INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTHERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL — OBERG 



47 



a child, and Canatu says that he can now go 

 wherever he wishes. He says that when the 

 Iwalapeti reestablish their village he will go and 

 live with his own people. 



Even after the husband has gained complete 

 rights over his wife, he is still under the control 

 of his father so long as the father lives. It is 

 only after the father dies that the husband is 

 the complete master of himself, his wife, and his 

 children, this control being limited, however, by 

 his membership in the house group and the tribe. 

 The family as a structural unit, for which the 

 Camayura have no name, does not stand alone. 

 It is always a part of the house group, the kindred, 

 and the tribe. The autonomy which middle-aged 

 men have over their families extends particularly 

 to their children and the freedom of movement in 

 visiting. 



Once a husband is accepted by his father-in-law 

 he is expected to control tbe behavior of his wife. 

 Good wives, by custom, are supposed to remain 

 at home, work hard, and take care of the children. 

 But young wives are the target of young unmarried 

 men and even of married men. Among mature 

 men sexual intercourse with other men's wives is 

 not considered a major crime. If a wife commits 

 adultery the husband beats her but says nothing 

 to the man concerned, often going fishing with 

 him. on the following day. Opportunities to 

 commit adultery are provided at dawn when the 

 young people go to the river for their morning 

 bath, or when they go to fetch wood and water. 

 It is not a difficult matter for a man to waylay a 

 woman on the way. 



Wife beating for adultery was overheard on 

 more than one occasion. Yet several cases were 

 known where an elderly husband ignored the 

 matter completely and had to be admonished by 

 the chief. On the other hand, faithfulness is also 

 demanded of the husband by a young wife. On 

 two occasions Tipuri accused Canatu of trifling 

 with young married women. On both occasions 

 she became so angry that she began to throw 

 sticks and stones at him. To escape his irate wife, 

 Canatu took refuge in the house occupied by the 

 members of the Expedition. She followed him in 

 and before about six whites drove her husband 

 into the corner and proceeded to beat him with 

 her hands. This continued until the head of the 

 camp intervened and took her aside and calmed 



her down. Canatu meanwhile remained indoors 

 with a sheepish grin on his face until he too was 

 reprimanded by the head of the camp. 



As in any community, there were husbands and 

 wives who behaved well and others who did not. 

 There were also two young women who had been 

 married several times, but as they had not given 

 birth to children they were no longer wanted as 

 wives. These two women moved about from 

 house to house and even from tribe to tribe, con- 

 sorting with various men but always returning 

 to the house where their brothers lived. No 

 particular criticism was leveled at these women. 

 Sterile women eventually settle down with their 

 brothers or sisters and live out their lives assisting 

 their relatives. 



Until the age of puberty the mother takes care 

 of the children and exercises authority over them. 

 Although the father and the grandparents assist 

 in this task, it is the mother who orders the 

 children about, calling them in to take their 

 meals, and keeping them in the house after dark. 

 Until about the age of 8 years the children have 

 great liberty; having few duties they spend their 

 time playing or just observing their elders. 

 After this age they begin to participate in adult 

 activities. The girls begin to process manioc and 

 cook food and the boys go fishing with their 

 fathers. Both the boys and girls, however, are 

 still under the authority of the mother. At no 

 time was a father observed talking angrily or 

 striking his children. Mothers, on the other hand, 

 often reprimanded their children for not carrying 

 out the tasks allotted to them or for carelessly 

 injuring smaller children while playing. This 

 was particularly true of boys who played with 

 bows and arrows. In administering corporal 

 punishment, mothers slapped the children over the 

 head and shoulders with their hand. Beating 

 children with a stick was not observed. Fathers 

 sometimes showed discomfort while the mothers 

 were chastising the boys. One father even 

 complained about the fact that the mother beat 

 his son too often. In this case the mother was an 

 Iwalapeti woman and the husband may have felt 

 ill at ease because a woman of another tribe was 

 beating his son whom ho considered a Camayura. 



During puberty and afterward the children 

 come under the authority of the father. This is 

 particularly true of the sons. Tbe puberty seclu- 



