Keep My Words

The Shuar people of Ecuador believed that when one of their people died, the individual’s death was probably the result of the sorcery of his enemies in the neighboring Achuar village.

Once the killer’s identity was determined by a shaman under the influence of a hallucinogenic drink, a family member of the victim would hunt down the enemy, kill him, and perform a tsantsa (head-shrinking) ceremony. But these were not trophies of war for the Shuar people – they believed that the enemy’s spirit could be trapped inside of the tsantsa preventing the soul from avenging its death.

A few months ago at the Mütter Museum in Philly, Andrea observed that the tsantsa on display had very nice hair. I also have very nice hair. It is with this consideration, along with my current financial state, that has led me to consider selling my head after my body’s natural death to someone wishing to partake in the process of head-shrinking.

Below are instructions on how to make your very own tsantsa, although I urge you not to seek out the head of your enemy, as this would be frowned upon in most places.

Supplies:

a human head
a scalpel
a needle and fine thread
pins (straight or safety)
a butter knife
a boiling pot
stones
sand
a machete
decorative, thick string (for the final sealing of the lips)

Instructions:

1. Make an incision on the back of the neck, and carefully cut up the rear of the head, allowing the skin to be peeled from the skull.  Delicately remove the skull and discard it.
2. Sew the eyes shut with a fine fiber.  Skewer the lips shut with pins.
3. Remove any fat from the inside flesh of the head with a butter knife.
4. Using a boiling pot, simmer the skin for approximately an hour.  (If you leave it on for any longer, the hair may fall out.)
5. Once removed from the pot, the head should be dark and rubbery and approximately 1/3 of its original size.  After allowing it to dry in the sun, turn the skin inside out and scrape off any adhering flesh with the knife.
6. Turn the head right side out again, and sew the slit in the back together.  What remains should be similar in texture to an empty rubber glove.
7. Heat up some stones.  To further shrink the head and to burn off any excess fat inside, drop the hot stones into the neck one at time while constantly rotating them to prevent scorching.
8. When the head becomes too small for the stones to be rolled around in it, heat up some sand and work with it as you did with the stones, making sure to get the crevices of the nose and ears where the stones were too small to reach.
9. Massage the skin to help with drying and to mold it back into a head-shape.
10. Repeat this process until the head is about a quarter of its original size.  (This can take up to six days.)
11. Apply hot stones to the exterior of the face to seal the shape and features.  Hang the finished product over a fire to harden.  Heat a machete and touch it to the lips to fully dry them.
12. Once hardened, remove the pins from the lips and replace them with dangling string of your choice.  You may now decorate the head and style the hair as you wish.

If you are interested in making an offer to purchase my head, please contact me.  I have no worries about the trapping of my spirit, as I believe she resides in my sock drawer.  However she does take monthly visits to the shoe containers under my bed to see what’s new.  (My spirit loves a great pair of shoes.)

Tsantsa (shrunken head) (above)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Pictures, Words. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.