“We help voters to assess their knowledge. The Adjutant General devises a set of questions on public affairs before each election so potential voters can test their knowledge. Everyone who wishes to vote is expected to take the test. The Adjutant General and his helpers grade the tests and give them back to the potential voters, who are encouraged to take the results to heart.”
“This is effective in getting some people to forego voting?”
“Yes, it works well in improving our electorate. A few people with low scores vote but the overwhelming majority don’t. Also, after each election, the Adjutant General publishes a list naming those who did not take the examination but voted anyway. This shames them into not doing it again.”
“That sounds like a literacy test,” offered Rick.
“The difference is that we do not disqualify voters based on their test results. We only discourage them from voting. The ultimate decision remains with the individual voter.”
“Why is an election held now? Did the Leader lose a vote of confidence?” asked Rick.
“We aren’t that British,” said John genially. “We hold our elections every three years, so our leaders are accountable to voters on a regular basis. The Adjutant General will soon announce a new campaign period that’ll last four weeks.”
“So you’ve only four weeks to decide?” Rick asked. “That seems a short period for a campaign.”
“We’ve found that our time frames work well if people are kept informed. Yours, on the other hand, seem interminable to us, if I can speak bluntly,”
“No offense taken, although I will say that it would be difficult for the United States to do it because of our large population. We don’t know our candidates as well as you do,”
“The smaller size of our society gives us some advantages, but remember that you have great communication systems at your disposal. You could quickly distribute political information to the public if you chose to do so. After all, if businessmen can quickly blanket the society with advertising messages, your politicians could blanket the society with political messages.”
“Good point. How did you decide on such a short period?” asked Rick.
“Not surprisingly, we had in mind the British system which, as you know, has much shorter campaigns than the United States.”
“I guess the candidates are already campaigning, but I haven’t heard any of it around the village.”
“Nor should you. No campaigning is permitted now, only during the designated four-week period. If candidates campaigned now, they would be shamed, which would hurt their chances of election.”
“Quite a difference from our system. I’m curious about the Council. What does it do besides elect the Leader?”
“The Council adopts the rules that govern our society, and it also selects the Adjutant General and the Judge.”
“I’ve heard of the Adjutant General…Ubervis is his name, right?”
“Yes.”
“What does he do?”
“He’s an important official but has limited powers. He calls elections and tabulates the results. He also writes and grades the tests that help prospective voters evaluate their knowledge of public affairs.”
“So he’s the administrator of the election system.”
“Yes, and that includes another important responsibility. Because our forebears concentrated a lot of power in the Council, they feared it might become a cabal that would govern the society to its own advantage rather than to the advantage of the broader society. As a check on the power of the Council, they created a special rule, which you have heard before: the informed electorate can overrule any action of the Council or the Leader but, to do so, at least 20 percent of them must petition the Adjutant General to hold a vote on whether to overrule. If at least 65 percent of the informed electorate vote to overrule the action, it is overruled. Thus, the Council and the Leader can make the tough decisions that are needed, even unpopular ones but, if they go too far astray, they can be overruled. If they are overruled three times within the term, a special election is called for a new Council or Leader, as the case may be.”
“You support the overrule option?”
“Yes, I do. Leaders may need to make decisions that are in the best interest of the group even though they know the decision will be unpopular. For example, villagers may need to be told to change their ways when they would prefer to hear how great and wise they are; or a common sense approach by villagers may be unwise if the best decision is counterintuitive or complicated. Leaders need latitude to tell the people the clear truth whether the people want to hear it or not. However, they shouldn’t have unlimited freedom, therefore the 65% overrule provisions.”
“Are those the only duties of the Adjutant General?”
“No, if there’s a dispute about whether the Leader, the Council, or the informed electorate should make a particular decision, the Adjutant General decides who should do it.”
“Aren’t there general guidelines for who decides without having to go to the Adjutant General?”
“Yes. Generally, we think it’s appropriate for administrative decisions to be made by the Leader, and rule-making decisions to be made by the Council, but sometimes, it’s unclear. In a few rare cases, the Adjutant General might refer fundamentally important questions directly to the informed electorate in a referendum. The power to determine who makes the decision is important because, obviously, it can determine the outcome.”
I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you—Nobody—Too?
Then there’s a pair of us?
Don’t tell! They’d advertise---you know!
Emily Dickinson
CHAPTER 29
The Adamamo
Rick got his pen and journal and walked the recreational fields just south of the main rectangle. He’d seen the fields regularly during his research and knew there would be lots of Euromamo using them. The village placed great importance on participatory athletics. There were four main areas and all of them were in use. On one field, two teams played soccer, but the teams on the other three fields played games that Rick had never seen. All seemed to be having fun, although there was a seriousness to the competition that many games have. Comfortable seats lined the fields, ample numbers for those who wanted to rest or watch, but there were no bleachers.
On his way back to his room, Rick encountered John, who told him about another trip to a neighboring group. Rick was impressed by how many meetings the Euromamo scheduled throughout the year to maintain their contacts with others.
“What group is it this time, John?”
“The Adamamo, and we go there. Usually, we travel to see them rather than alternate.”
“I haven’t heard much about them. What are they like?”
“Over the years, the Adamamo have become a notable group, but early on, they were unremarkable. They had a primitive economy built on primitive technology, and only a few trading partners, quite different from the Islamamo, for example, who were quite advanced. Nevertheless, our forebears maintained contacts with them because they believed they could learn something from everyone. If I may say so, the Adamamo learned a lot from us over the years. Throughout the nineteenth century, as we traded more with them, the Adamamo became intrigued by the profit that could be made buying and selling. More than any other group, the Adamamo wanted to discuss trade at our meetings and readily incorporated what they learned, even surpassing us in a few regards. Buying and selling they did, but not much manufacturing.”
“They sound like an interesting group,” said Rick.
“They are, but there’s more. As the Adamamo prospered, they devoted more of their energies to athletics. They developed elaborate games that required great speed, stamina, and skill. After they showed us their games, we gave them a try and they developed a following among us, particularly among our young males. Some even spent time in the Adamamo village to learn the finer points of their games. Other neighboring groups tried them as well, al
though it was the Adamamo who remained the most devoted to their games and produced the best players. Around 1920, the Adamamo began to put on games between their best players as entertainment, first for their own society but soon for nearby groups as well. As it now stands, these athletic entertainments have become the main reason for our visits, including the current visit. In my opinion, some of our people are too attached to seeing the Adamamo games, but other groups, most notably, the Spectamamo, are even more devoted to the games than we are, as you’ll see. On this visit, they’ll join us at the game.”
The next day, Rick noticed that many Euromamo wore armbands, some orange and some green, but no other colors. They shouted playfully at one another throughout the day and were in an upbeat mood. The day after that, a large Euromamo visiting party gathered outside the entertainment center, almost as many people as had visited the Soumamo. Rick noticed that they carried lots of filled bags, more than on previous visits, and it was not just the attendants of the Leader who carried them. Almost everyone did. As Rick scanned the gathering, he noticed that the Euromamo wearing orange armbands gathered together and those wearing green armbands gathered separately. He knew from his kinship research that the orange and green groups contained members of different families, so villagers weren’t picking colors based on family ties.
Rick asked John Eel Hunter, who was standing nearby, “What are the colored armbands about, John?”
“They’re important for almost everyone on this visit. Orange and green are the colors of the two Adamamo teams that’ll play at the game we’ll attend.”
Rick looked down at his drab gray T-shirt and felt left out. Not much time to ponder that as the group began to walk south-easterly along the trail to the Adamamo village. By late afternoon, after walking most of the day, they camped for the night, and had a good supper of preserved foods.
“They’ll be plenty of grilled foods at the game,” John assured him.
Everyone turned in soon after dinner. Rick zippered himself in his hammock as protection against the inevitable curiosity of insects and other fauna. The night was without rain, which was always a relief when sleeping outside. By late morning the next day, the Euromamo party arrived outside the Adamamo village. They didn’t enter, however, until they were informed that the other visiting group, the Spectamamo, was ready to enter the village.
“The Adamamo want us to make a simultaneous entrance with the Spectamamo. The run-ups to the games are quite elaborate,” John explained.
Although the Euromamo were festively attired, they paled in comparison to the Adamamo and the Spectamamo. The latter were fully clothed in either orange or green, with their hats, sandals, shirts, and ornamental feathers color coordinated. Some of the younger Spectamamo males had body paint the same color as their clothing. No Spectamamo wore both orange and green, except their Chief, whose tunic was painted half orange and half green. He sported an orange band on one arm and a green band on the other.
The Adamamo Chief stood tall in the middle of the reception party, beaming proudly from ear to ear. The reception party around him wore tunics of orange or green and matching hats. The orange Adamamo were on their Chief’s left, the greens on his right. Rick noticed that, in the background, two groups of Adamamo stood wearing either purple or light-blue armbands. When Rick asked John about it, he said they were players from two other Adamamo teams who would attend today’s game. At the Chief’s signal, three Adamamo, standing off to the side, played brass trumpets as a musical welcome.
“Where did they get the trumpets, John?” asked Rick.
“We brought them back from La Puerta and traded them to the Adamamo some time ago.”
“They seem to play them well enough,” commented Rick just before one of the trumpeters played a particularly unusual, grating passage.
“Their music is quite different from European music.” John added with a grin, “They haven’t heard Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto,” he chuckled.
The Adamamo Chief glanced at the trumpet players and they brought the welcoming tune to a close. The Chief then held out his arms toward the Spectamamo Chief, who walked forward, followed by sixteen attendants, each of whom carried a large bag. The Adamamo Chief remained in place to receive them.
“We are pleased to return to your village on this occasion to see the fine game you have arranged for our entertainment,” said the Spectamamo Chief while John quietly translated to Rick. “It should be an excellent contest between two superb teams. In appreciation of your sponsorship of these games and as an expression of our support for your athletes, we offer these few items.”
“Thank you, Chief and Dear Friend,” replied the Adamamo Chief. I assure you that it’ll be a great match today between the Orange Caimans and the Green Monkeys. I’m honored to receive your gifts.”
With that, the attendants to the Spectamamo Chief stepped forward and placed their large bags at the feet of the Adamamo Chief and his attendants. The Spectamamo Chief then stepped forward and presented an additional, smaller bag directly to the Adamamo Chief.
The Chief opened it, quickly peered inside, and smiled broadly, muttering, “Fine, very fine. Thank you. I appreciate your generosity and the spirit in which you offer these items.”
The Adamamo attendants opened the larger bags, looked inside and then glanced toward their Chief and nodded. The Adamamo Chief acknowledged each nod.
“It’s not just symbolic. They’re checking the value of the presents,” whispered John.
Several Spectamamo reached into their personal bags and removed gifts. Rick could see they were valuable; the Spectamamo had expended great effort to get them. They stepped forward to present these gifts to individual Adamamo men, standing tall in the back. It remained color-coded: orange to orange and green to green. The Spectamamo were giving away valuable stuff as a part of an admission ceremony for an athletic event. Rick hadn’t seen gift-giving on this level during his time in the rain forest.
“We’ll greatly enjoy these gifts,” said the Adamamo Chief in a resonant voice. “They’ll inspire us to provide more excellent games for you. We hope you’ll continue to visit us to watch our fine athletes in action.”
“What were these individual gifts about?” asked Rick, still amazed at what he saw.
“They presented gifts to their favorite athletes. The athletes hardly need the gifts as they’re well compensated by their society; however, it’s something the spectators want to do.”
At the end, young Adamamo women presented each Spectamamo gift-giver with a fiber plant headband brightly colored in either green or orange, matching the giver’s color. In contrast to the substantive gifts that the Spectamamo had just presented, the headbands were mere token gifts, but the thought was enough to please the Spectamamo.
Following the impressive presentations by the Spectamamo, the Adamamo Chief motioned the Euromamo Leader forward to present gifts on behalf of her group. The same procedure was followed, with the large bags of gifts placed before the Chief’s attendants, though in the case of the Euromamo, they presented six bags rather than sixteen. Then the Leader presented the Adamamo Chief his gift. Finally, individual Euromamo presented their gifts to individual Spectamamo athletes. The Adamamo Chief graciously expressed his pleasure at the gifts but without quite the enthusiasm he had displayed toward the Spectamamo gifts.
“They speak some English, it seems,” remarked Rick.
“Yes, some Adamamo learned to speak it to facilitate their exchanges with us.”
Once the presentations of gifts had been completed, the Adamamo Chief motioned to a dozen of his villagers to push forward carts containing snacks.
“You should try those,” said John Eel Hunter. “The meat on the sticks is spiced peccary tenderloin and the patties are caiman meat.”
“They sound good,” said Rick, surprising himself on how far his taste in food had expanded during his time in the rain forest.
“There’ll be other snacks later at the game. It’s a firmly held
custom that, when you take a snack, you should give the server a gift of equivalent value. Our scato is fine as a gift in this society because of a special arrangement we’ve worked out with them. Here, take some scato to exchange for food.”
“Thank you, John. That’s generous of you.”
Rick took a skewer of peccary meat, handed the server a scato and took a bite.
“Delicious,” he said.
Immediately, other servers came forward carrying beverages.
“Rain forest beer, like ours, except it’s less potent.”
“Maybe they don’t want spectators to become unruly at the games,” Rick speculated.
“That, and you have to exchange more scato to drink enough to feel the effect. Two scato is the established gift for a cup of brew.”
After about twenty minutes, a gong was sounded and the crowd got quiet.
The Adamamo Chief called out in a loud voice, first in Spectamamo and then in English, “Our guests and my fellow villagers, the game will begin in about forty-five minutes. Until then, feel free to get updated information on the athletes from our experts who are located on the raised platform over there…at the beginning of the path to the field. You’ll find them quite informative, I’m sure.”
Most of the guests drifted over to the platform so Rick decided to follow. John accompanied him. Behind a table under a fiber cloth awning sat five middle-aged Adamamo males, smiling broadly. Four of them were large and moved with the grace of former athletes while the fifth was smaller but had a resonant voice. He was the one who welcomed the gathering crowd and opened the discussion of the two teams who were to play later, not that the analysts needed much prodding to talk. They jumped in with strong opinions based on a lot of information. Obviously, they had prepared carefully for their role before the game. Their information was much more extensive and better organized than, for example, Rick could remember having received about the Social Security Trust Fund in the United States. He didn’t know why that occurred to him, but it was true. After about fifteen minutes, the analyst with the resonant voice interrupted the impassioned discussion and motioned to an attractive young Adamamo woman to come to the front and speak. She entered with mincing steps and a broad smile, carrying some woven hats. She extolled their virtues, saying they were the best in the region and had decorative bands of genuine, one-hundred-percent fiber plant material, made to last years.
The Blue Disc Page 35
