INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTHERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL OBERG 



65 



PUBERTY SECLUSION (AKIPEWAT) 



From what has been said we can conclude that 

 child rearing is largely an informal process, during 

 which the child learns everyday activities through 

 participation. By the age of puberty children 

 know how to perform all but the specialized tasks 

 and have observed practically all the overt activi- 

 ties and physiological acts, from sexual intercourse 

 through birth to death and burial. As we have 

 noted, childhood is normally a period of freedom 

 and ease, and children appear to be happy, 

 friendly, and satisfied. 



During puberty girls and boys enter upon a short 

 period of rigorous discipline and training. They 

 now learn to understand those things which are 

 not observed in daily life. The girls are taught 

 how to act during pregnancy, what medicines to 

 prepare for abortion, how to behave toward their 

 future husbands, and how to live a respected life 

 in the village. Boys are taught the origin myths 

 and stories of the doings of important men in the 

 past, how to act in a raid, how to play the flutes, 

 how to make bows and arrows of the best quality, 

 and something, although by no means all, about 

 the religious beliefs and ritual practices. The boy 

 and the girl come to realize that life is a serious 

 business, with hazards and pains, and that the 

 spirits are intimately involved in the affairs of 

 the tribesmen. In the case of boys, they learn 

 to stand pain without flinching and to realize the 

 importance of continence. 



When a girl has her first menses she is secluded 

 behind a reed screen near her mother's hammock, 

 where she must remain during daylight. She 

 must not speak or call out to anyone, and if 

 spoken to she must answer in a low voice with 

 downcast eyes. Her mother supplies her with 

 food and gives her tasks to perform, such as 

 spinning cotton or buriti fiber. Whenever the 

 mother or an older woman has time she sits in the 

 enclosure with her and talks to her. The girl 

 must stay in seclusion for 3 or 4 months or long 

 enough to allow her hair to grow over her eyes. 

 It is believed that the longer the girl remains in 

 seclusion the better wife she will make. She 

 arises before sunrise and, if possible unobserved, 

 performs her physiological acts, bathes with water 

 supplied by her mother, and then retires behind 



the screen. She comes out again for awhile 

 after sunset. 



When a boy reaches the age of 14 or 15 he, too, 

 is secluded behind a reed screen. The Camayura 

 are not very definite about the age, saying only 

 that when a boy begins to become interested in 

 girls he is secluded. Like the girl, he is allowed 

 to come out only before sunrise and after sunset 

 and must talk in a low voice and only when spoken 

 to. Like the girl, he is kept busy with various 

 tasks and is instructed by his father and other old 

 men. I spent several hours off and on behind the 

 screen with Nilo. He was always painted with 

 urucu and wore featherwork ear pendants. The 

 place was littered with materials for making arrows 

 and ornaments and a small fire burned on the 

 floor. He was always busy making arrows, orna- 

 ments, repairing old flutes, carving seats, and 

 weaving baskets. After dark we could hear him 

 practicing on the flutes under the instruction of 

 an older man. Usually his 10-year-old sister was 

 behind the screen with him, going out once in a 

 while to bring him food, water, or materials that 

 he needed. In contrast to a girl, a boy may go 

 through several seclusion periods before he is con- 

 sidered mature. This was Nilo's fourth period. 

 It seems that so long as a boy does not have 

 sexual intercourse he can be put back into seclusion 

 for any misdemeanor or any act which his father 

 considers a sign of immaturity. Boys, particu- 

 lary, object to the restrictions of seclusion. In 

 the evenings while we were at Tuatuari, Nilo 

 would sometimes sneak out back of the houses to 

 visit us. But as soon as some grown-up would 

 approach he would run back. We were told that 

 it was difficult to keep boys in seclusion and that 

 some fathers were lax in enforcing the puberty 

 regidations. 



We might say, therefore, that the special treat- 

 ment accorded young individuals during puberty 

 seclusion constituted the final phases of the process 

 of socialization and enculturation. It seems in- 

 correct, at least among the Camayura, to think 

 of this state as a rite or ceremony of passage alone. 

 It appears to be more a period of training and 

 education in which the young arc brought into 

 contact with the belief system of the tribe, and 

 during which they are taught the meaning of the 

 belief in spirits and their power over man, the 

 meaning of tribal religious rites, and the sacred 



954080—53 6 



