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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.
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