divisions between Rikbaktsa subgroups, which is influential in determining the distance of villages from their neighbors. While there were serious pre-contact rivalries between Rikbaktsa of various rivers, their present-day struggle for survival has encouraged group cohesion as well as, on occasion, alliances with other indigenous societies. Traditionally, the Rikbaktsa have had no chiefs, and each domestic group theoretically is its own political unit. (Centralized leadership structures imposed on the Rikbaktsa by missionaries were unsuccessful.) Without centralized leadership, social control is maintained primarily through gossip, ostracism, and social avoidance. Despite the lack of official leaders, there are influential community members that shape others' behavior beyond the confines of their houses or villages. Such leaders have often been those with great personal capacities as well as those with many relatives. In recent years, young men who are familiar with Western society and have responded well to contact have also been influential. Social organization Beliefs and culture Oral story-telling and myth are important to the Rikbaktsa. The Rikbaktsa believe in reincarnation, and that future incarnations are dependent on the life one led. The virtuous may be reincarnated as human beings or night monkeys (which are never hunted by the Rikbaktsa), while the villainous are reincarnated as dangerous animals like jaguars or poisonous snakes. However, the Rikbaktsa believe that all organisms were once human and that they were transformed into animals for good. Sickness is seen as resulting from the breaking of taboos, from spells, or from poisoning by enemies. Rikbaktsa traditional medicine uses plant matter and ritual purification. For the Rikbaktsa, music, rituals, and traditional dress have served as a unifying element in the face of contact with the outside world. Hunting, fishing, gathering, and agriculture are ritualized with ceremonies throughout the year. The two largest ceremonies are the January green maize ceremony and the May forest-clearing ceremony. Ceremonies often involve body paint, feather ornaments, flute-playing of traditional songs, and the performance of mythical stories and recent fights. Rites of passage Men Boys are given their "child" name at birth. Starting when he is between three and five years old, he starts hunting with his father and being taught about hunting, animals, and local geography. By age eight or ten, boys can make and use their own bow and arrows. Once a boy has mastered the bow and arrow, at age eleven or twelve, his nose is pierced during the ceremony of the