433 Chapter Seven Cosmos For the Matsigenka of Shimaa, kameti ...

As I worked in field and forest with various companions, however, a broad distinction
between three categories of plants took shape that I was later able to validate in systematic
interviewing. These are the categories of pankirintsi “crop,” tovaseri “weed,” and inchato
“tree.” While these terms are rarely given in answer to a question like “What is that?” or “What
is it called?,” they are readily applied to correct an erroneous statement. For example, if one
should point to a plant and say “Inti pankirintsi?” (“Is it a crop?”), the reply might come, “Tera,
inti tovaseri” (“No, it’s a weed”). These are the only high-order plant categories regularly used
by the Matsigenka in my experience.
Implicit in the three-part scheme is a dichotomy between wild and domestic, a reflection
of a Nature vs. Culture contrast present in many areas of Matsigenka culture. Pankirintsi (< -
panki-, to plant) are crops purposely planted in prepared garden sites. Tovaseri, the way the
word is most often used, are intruders into this constructed garden space, enemies that threaten
the garden and require the single largest input of energy of all garden tasks. Many tovaseri,
especially aggressive varieties that line trails and other frequently used spaces, have thorns,
thistles, burrs and other unpleasant attributes that annoy and cause pain. Tasorintsi created
many pankirintsi while Kentivakori created tovaseri.
The distinction between tovaseri and inchato is complex, but refers primarily to size.
Tovaseri are small plants, with flexible stems and growing no larger than small bushes. Inchato,
by contrast, are trees and large bushes with solid trunks, generally growing taller than a man. In
this regard, the Matsigenka would seem to conform to Brown’s (1977: 317) finding that in folk
botanical classifications the first two terms are always a term for tree and one for “small
herbaceous plant.” In many cases, however, tovaseri are simply the early growth stages of
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