Ethnoecology, Resource Use, Conservation And Development In A ...

save the life of the person so afflicted. Women are considered to be especially
vulnerable to this sort of attack during menstruation, when they are discouraged from
visiting the forest for fear that land camoudi spirits will seek them out and start their
attack. Some other animals are considered to share the land camoudi’s propensity for
this form of attack: over the course of the study, a single unidentified species each of
bird and lizard were indicated to me to have this property.
Two lexemes refer to apparently mythical forms of tigers: kodoi din (tapir
hunter) and namachi din (worakobra (Psophia crepitans) hunter). Leaving aside the
possibility that one or more species of felids unknown to science inhabit the more
remote forests of the Guyanese interior, descriptions of these creatures do not
correspond with those of any known species of animal. They do not, however, appear
to be conceptually distinguished from more familiar felids such as jaguars and pumas:
their names were generally incorporated into lists of animal names within the
category baudokoru, and appear to be regarded as equally real. No informant,
however, claimed to have seen one of these animals, the descriptions given being at
least second-hand, although many reported that they had encountered the effects of
their presence. Inhabitants of caves near the tops of certain mountains in both forest
and savannah, they make their presence felt in response to certain human activities in
the vicinity, in particular the cooking of pepper and, according to some, the presence
of menstruating women. On such occasions, they are heralded by sudden outbreaks
of highly intense wind, rain and thunder, following which, it is believed, they will
appear and devour the people should the latter neither have made their escape nor
blown in the appropriate way to subdue them. Similar dangers are raised by other
fantastic entities, including a dragon-like creature called wurapiroo, and a giant
known as ini, either or both of which may, according to some informants, exercise
control over the kodoi din, namachi din, and paashim. Informants in Maruranau
indicate that all of these entities are particularly common in many parts of the
Kanuku mountains, including their eastern extension towards the Rewa and Essequibo
rivers, and in many hills and mountains throughout the Rewa River system.
A similar phenomenon is reported to occur in certain deep pools in major rivers:
cooking with pepper at the side of these pools is reported to cause a similar tempest
within them. Such pools are under the protection of a guardian — referred to as the
pool's 'grandfather' by one informant — who appears to take the form of a cave-
dwelling aquatic tiger. In most major rivers there are distinctive rock formations
believed to have the potential to cause disease or other misfortune to those who
pass by them without saying appropriate prayers or leaving a suitable offering. I