta-
phoric symbols and the message itself by an extended metaphor. Ex-
tended metaphors serve to describe the circumstances motivating the
performance and also to indicate which of the various possible stances
the singer has chosen to take in relation to the given circumstances.
Human relations are compared to relationships existing in nature, as,
for example, in the song "Tushimbia." According to the singer's expla-
nation of the song, the black plumed jungle bird named tushimbia repre-
sents Juana's lover, while Juana is represented by the bird's favorite
food, the fruit of a single tree. The fruit of the tree more specifically
refers to the love she has to offer him. The verb micuna or "to eat" is
used to refer to sexual intercourse. In the song Juana predicts that the
bird will recall the sweet taste of the fruit of this certain tree and that he
will resolve to return and to remain forever eating the fruit of this, his
special tree.
Metaphor represents one aspect of the "embodiment" of an objectified
situation, in concurrence with Roger Abrahams's statement, "The con-
trolling power of folklore arises out of a belief in the essential sameness
of a situation and its embodiment" (1972: 19). Metaphor provides a
mechanism "to objectify the situation in symbols . . ." (Abrahams 1972:
19). In these songs the use of metaphor is a formal, hence organiza-

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236 : Barbara Seitz

tional, and stylized method by which the singer classifies or names the
problem situation and resolves it figuratively in the course of the song'
plot. Along with music and kinesic behavior, metaphor functions in the
llaquichina song tradition to give form to the message and to facilitate i
communication.

Throughout the llaquichina song repertory sorrow and the experienc-

ing of it, both connected with vision, are treated metaphorically in a
wide variety of ways. Sorrow takes on various forms in nature: the
color green, fog, soul stones, and the sun. These phenomena act as
vehicles through which, according to the extended metaphors of the
songs' plots, sorrow is transmitted by the personal spirit helper from t
singer to the recipient.
In the context of the llaquichina songs, the dominant color in nature,
green, represents the spirit realm, the spiritual forces that exist in
nature. Fog, being of water but over land, represents the liminal status
of the Runa, who during the vision experience crosses over from orien
tation in one domain to orientation in another. Fog is also associated
with the water domain symbolism, and it is described by the singers as
suggesting sorrow and enchantment. Sorrow, according to the songs
and in keeping with the theme of vision, is often experienced through
the sense of sight.
Llaqui llaqui virdi ricurishca Looking sadly sadly at the green
Sachaibi shayag huarmi Reflective woman in the jungle [am I]
(Aida, "Tungurahuata," lines 43-44.)
Puyu urcuibi huacasha In the fog crying
Shayaringaiya shayaringaiya He'll surely reflect, he'll reflect
(Juana, "Condorta," 11. 23-24.)
Stones, significant transformational substances in Puyo Runa culture,
are known to contain the souls of deceased powerful shamans (N. E.
Whitten 1976: 148). In the context of the song lyrics, these stones
usually are located on the bank of a river, lending further force to the
spiritual impact they suggest.
Shuj ruyag rumiga siririshca Having laid on a single white
stone

-manda yacu chaqui rigrishcaman-

damiya From which the river dried up
Shinquishina jatun yana rumijatun Very black like carbo
stone

Llaquinata tiarisha Inspiring sorrow

(Juana, "Condorta," 11. 5-8.)
Soap, being slippery, depicts the smooth and disoriented passage of

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 Quichua Songs : 237

individual between domains. Also, as a cleansing agent, soap changes

the status of what it washes. The following line (21) from Juana's per-
formance of "Condorta" implies that the condor is filled with sorrow:
"Silumanda abun silu ucuibi/The soap of the sky is within [the condor]."
Among these various images the sun is the most prominent in Runa
cosmology. Its yellow color and heat make it an excellent metaphor for
the sorrowful longing associated with love and sexual desire.
Indi nahui ricusha Looking at the face of the sun
Llaqui shungu churanga Will make the heart sad
(Juana, "Condorta," 11. 3-4.)
Finally, an important metaphor for the vision experience that does not
emphasize the aspect of sorrow is that of flight and flying. This meta-
phor focuses upon the celebrated value of the experience, on transcend-
ing human limitations.
Huamburisha shayag huarmi Flying reflective woman [am I]
(Juana, "Tijeras Angata," 1. 65.)

Sometimes more than one metaphor is used to represent the singer in

the course of a single song, usually to illustrate various aspects of her
character. Though the songs can be generally interpreted and under-
stood, ambiguities may remain as the singer deliberately guards her
closeness to the song, which only she completely understands.
Grammatical ambiguity occurs with frequent changes of person in the
course of a song. The singer may use first person to make her own
statements and then use it again for statements made by the recipient,
but without any indication that the speaker has changed. This is also a
characteristic of Quichua narrative in general. In each case the subject
of each statement must be determined by context and content.
A final consideration with reference to the song texts is the use of
"performative" vocabulary, that is, where "there is something which is at
the moment of uttering being done by the person uttering" (Austin
1962: 60). The concept of the performative corresponds with the con-
scious intent and behavior of the Puyo Runa women in the perform-
ances of llaquichina songs.
Certain vocabulary qualifies as performative in the context of the
songs, most particularly the verbs nina, shamuna (also tigrana and bul-
tiana), and shayana, which occur with great frequency and intensity. The
verb nina is translated as "to say." My informants explained that it can
also indicate strong desire. In the songs it often carries the connotation
of prediction or of strong affirmation of the statement being made; for
example, in the song "Tushimbia," Juana uses this verb to predict that
her lover will return to live forever with her (11. 41-43):

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238 : Barbara Seitz

Wineillai cai ruya- Forever in this tree

-llai causash(a) nisha ti- To live forever, I predict,
Tigramungui tigra- You [lover] will be returning,
returning.
With a sense of compulsion and the character of commands, the
verbs shamuna ("to come") and tigrana and bultiana ("to return") are em-
phasized in various lines and within single lines. Quichua typically uses
repetition to fortify the strength of an expression; thus jatun means "big"
and jatun jatun means "very big" or "huge." Such common lines as
"Tigramungui tigra-/You'll return, you'll return" are performative in so far
as they communicate a persuasive and compelling message that is
believed to bring the man home.
The verb shayana translates literally as "to stop" or "to stand" (Orr and
Wrisley 1965). Discussing this term, my informants suggested the meta-
phorical interpretation that shayana implies spiritual substance manifested
in the ability to reflect. The meaning of shayana permeates many songs,
appearing sometimes in virtually every line or every other line. The line
that occurs more frequently than any other features the verb shayana.
This line, "Shayag huarmi mani/Reflective woman of substance am I,"
seems to hold a key to the operation of the songs and to the Puyo Runa
woman's concept of herself, of her identity. More than anything else in
this repertory the Puyo woman expresses her pride in being a shayag
huarmi.

My informants substantiated the fact that shayana has a large spiritual

component and suggests the singer's close contact with the spirit realm,
her ability to receive visions, and her considerable past visionary experi-
ence. It implies an intimate and potentially powerful relationship exist-
ing between the singer and her personal spirit helper, which is the con-
sequence of her past vision experience. Shayana then implies dynamic
spiritual substance and personal power.
That Puyo Runa women conceptualize reality in terms of jungle
imagery is nowhere clearer than in the linguistic context of these songs.
On one hand the texts present simple tales about jungle animals: a wild
tiger or condor confronts and defeats an enemy; a monkey, pig, or bird
contemplates and eventually locates his favorite food; or a lonely bird
cries its sorrow in a misty dawn. But simultaneously they reveal explicit
transformational potential. Animals represent human characters in a
real-life drama involving the singer and others in her life's sphere.
Inspired by the transformations exhibited by nature in the jungle, the
Puyo Runa women conceptualize reality in terms of transformational
relationships and jungle imagery and seek transformational experiences
in their personal lives.

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 Quichua Songs : 239

Individual as Context

The individual singer is the initiator of the performance, which she con-
ceives of as part of a larger social event in which she and her personal
spirit helper play the leading roles. The impact of the llaquichina song
upon the recipient will vary according to the spiritual prowess of the
singer, her past vision experiences, her relationship with her personal
spirit, and her success on that given occasion in her interaction with her
personal spirit. We will now investigate the individual singer as context,
including consideration of the proxemics and kinesics of the event as
they relate to her, and the ramifications of the event upon her life sub-
sequent to the performance.
While she sings a woman occupies a special, private sphere, separated
from her immediate surroundings. No one old enough to comprehend
the situation would think of interrupting her or of violating her concen-
tration or physical space. Conversations cease and seriousness prevails.
In the private setting in which most performances take place, the singer
is alone or in the company of a few intimates.
The singer's children exercise a unique relationship to her during per-
formance, for they alone among the listeners are free to enter into and
exit from the realm of the singer's mental and physical presence. In the
context of performances of llaquichina songs, small children both are and
are not significant listeners. They run up to their mother, climb into
her lap, nurse or cuddle, and the singing mother receives them with no
discernible break in the concentrated intensity of her song. The chil-
dren, as potential carriers of their mother's song repertory and tradi-
tion, will listen, and listening they will learn.
While she sings her face is serene and her expression serious. In this
private setting her eyes will be cast downwards at the floor or ground,
or upwards into a distant abstract space. She will not even look into the
faces of her children. As she sings with increasing intensity and concen-
tration, she begins to turn her head from side to side with alternating
lines of the song. The song performance is said to evoke the presence of
a personal spirit helper; as the spirit becomes involved the singer experi-
ences a kind of psychological reorientation or altered state of conscious-
ness, and the usually marked boundaries between physical and spiritual
domains dissolve. Spiritual and physical domains merge. The spirit's
presence is marked by kinesic behavior of the singer, who sways from
side to side in a semicircular arc that mimics the movements of spirits
as they are perceived in vision.
In contrast to the isolation of the chagra is the context of the one
public setting, associated with the serving of chicha; here the singer is

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240 : Barbara Seitz

the center of attention and the recipient actually hears the song per-
formance. In this context the woman sings directly to the drinker. He
or she does not look into the singer's eyes, however, but with eyes cast
downwards drinks and listens quietly to her song. Like men who may
take up their flutes and begin to play, the singer has also reached at
least a mild degree of intoxication. When the chicha drinking bowl, or
mucahua, becomes sufficiently emptied, she will dip it into the large con-
tainer of chicha and having filled the bowl will then mix the chicha
briefly, squeezing it through her fingers, pick out any large pieces of
manioc, and run her finger around the rim. She tries to serve more and
more chicha to the guest, encouraging or virtually forcing him or her to
drink. She may allow the guest to hold the bowl and drink, or, more
likely, she will stand before the seated guest extending the bowl to the
guest's lips, continuing to hold the bowl by its rim even as the guest
supports its base with the palms of both hands. She will tip the bowl
more and more, forcing the guest to consume at a rapid pace or to hav
chicha run down over his or her chin and clothing. Thus the woman
utilizes both beverage and song to bring the guest into a vision state.

Rites of Passage

With the individual singer as context, the performances of these songs

can be described as rites of passage, for from the singer's point of view
they mark a transitory or liminal state. In only two instances do Ilaqui-
china songs occur in a life-cycle rite: singing a llaquichina song to win a
lover-husband and singing to one's mother upon departure to begin life
as a married woman. In these circumstances the songs mark and, in
fact, facilitate passage from one life phase to another.
In the case of upiushca songs, through song performance the guest and
the singer cross over from everyday consciousness of the human realm
to consciousness of and contact with the spiritual realm where visions
occur and new knowledge and increased power are attained. The singer
serves as mediator, bringing the guest, through the combined stimulus
of song and drink, along with herself, to altered consciousness so that
both will be enriched.

In all the remaining occasions for llaquichina songs, the songs mark
for the singer the hoped-for end of a temporary status of loneliness,
anger, or insecurity. The husband or child whose affection and presence
the singer desires may have been gone or on hostile terms with the
singer for years, but to the singer the situation remains an unfortunate
deviation from, or interruption of, what had formerly been a loving
and desirable relationship. Her song performance calls for an end to

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 Quichua Songs : 241

this temporary and unacceptable status. If the song performs its func-
tion, as she believes it can, it should mark a passage for the singer and
the recipient to a preferable and permanently improved relationship.

The Communication Event

The total event is a musical event by virtue of its dependence upon th

llaquichina song performance. It may be called a communication event o
if this term is defined in such a way as to encompass the unusual cir-
cumstances of the event: the physical distance between the singer and
the recipient in most instances; the intermediate participation of the
spirit helper(s); and the nature of the message, which is largely emo-
tional and impressionistic. A broad definition of communication that
applies here comes from semiotician Charles Morris (1971: 195ff):
instance of the establishment of a commonage, that is, the making co
mon of some property to a number of things." Thomas Sebeok's defin
tion of semiotics applies equally well: "an overall study of'the exch
of any message whatever and of the systems of signs which underlie
them'" (Rey 1978: 108). These views allow for the complex networ
created by the various participants and the various manifestations of
message contained in the llaquichina song event.
The singers enumerate the following parts, or acts, within the tota
llaquichina event: the singer's state of suffering and abstinence prior
song performance, the actual song performance, the intercession of t
personal spirit helper inspiring the singer during the performance, t
transmission by the spirit helper of the message to the recipient, the
recipient's receipt of the message, and the recipient's behavioral respo
upon receipt of the message.

Woman as Participant

The most highly regarded singers are the most respected women, tho
who have had considerable drug experience, know a great many so
and are skilled in their performance. Concepts of musical quality a
personal power are corollary, such that to be an excellent singer is to
a powerful singer and powerful person as well. Considered more im
tant than the number of songs in a repertory and related to the conc
of personal power is the quality of the relationship between the singe
and her personal spirit helper.
The singer initiates the event, which begins as an idea or intention
her mind and takes on a discernible form as she sings the llaquichina

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242 : Barbara Seitz

song. Through the performance, by use of metaphor and onomatopoetic

imitation of animal sounds, she makes clear in denotative and connota-
tive meanings the message she wishes to convey to the recipient. In the
course of the song the singer makes reference to the processes that carry
the event forward, acknowledging her personal role in the process.
According to the songs, the singer facilitates transmission of the song's
message by thinking and reflecting, by experiencing vision (becoming
inspired by the personal spirit helper), and by singing. In the following
example the singer expresses self-conscious awareness of her role; she
describes herself as "a reflective woman of substance" in contact with the

spirit realm (as she meditates upon a big rock or soul stone), singing
from here to there, projecting her thoughts and emotions to where the
recipient is:
Shayag huarmi mara Reflective woman of substance
was I

Shinquishina jatun nisha Big and black as carbon, I

shayag mani predict
Jatunyana rumijahuaibi On a big black rock above
Shayag shayarisha Reflective, I'll reflect
Caiman tu chiman tu From here to there, singing tu
Caiman tu chiman tu
(L1. 24-29 of Juana's performance of "Condorta")

Spirit as Participant

During the song the singer calls upon her personal spirit helper to aid
in the achievement of her intention, the transformation of the recipient.
The spirit begins to take action even before the song ends. As the singer
establishes contact with the spirit the two beings unite. In this regard,
the singer's rhythmic swaying serves first as a cue, then as a marker.
Occasional movement of the head or body seems, in my opinion, to cue
the personal spirit that the singer is ready and senses impending con-
tact. As the movements become smooth and flowing, they mark,
according to the singers, the conscious participation of the spirit helper
who has manifested itself through the singer's motions.
Only the individual knows the form and nature of her personal spirit,
with whom she has an exclusive relationship. Though most of my
informants seem reticent to discuss details concerning their personal
spirits, two of my informants report that their personal spirit helpers
appear as black shadows in a form resembling a person, but they stress
that only the individual knows her personal spirit and that no two per-
sonal spirits are alike. The women all agree that the personal spirit

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 Quichua Songs : 243

serves as an inspiration to the singer during the performance of a llaqui-

china song and that the personal spirit takes on the form of an animal,
most often a bird, to carry the singer's message to the recipient. (Refer-
ring to the message, the singers speak of the "song" that is carried to the
recipient.)
Some of the women name the spirit of the song as another spirit
helper to the singer. According to this explanation, a woman establishes
contact with her personal spirit through singing and concentration on
the song. At the same time, through the words of the song she com-
municates the form and character of the spirit of the song, to which she
has access by knowing the song. This song spirit (for which the song is
named) has the form of either an animal (mammal, bird, or reptile) or,
less frequently, a plant. The character of the spirit is determined in part
by tradition and in part by the singer's desires expressed in the words of
the song. The personal spirit unites with the spirit of the song, the two
merging to create one, more powerful, force that then transmits the
song to the recipient. The primary image described by the song thus
would be at once a metaphoric representation and an independent spirit
essence that exists in the universe and comes to join with the singer's
personal spirit during the performance of a llaquichina song. The per-
sonal spirit and its manifestation in conjunction with the spirit of the
song are described in Quichua as llaqui muscushca pactarin ("She advanced
herself having dreamt sorrow") or llaqui muscushca pactarin huarmimanda
("She the spirit advanced from the woman having dreamt sorrow" or
"She the spirit advanced from the woman who had dreamt sorrow").

Recipient as Participant

The recipient can perceive the message in the form of a bird's song,
which he might hear while walking, hunting, or working; it might be
suggested to his imagination as he glances at the sun; or it might pre-
sent itself during a dream. In each case the message is presented to him
through the intercession of the singer's spirit helper(s). And in each case
the recipient receives thoughts of the singer and is simultaneously over-
come by a general feeling of sorrow. All three forms of the message
entail denotative and connotative elements. The message may take a
very specific form, or it may be so vague as to pass unnoticed by the
recipient, whose behavior might nonetheless be affected by the experi-
ence.

The singer often outlines in the words of her song

which she believes the recipient will come to respon
ance. She predicts that he will be moved to reflect u

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244 : Barbara Seitz

stances that motivated her to sing. He will receive memories or threats

that will stimulate a response in accord with her intentions. In the fol-
lowing example the singer predicts that the husband will recall their life
together, their love making (his eating of the fruit), and that after
"thinking for a while," he will return.
Yuyaringuimiyuyaringuimi You will recall, you will recall
Nuca micushca muyu That which I [husband] ate, the
fruit [woman]
Ruyata yuyarinimi The tree [woman] I do recall
Nuca micushca muyu
Ruyata yuyarinimi
Bultiashaya bultiashaya bultia-
shaya I'll return, return, return

Yuyarishca ratunmi Thinking for a while

(Juana, "Chubata," 11. 16-22, 24.)
The following example conveys the emotional response of a recipient
who will be filled with sorrow and memories as he listens to the bird
(cucucui) crying and walking (huashuali is the sound of the foliage rustling
as the bird walks). The singer predicts that the recipient, listening to
these sounds, will reflect and experience a change of heart.
Shayaringai huacasha He'll reflect, crying
Nisha nisha cucucui I predict, I predict, bird
Cucucui huashuali huashuali Bird, walking, walking
Huacashayaya uyaringa Crying he'll hear [the bird's cry]
Uyarisha shayasha Listening, reflecting
(Juana, "Cucuita," 11. 55-59.)
The following paragraph contains Aleji's account of his receipt of a
llaquichina song message from his mother. Aleji, twenty-two and a native
Quichua speaker, reported to my informant, Alfonso, that he left his
parents and went far away to Coca where he had a great dream. In tha
dream he saw himself with his parents, laughing heartily together, when
suddenly he heard a shot and a bullet pierced his mother's heart.
Becoming very worried and sorrowful, still in the dream, he pursued
the gunman, but while running he stumbled. Then he woke up dis-
traught and found himself concentrating on a great sorrow in his mind,
unable to forget the past and his mother as she had appeared in the
dream. It occurred to him that, whereas he had stumbled and fallen in
the dream, perhaps he could succeed in reality. He felt obliged to
return home. When upon his arrival he asked his mother the reason for
this dream that caused his return, she responded saying that because
she so sorely missed him she sang at night, desiring that in the midst of

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 Quichua Songs : 245

his sleep he would recall her and return home. According to Aleji's
interpretation, the song caused him to return because of the thoughts
conveyed in the music his mother sang.

Secondary Communicative Functions

In addition to its primary transformational function, the communication

event that revolves around the performance of a llaquichina song can be
said to fulfill a variety of secondary communicative functions that also
merit consideration here. In each performance the singer communicates
simultaneously with herself and with her personal spirit helper; if she
deliberately allows her song to be heard by people other than the
intended primary recipient, she mindfully communicates to these others
also. The women do not speak about communicating with themselves or
with any human except the recipient, but observation reveals that per-
formances do serve very definite purposes in both regards. The women
do recognize and comment upon the value of the communication with
the personal spirit that transpires during performance.
Communication with self. Whether or not, according to Morris's defini-
tion of communication, the singer can be said to communicate with her-
self is a legitimate question. In order to qualify for inclusion within the
scope of the definition the singer must play two roles and relay a
message between them. Insofar as the singer is said to reach altered
consciousness during the performance and to come to new knowledge
and vision through it, she may be said to communicate with herself.
When the woman begins the song she is quite aware of her physical
context and her body is calm and still. Ever so gradually she begins to
move, swaying with the lines of the song. The performance gains in
fluidity. As the singer proceeds she seems to become increasingly
oblivious to her physical surroundings; she is in a state of altered con-
sciousness, in contact with her personal spirit and experiencing vision.
When the song ends, the singer will often seem disoriented, at times
exhibiting a vacant facial expression.
It is generally agreed by scholars and musicians that, by singing, a
person can match or intensify a given mood or emotional state (Otten-
heimer 1979). People sing "happy" songs to express and to stimulate
happy feelings; while melancholic they sing other songs to support and
intensify this mood. Hymns sung in churches are intended to inspire or
to intensify a reverent state of mind. It is part of the nature of song per-
formance among the Puyo Runa that the song reflects or matches the
singer's mood and that the song performance moves the singer to
greater understanding of her own emotional state.

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246 : Barbara Seitz

In each performance of a llaquichina song, the singer reviews her

stance toward the situation at hand and communicates to herself
through metaphor a self-image as a powerful woman. In songs for the
return of the husband she states her belief in the seriousness and perma-
nence of the marriage commitment and/or she describes her own beauty
and seductive desirability. In other songs beckoning to loved ones she
relates her sorrow and loneliness. In chicha-associated songs she often
reflects upon her past vision experience, emphasizing her intimacy with
the spirit realm and her depth of spirituality, while predicting vision
experience for the guest. In some songs of anger the singer defends her
position, excusing herself of all responsibility for a quarrel or misunder-
standing. In other songs to enemies she defiantly boasts, through meta-
phor, of her invincibility and of her ruthlessness in the expression of
just anger. In still other songs to enemies she projects a quiet spiritual
invincibility that enables her to withstand any physical or spiritual
attack. In all these instances the singer reassures herself of the ultimate
"rightness" and security of her position and simultaneously of her ability
to project her will upon the recipient through the intermediary assis-
tance of her personal spirit helper. Through the song performance the
singer strengthens her self-confidence, her optimism, and her resolve.
By establishing contact with her personal spirit she reminds herself
that she is not alone, that her personal spirit is ready to assist her. She
consoles herself to the extent that she affirms her self-confidence,
reminding herself of her potential to transform reality. Because the per-
formance is not guaranteed to be successful in its primary purpose, but
is only potentially so, she will not be relieved of her anxiety about the
situation. In fact, her emotional state may intensify during the perform-
ance. Tears may well succeed it, but a singer does not consider the
performance therapeutic. According to Ottenheimer's scheme (1979:
75-86), the performances would be mood-matching rather than mood-
relieving. Only with the successful completion of the communication
event, with the ultimate fulfillment of the song's primary objective, the
recipient's transformation, would the singer achieve significant relief
from her anxiety.
In the case of chicha-associated upiushca songs, where the primary
function is to guide another person to altered consciousness, the secon-
dary function for the singer is similar. She desires visionary experience
also and hopes to approach it by means of the performance and through
interaction with her personal spirit helper. At the same time, she
affirms her self-image as a powerful mediator and she reflects upon
some aspect(s) of her self-image, particularly her ability to experience
vision.

Communication with the personal spirit helper. Communication between

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 Quichua Songs : 247

the singer and her personal spirit during a llaquichina song performance
has similarities with shamanistic performances as documented by N. E.
Whitten (1977). During shamanistic performance the shaman will see
spirits approaching, swaying from side to side. The spirits come to rest
on the shaman and he eventually becomes a "seat" for them. Gradually
there is a crossing over of domains and he and they merge so that his
voice is their voice and the physical and spirit worlds coincide. In the
shamanistic context there is straightforward verbal communication. In
the llaquichina song performance, the woman, however, does not directly
address her song to her personal spirit helper; rather, the situation and
the act of singing evoke the presence of the spirit that comes from
within her.

There is evidence that historically the llaquichina song performer prob-

ably shared with the shaman a belief that the spirit is speaking/singing.
My informants told me that in the past women did give their personal
spirit helper credit for the words and melody of the song. Today, how-
ever, the singers claim primary credit for the words and melodies, ac-
knowledging inspiration that comes from the personal spirit helper when
it becomes manifest during the song. Thus the singers describe the role
of the personal spirit in performance as that of a helper, contact, and
inspiration, but at no point as the sole source of the performance.
Through the llaquichina song performance the singer and her personal
spirit helper reportedly come to know one another better, and their rela-
tionship becomes more intimate. As this happens the woman is said to
gain spiritual substance and powers of reflection. This, in turn, enables
her to exercise greater control over the events and circumstances of her
life and over her family's well-being.
Communication with persons other than the recipient. Given the expanse of
the jungle relative to its human population, a woman who chooses to
sing privately can and will do so. By choosing to sing within listening
range of persons other than the intended primary recipient, the singer
elects to communicate to them something of her self-image, her present
frame of mind, the nature of her problem, and an approach by which
she hopes to resolve it.
The singer can begin this communication even before the actual song
performance. She often performs while fasting, as she physically mani-
fests to those around her that she suffers psychological duress. She will
receive sympathy from some, empathy from others, depending upon the
other's personal life experiences and relationship with the singer. When,
after a quarrel, one woman's husband went off to hunt in the jungle,
several other women reported to me that she was extremely upset,
couldn't eat, and was singing a great deal.
By way of the song text the singer reveals aspects of her personal

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248 : Barbara Seitz

identity, accentuating, for example, her role as wife, mother, or lover,

her inner powers, and an emotional state of sorrow, longing, or anger.
In addition to these types of information, she also declares her belief in
this traditional method for dealing with problems and thus manifests her
"Indianness" in a cultural setting that offers mestizo methods for dealing
with problems. The Runa must choose among various options available
to them for problem solving; in many instances they pursue two cul-
tural methods simultaneously, compartmentalizing them and not dis-
crediting either.
Another reason why a woman might wish to sing in the presence of
an intimate friend is that certain topics dealt with metaphorically in the
context of the llaquichina song are not easily or properly discussed in
conversation. The singer is thus able to communicate information about
her life and her attitude toward events in her life by sharing her per-
formance of a llaquichina song. On several occasions when I would sug-
gest an insight into the meaning of a metaphor, the singer and any
other women present would nod and giggle, concurring with and
delighted by my interpretation but unable or unwilling to discuss the
topic in conversation. Though the women make very explicit references
to sex in the songs, they are extremely shy about discussing sexual
topics openly in conversation. One day after I had tried at some length
to unravel certain metaphoric complexities, Juana helped me by whis-
pering quickly, "I am the fruit. He is coming to eat me!"; she giggled
excessively then, as if she had momentarily opened a Pandora's box and
committed a most unorthodox act in saying this. Llaquichina songs pro-
vide a distinct mode of communication by which certain types of infor-
mation, not otherwise easily expressed, can be communicated.
In summary, in the llaquichina songs the singers bring their past and
present vision experiences in the spiritual realm to bear upon everyday
experiences in the realm of human social relationships, utilizing meta-
phors that are founded on their observations of ecological relationships.
This repertory of songs serves to communicate "values and ethos that are
more easily 'musicked' than put into speech" (Seeger 1979: 373). For the
Puyo Runa woman the songs provide a vehicle for self-affirmation and
for personal growth, as well as for social control. For the student of
Puyo Runa culture they provide an intimate view of Puyo Runa woman-
hood and also of the contribution of music to a very special communica-
tion event.

Notes

1. This is an expanded version of a paper presented at the twenty-fifth annual conven-

tion of the Society for Ethnomusicology in November, 1980. This paper received the

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 Quichua Songs : 249

1981 Latin American Studies Award of the Department of Latin American Studies
at Indiana University, Bloomington. The research was carried out under the
auspices of the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (Quito, Ecuador) and funded
in part by an Indiana University Latin American Fellowship, an Indiana University
Grant-In-Aid-of-Research, and a grant from the Indiana University Foundation.
2. Local usage calls for the pronunciation "upiushca"; elsewhere in the Oriente, one
might hear "upiashca."

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