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MATERIAL CULTURE   
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MATERIAL CULTURE

::01

Even before their first contact with the Contact Front, the Kanoê of the Omerê used various multicolored collars made of plastic. They also typically used a hat, of the same model as a white man's hat but made of strips of woven palm and, on the brim, ribbons of black plastic canvass. Besides that, at the time of contact they were already using pieces of clothing made of industrial cloth (which they got from jute sacks), which they themselves made. Besides that, there were various utensils found in the village, such as metal forks and knives, aluminum cans and plastic wrappings of various products. These materials were collected by the Kanoê during their incursions into the forest, probably left behind in the camps of lumbermen, rubber-tappers and gatherers of palm cabbage in the middle of the forests or pastures. After Munuzinho Kanoê's visit, they asked for pieces of clothing and shoes, which they received. Only the old woman Tutuá goes around bare-breasted, although she is partly covered by a large number of layers of collars, some of plastic material, others of shells and seeds.

The collars of plastic material are comprised of trapezoidal or circular plastic material tied together with waxed string made of tucum fibre or cotton. These plastic pieces seem to have been cut from old plastic buckets, left behind from the incursions of lumbermen or cabbage palm gatherers in the forest reserves or pastures. The collars attest to the perfectionist style of the Kanoê, for the pieces all have exactly the same shape and design and, besides that, they are partially overlaid monochromatically or with alternating colors, predominantly orange and white, which gives them a beautiful visual effect. The collars are accompanied by earrings made of pieces of the same plastic material, of the same geometrical shape and size. The women, Tutuá and Txinamanty, use white earrings and Purá, the boy, orange-reddish earrings.

Their attire is completed by a long wreath of loose buriti fibres; various bracelets, several of which are similar to the collars; anklebands and kneebands made of woven straw or cloth. These adornments are used by the younger people over their shirts. Besides that, the Kanoê on occasion use two long red macaw feathers, which are stuck in a small botoque made of tucum bone, placed in a hole between the nostrils.

In their village, they do not use all these adornments all the time, but they insist on using their collars, bracelets and wreaths of buriti fibre. As soon as someone approaches, the Kanoê immediately seek to put their hats on or, at least a bonnet. On the other hand, when they visit the Funai camp, most times they dress up, using all of their adornments, including the macaw feathers crossed through the nose.

The hat is made in two ways. The first type is of one piece, made out of woven straw from stems of palm leaves, especially buriti, with a fixed brim. The other type of hat has the same model but consists of two independent pieces. The first piece is a cap in the form of a half-sphere, made in triangular sections of animal hide or cloth, sewn together by hand, with extreme perfectionism. The second piece is a loose circular brim, fit to the head of the user, woven in fine strips of taquara mixed with thin ribbons of black plastic canvass, tied together with buriti straw in such a way as to form a regular design. In the final tying together, the taquara points are fastened together with straw fibres of the buriti leaf. On this point, they put long macaw feathers, especially red ones. This loose brim is fit to the head, after putting the cap on, giving the impression of a hat of one piece. Thus, when they are in their village, often they only use the cap.

The perfectionism of the Kanoê is reflected even in the making of their arrows and adornments. Purá has a leather bag, in which he keeps all the material he needs for the making of bows and arrows. The bird feathers are carefully separated in sets by type and color, and tied together by waxed strings of tucum fibre. In the same bag, Purá keeps stocks of plant fibres or strips of plastic material, carefully rolled up, as well as tufts of beeswax to make the strings and the ties for the arrow feathers and points impermeable.

The Kanoê village on the Omerê has five dwellings without any internal divisions or windows, only a door in the front and one in back. The roof is two-sloped and extends to the ground, with the supporting structure consisting of trunks. The malocas are covered by açaí (Euterpe oleracea) or inajá (Pindarea concinna). The ground is carefully beaten and levelled on the inside and around the houses.

With regard to rituals, the Kanoê of the Omerê hold numerous shamanic rituals and cerimonies, when they snuff angico powder. According to Maldi, the work of the shaman with this hallucinogen is characteristic of the indigenous peoples of this region: angico seeds are ground up to powder and then mixed with a special kind of tobacco, cultivated for this purpose. The shamans also use a special lexicon, apparently unintelligible to the ininitiated, which they recite during the curing process. The shaman (female) of the group of the Omerê is Txinamanty, who does cures and deals with daily incidents.


01:: photo: Marcos Mendes/AE, 1995

Laércio Nora Bacelar
lnbacelar@hotmail.com
Associate Researcher of the Laboratory of Indigenous Languages, Instituto de Letras / University of Brasília

November 2002

 
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