INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTHERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL — OBERG 



133 



(1897, pp. 90-91), largely on the basis of facial 

 morphology, characterized the Trumai as a people 

 apart, with their closest racial ties probably in 

 the Chaco, they may not properly belong to the 

 Upper Xingii racial unit. Corroborative of 

 Ehrenreich's view is the Trumai claim that they 

 are newcomers from the south (p. 7). 



The uncertain status of the Trumai is hardly 

 clarified by Imbelloni and his student, Paulotti, 

 who themselves are not in agreement. Probably 

 on the basis of Ehrenreich's remarks, Imbelloni 

 asserted that the Trumai, along with other 

 "grupos vestigiales" in upper South America — 



are distinguished no less clearly by their biological char- 

 acters: by a skin color perceptibly darker than their agri- 

 cultural neighbors, and in a few cases lighter, by more dis- 

 agreeable and cruder facial features, the nose with fleshy 

 and puffy alae, and above all, by a perceptible difference 

 in stature, since their means cluster around 150 cm., and 

 are even less in tribes free from contamination [Imbelloni, 

 1948, p. 225: translation mine]. 



Table 1, however, indicates that the mean sta- 

 ture of the Trumai is closer to 160 than to 150 cm., 

 and that they are no shorter than their Tupi- 

 speaking Aueti neighbors. Furthermore, neither 

 Ehrenreich nor Ranke credit the Trumai with 

 skin pigmentation different from that of the other 

 Upper Xingii tribes. It is therefore apparent that 

 Imbelloni's generalization goes beyond the evi- 

 dence at hand. Contrary to this generalization, 

 Paulotti (1948, p. 84 ftn.) selected the Trumai, 

 because of their allegedly low stature and round 

 heads, as an example of the Amazonido physical 

 type in the Upper Xingii basin. This type, ac- 

 cording to Imbelloni's (1938, p. 238) examples, is 

 a recent arrival in South America most commonly 

 found in Tupi-, Carib- and Arawak-speakers. Yet 

 in the same footnote, Paulotti discussed the pres- 

 ence of residual and archaic populations (Laguido 

 and Fueguido) in the Western Amazon, whose 

 characteristically low stature and long heads crop 

 out most strongly in the Trumai, among others! 

 Now all we know about the head form of the 

 Trumai lies in Ehrenreich's and Ranke's figures. 

 Combining them into one mean cephalic index 

 for 21 males, the result is 81.8, hardly long-headed. 



If there is sufficient validity in Imbelloni's 

 (1938, p. 238-239) Amaz6nido type, the Upper 

 Xingii racial grouping should be part of it. 

 Imbelloni's concept of the Amaz6nido type was 



derived from Von Eickstedt's Brazilide type. 

 Unfortunately Von Eickstedt (1934, p. 756) has 

 also confused the picture by considering the Aueti 

 and Nahuqua representative of the Lagide or 

 Lagoid type. Bracketed with the Aueti and 

 Nahuqua are the Caraja and Cayapd, and, further 

 afield, the Botocudo and Alakaluf. In addition, 

 the Bacairi are said to show Pampide influence 

 (Von Eickstedt, 1934, p. 757). But no evidence for 

 this is offered. Meager as the series in table 1 are, 

 it seems preferable to use them as the basis for 

 tentative conclusions rather than to indulge in the 

 risky short cuts of second-hand impressionism. 



Metrically, the Paressi series appears to tie in 

 well with the Upper Xingii tribes, except that it 

 is somewhat longer-headed, due possibly to assimi- 

 lation of longer-headed Nambicuara. Tentatively, 

 then, the Paressi may be included in the Upper 

 Xingii racial unit, especially since Oberg (p. 69) 

 has noted the close similarity of the Paressi to the 

 Bacairi. Possibly the Iranxe would also fit into 

 this unit, although the present sample does not 

 adequately indicate it. 



The metric position of the Nambicuara is not 

 wholly clear from the present data. The two 

 Nambicuara series are longer-headed than those 

 from the Upper Xingii Basin, and possibly higher- 

 vaulted (for Oberg's series), shorter-faced and 

 narrower-nosed as well. Their skin color is per- 

 ceptibly darker than the neighboring Paressi; 

 in fact Oberg stated (personal communication) 

 that when seen together swimming in the river, 

 he could easily sort out the Nambicuara children 

 on this basis. It is quite possible that the Nambi- 

 cuara represent one of the living groups representa- 

 tive of the Lagoa Santa type (Newman, 1951, 

 p. 90), but confirmation of this must await new 

 findings by Vellard 2 and others. 



Oberg (p. 69) has noted the decided contrast 

 between the Upper Xingii and other tribes north 

 of the Planalto do Matogrosense and the "large- 

 framed, coarse-featured" Bororo and Guat6 to 

 the south. This distinction is probably on a full 

 racial level, as already indicated by Von Eickstedt 

 (1934, p. 731) and Imbelloni (1938, p. 239) who 

 place the latter people with the Pampide or Pam- 

 pido type of the Chaco and Pampas. 



a Through Imbelloni (1948, pp. 235-236) we learn thut In 1939 Jehan Vellard 

 made physical studies on three Nambicuara bands: The Tagarnanl, a Roose- 

 velt river group, and the Sabane. Mean stature for 12 male Nambicuara 

 measured by Vellard is 162.9 cm. 



