Stolen Masks

David Maybury-Lewis was fuming. He had just returned from a six-week absence to find that his collection of wamnhono had disappeared. “Where are my dance masks?” he demanded, referring to the collection he had spent weeks gathering for his doctoral work in anthropology. The masks were destined for museums back in Britain. Maybury-Lewis’s anger was only accentuated by his disdain for Warodi, the eldest son of the cacique in the A’uwẽ aldeia of Wedezé, and the man he suspected of stealing them. Looking back some years later, Maybury-Lewis recalled that Warodi “came into our hut and stood there with his chest chucked out like a pouter pigeon” before going “through the performance of fettering for something,” that obviously was nowhere to be found. When pressed again, Warodi “thought for a while. ‘The spirits must have taken them,’ he replied at last.” Incredulous, Maybury-Lewis wrote that Warodi himself had stolen the...