and it always lasts the entire night. The añikuí tohé is much less frequently sung than the community-wide dances among the Savanna Pumé. Because the River Pumé version can be much shorter and is a daytime curing ceremony, it has more often been observed by ethnographers. The Savanna Pumé little sister tohé is always performed during an evening when the community tohé is held. Savanna Pumé women singing the añikuí tohé sing continuously for 11 hours with no break from the performance. They may smoke tobacco during the evening from their hammocks, but not as prodigiously as the leader of the community dances. No musical instrument is used by women during their singing of the rhythmically and melodically complex little sister tohé song cycles. The purpose of the añikuí tohé appears to be similar to the stated reasons for the community wide tohé, for curing, and for personal insight into current issues or problems affecting the community, the singer, or her family. The practice of the añikuí tohé demonstrates the importance of women in Pumé society and remains an important cultural element of the Savanna and River Pumé. The Pumé have a number of effective plant-based medicines that are used in treating a range of illnesses and minor traumas. They make unguents that aid in the healing of cuts, other wounds, and skin irritations, and prepare other medicines for pain, snakebite, and other maladies. Other medicinal chants, touching, and the commonly observed "sucking-cure" may offer psychological help for minor ailments and normal fluctuations in mood. Community support for ill or distressed individuals likewise may be a rational and effective means of promoting health and psychological healing. All Pumé are aware of the efficacy of western medicines and desire greater access to them. See also Puana, a goddess in Yaruro mythology. Outside pressures The Pumé have had contact with Europeans since at least the 17th century. The greatest amount of contact has been among River Pumé communities because they are located on the primary transportation routes within the llanos. Early missionary work and subsequent development has resulted in dramatic changes among groups nearest to population centers of non-Pumé. The lack of significant economic development in much of this region has left most Pumé communities minimally affected by some of the rapid changes affecting traditional populations in other parts of Venezuela and throughout the world. This is especially true of Savanna Pumé