Tsantsa (shrunken Head) Shuar - Equator

Tsantsa (Shrunken head) Few objects from non-Western cultures have aroused as much disdain and wonder as the reduced heads (called “tsantsa”) of the Shuar Indians of Ecuador. Once a symbol of the alleged cruelty of so-called “primitive” ethnic groups, the tsantsa is the product of a series of ingenious taxidermy operations extending over more than a week. According to Michael J. Harner, who describes the process in the monograph “The Jivaro, People of the Sacred Waterfalls” (1972), the production of the tsantsa is a protection rite. Because in the context of intertribal wars, it is important to ward off the danger emanating from the muisak (vengeful soul) of the warrior who died in battle by confining it inside the head – hence the closed mouth. Later, the anthropologist Anne-Christine Taylor (1985) highlighted the importance of the rites which follow the homicide and the production of the tsantsa: the soul of the enemy who died in combat is not only appeased by the ritual songs of the women of the village, she is invited to join the group of her murderer who is first expelled then reinstated in his human status. According to the former owner, this tsantsa was collected in situ in Ecuador in 1959 before joining the collection of a Swedish painter. The head measures approximately 12cm in height and 8cm in width, with hair extending over 60cm. She has earrings made of beetle feathers and elytra. The mouth was closed using plant fiber threads, which would have been cut later. The interior is filled with padding wadding.

REGION: Shuar, Ecuador
MATERIAL: skin, hair, feathers, beetle elytra, plant fiber threads
TIME: 19th or early 20th century
DIMENSION: 28 x 18 cm (length 60 cm with hair)