On Becoming a Yanesha’ Woman: The Ponapnora Puberty Ritual and Cultural Transmission

Yanesha' women completing the ponapnora ritual (Source: Anna Luisa Daigneault)

 

Previously on the blog the topic of rites of passage were discussed.  Rites of passage are rituals that enable individuals to move from one socially defined state into another, and they exist in various cultures across the globe.  Today’s blog post will discuss a specific rite of passage specific the to Yanesha’ culture of central Peru: the ponapnora puberty ritual.  This rite of passage serves as a means of redefining a female from being a juvenile girl but now an adult woman acts, as well as acts as an important vehicle of cultural transmission that allows for the passage of cultural knowledge, heritage, and language to women in the society.

 

The ponapnora is a puberty ritual practiced by the Yanesha’ indigenous group who resides in the Amazonian rainforests (east of the Andes) in central Peru.  The ponapnora has undergone various changes over the generations, the most rapid of which have occurred in the last few decades (a result of both forced and voluntarily cultural assimilation among the Yanesha’).  The practice begins when a girl informs her mother or other female relative that she has started her first period.  She is immediately whisked away and isolated to a leaf-walled hut.  Traditionally, the girl, who is considered in transition (or existing in her liminal state), would remain isolated from anywhere from two to six months, but more recently girls opt to remain sequestered for a couple of weeks to a month.  This is in large part due to external pressures from local schools who fear girls falling behind due to missing so much schooling, as well as girls not wanting to be away from their friends and leisure activities. 

 

During the time the girls are separated from their everyday lives they are attended to by various older female relatives and important members of the group.  The girls undergo specific rituals associated with their transformative process.  They have strict dietary restrictions, fasting for extended periods wherein they can only consume water, herbal teas, and unsalted manioc root.  These fasting rituals are actually very similar to the fasting diets and cleanses that various Americans undertake, and the purposes are actually very similar between Americans and the Yanesha’: both groups believe the rituals improve health and wellness.  One of the big differences with the Yanesha’ traditions is that the girls eat specific medicinal plants in order to encourage both physical strength and vitality.  There also exists a belief that the consumption of certain plants will encourage specific physical transformations that girls wish to have upon becoming mature adult women.  The girls will request specific physical features, and their mothers and female attendants will procure and serve the appropriate medicinal plants to promote such features. 

 

Sequestered Yanesha’ girls also undergo various other rituals, including ritual bathing and receive education specific to their new adult, feminine roles.  Their education includes some sex education, but it is more focused on teaching the girls about ritual roles they will now be responsible for.  These are often specific to the girls’ lineage, meaning they may concentrate on learning ritual weaving and sewing methods or the lyrics to ritual songs and how to sing them (the latter of which is important in preserving their language).  They also learn about the local flora (plants) of the forest and how they can be used for specific medicinal or nutritional purposes, which are fiercely protected secrets among the Yanesha’.  Consistent across the curriculum, however, is the transmission of cultural knowledge, history, and language.  In this way the ponapnora puberty ritual is an important part of passing along culture to Yanesha’ girls and women.

 

Upon the completion of the ritual transformation, which is viewed as a necessary purification of the girl as she transitions to womanhood, she emerges from the hut by literally tearing down the walls.  She is assisted in this by her female attendants, who collectively emerge from the destroyed hut wearing ritual clothing.  Their bodies are also painted with intricate patterns and designs, which are meant to demonstrate the spiritual importance of the process.  The ponapnora woman, as she is now referred to, also dons a face veil/covering.  This is to protect her from making eye contact with anyone upon leaving the hut and completing the transition ceremony.  It is believed that all the knowledge and strength that was given to her and that she earned over her period of isolation will be lost upon making eye contact with others. 

 

The women then begin some of their feminine roles by serving members of their village a large feast, which includes various delicacies and manioc beer.  The women will also be responsible for acquiring more food as the festivities continue.  To deter anyone from going to sleep after the long transition period of fasting and heavy consumption of food mock fighting, dancing, singing, and the playing of musical instruments will also commence.  The Yanesha’ believe that anyone who rests during the closing portion of the ritual risks being possessed by malicious spirits that will inflict a lifetime of laziness on them. 

 

Ultimately, the purpose of the ponapnora ritual is to act as a rite of passage to celebrate a girl’s transition to womanhood, while also providing her the necessary time and space to learn the cultural knowledge required to be a successful Yanesha’ woman.  Life in the Amazon is hard and learning how to withstand hardship is key to survival for the individual and the Yanesha’ as a whole.  She also learns about her family history and heritage, which encourages the passing on of important cultural knowledge and history that is not written down but only orally communicated throughout the generations.  Without the ponapnora puberty ritual Yanesha’ culture is at risk of being lost, which is a tragedy not only for the Yansha’ but people around the globe.  The knowledge they have concerning the Amazon rainforest could be integral to its preservation, and ultimately the loss of cultural diversity is a misfortune as diverse ideas and ways of doing things supports creativity in understanding the world and solving problems common among all societies.

 

Works Cited

Daigneault, Anna Luisa. An Ethnolinguistic Study of the Yanesha’ (Amuesha) Language and Speech Community in. Montreal: Université de Montréal, 2009. Print.

—. "Witnessing an Endangered Puberty Ritual." 2 July 2019. Sapiens. Electronic. 4 January 2023.

Pacheo, Nadesca, et al. "Yánesha Women and Their Roles in Forest Management." Foundation, Tebtebba. Indigenous Women, Climate Change and Forests. Baguio City: Tebtebba Foundation, 2011. 207-246. Print.

 

 

What the World’s Oldest Anthropogenic Pregnant Mummy Tells Us…

CT scanning of the anthropogenic pregnant mummy (Source: Warsaw Mummy Project)

 

 

A great deal of study has been and continues to be done on mummified remains of both animals and humans.  The study of preserved human remains and tissues provides a wealth of information, ranging from mortuary practices, cultural values, and even health and medicine-both in the past and present.  Today’s blog post addresses how the discovery of the world’s oldest anthropogenic pregnant mummy provides us new information about better understanding the past and resolving contemporary issues.

 

In 2021 a team of Polish researchers from the Warsaw Mummy Project announced that they had made a remarkable discovery.  They had begun a massive research study of the mummies in the custody of the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland.  Their goal was to employ non-invasive techniques, principally CT scanning, to document, image, and better study mummies.  One of the mummies they studied had been stolen from Egypt in the early 1800s, which was common at that time due to the illicit antiquities market that led to the theft and removal of various Egyptian mummies and artifacts, and the CT scans provided a great deal of insights about the mummy and the sarcophagus. 

 

First, they realized that the mummy was a female, not a male as originally believed based on information detailed on her associated sarcophagus.  The sarcophagus identified the interred mummy was that of a high ranking male, possibly a priest.  The sarcophagus mix up may have been a result of the common practices in the 19^th century for illicit antiquities dealers to remove mummies from their original sarcophagi.  The mummies would often be unwrapped and their burial items stolen, leading to an empty sarcophagus that needed a mummy to complete it.  Alternatively, antiquities dealers who discovered a mummy in poor condition would dump and replace it with a more complete one.  The mummified female’s association with a sarcophagus of a high ranking male suggests that she may have been a victim of the illegal activities that were rampant at that time.  The CT scans, however, did demonstrate that she, too, was of a high rank based on the presence of various ornaments that were contained within her wrappings.  This suggested that she may have been intentionally placed in the sarcophagus by the morticians as it would sometimes happen if a more appropriate sarcophagus was unavailable.

 

The CT scans also confirmed that the timing of the sarcophagus and the mummy were probably contemporaneous, dating to the first century B.C.  This conclusion was reached based on the detailed scans that illustrated how she had been mummified.  The treatment of the body and the arrangement of her limbs demonstrated that she was most likely mummified around the same time the sarcophagus was built. 

 

What was more interesting, however, was a historic discovery.  The CT scans revealed that within the mummy’s uterus was a 26-30 week old fetus, making this the first discovery of its kind: a pregnant anthropogenic mummy.  The fetus had been damaged postmortem, a likely result of postmortem damage to its mother, and there was no other evidence to suggest that the fetus was manipulated by the embalmers at the time of its mother’s mummification.  This caused the researchers to speculate as to reasons for this, which they hypothesized may have to do with the cultural values of the time.  A fetus most likely would not have a name, and a name was an important part of being allowed entrance into the afterlife.  Without a name and appropriate mummification a deceased individual would not have an afterlife, so the embalmers may have made an intentional choice to leave the fetus in the uterus to allow it to be able to accompany its mother into her afterlife.  It may also have been that the embalmers were unaware of the deceased woman’s pregnancy and therefore did not intervene.  At this time the lack of manipulation of the fetus is encouraging further study into Egyptian views of life, childhood, and pregnancy.

 

A follow up report a year later by the Warsaw Mummy Project team provided even more exciting information about the mummy.  It turned out that further study of the CT scans of her head demonstrated her cause of death: nasopharyngeal cancer.  This cancer, which originated either in the nose or throat, was what caused her death, leading the investigators to desire to perform minimally invasive extractions of the cancerous tissues.  The reason for this is to allow modern researchers the opportunity to study cancer in antiquity, thereby allowing them to better understand cancer.  By understanding ancient cancerous growths there may be new avenues of discovering cures or ways of stopping cancer before it starts.  This makes the tragic death of this mummy and her child worthwhile as it can potentially save the lives of people who are living today.

 

Bibliography

Ejsmond, W., Ozarek-Szilke, M., Jaworski, M., & Szilke, S. (2021). A pregnant ancient Egyptian mummy from the 1st century B.C. Journal of Archaeological Science, 1-8.

Ejsmond, W., Ozarek-Szilke, M., Jaworski, M., Szilke, S., & Jaroszewska, K. (2022). Further evidence to confirm the ‘pregnant mummy’: A reply to. Journal of Archaeological Sciences.

Warsaw Mummy Project. (2022, July 12). Possible cause of death of the Pregnant Mummy. Retrieved from Warsaw Mummy Project Blog: https://blog.warsawmummyproject.com/possible-cause-of-death-of-the-pregnant-mummy

Yirka, B. (2022). Pickled fetus found inside ancient Egyptian. Phys.org, 1-4.