The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-01-19


balism is not practiced In the Chaco.
the people have many stories about
it, which may be only invented. But
it is quite possible that they are the
result of a lo~ng-forgotten habit. These
cannibals are supposed to be located
in the far West, and in that direction
among a people of Guarani descent,
such practices were evidently in
vogue" The most prevalent crime
among the Lengua-Mascoy Gone of the
Paraguay tribes) is that of infanticide,
which they do not rank in the same
category as the murder of a grown
child or adult, and this evil is so gen.
eral, that the very existence of the
race is endangered. There are many
reasons for infanticide. The strongest
incentive to the crime is the difficulty
of %nurturing and bringing up a young
family under the most ~unfavorable
conditions, especially the shortage of
food.
Another feature of heathenism,
found among the Lengua-Mascoy In
dams, which is apt to strike one at
first sight as extremely cruel, and in
dicative of a total lack of natural af-
lection, is the habit of Fastening the
death of the aged and the victims of
a serious accident or sickness. So
long as there is any probable hope of
recovery, the patient is kindly treated
and attended to, but their attitude to
these unfortunateS at once changes
when they realize that their efforts are
in vain. Then they hasten death by
starvation and neglect, sometimes even
by violence, and wilful, premature
burial is by no means an m
occurrence.
In Bolivia there are even today a
great number of distinct tribes of In
dians. The two most prominent fam
lilies are the Quetchuas and the Aim
araes. Having lived several years in
Bolivia, it was my joy to establish
araes. The Quetchuas belonged to the
four original tribes which unitedly
composed the Inca empire.
The proud Aimara, once considering
himself the lord of the eternal noun
tains, is now n shy and crushed serv-
ant. He evades the white man who
so treacherously treated his fore
hears in the days of the Atahualpa, the
Croesus of his time. With the Span
ish political yoke the religion of the
cOnquerors was enforced upon all ma
tives. Many of them little cared
whether one Image, that of the sun or
moon, oil another, that of the cross
OF of the mother of heaven" adorned
their temples or ~surmounted the hills.
c%annibaIs of Bolivia.
There are 25 more major tribes of
Indians in Bolivia. On the official
maps used in the Bolivian schools,
drawn by DR.. Dan Bustamante, all
these are called ~'salvajes" or savages.
Some of these, as the GuanaS who are
bordering on Paraguay, or the Cha
caros of the East Indies, are still can
nlbals. No one knows their language,
and they hide in the marshes or climb
into the trees at the approach of the
white nan Lucky, indeed, the for
eigner who, having been saved from
their poisoned arrows, has been permit
ted to reach the outer border of their
domains.
l little wonder at the wild heather
rites and orgies after having seen sew.
eral of the festivities and pagan dances
performed by the sO-called Christian
Indians in Bolivia. These dances took
place during one of their church festi.
walls.
I saw them gather for the dance
sewed into the skins of the alpaca
Initiating bears, or wearing masks rep
resenting lions or rats. This consist
ed of stepping slowly to the weirC
! sound of bamboo flutes, meanwhile de
, %scribing large circles. Suddenly they
! stop at the sign of their leader, turf
: about and retrace in dancing step thu
circle just marked. At another sig
: nal they stop, altogether, when theil
; squaws regale them with small til
cups filed with diluted raw alcohol
manufactured from sugarcane. In I,
few minutes dancing is resumed, ant
some of the men kept this up for fort!
or fOrty-eight hours, when they fell Ii
. death-like stupor to the ground. The,
!, never took OFF their masks or fame,
dresses during all this time, and evel
I slept out their debauch In the attlr
: Of their orgies.