Abstract Cognitive and evolutionary research has focused on the powerful deities of large-scale societies, yet little work has examined the smaller gods of animist traditions. In a study of the water spirit Sikameinan of the Mentawai people (Siberut Island, Indonesia), we address three questions: (1) Are smaller gods believed to enforce cooperation, especially compared to bigger gods in larger-scale societies? (2) Do beliefs in these deities encourage people to engage in behavior otherwise perceived as costly? and (3) Does ritual reinforce beliefs in these deities? Drawing on interview responses, data from healing ceremonies, and ethnographic observation, we show that Sikameinan is believed to punish people who violate meat-sharing norms and that people ‘attacked’ by Sikameinan pay shamans to conduct healing rituals. The public nature of rituals, involving prestigious individuals apologizing to Sikameinan for the patient's stinginess, reinforce onlookers' beliefs about Sikameinan. The most widely shared beliefs about Sikameinan are represented in rituals while beliefs not represented vary considerably, indicating that ritual may be potent for cultural transmission. These results suggest that moralizing supernatural punishers may be more common than suspected and that the trend in the cultural evolution of religion has been an expansion of deities' scope, powers, and monitoring abilities.

中文翻译：

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小神、仪式与合作：明打威水灵Sikameinan

摘要 认知和进化研究集中在大规模社会的强大神灵上，但很少有研究考察万物有灵论传统中的小神灵。在对明打威人（印度尼西亚西伯鲁岛）的水灵 Sikameinan 的研究中，我们解决了三个问题：（1）是否相信较小的神会加强合作，尤其是与大规模社会中的大神相比？(2) 对这些神灵的信仰是否鼓励人们从事原本被认为代价高昂的行为？(3) 仪式是否强化了对这些神灵的信仰？利用采访回复、治疗仪式的数据和人种学观察，我们表明 Sikameinan 被认为会惩罚违反肉类共享规范的人，而 Sikameinan “攻击”的人会花钱请萨满进行治疗仪式。仪式的公共性，包括有声望的人为患者的吝啬向 Sikameinan 道歉，强化了旁观者对 Sikameinan 的信念。关于 Sikameinan 的最广泛共享的信仰体现在仪式中，而没有体现的信仰差异很大，表明仪式可能对文化传播有效。这些结果表明，道德化超自然惩罚者可能比怀疑的更为普遍，宗教文化演变的趋势是神灵的范围、权力和监控能力的扩大。表明仪式可能对文化传播有效。这些结果表明，道德化超自然惩罚者可能比怀疑的更为普遍，宗教文化演变的趋势是神灵的范围、权力和监控能力的扩大。表明仪式可能对文化传播有效。这些结果表明，道德化超自然惩罚者可能比怀疑的更为普遍，宗教文化演变的趋势是神灵的范围、权力和监控能力的扩大。