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In the old days the Apiaká used feathers
to make diadems, earrings and scepters, in addition to
using them to decorate their spears. On their bodies they
used materials such as raffia fibers and cotton cloths.
Men wore cotton strips around the waist and protected
their penises with a box. Both men and women wore cotton
strips around arms and legs. Women also used to put a
cotton string around their hair. Necklaces made of seeds,
teeth and shells complemented the male outfit.
In addition, the Apiaká painted and tattooed
their bodies, as the drawings by Hercules Florence show,
with urucum (an orange pigment extracted from an Amazon
fruit) or jenipap. Arms and legs were decorated with
representations of people or animals. Tattoos were a
tribal mark. Nowadays the Apiaká no longer practice
tattooing, body painting or feather work, except for
the use of feathers in their arrows. The pieces that
were used in the necklaces and bracelets used to be
stylized zoomorphic sculpture representing monkeys,
fish, fowl... Today, however, they dress like their
non-Indian neighbors.
Currently the Apiaká make objects such
as canoes - out of tree trunks that are hollowed and
burned -, oars, bows and arrows, baskets for carrying
things, sieves, fans, hammocks woven with industrialized
thread, bracelets and rings made of tucum (a type of
spiny palm). From the inner bark they obtain strips
that are used by mothers to carry their children. Aluminum
items have replaced ceramic objects. Bracelets, rings,
necklaces and bows and arrows are articles still produced
for their own use; simpler versions of these the same
items are made for sale to tourists.
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