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

although, as we have seen, this acknowledgement usually takes the form of stories about
impulsiveness gone bad. The child’s grandiosity is also preserved in the belief in the shaman’s
power to command game and to defeat the often stupid or ludicrous efforts of demons (cf. Roe
1982: 220-230), and in the belief in the magical responsibility of the maize planter for the health
of his maize.
Much of the time the Matsigenka present themselves, and accept others, in the light “I
am as I am and I do as I do.” We have seen this reflected in individual differences in planting
practices, small differences in manufacture that stamp artifacts with a personal signature,
enjoyment of crop diversity for its own sake (in housegardens), and intense respect for
individual ownership of artifacts, knowledge, and individual spaces. It is also evident in the hard
bargains they drive, and in the essential separateness of co-wives in the close orbit of their
hearths.
From an ecological standpoint, the tolerance of willfulness in childcare and the cultural
construction of integrity are simply aspects of family-centered individualism, which is rooted in
an emotional capacity to be alone and self-reliant in the small family group for much of one’s life.
Economic self-sufficiency, personal autonomy, and a real indifference to the opinions and
desires of others beyond the close family circle are adapted to the low-density, “competitive”
human ecology and help to perpetuate it. The challenge this presents to group living is seen in
the difficulty of coordinating multi-household cooperative ventures, and in hostility toward other
households and a desire to escape the crowded conditions of hamlets via dual residence.
From Not Good to Evil--. But the Matsigenka recognize that self-centered
impulsiveness represents not just a threat to the larger group, but to the family itself. They
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