The Monkey’s Exploit
"The Monkey's Exploit" is a creation myth from the Acawoios people that explores the origins of the world and the relationships between humans and animals. The story begins with the ahkoo, or agouti, aiding the first humans, represented by a master figure, in planting trees, while Iwarreka, the brown monkey, avoids work and disrupts the others. Eventually, Iwarreka's selfishness leads to his downfall when he unwittingly releases a flood by removing a protective basket, resulting in a deluge that forces the animals to seek safety in trees and caves.
The myth serves as a vehicle for imparting values such as hard work, cooperation, and respect for leadership, contrasting the behavior of diligent animals with Iwarreka's laziness and selfishness. Moreover, it provides explanations for certain animal characteristics and behaviors, particularly of monkeys, drawing parallels to similar themes in other cultural narratives about mischievous primates, such as the Chinese monkey god Sun Wukong and the Hindu Hanumān. Ultimately, "The Monkey's Exploit" encapsulates tribal knowledge and moral lessons through its storytelling, emphasizing the importance of community and the consequences of one's actions.
The Monkey’s Exploit
Author: Traditional Acawoios
Time Period: 1001 CE–1500 CE
Country or Culture: South America
Genre: Myth
PLOT SUMMARY
The myth of “The Monkey’s Exploit” begins with a description of how the first tree is found by the animal known as the ahkoo, or the agouti, a small rodent. The animals help the first humans—represented by the master—to plant trees across the landscape, except for Iwarreka, the brown monkey, who refuses to work and instead torments the other animals as they attempt to complete their jobs. The master tells Iwarreka to go off and work on his own, fetching water from a stream.
After cutting down a large tree, the master notices swirling water within, containing a wealth of fish. These fish are later used to populate the rivers and streams of the world. The master then learns, after speaking to the well he has discovered, that the waters within are swelling and will soon cover the land in a flood. To protect the people, the master fashions a basket over the mouth of the well to prevent the swelling waters from enveloping the land.
Iwarreka comes upon the basket while he is again shirking his work and believes that the master has hidden fruits under the basket. When Iwarreka removes the basket to fetch the fruit, the monkey is swept away by a torrent of water and mud, and the land is flooded. The master leads the animals of the forest to a tall hill topped by cocorite trees, and he tells all the animals that can climb or fly to seek haven in the trees while the other animals take shelter in a nearby cave, located high on the hill. The birds are the first to reach safety, followed by the opossum and the coati, which have excellent climbing abilities. Next, the monkeys surround the master and attempt to reach the safety of the trees. The spider monkey, the squirrel monkey Sakuwinki, the red howler monkey Arowata, and the marmosets all reach the trees and are saved.
The fierce storm lasts for several days and is far more violent than any storm experienced by humans before or since. The master remains calm and patiently waits, dropping the seeds of the cocorite tree to judge the depth of the water by the sound of the falling seeds. When he determines that the water has receded, the master and the animals return to the ground and feast on the fruits of the breadfruit tree.
SIGNIFICANCE
“The Monkey’s Exploit” is one of several Acawoios myths relating to the formation of the world, and attempts to explain the physical characteristics of common landscape features, including the distribution of fruit trees and the presence of freshwater fish in the rivers and streams. Humankind is portrayed through a figure known as the master, who was the leader of a group of animals cooperating to build the world. The benefits of cooperation and adherence to assigned tasks, as imposed by a just and wise leader, are portrayed as the driving force behind the successful development of the landscape; this model is one of the primary functions of the myth. Creation myths of this type are often believed to have had a role in the transmission of essential values, such as the value of hard work and the benefits of following the example of those who have been chosen to lead.
While the other species in the story are content to follow the master’s leadership, Iwarreka shirks his responsibilities and torments the other animals. Iwarreka is utilized in the myth as a symbol of negative qualities that may be observed in humans, including laziness and selfishness. Iwarreka’s laziness causes him to avoid work, while his selfish desire to entertain himself makes the situation worse by urging him to interrupt the work of others. This depiction of Iwarreka may have been meant partially as a lesson to children, whose own desire to play and to avoid work sometimes causes them to interrupt the work of their parents or peers.
The result of Iwarreka’s selfishness is revealed when he attempts to steal fruit from the master and unwittingly releases the flood over the landscape. The full consequence of Iwarreka’s actions are not explained until the next part of the myth—called “mishaps”—which explains the physical and behavioral features of some of the common animals through their experiences during and after the flood. For instance, the marūdi, a kind of wild foul found in the bush, accidentally swallows a burning coal while foraging for ants; the marūdi has a red throat is attributed to his haste to feed and accidental ingestion of hot coals.
The brown monkeys, Iwarreka’s kin, were doomed to remain in a permanent state of fear, like that experienced by Iwarreka when he first released the flood. Iwarreka’s ancestors also shared with their progenitor the tendency to be curious, to the point of becoming a nuisance, and to steal unguarded food when they are able. The story of Iwarreka therefore provides a mythical explanation of some of the monkey’s core behavioral characteristics, including their opportunistic tendency to scavenge food and their nervous behavior as they try to avoid their numerous potential predators.
Like many myths involving wildlife, “The Monkey’s Exploit” utilizes the behaviors of the monkeys observed in the environment to tell a story that transmits core social values, while simultaneously recording the tribal knowledge of animal behavior in the form of oral myths about the period of creation. Many human cultures that shared their environment with monkey species were fascinated by the behavior of monkeys and integrated the animals into their mythology. “The Monkey’s Exploit” mirrors stories about the mischievous monkey god Sun Wukong in Chinese mythology and the Hindu monkey god Hanumān, both of whom were also portrayed as curious and mischievous figures. The popularity of monkeys in human myths may also be related to the similarities between humans and other primates, making monkeys of all kinds a source of fascination in many human societies.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brett, William Henry. “The Monkey’s Exploit.” Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal Indians of British Guiana. 2nd ed. London: Gardner, 1880. 127–30. Print.
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Forbes, Jack D. Africans and Native Americans: The Language of Race and the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples. Champaign: U of Illinois P, 1993. Print.
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Lewis, Ioan M. Social and Cultural Anthropology in Perspective. New Brunswick: Transaction, 2003. Print.