Shoma Wetsa

Shoma Wetsa, the old woman of the Ninwavo section, is the cannibal ancestress whose story the Marubo tell to account for the origin of white people. Her flesh is iron, impervious to every blow, and her urine, made fatty by the humans she has consumed, burns like oil; she devours her own children and, one after another, the newborn grandchildren her daughter-in-law bears. Only her son Rane Topne, sheltered by his father, survives, and only fire can undo her — he at last burns her in the maloca, where jaguars and other night creatures gather, for the myth identifies her with the jaguar and its hunger for human flesh. Her death does not end her: her spirit returns with the shades of those she ate, and when the forbidden word for the civilized is spoken they withdraw and are transformed. Sources record that her right side inclines toward the pre-existing Inca while her left side gives rise to the whites, so that the newcomers enter the world already ranked below.

Children

• Rane Topne

Domains

• colonial origins
• cannibalism

Powers

• devours her own children and grandchildren
• bears a body of iron vulnerable only to fire
• gives rise to the whites and the Inca

Epithets

• a velha de ferro — the old woman of ironMelatti, J. C. 1985. A origem dos brancos no mito de Shoma Wetsa. Anuário Antropológico 84. Brasília: Editora UnB. (primary)

Relations

• spouse: Noin Namesh KoaMelatti, J. C. 1985. A origem dos brancos no mito de Shoma Wetsa. Anuário Antropológico 84. Brasília: Editora UnB. (primary)
• parent: Rane TopneMelatti, J. C. 1985. A origem dos brancos no mito de Shoma Wetsa. Anuário Antropológico 84. Brasília: Editora UnB. (primary)
• enemy: Rane TopneHer surviving son at last contrives to burn her.Melatti, J. C. 1985. A origem dos brancos no mito de Shoma Wetsa. Anuário Antropológico 84. Brasília: Editora UnB. (primary)

Sources

• Shoma Wetsa, of the Ninwavo section, is a cannibal grandmother of iron who devours her descendants and fears only fire; her fiery death gives origin to the whites and the Inca.: Melatti, J. C. 1985. A origem dos brancos no mito de Shoma Wetsa. Anuário Antropológico 84. Brasília: Editora UnB. (primary)
• The spirit of Shoma Wetsa's right side turns toward the pre-existing Inca while her left side engenders the whites, placing them in an inferior position.: Melatti, J. C. 1985. A origem dos brancos no mito de Shoma Wetsa. Anuário Antropológico 84. Brasília: Editora UnB. (primary)