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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



elude at least one stretch of river and the "galeria" 

 forest which lines its banks. Except during the 

 planting and harvesting season the members of 

 the band are on the move up and down the narrow 

 confines of the territory. Within this hunting 

 territory they have camping places rather than 

 villages. A semipermanent camp site where fields 

 are cultivated for 2 or 3 years is known as sinaiesu. 

 Any place where the band or a family may stop 

 overnight is known as siensu. At present the 

 Waklitisu band has one house (sisu) at the place 

 where it is farming. The entire band occupies the 

 house, each family having its own fire around 

 which it sleeps at night. The unmarried men 

 gather around another fire. Julio informed me 

 that their house is rectangular with stake walls 

 and a gable roof covered with sape thatch. Some 

 years ago when the band was larger he said they 

 occupied a different place on which they built 

 three houses. These houses were built by placing 

 a series of saplings into the ground to form an 

 oval. The tops were then fastened to a ridge pole, 

 the framework being covered with sap^ or palm 

 fronds. A smaller beehive-shaped house is made 

 in the same yay. Houses of this type are from 

 6 to 10 feet high. Near the living house they 

 build a small flute hut (sinedonklesu) and, when 

 the occasion demands, a shaman's hut (sihdentsu). 



If the weather is cold while they are out hunting 

 the band or the family may build a temporary 

 brush hut for the night. Sometimes only a wind- 

 break (siotdutsi) is considered sufficient. On 

 warm nights during the dry season the group 

 camps under a tree. In favorite hunting places 

 the same camp site will be used repeatedly. 

 When the soil around the permanent camp site or 

 village becomes exhausted, fields are cleared some 

 distance away and small huts are put up for the 

 workers. As the distance increases the old camp 

 site is eventually abandoned and a new camp site 

 is established. 



As the Nambicuara do not use hammocks, 

 beds, or seats, there is not much in the way of 

 furniture in their shelters. Utensils are restricted 

 to a few gourd vessels, tin cans, burden baskets 

 and small flat baskets, fire fans, bows and arrows, 

 and tools used by men. When they move, these 

 articles are placed in burden baskets which are 

 carried by the women. The Waklitisu do not 



make pottery, but they sometimes acquire pots 

 from the Paressi in exchange for game or fish. 



HUNTING, FISHING, AND COLLECTING 



Today, at least, the Waklitisu band is a pro- 

 ducing and consuming unit. Whatever a man or 

 his family gathers is shared among the band. 

 This, however, does not mean that the whole band 

 goes out every day or that they keep together 

 while out hunting, fishing, and collecting. Except 

 when the men go hunting such large game as the 

 jaguar, tapir, and peccary, the acquisitive unit 

 is the family. Every morning while Julio's band 

 was camped in Utiarity a family or two could be 

 seen going out, the husband walking in front 

 armed with bow and arrows, the wife following 

 and carrying a burden basket on her back and a 

 baby strapped on her hip, an older child following 

 her. As they move slowly along they collect 

 fruits, nuts, insects, snakes, ants, lizards, rats, 

 wild honey, and a great variety of grubs or larvae. 

 When they come to a pond they wade around 

 with small baskets in their hands and scoop out 

 small fish. On one of these trips I observed them 

 catching fish that were only 2 inches in length. 

 These were later thrown on hot coals and eaten 

 without being cleaned. Small birds no larger 

 than a sparrow are shot if the man can get near 

 enough to use his bow and arrow. If they come 

 to a buriti stalk of the right size they will cut it 

 down, put it into the burden basket, and take it 

 to camp. On their way home they will usually 

 pick up dry firewood. Thus, when a family returns 

 at nightfall the basket will be full of a wide assort- 

 ment of foods and useful materials. 



Monkeys, deer, and large birds are generally 

 stalked by a single hunter, particularly if he has 

 a gun. Julio and Marciano each owned a shotgun 

 and quite often hunted alone. If a man goes 

 out in the morning and runs onto a group of 

 peccaries he will hurry back to camp, and all the 

 men will then go to where the peccaries are feed- 

 ing. When they hear the peccaries the hunters 

 will form into three files, one heading directly 

 toward the pigs, the other two flanking the game 

 on each side. When near enough the middle 

 file stops and spreads out, the other two files then 

 slowly surround the pigs. As the flanking move- 

 ment is going on the pigs sometimes move, but 

 the middle group of hunters maintains contact 



