8 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



move back from the main streams for a consider- 

 able distance. 



Another condition of primary importance is that 

 of timbd fishing. In order that the timb6 drug 

 have sufficient time to affect the fish, the slower 

 the current in the stream the better. The main 

 streams with their large volume of water and 

 constant flow are unsuited for this type of fishing. 

 The ideal areas are slow-flowing tributaries and 

 shallow lakes and ponds left by the receding 

 floodwaters. The Camayura and Trumai who 

 live on the lower reaches of the Kuluene build 

 their villages in the headwaters of the small 

 tributaries or near lakes. The tributaries, as they 

 approach the Kuluene, build up dykes and 

 sandbars at their mouths which tends to slow up 

 the flow and in some cases to turn the lower part 

 of the tributary into a lake. These arms are thus 

 ideal places for timbd fishing and their headwaters 

 flowing from high ground are also suitable places 

 for permanent settlement. 



Another consideration is defense against ene- 

 mies, this being particularly true of the Indians 

 living near the Xingu up which the Suya and the 

 Juruna come to make their raids. As one ap- 

 proaches the Camayura and Trumai Villages the 

 tributaries break up into lesser streams almost 

 covered by overhanging vegetation. It is up one 

 of these narrow approaches that canoes must find 

 their way to reach the narrow path which leads 

 to the village itself. The canoes used by the vil- 

 lagers are also generally hidden in the under- 

 growth so that very exact knowledge is required 

 to find the path. It is true, of course, that the 

 enemy sooner or later locates the village b}'' the 

 smoke from garden clearings and makes his ap- 

 proach overland. When enemies are reported in 

 the area the villagers do not light fires at night, so 

 as to prevent the enemy from locating the village 

 in the dark. When an attack is imminent the in- 

 habitants abandon the village at night, scattering 

 in the surrounding forest where they sling their 

 hammocks from trees. 



The villages are only semipermanent. As the 

 soil near the village becomes exhausted the Indians 

 move to another location, taking into considera- 

 tion not only soil but opportunities for fishing and 

 defense. As piqui and mangabeira trees are 

 planted around the villages, the old village site 

 continues to be used until another orchard is 



established at the new site. The houses at the old 

 village are not torn down, but continue to be used 

 during the piqui harvest. For a long time the old 

 village remains not only as a fruit-producing area 

 but also as a ceremonial center, for the plaza of 

 the old village is also the place where the dead rest 

 and for whom the great annual ceremony of the 

 dead is given each year. Both the Camayura and 

 the Trumai speak of their manioc and fishing vil- 

 lage and their piqui village. This two-village type 

 of settlement, however, is not a permanent pat- 

 tern, for as soon as new trees reach bearing age the 

 old village site is abandoned. The lower region 

 around the tributaries of the Xingu reveals many 

 places where only old and very large piqui trees 

 grow, giving evidence that the Indians once lived 

 there. 



THE CAMAYURA AT JACAREI CAMP AND AT 

 TUATUARl 



Such, in brief, is the geographic, social , and cul- 

 tural setting of the Camayura, a Tupi-speaking 

 tribe, which forms the principal subject of this 

 study. Perhaps a more realistic introduction to 

 the Camayura can be given if the writer describes 

 his first contact with them at Jacarei Camp and 

 at the village of Tuatuari. 



A DC3 of the Brazilian Air Force landed us on 

 Jacarei Airfield one forenoon early in June. Even 

 before the plane had come to a halt, naked Indians 

 could be seen scurrying from the camp to the air- 

 field to meet the plane. As we stepped down, the 

 first to greet us were the three Villas Boas brothers 

 — Orlando, Claudio, and Leonardo, bearded young 

 men who for 5 years had commanded the spear- 

 head of the Expedition. As Fernando, Kaoro, and 

 I assisted in the unloading of our supplies the 

 Indians drew nearer, occasionally making low re- 

 marks to one another. Soon a man, naked except- 

 ing a string of beads around his waist, approached 

 and touched me on the chest with his hand, 

 "Como chama? (What is your name?)," he asked. 

 Then in Tupi he launched into a long series of 

 questions which when translated by one of the 

 Villas Boas can be summarized as follows: "Are 

 you married? What is your wife's name? How 

 many children do you have? What are their 

 names?" Then looking at Fernando and Kaoro 

 he asked, "Are these your sons? Are they your 

 brothers?" To the Indian the fact that we were 



