INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTHERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL OBERG 



35 



GOURD VESSELS 



Gourd ladles which hold little more than a large 

 tablespoon to those with a capacity of a quart 

 serve a wide variety of purposes. They are used 

 as spoons, cups, bailers, dishes, bedpans, con- 

 tainers for piqui oil, urucu, and beads, and ladles 

 for stirring and pouring manioc juice. These 

 vessels are made by cutting in two equal parts a 

 pear-shaped gourd with an elongated protuberance 

 which serves as a handle. Although most of the 

 gourd vessels are ladle-shaped, a few waterpots 

 were seen; these were made by cutting off the pro- 

 tuberance, leaving a narrow opening at the top. 

 In cutting a dried gourd, a knife or other sharp 

 object is used, the maker going repeatedly over 

 the line of cleavage, later smoothing and rounding 

 the edge with a piece of sandstone. Gourd vessels 

 of the pot form are also used as containers for 

 twine and tools used for making arrows and the 

 uluri for women; gourds of this type are usually 

 suspended in a net from a rafter. For this purpose 

 the Camayura are now anxious to get tin cans or 

 boxes with lids. 



THE SIEVE 



We have had occasion to discuss the sieve 

 (tuavi) in connection with the preparation of 

 manioc. It has, at least, one other important use, 

 namely that of storing feathers. The long tail and 

 wing feathers of the mutum, eagle, and urubu that 

 are used for feathering arrows are valuable and 

 difficult to get. To prevent them from being bent, 

 torn, and blown away, the owner places them 

 lengthwise in a fold of the sieve and holds the sieve 

 together by fastening together two pairs of sticks 

 at each end of the sieve. Feathers for making 

 ornaments are similarly stored. 



The tuavi is made of buriti fiber and cotton 

 twine very much in the manner of a hammock. 

 The buriti fiber in this case, however, is obtained 

 from the central spine of the leaf, long, heavy 

 slivers being peeled off. Each sliver or rod is 

 about 16 to 18 inches in length and about one- 

 sixteenth inch in diameter, being uniform in thick- 

 ness, straight, and springlike. These rods are 

 then woven together with cotton twine in the 

 same manner as the warp of the hammock, the 

 interstices being about one-eighth inch apart. In 

 appearance it looks like a small mat. 



BASKETRY 



In contrast to the Carib-speaking Calapalo and 

 Cuicuru, basketry is not in great evidence among 

 the Camayura. Men are the basket makers and 

 appear to specialize in the making of fish traps 

 and weirs, which have already been described. 

 The most common kind of basket, the iripari, is a 

 simple plaited basket which is made in many 

 sizes. The small ones are square and the large 

 ones oblong. The large ones are usually 3 feet 

 long, 2 feet wide, and 6 to 8 inches high, and 

 are used for carrying small manioc tubers, sweet- 

 potatoes, and piqui fruit. The smaller ones, 

 which the women use for picking cotton and as 

 spinning and weaving workbaskets, are 8 to 12 

 inches square and about 4 inches in height. 

 These baskets are made from narrow strips 

 obtained from the cortex of the buriti palm leaf 

 stalk. They are usually a solid brown in color but 

 sometimes black strips are introduced, giving 

 rectangular and triangular patterns. 



The Camayura also make a burden basket which 

 can scarcely be called a basket from a technical 

 point of view. This container, known as the 

 pirapuitdn, is about 3 feet in length, 18 inches in 

 width, and 16 inches in depth. The frame is made 

 with four oval hoops of wood, one for the back, 

 two for the sides, and one for the bottom. These 

 hoops are firmly laced together with sip6 vine 

 lacing and the spaces within the hoops are filled 

 with large irregular meshes made with the same 

 vine lacing. This container is used for transport- 

 ing and storing dried fish, dried manioc tubers, 

 and menyu. When loading a pirapuitdn, leaves are 

 first laid within the framework, the foodstuffs are 

 then carefully stacked within and covered with 

 more leaves. The open side and top are then 

 laced over to keep the contents from falling out. 

 This burden basket is carried on the back with 

 shoulder straps and a tump line. 



When carrying baskets or bundles on their heads 

 the Camayura use a small round pad made of 

 grass called abutero. 



POTTERY 



As far as could be determined, the Camayura 

 do not make pots but obtain them through barter 

 from the Waura. One woman was observed mak- 

 ing a small pot, but she turned out to be a Wauni 



