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Mehinaku religion, as among the Mundurucu, is focused on the men's house in the center of the village. Inside is Kowka, the spirit of the sacred flutes. Any woman who sees the flutes is gang-raped by all of the men other than her closest kin. This punishment has not occurred for at least forty years among the Mehinaku, but the event and others like it in neighboring tribes live on as cautionary tales in contemporary oral cul- ture. Typically, the woman who sees the flutes does so through no fault of her own. In the most recent instance of gang rape, the flutes were being played in the center of the plaza when a woman blundered into the community. The subsequent events are described by a villager in his for- ties, one of the most politically astute and powerful of the Mehinaku men: The men whooped: "Hoooo waaaa! Kowka will have sex, Kowka will have sex, Kowka will have sex! It is not good that a woman has seen us. This is Kowka! A woman must not see Kowka! The Spirit might kill us if a woman saw Kowka and we did not have sex with her. We must have sex with her." "Later," said the chief, "when it is dark you all may have sex with her. That has always been our tradition. It is not good to have seen Kowka. Kowka is forbidden! The women may not see it! Only the men may see it, by themselves, without the women. Even little girls do not see the flutes." All of the women were saddened. They were not happy. "Alas for my vagina," said the woman [who had seen the flutes]. "I will be raped." Yes, she would be raped. Later the flutes would be played. The men were happy. They were waiting for her, for her vagina. The old men put medicine on their penises. Not the younger ones -- their penises were already erect and angry. The old ones put on kaipyalu [tiny stinging ants] to make their penises

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