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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



numerous times on the covers of the illustrated 

 magazines of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. 



For those who might wish to work in the Upper 

 Xingu or elsewhere in central Brazil where the 

 Indians still live under native conditions, it is well 

 to mention here that "rapadura" is the best 

 medium of payment. "Rapadura" is a form of 

 brown sugar that is prepared in bricks of varying 

 sizes. It is put up in boxes and is easy to ship, 

 and with an ax or machete can be cut up into 

 small pieces. Men, women, and children accept 

 it eagerly. When one visits an Indian village or 

 encampment the first thing the Indians do is to 

 look over the supplies, and one's prestige is high 

 or low depending upon the quantity of "rapadura." 

 This was the commodity which we used for paying 

 informants, reserving clothing, knives, and other 

 more expensive articles as gifts for chiefs and their 

 wives. The Xinguanos also have expensive tastes 

 in beads. Only high-quality red and blue beads 

 are accepted. Acculturated Indians accept tin 

 cans of any kind, for they use them in making 

 containers and other articles. In the Xingu, only 

 cans with firm lids are accepted. 



We had not been in Jacarei Camp— which by 

 the way means alligator camp — for more than 3 

 or 4 days when a messenger arrived from Tuatuari, 

 the Camayura village, informing the Villas Boas 

 that a bad attack of "grippe" had broken out and 

 requesting their help. Next morning we made our 

 preparations and were ready to leave after lunch. 

 For transportation on the rivers the Expedition 

 had built several large boats capable of carrying 

 over 40 people. In one of these, Leonardo, the 

 youngest of the Villas Boas brothers, Fernando, 

 myself, Nilo, and Marika, the messenger, set out. 

 We had our hammocks and enough K-rations for 

 2 days. The boat was propelled by a 10-horse- 

 power Swedish outboard motor with the Smith- 

 sonian 5-horsepower Johnson Seahorse carried 

 along as a reserve. In 10 minutes we were out of 

 Jacarei Creek and began winding our way up the 

 Kuluene River. Along this stretch the Kuluene is 

 about a quarter of a mile wide and at this time of 

 the year is shallow and broken by sandbars. 



As we sputtered along with Marika in the bow 

 pointing out the channel, which kept swinging 

 from one bank to the other, we were able to observe 

 the wildlife about us. The most numerous were 

 the terrapins, which kept diving at our approach. 



From the overhanging undergrowth of the banks, 

 parrots, macaws, and other birds rose to alight 

 in the trees to chatter and scream. The sandbars 

 were dotted with small gulls and here and there 

 huge cranelike birds sauntered off as we neared. 

 In the deeper bays large black Muscovy ducks 

 were busy feeding, along with an occasional otter, 

 and from the muddy banks an alligator would 

 slide lazily into the water. Each time we got near 

 some living thing Nilo's excitement would increase 

 and he would insist that we stop and shoot. The 

 Indians, as always, were armed with their bows 

 and arrows, and the rest of us had our pistols in 

 addition to a shotgun and a 44-caliber Winchester 

 rifle. 



After 3 hours we came to the tributary which 

 led to the Camayura village. The tributary, in 

 contrast to the Kuluene, was deep, clear, and slow- 

 flowing. We were now in the private domain of 

 the Camayura, as numerous fish dams and weirs 

 could be seen along the banks. After another 

 half hour the water became too shallow to operate 

 the motor, and from there on we poled along an 

 ever-narrowing channel with overhanging vege- 

 tation. Soon voices could be heard and we found 

 ourselves near a bank crowded with boys and girls 

 who had been warned of our approach by the 

 motor and had come to meet us. After the boat 

 was unloaded, the boys and girls picked up our 

 things and we took to a narrow -path which led us 

 through woods and open patches of flood plain. 

 As we neared the village we saw trees along the 

 path on which were carved designs which we later 

 found were symbols of mama'e, or spirits. 



Suddenly the roofs of Tuatuari could be seen 

 over the second growth which surrounded the 

 houses and in another minute or two we were in 

 the village shaking hands and exchanging saluta- 

 tions with the Camayura. Tamapu led us to his 

 house outside of which his young wife and the 

 other women of the house were busy baking 

 menyu (manioc cake) and roasting sweetpotatoes. 

 Young men and women painted with uructi and 

 genipapo crowded around us asking for "rapa- 

 dura." Offering cigarettes, I observed that the 

 young men refused, whereupon Leonardo explained 

 that only the old men who had had shamanistic 

 experiences smoked. After we had ceremonially 

 eaten menyu and sweetpotatoes we ate our 

 K-rations and set up our hammocks. 



