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WHY WE ARE MONKEY BROTHERS PLAYING

The Taino and Maya sacred story cycles, the Amatl Turey and the Popol Vuh, both feature stories of  Hunbatz and Hunchuen, the sacred monkey twins. They are the patron deities for artists, writers and musicians, as well as the older brothers for the cultural hero twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque. These are the Monkey Brothers for which our project is named.

The following stories featuring Hunbatz and Hunchuen, as well as others relevant to Monkey Brothers Playing, are presented below for the reader's convenience. They are based on the 2001 translation and retelling of the Amatl Turey by Raymundo Wesley Rodriguez-Jackson, and the classic Adrian Recinos translation of the Popol Vuh.

THE  STORY OF HUNBATZ AND HUNCHUEN

Hunbatz and Hunchuen were the sons of Hun-Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu, two of the first experimental humans put on earth by the gods. Hun-Hunahpu and Vucub-Hunahpu play batey loudly attracting the Lords of Xibalba, the Underworld. They are sent for, and descend into Xibalba, where they are trapped, tortured, and defeated. They left behind their sons Hunbatz and Hunchuen on the surface with their grandparent, Yucahu.
After having been defeated and beheaded, the skull of Hun-Hunahpu was hung on a spiny calabash tree in Xibalba. Here a local xi'paal, Xiquic, encounters it, masturbates it to climax, and then he is impregnated. Xiquic is judged and attacked by his father, and is sent with centurion owls to be castrated and killed. Xiquic escapes to the surface, and goes to find Yucahu.
When Xiquic arrives, he must prove his story, that he carries the sons of Hun-Hunahpu. He passes the tests, and is accepted by the grandparent Yucahu, but not by Hunbatz and Hunchuen.
Hunahpu and Xbalanque are born, and Hunbatz and Hunchuen despise their younger brothers. They provide no help in raising their younger siblings, indeed, they actively antagonize them.
Years of this fraternal torture and strife continue, until Hunahpu and Xbalanque reach xi'paal stage. They then devise a plan to get even with their older siblings.. Hunahpu and Xbalanque return home without having a successful hunt, and weave a tale of a giant Cante tree that has endless birds in it. They had killed many birds with their blowguns, but couldn't get at them, the branches were so high up. The ask Hunbatz and Hunchuen for help the next morning.
next day, the four brothers go to the Cante tree, and it appears exactly as it was told. Hunahpu and Xbalanque shoot many birds, but they remain in the branches of the tree. Hunbatz and Hunchuen begin to climb the tree, to get the birds. As they climb, the Cante tree grows taller and taller, and gets wider and wider. Hunbatz and Hunchuen, former braggarts, are now scared, and yell down for help to their little brothers. Hunahpu and Xbalanque instruct their older brothers to undo their belts, and allow them to hang in the back like tails, so they can balance better. Hunbatz and Hunchuen do so, and are magically transformed into monkeys.
Hunahpu and Xbalanque then return home to tell their grandparent the bad news. Upon hearing it, the grandparent becomes quite upset, and then Hunahpu and Xbalanque offer to play their flutes to attract their older brothers back. Yucahu is warned not to laugh when Hunbatz and Hunchuen approach, as they will be driven off. They also tell Yucahu that they can only bring them back four times. Hunahpu and Xbalanque begin playing their flutes, and Hunbatz and Hunchuen approach, dancing. They are wrestling and tickling each other, and  being monkeys, they begin to masturbate and play erotically. Yucahu bursts out laughing, and the monkey brothers are driven off.
Hunahpu and Xbalanque are angry, but promise they will play their flutes until Hunbatz and Hunchuen return. They warn Yucahu they only have a limited number of times that they can do this. They begin playing their flutes, and once again Yucahu laughed, and drove them off.
Hunahpu and Xbalanque try a third time, with the same results- Yucahu laughs so hard he drives them away. Enraged, Hunahpu and Xbalanque try a fourth and final time, but Hunbatz and Hunchuen do not come back. Hunahpu and Xbalanque, in great despair and trepidation, go off into the woods to find their brothers. They found them, and stayed with them for some time, learning much about arts and music. Hunbatz and Hunchuen initiated them as men, so that when the younger brothers returned home, they were respected and self-actualized.

STORY OF THE CREATION

This is the Creation story as the Taino and Maya relate it.. Notice that it is masculine, erotic, and the creation is based in love, not in violence, pain, revenge, or chaos. What a nice change from the normal imperial power quests.

This is the record of how all was quiet; all was at rest in silence and calm, and the vaults of the sky were clear and empty.
There was neither man, nor monkey; no birds, fishes, turtles, crabs, forests, plants, hills or mountains. There were no stars, or planets; there were no stones or crystals, caves or ravines. There was only the vast expanse of the sky, and in that, the Hurukan, the Heart of Heaven.
There was nothing yet brought together, nothing existed. The only noise in the sky was the Hurukan, the Heart of Heaven.
In the Hurukan, the Heart of Heaven, there was nothing standing; only the calm water, the tranquil sea, alone and still.
There was only stillness and silence in this, the darkness of the cosmic night.
In the calm and tranquil sea of Hurukan, there was the Singular Creator, the Forefather; in the water, and surrounded by light. He was hidden from view, He was invisible, for He was hidden under a blanket of blue and green feathers, and he was therefore called Gucumatz, or Yukiyu.
By nature, he was a great thinker and sage. In this manner the sky existed, also the Heart of Heaven, the dwelling place of the Gods.
Then Yukiyu climaxed, and convulsed. His seed came together in the darkness, and formed the consciousness of Bayamanaco.
Yukiyu and Bayamanaco sat together in the darkness, in the dark night, and talked. They talked then, discussing and debating; They talked until They agreed, and They united Their words and thoughts.
Then, while They meditated, They knew then that dawn must break, and that men must appear. Then They planned the Creation, and how the surface of the Earth would rise from the waters, followed by the growth of trees and thickets, then the birth of animal life, and the first walking men. Thus it was arranged in the darkness, in the night by Those Two who were in Hurukan, the Heart of Heaven.
Then Yukiyu and Bayamanaco came together; and They loved so that there would be light and dawn, and to complete these thoughts of Creation.
They climaxed, and thus let it be done! "Qu'yx nohin-tah!!", They cried out, and so it was. In this way were the Earth and the worlds created; they were created in truth, in love, and in light.
Instantly was the Earth formed. Like a mist, like a cloud or fog, that was the Creation, when the mountains appeared from the water, and instantly the mountains rose up, and separated the waters. The currents of water were divided, and the rivulets ran freely between the hills.
Only by a miracle, by enchantment and love were the mountains and valleys formed; and instantly the groves of the trees and shrubs put forth shoots together on the face of the Earth.
At this the worlds were complete, and Bayamanaco was filled with joy. He exclaimed: "Your coming has been fruitful, Heart of Heaven; you the Glorious Hurukan!"
Yukiyu answered: "Our work. Our creation, shall now be finished by the Descendants, Heart of Earth!"
So it was that They made perfect the work, when They did it in love after thinking and meditating on it.

STORIES FEATURING HUNAHPU AND XBALANQUE

There are several major stories featuring Hunahpu and Xbalanque, the younger twin brothers of Hunbatz and Hunchuen, that are relevant to the discussion on this site. We shall start with a story cycle that occurs in the time of monsters, before modern man was introduced. Hunahpu and Xbalanque were put on Earth to prove that mankind could turn out right. All of the stories male the point: "It had not yet dawned".

THE 400 BOYS AND ZIPACNA

There was in this time of monsters a group of 400 xi'paals, who all lived and worked together. They were dear friends of Hunahpu and Xbalanque, in fact, they were referred to as their Guatiaos. The 400 boys meet the monster Zipacna by a river. Zipacna is the eldest son of the monster Vucub Caquix, whom Hunahpu and Xbalanque  have recently destroyed. The 400 boys ask Zipacna if he has a wife or mother. He responds no, and they then invite him to come live with them. He declines, but promises to assist them with their construction project the next day. Hunahpu and Xbalanque visit that night, and warn the boys of who Zipacna is, and what he is capable of. The 400 boys then decide to destroy Zipacna. Zipacna, however,overhears their plan, and devises one of his own. The next day, the boys ask Zipacna to dig a very deep hole for them, and he obliges. But, when he gets to a certain point, he digs a side tunnel so he may escape. The boys believe him to be way down,and hurl a huge log in after him, to crush Zipacna. Zipacna, however, is safe in his side tunnel. He sends ants up with some of his nails and skin, so the boys believe he is dead. The boys brew chicha beer to celebrate, and get drunk. When they go into their house to sleep, Zipacna rises to the surface,  and collapses their house in on top of them, killing them all.. Hunahpu and Xbalanque check in on the boys, and find them dead. They observe the proper mourning, and then seek out Zipacna to destroy him.
Hunahpu and Xbalanque find Zipacna near a river, looking for crabs to eat. The crabs are clearly referred to as non-males in this and several other stories. Zipacna is a gurrumiao, and eschews all other food and allegiances for crabs alone. Hunahpuand Xbalanque then create a crab out of stones and bromeliads, and lead Zipacna to it on the promise of filling his hunger. Zipacna  rushes into a ravine to get access to the crab. The crab, by enchantments, scuttles into a cave, and the only way Zipacna can reach it is by taking an obviously sexual position with it. He "tastes" the crab, lets out a sigh, and the roof of the cave crashes in on him, killing him.
Likewise, Zipacna's younger brother Cabracan is lured to his death by Hunahpu and Xbalanque. Cabracan is a destroyer of mountains (his name literally means "earth-shaker"), and the Hero Twins tell him of a large intact mountain. His foodstuffs are also unmasculine, as the boys eat only "birds they shot with puffs of air from their blowguns", and that they "pull the skin down over the head with", Cabracan is quite afraid by this. He wants to eat the birds the boys shoot, but was told he shouldn't. The boys continue eating birds in front of him, and Cabracan becomes aroused. They cook a bird covered in clay, and give it to him. Cabracan eats the clay-covered bird, and then goes to sleep, and is transformed into a mountain (Ilamatepec in El Salvador).
Both Zipacna and Cabracan were gurrumiaos, but their ends were different. Zipacna dies because o his addiction; Cabracan finds peace, and is transformed into what he really was by breaking his addiction.

In addition to Hunahpu and Xbalanque, there is an endless myriad of stories in Native American traditions that start with " the two boys/ brothers/ friends/ warriors, etc. went walking/ traveling/ adventuring, etc. together...". This is particularly true of the "R" and "K" Atlantic Sea-Stream cultures.
Many times, like Hunahpu and Xbalanque, they are twins, or at least close-in-age brothers. This story structure shows how fratrifocal social structure is prevalent in indigenous American cultures.

The "R" and the "K" Atlantic Sea-Stream peoples range from Northern South America, Central America, the Caribbean, up the North American Atlantic Seaboard (following the Gulf Stream, the Atlantic Sea-Stream in the name), past Nova Scotia, over past Greenland and Iceland, and over to Scandinavia and the Frisian coastline. All of these cultures have the following common earmarks:
-"R" and "K" phonemes in the language.
-"long-ship" type seagoing canoes/ boats.
- fish-shaped spear points.
- four brother gods who create and protect mankind.
- prominent phallic imagery.
- prominent owl, bat, and other such "underworld" imagery.
- widespread permanent stone construction without mortar.
- metallic, pronged fishhooks.
- historic and mythological "time before non-males" still clear and remembered.