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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



eating, they insisted on our eating with them. 

 Most of the time our beds were loaded with manioc 

 cakes, broiled fish, and turtle eggs. When we 

 walked around the camp, both men and women 

 insisted on walking with us with their arms around 

 our waists. No doubt this intimacy was accentu- 

 ated by curiosity and the fact that we asked little 

 and gave much. 



The total lack of privacy in the sense that we 

 understand it was another characteristic of social 

 intercourse to which we had to adjust. Twenty 

 or more naked people living in unpartitioned 

 houses and sleeping in open-weave hammocks can 

 scarcely make for privacy. Men and women 

 urinated without any attempt at concealment. 

 Although they removed themselves some distance 

 from the camp to defecate, digging a hole in the 

 ground which was later covered, they showed no 

 shame at being seen. Members of the Expedition 

 had also seen married couples in the sexual act 

 in their hammocks in broad daylight. Within the 

 first week we were able to witness a childbirth, 

 along with a number of boys and girls who 

 happened to be near. Bathing in the river was 

 a social act in which both Indians and whites 

 participated. When we went to wash our clothes 

 the Indians always wanted to take a hand. 



Yet it would be a grave error to assume that the 

 Indians do not have rules of conduct or attitudes of 

 respect. The attitude of children, even when 

 mature, toward their parents, particularly the 

 father, was one of deepest respect. The behavior 

 of in-laws was governed by strict rules of etiquette. 

 Adolescent boys and girls when in puberty seclu- 

 sion strictly avoided being seen in daylight. In 

 other words, the rules of conduct pertained to 

 behavior between individuals of defined kinship 

 relationship and status and if broken, even 

 accidently, would bring shame to the person 

 breaking the rule. Being ashamed of parts of the 

 body or basic biological acts does not exist, as 

 among ourselves. As we were in the brother class, 

 brotherly intimacy was both expected and ac- 

 corded us. Later, when I insisted on a certain 

 degree of privacy when writing and would not 

 allow people to smear my bedclothes with urucu I 

 became known as a father, and even on occasions 

 as a grandfather when I acted in a rather per- 

 emptory manner. 



An important factor in this intimate relation- 



ship between the Indians and the whites in Jacarei 

 Camp no doubt was the kindly and indulgent atti- 

 tude which the Villas Boas had toward the 

 Indians. The success of the Expedition depended 

 in a large measure upon peaceful and friendly 

 relations with the Indians, who were used as 

 guides, workmen, and interpreters when making 

 contact with tribes to be met in the future advance 

 of the Expedition. Furthermore, the Villas Boas 

 were by temperament indulgent and friendly. 

 Except when everyone had gone to bed, the 

 living quarters were open to the Indians. They 

 participated in every domestic act, in assisting in 

 sweeping the dirt floor, fetching water, hunting, 

 fishing, helping at the cookhouse, washing clothes 

 and dishes. The eldest of the brothers, Orlando, 

 who was the head of the camp, was particularly 

 kind to the Indians, both in supplying them with 

 food and tools and treating them with medicines. 

 I shall always remember watching him writing his 

 monthly report. Seated on a wooden bench, he 

 was bent over a makeshift table and was calmly 

 smoking a pipe and writing while two boys with 

 their arms aroimd him were seated on either side. 

 In his lap he held a year-old child, with the mother 

 bending over his shoulder with a few more children 

 milling around his feet. To top it all, his favorite 

 parrot sat on his shoulder and a bemtevi (a yellow- 

 breasted bird about the size of a robin) kept hop- 

 ping on and off his head. Such consideration for 

 the rights of others is indeed rare. 



Intimate, often to the point of irritation, as the 

 relation between whites and Indians were, there 

 were clearly defined limits. To prevent the intro- 

 duction of venereal diseases into the area the per- 

 sonnel of the Expedition were under strict orders to 

 avoid sexual relations with Indian women. Mem- 

 bers of the Expedition were selected for their so- 

 briety and their capacity to endure long periods of 

 inactivity under tiying physical conditions. Visi- 

 tors entering the region were similarly instructed 

 by the authorities in Rio de Janeiro. The Villas 

 Boas brothers by temperament and by their en- 

 thusiasm for the objectives of the Expedition were 

 ideally suited for leading the advance party into 

 the wilderness. The workmen were mulattoes 

 from northern Brazil, accustomed to subsisting 

 on manioc and fish, and with their deep sense of 

 humor and a guitar appeared to be quite content 

 in waiting for the word to advance. Protecting 



