The Great Journey

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[ One, two, three... and Many! ]

When I met Machigenga people, they didn't have names. "Isn't it inconvenient?" I asked. "It is not for us. But if you need them, give us names," they said. Raised in "shitamachi," the traditional lively area in Tokyo, I came up with names like "Tochan (Dad), "Kachan (Mom)" and so on. They first seemed to be confounded but gradually got used to them. They now even have Christian names!
It is not possible to know their exact ages. Three is the largest number they have. It goes "One, two, three, and many." The larger numbers became necessary when humans started to farm and raise livestock, thus storing the extra food. The act of storing extra food gradually led us to compare our wealth. The indigenous people in the innermost depths of this jungle do not store. What they need is immediately given by nature. The fact they cannot count more than 3 doesn't mean they are inferior but that they don't need these numbers.