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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



In contrast with the men, the women appear 

 squat and ungainly. Mature women have little 

 or no waistline, the torso being straight-sided. 

 The stomach protrudes, and the pelvic region 

 appears narrower than among white women. 

 The legs are short and slender. The breasts of 

 the women are round for a short period after 

 puberty after which the dark area around the 

 nipple soon becomes conical, with the nipple 

 forming a sharp point; with age the nipples en- 

 large so that they include the entire dark area and 

 hang down loosely. The breasts appear triangu- 

 lar in shape and are located well to the sides so 

 that a woman can put them under her arm if 

 necessary. Both sexes have small, rather broad 

 feet and walk with the toes turned inward. 

 Comparing their feet with ours was a source of 

 great amusement to the Camayura. They did 

 not seem to understand that our toes were crowded 

 together because we wore shoes, and they liked 

 to show how their toes stood out separately even 

 when their feet were free from the ground. 



There were no fat or extremely thin individuals 

 among the tribe, nor were there any individuals 

 with gray hair. Only one woman appeared to 

 have reached the age of 60, although an old man 

 who died in 1947 claimed that he remembered the 

 Von den Steinen expedition. 



Excepting scarification, which leaves temporary 

 corduroylike scars on the arms and legs, and the 

 piercing of the ear lobes, there is no other form 

 of body mutilation. It was said that on long 

 voyages in the woods the men wore a penis 

 sheath for protection. 



Although the women wear a triangular uluri 

 over the pubic bone which, however, does not 

 cover the pudenda, they are careful not to display 

 themselves. They sit on one leg and hold the 

 knee of the other leg in front of them. Although 

 women generally wear an uluri they do not feel 

 ashamed without one. The only permanent 

 article worn by men is a string of beads around 

 the waist or, lacking beads, just a thin string 

 made from buriti fiber. 



By 10 o'clock the morning after our arrival 

 we left Tuatuari, following a long line of naked 

 brown bodies that wound its way over the open 

 flood plain toward the river. The sick who were 

 not able to walk were carried in their hammocks. 

 Only a few families remained in the village. At 



the river there was considerable argument for 

 everyone wanted to crowd into the boat. Even- 

 tually Leonardo and Tamapu selected about 30 

 of the weakest to accompany us, the rest being 

 told to follow in canoes. 



While the boat was being loaded I was able to 

 observe the baggage which the Indians took along. 

 Every man, of course, carried his bow and arrows. 

 In addition, others carried small rectangular bas- 

 kets in which they kept the twine, rosin, and other 

 materials necessary for arrow making. Several 

 carried manioc sieves, in the folds of which they 

 had put large mutum and vulture feathers used 

 for feathering arrows and for making headdresses. 

 Everyone had his or her hammock and each family 

 had a large openwork burden basket filled with 

 dried manioc tubers, gourds filled with manioc 

 meal, broiled fish, and dozens of baked menyu. 

 Many of the children carried their pet parrots or 

 parakeets in temporary baskets made from green 

 rushes. 



On the journey down the Kuluene there was 

 not much said, because the people were sick al- 

 though some were well enough to eat. Now and 

 then a mother would assist a child while it defe- 

 cated or urinated into a gourd vessel. Men 

 would dip drinking water from the river, but 

 always smelled the gourd first to make sore it 

 was not a chamber pot. Some gourds were lost 

 because the men dipped against the wash, and it 

 jerked the gourd out of their hands. 



Three hours later we were back in Jacarei, and 

 after the Indians had established themselves in 

 several of the sheds the task of medical treatment 

 began. For weeks the Villus Boas were busy 

 giving injections and pills. The doctor of the 

 Expedition had come from the base camp on the 

 Rio das Mortes with additional medical supplies 

 and for some days took care of the more serious 

 cases. It was interesting to note how stolidly 

 both adults and children took injections. In 

 some cases large doses of calcium in liquid form 

 was injected into the hip, and as the syringe would 

 not hold the full amount the needle was left stick- 

 ing in the flesh while the syringe was being re- 

 loaded and screwed back on to the needle. 



The contrasts in the life at Jacarei were thus 

 striking in the extreme. Here the very old 

 rubbed shoulders with the very new. Naked 

 Indians practicing an ancient culture were being 



