INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTHERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL — OBERG 



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natural barriers forming the Upper Xingii Basin 

 have fostered the formation of a cultural and 

 racial unit, whatever the original differences 

 between the tribes settling there may have been. 

 Probably pertaining to this racial unit are the 

 Paressf to the west. Conceivably the Iranxe, 

 northern neighbors of the Paressi, could be placed 

 in the same unit. West of the Paressi, inhabiting 

 the more inhospitable areas of the Serro do Parecis, 

 are the Nambicuara. With some justification 



they may be considered an archaic remnant 

 surviving in a refuge area. To the south, across 

 the semiarid Planalto do Matogrosense, and 

 living in the Paraguayan rather than the Amazo- 

 nian drainage, are the Bororo. Racially their ties 

 are to the south — the Chaco and the Pampas. 

 As far as the data go, there is no reason to believe 

 that this tall, rugged physical type extended 

 north of the plateau barriers which bisect Mato 

 Grosso into northern and southern portions. 



