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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



until she has spun all her cotton. The twine is 

 then removed from the spindle, rolled into a tight 

 ball, and stored in the woman's workbasket. 



The Camayura spindle (Vim) is a thin stick 

 about 12 inches long to which a hardwood whorl 

 (muritl) 2 inches in diameter is attached 2 inches 

 from the bottom or thick end. The cotton twine 

 is about the thickness of ordinary store string and 

 also about as strong. Although all women spin, 

 it is particularly the task of girls and old women. 

 Late in the afternoons after the girls have painted 

 themselves with urucu they sit in the shade at 

 their spinning, often surrounded by young men 

 similarly painted who engage them in conversation. 



Buriti twine (muritcopawdn) is made from fibers 

 obtained from the shoot or rod which forms the 

 new growth of the buriti palm. This rod contains 

 the unformed leaves. The yellow leafy material 

 is removed from the outer green covering by hand. 

 The long leafy strips are then boiled to remove 

 the starchy materials and rubbed by hand until 

 only fine pale yellow fibers remain. These are 

 tied in hanks and left to dry. In making twine, 

 usually three strands of fibers are used although 

 fine twine with two strands was also seen. The 

 strands (boritseawit) are rolled on the thigh, each 

 strand being rolled separately on the inward stroke 

 but allowed to roll together on the downward 

 stroke. The three-strand twine is the basis from 

 which heavier twines, cords, and even light ropes 

 are made. Buriti twine is rolled into balls and 

 kept until needed. Like spinning, this is always 

 the task of women. 



HAMMOCK WEAVING 



The Camayura have two types of hammocks — 

 a solid cotton hammock and an open network 

 hammock made from buriti and cotton twine. 

 The open network hammocks are the most com- 

 mon and are made by the Camayura. Hammocks 

 (enl) are finger-woven on a very simple loom 

 (inimoenop). Two posts are driven into the 

 ground, either inside or outside of the house, 

 around which the buriti warp twine is passed. 

 The posts are from 8 to 10 feet apart and about 

 3 feet high. The warp twine is the common three- 

 strand size. The woof of cotton twine is woven 

 across the warp at intervals of from 2 to 3 inches, 

 leaving the warp threads about 2 inches apart. 



The cotton woof strings are three in number. 

 The woman begins from the top working down- 

 ward. She places the buriti twine on one of the 

 cotton strings and pulls it up between the other 

 two strings which lie on top of the buriti twine, 

 and braids. This process is continued until she 

 completes the cross woof. The material is then 

 cut and the warp strands at each end are tied to 

 form a loop to which buriti fiber rope is attached 

 for slinging the hammock. At first the hammocks 

 are tan in color, but they soon become brown from 

 the urucu which the people smear on their bodies. 

 The weaving of solid cotton hammocks was not 

 observed, and it may be that they are obtained 

 from the Arawak-speaking Waura or are made by 

 Waura women married into the tribe. 



SEATS 



The Camayura make two types of seats, one for 

 men and another for women. The man's seat or 

 stool (apikd) is carved from a solid piece of wood, 

 usually in the form of a bird or turtle. The stool, 

 which is about a foot high, rests on two plank- 

 like feet. 



Instead of sitting on the ground while at work 

 the women often use a seat made by tying together 

 round smooth pieces of buriti leafstalks about 2 

 inches in diameter and 18 inches in length. A hole 

 is bored through each end of a stick and a strong 

 cord is passed through all the sticks and knotted 

 at each end. The seat can be rolled up and easily 

 carried from place to place. Seats are used while 

 the people work; when not at work, the Camayura 

 generally sit or lie in their hammocks. 



MORTAR AND PESTLE 



Another important article made from wood is the 

 mortar (inu'd). The Camayura mortar is made 

 from a block of heavy hardwood roughly 2 feet 

 in length and 18 inches in diameter. Instead of 

 standing upright, as does the mortar used by the 

 Brazilians, the Camayura mortar lays in a hor- 

 izontal position, the cavity being made in the 

 upper side of the block. The pestle (imird) is a 

 heavy stick about 3 feet long and 3 inches in 

 diameter, slightly narrowed in the middle. The 

 mortar, although used principally for grinding 

 dried manioc balls, is also used for grinding dried 

 maize. 



