| The principal
festival celebrated by these people is male initiation,
called Moyngo, in which the faces of the boys are tattooed.
The ritual is preceded by many dance sessions and, at
end, by a great hunt, organized by the fathers of the
boys to be tattooed, who are the owners of the festival.
After about a month, a messenger from the expedition is
sent to the village announcing the return of the hunters.
On the following day, during a session of dances to the
sound of flutes and the song of the chief, the hunters
arrive with an immense basket, full of game meat (especially
monkeys). The hunters set up camp near the village and
the women go there to fetch the smoked meat and to take
manioc bread. The participants cover their bodies with
a wood resin over which they stick bird feathers. At night
they enter the village and drink sweet perereba fruit
(porridge). After that, each man dances holding with one
hand a child who will be tattooed and in the other a torch.
They pass another entire night dancing. Finally, on the
last morning of the festival, the children are tattooed.
First incisions (stripes) are made on the face of the
boys with a tucum thorn and then they apply carbon extracted
from jatobá resin.
The Ikpeng have also adopted several festivals
typical of the upper Xingu, such as the Tawarawanã
and the Yamurikumã, which they perform annually.
Moreover, many adornments typical of the Indians of
the upper Xingu, such as snailshell collars or body
paintings, have been incorporated (To learn more about
the rituals and material culture of the upper Xingu,
see the page on the Indigenous Park of the Xingu).
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