Message #88449

[Bianca]

                                                               Kayapo Indians
 





Location: Xingú Park, Mato Grosso, southern Pará (Map). The Kayapó live in villages dispersed along the upper course of the Iriri, Bacajá and Fresco rivers, as well as affluents of the voluminous Xingu river, outlining a territory almost as large as Austria in Central Brazil and almost entirely covered in equatorial rainforest, with the exception of the eastern section, filled by some areas of scrubland.

9 villages

Alternative Names: Xikrin, Txhukahamai, Mebêngokrê

Auto-Denomination: Mebêngôkre

Language Classification: Macro-Jê, Jê, Kayapó

Population: 7,096 (in 2003)

 

The Kayapo Indians live in the vast plain lands of the Matto Grosso in Brazil, south of the Amazon Basin . Their area includes the Brazilian frontier which contains the mining and lumber industry where they participate in many aspects of the contemporary world. The Kayapo use a cash economy and have stayed on good terms with their Brazilian neighbors without compromising their socio-cultural integrity. This is accomplished in part by adhering to their art-making and rituals. Traditionally, the Kayapo men wear discs in their lower lip. A small incision is made and a disk inserted. As time goes on the disks become progressively larger. Body adornment symbolizes many things in their Native American society. Ear plugs symbolize receptivity to others while a lip plug symbolizes assertiveness. Aggressive and faction-prone groups like the Kayapo will signal their aggressiveness (while asserting they seek to contain it) by not wearing large ear plugs (they do not listen to others well, deafened by the pursuit of individual and group advancement), by sporting exaggerated lip plugs (thereby signaling their oral assertiveness), and by wearing **** sheaths (marking the need to constrain their phallic aggressiveness).

The Kayapo are also a highly evolved group ecologically,  exemplifying living in balance with the ecosystem. They cultivate many types of plants utilizing biological pest control. They domesticate and classify the insect life. All parts of the surrounding jungle are utilized by them for practical and medicinal purposes. The Kayapo belong to the Ge linguistic group that reside around the southern tributaries of the Amazon. They represent an ancient culture of seasonal farmers and gatherers. During the rainy season they live in highly complex wheel-shaped villages in the scrub and savanna area of the Matto Grosso partaking in a rich ceremonial life. During the dry season they break up into smaller bands and disperse into a wider area.