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

her family. Kashiri reminds her twice that she was not supposed to look. Now she swells up
with a baby that will kill her, a frequent theme in demon stories. In fact, in the version of this tale
collected by Shepard (1989), her belly swells with a great many snakes, much like the episode
in Narani (Chapter 4) where the woman’s belly swells with hundreds of baby birds.
The major clash of wills occurs when the mother, furious that her daughter has died,
commands Kashiri to eat the dead girl’s flesh, rather than follow his order to carry her body to
the far side of the garden, where two women with babies in slings will arrive. Later, he explains
to her that it was her fault he ate her daughter--it was her anger that caused all the trouble. Had
she not behaved badly, women would not die today in childbirth:
Matsigenkas, remembering these episodes, criticize that bad mother-in-law, for, had she not offended
her son-in-law Kashiri, the miracle of resurrection he would have performed on his wife’s body would
have been extended for all time to all women. That is to say, he would have had the power or custom of
reviving women who died in childbirth. (F. Periera 1942: 243)
Furthermore, thenceforth humankind would be denied access to the biggest and best
manioc, and would face the threat of personal annihilation if caught in Kashiri’s trap en route to
the afterlife. The relationship between masculine potency and women’s death in childbirth, the
dangerous consequences of anger, and the suffering that comes from disobedience to powerful
individuals are all evident in this tale.
Kamagarini, “death-cause-ones,” also known as “rotten,” ivegaga (m.)/ovegaga (f.), are
in a way the negations of the unseen ones to be discussed below. Kamagarini are invisible
beings, often spirit rulers, who are capable of taking human form in order to obtain what
they want from living people. Many illnesses are “personalized” as evil spirits who hunt
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