70 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



ChiU 

 Houses Men Women dren Total 



Rio Novo 6 16 19 20 55 



Paranatinga 7 6 8 3 17 



On Rio Batovf: 



First village 3 10 7 9 26 



Second village 4 18 17 7 42 



Third village 3 13 12 19 44 



Fourth village 7 27 18 8 53 



Total 30 90 81 66 237 



By the time Max Schmidt visited the Bacairi 

 in 1900-1901, the Bacairi settlement had dimin- 

 ished. On the Paranatinga he met 34 Bacairi 

 and at Rio Novo, 60. On the Kuliseu River where 

 Von den Steinen had visited four villages, Max 

 Schmidt was able to find only two. 



ECONOMY 



SHELTER 



While in the Xingii watershed the Bacairi lived 

 in villages built on the banks of the Rio Kuliseu. 

 A village (utandri) consisted of three to eight 

 houses (towisq) built in a circle around a central 

 plaza, tasera. The Bacairi house was a large 

 communal building, oblong in shape, with rounded 

 ends and with the roof thatching reaching to the 

 grourjd. These large domelike buildings were 

 occupied by three to five families. 



In the center of every village there was a cere- 

 monial or flute house (kadoeti) in which the men 

 kept their ornaments and musical instruments 

 and in which visitors were entertained. Men, 

 women, and children are permitted to enter 

 the kadoeti. Attached to the common house 

 there was a smaller building, usually oriented in 

 the direction of the rising sun, in which the sacred 

 flutes were kept. Women were not permitted to 

 enter this house, as they were not allowed to see 

 the sacred flutes. The villages were connected 

 by roads running along the river bank. 



EQUIPMENT 



In the center of each house there was a storage 

 space (jirdu) where maize, manioc meal, and 

 other foods were kept in gourd vessels (kdiko). 

 Cooking was done in a small shed at the back of 

 the house, but food was eaten indoors. Around 

 the walls each family had its hammocks (amdka) 

 in which the people slept. Other furnishings of 

 the house consisted of mats, baskets, clay pots, 



wooden benches, and dishes and cups made from 

 gourds. 



As the Bacairi were extensive travelers and 

 depended upon fish for a considerable part of 

 their food supply, canoes were an important part 

 of their equipment. The Bacairi canoe (pepi) 

 was made from the bark of the jatoba tree. The 

 tough, heavy bark was first stripped from one- 

 half of the tree. Small fires were then lighted on 

 the inside of the bark trough to make it curl. 

 Braces were placed at intervals along the entire 

 length, the bow was tapered, and the stern was 

 squared off by forcing the bark upward at one end. 

 Bacairi canoes varied in size, the larger ones being 

 able to carry as many as 8 men. Canoes of jatoba 

 bark are used by the Bacairi today and are the 

 predominant type among the Indians of the 

 Upper Xingii. The Bacairi also made large 

 tubs out of jatoba bark which were used as settling 

 vessels for manioc juice. The juice of the manioc 

 contains a fine powder or starch which settles on 

 the bottom of the vessel, to be gathered after the 

 liquid is poured off. For gardening, the Bacairi 

 formerly used a digging stick made of hardwood. 

 For hunting, they used a bow (tuka), round or 

 slightly oval in cross section and from 2 to 2% 

 meters in length, made from a yellow or reddish 

 wood which was first matured by burying it in 

 mud. The bowstring was made from the fibers of 

 imbauba bark. Arrows (pireu) were made from 

 cane with hardwood or bone points. Hunting 

 arrows had two feathers, but arrows used for 

 shooting fish had serrated wooden points and no 

 feathers. The cutting tools of the Bacairi consisted 

 of knives made from bamboo, stone, bones, and 

 shell. Transportation was by canoe, or if over 

 land, goods were carried in a wicker basket sup- 

 ported on the back by a tump line. 



ORNAMENTS 



While living on the banks of the Kuliseu River, 

 the Bacairi, in common with the other Upper 

 Xingii River tribes, did not use clothing. Men 

 sometimes wore a narrow cotton band (oneglri) 

 around the waist, with a few tassels hanging in 

 front. Women, after puberty, wore the uluri. 

 Men wore their hair cut short. Women wore their 

 hair long at the back but cut straight across over 

 the forehead. Hair was cut with a knife made 

 by setting sharp fish teeth into a wooden stick, 



