INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTHERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL OBERG 



95 



breaks down. After one-half hour the starchy 

 material is washed out and the ribbons begin to 

 separate into fine strands of fiber. The hank is 

 then shaken out and hung up to dry. When of 

 good quality, that is, when the rod is of the right 

 age, the fibers dry out a pale cream color. While 

 the man is occupied at this task the girls make 

 temporary necklaces from the green outer skin 

 and the boys use the thin central stems as arrows 

 for their small bows. These dried-out hanks are 

 a favorite decoration of the Nambicuara when 

 painted with horizontal bands of urucu. They 

 can then be suspended from the neck and allowed 

 to hang down the back, or pieces are attached to 

 the arm bands, leg bands, and in front to the belt. 



Cotton twine is used for making arrows, string- 

 ing beads, weaving arm bands and the narrow 

 shoulder straps which women use for carrying 

 young children. From the cotton bush (kundsu) 

 the woman picks the bolls (kunkisu) to make cot- 

 ton twine (kundlisu). As the making of buriti 

 twine is a man's task, so the making of cotton 

 twine is purely a woman's task. After picking the 

 seeds from the bolls she spreads the cotton into 

 flat disks and then into circles. Next she breaks 

 the circles and joins them to form a long rope about 

 an inch in diameter. This rope she winds around 

 her arm, twists the end of it with her fingers, and 

 fastens it to the top of a spindle (wanikisu). 

 Witb a twirl of her fingers she sets it spinning and 

 lets it drop, plucking out the cotton as it is spun. 

 Later she unties the string and fastens it near the 

 whorl and then by spinning the spindle on the 

 ground the twine is wrapped around it. This 

 process is repeated until the cotton rope is used up. 



The men do tbe weaving on a true but very 

 makeshift loom. Two forked sticks, roughly a 

 yard long, are thrust into the ground about 2 

 feet apart and at an angle. One cross bar rests in 

 the forks while another is fastened on near the 

 ground. The warp is wound around these cross 

 bars. The heddle, shuttle, and sword are used in 

 weaving the narrow material. It seems very 

 likely that this type of loom was taken over from 

 the Arawakan Paressl. 



The bast strap or band (sa'am) is made from 

 embira and is used for pressing manioc pulp, for 

 carrying children or baskets, and, when cut into 

 strips, is used for tying up bundles. 



ORNAMENTATION 



The Eastern Nambicuara also make a wide 

 assortment of ornaments from tucum nuts, shell, 

 teeth, and bamboo. From the shell of the tucum 

 nut they make black washers which are strung for 

 necklaces or ear ornaments. The irregular-shaped 

 washers are first ground down to an almost paper- 

 like thinness on a piece of sandstone. They are 

 then strung tightly on a string and the maker 

 begins to rub them against a stone in order to 

 make them circular. He continues rubbing until 

 the washers are no more than a quarter of an inch 

 in diameter, for the smaller the washer the more 

 highly the necklace is valued, as this process takes 

 many weeks. 



The ear lobes of both men and women are per- 

 forated so that tucum shell washers, beads on a 

 string, and triangular pieces of shell can be sus- 

 pended from them. 



The septum of the nose and the upper lips 

 of men are perforated. Through the hole in the 

 septum they force a slender piece of bamboo 

 about 2 inches in length. These adornments give 

 a peculiar expression to the face, particularly when 

 the man is speaking. Julio was especially proud 

 of these ornaments and claimed that white men 

 were just like women because they did not wear 

 them. On special occasions a blue macaw feather 

 about 10 inches long with a bunch of red feathers 

 near the lower end is worn in the nose. Only 

 shamans wear a hat made from jaguar skin. 



The most popular necklace is made from tucum 

 washers and is worn by men, women, and children. 

 Short lengths of bamboo, monkey teeth, jaguar 

 teeth and claws are also used for making necklaces 

 for men. If very long, any necklace can be worn 

 over one shoulder and under the arm. A special 

 type of necklace for men is made by suspending 

 black mutum feathers from a string alternating 

 with lengths of bamboo. Generally the feathers 

 also alternate, some being long and some short. 

 A rare but highly valued necklace is made from 

 the shiny black horns of a large beetle. 



Arm bands about an inch in width made of 

 woven cotton are worn above the biceps by both 

 men and women. • From these, men suspend tas- 

 sels of buriti fiber. This fiber is also worn around 

 the wrists and ankles. Wrist bands are also 

 made for women from the tail of the armadillo. 



