Paleoindian Were-Jaguar Core?

Olmec Were-Jaguars.

Jaguar in anthropomorhic attack pose. Oaxaca, Mexico.

Jaguar in anthtopomorphic attack pose. Santa Cruz, Argentina.

Jaguar wearing a conical cap. Texas, USA.

“The excavations at the important Heartland site La Venta revealed that elite burials were covered with a coating of red cinnabar. Moreover, excavations conducted by David Grove at Chalcatzingo showed that red pigment differentiated the graves of elite individuals from those of less exalted status. This would suggest that these objects were at one time located in tombs of the Formative period elite and that were-jaguar transformation was a magical ability reserved to the elite. The elite context also tends to support a hypothesis of Michael Coe, who, in attempting to reconstruct Olmec religion, determined "that the main point of [Olmec] theogony was to confirm royal power" and that shaman-jaguar transformation played a large part, not only in the religion, but also in the confirmation of "royal power."” 

― F. Kent Reilly III

“Reichel-Dolmatoff (1975) has described a shaman-jaguar complex found among many indigenous groups of Central and South America, and in particular among those of Colombia. The central characteristic of this complex is the association of shamans with jaguars and the belief that shamans have the power to transform into jaguars. Through an extensive review of archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnological literature of Colombia, he documents this association among highland groups such as the ancient Muisca (Chibcha), and among the living Paez and Kogi; among Pacific lowland groups from Panama to Ecuador, including the Noanama and Embera; and in the Amazonian lowlands where it is nearly universal for all groups. In the Amazon, it is linked with the use of hallucinogenic snuffs or the infusion of yagé made from species of the Banisteriopsis sp. vine. Shamans use hallucinogens not only to transform into jaguars, but also to divine the future, to adjudicate quarrels, to perform sorcery, to identify hunting and fishing areas, and to heal illness (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1975, 28).” 

― E. Jean Matteson Langdon

“The idea that shamans or witches (two categories frequently confused in the literature) can and do take the form of jaguars (or ocelots) is quite widespread. It is reported for the Shipibo, Colorado (report uncertain), Jívaro, Canelo, Záparo, Quijo, Orejón, the Witotoan tribes (Witoto, Ocaina, and Bora), the Cubeo and other tribes of the Vaupés-Caquetá region, the Guayupé, Guamo, Otomac, Taulipang and other Guiana tribes, the Mundurucú, Camacan, Mashacalí, Cayapó, Bacaïri, Bororo, Nambicuara, Itonama, Mojo, Mosetene (report uncertain), and the Chaco tribes.” 

― Gerald Weiss

“Another striking feature is that all of the predatory animals depicted by Chavín art inhabit lowland environments. Burger (1992: 155) proposes that "...Chavín’s religious leaders justified the promotion of alien symbols by claiming that the exotic lowland groups had esoteric knowledge unusually effective in controlling supernatural forces." As well as Amazonian animals, images of the "Great Cayman" are depicted carrying lowland crops such as manioc and hot peppers. Therefore, iconographic subjects were drawn from the Amazon and architectural styles were adopted from the Pacific coast to create a new highland religious complex. Although this style was first invented at Chavín de Huántar at the end of the Initial Period, it was during the following Early Horizon that it was spread across the Andes.”

― Robert M. Rosenswig

“The Chavin cult associated with the Old Temple also had an important shamanistic component. Burger interpreted the tenon heads that decorated the exterior of the Old Temple as illustrating shamanistic transformation; shamans under the influence of hallucinogens (e.g., mescaline-bearing San Pedro cactus) could transform into jaguars to communicate with and mediate supernatural forces. Older Cupisnique ceramics from the north coast depict a head with human features on one side and interlocking canines and other feline features on the other, suggesting the persistence and pervasiveness of the notion of shamanistic transformation. After reviewing various lines of evidence, Burger concluded that the Chavin cult was based on a cosmopolitan ideology that emerged out of a fusion of tropical jungle and coastal elements. On balance, coastal (north coast) input seems more important. '” 

— Izumi Shimada

Cupisnique ceramic depicting a jaguar transformation or shaman/jaguar duality.

Stranger than the universal association of jaguars with shamans and/or shamanic/royal power in the Americas is the widespread fear of fake/artificial jaguars in South America even when real ones do not cause much if any concern. This particular fear still exists in some parts of Amazonia well into the 21st century. One would think different tribal groups speaking different languages, some even belonging to unique language isolates, would have much less in common in regards to their shamans and their purported abilities.

“I recall one incident early in my fieldwork when false jaguars visited the village. The man who shot at them later recounted what had happened: He had seen two jaguars standing on the path. Taking aim, he shot one while the other disappeared into the undergrowth. He walked up to the jaguar lying prone on the ground. Noting it was dead, he proceeded down to the river to wash himself. Returning up the path towards the village, he found that the dead jaguar had disappeared. It had resurrected and vanished back into the forest—sure proof that it had in fact not been a true jaguar of the forest but rather the product of witchcraft.” 

“It appears that the increasing association of Kayapó people with witchcraft activities has grown by the same measure that their presence as sometimes long-term visitors in the Panará village has also increased. Thus, by 2007, Panará people were telling me quite openly that the Kayapó people present in their village were producing false jaguars at night, which might be seen were one to cross the airstrip after dark. If anything, these fears had increased by 2010.” 

― Elizabeth Ewart 

“A jaguar which displays unusual audacity in approaching men will often unnerve even a brave hunter by the fear that it may be a Kanaima tiger. 'This,' reasons the Indian, 'if it be but an ordinary wild beast, I may kill with bullet or arrow; but what will be my fate if I assail the man-destroyer—the terrible Kanaima?'” 

— William Henry Brett, 1880 (Guyana)

“At another time, when these bugbears think anyone inimical or injurious to them, they will threaten to change themselves into a tiger, and tear every one of their hordesmen to pieces. No sooner do they begin to imitate the roaring of a tiger, than all the neighbours fly away in every direction. From a distance however they hear the feigned sounds. "Alas! his whole body is beginning to be covered with tiger spots" cry they. "Look, his nails are growing," the fear-struck women exclaim, although they cannot see the rogue, who is concealed within his tent; but that distracted fear presents things to their eyes which have no real existence. It was scarce possible to persuade them out of their absurd terrors. "You daily kill tigers in the plain," said I, "without dread, why then should you weakly fear a false imaginary tiger in the town?" "You Fathers don't understand these matters," they reply, with a smile. "We never fear, but kill tigers in the plain, because we can see them. Artificial tigers we do fear, because they can neither be seen nor killed by us."” 

― Martin Dobrizhoffer, 1784 (Northern Argentina)

“For the Waiwai kamara picho are persons who can transform into a jaguar by using its pelt. They, like kanaimàs, are highly antisocial in their activities and also indulge in covert killings, although they do not share the shamanic associations of the kanaimà. Kamaraura was the first tiger-skin. Kamara means tiger, and the suffix "-ra" usually indicates "not" or "no," so his name therefore means "not a real tiger."” 

— Neil L. Whitehead

Perhaps there is something to it all?