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Most of the reports dating from the period of discovery
and exploration of Amazonia teach us that the majority
of indigenous tribes – in contrast to the Kayapó
– lived concentrated along the course of the main
navigable rivers. This concentration is explained above
all by their potential for river transport. Long journeys
through the forest are frequently tiring and demand a
lot of time. During the rainy season, forest trekking
becomes even more difficult due to the floods and the
bad state of the pathways. Transportation by motorized
boat is easier, represents fewer risks, demands less effort
and is possible all year round. But the Kayapó
opted otherwise. The so-called ‘river-dwelling’
tribes, located primarily along the navigable waterways,
generally live in dispersed settlements, forming numerous
small and generally sedentary colonies, which contain
at most 80 people per village. Contact between more remote
villages is maintained by small groups which navigate
ceaselessly up and down river. Settling on the shores
of the rivers makes communication easier and more efficient,
equally favouring the division of the small local groups
across the tribe’s territory, also leading to a lowering
of demographic pressure. A weak point to this mode of
urbanism is the fact that these riverine groups make themselves
relatively vulnerable due to the ease with which they
can be located by enemies.
Recent studies suggest that the reason a particular
site is chosen to found a community is due not so much
to its transport potential but to ecological factors.
As well as a larger quantity of fish, the largest rivers
provide substantial concentrations of all kinds of animals
and, more precisely, the biggest mammals. This phenomenon
is strongly linked to the annual seasonal cycle.
The big rivers carry enormous amounts of fertile
alluvium. When the water courses overflow, a large quantity
of this alluvium is deposited over the temporarily flooded
terrain. Consequently, the large tracts of forest bordering
the rivers are more fertile zones. Swiddens are more
productive there and more fruiting plants and trees
can be found. Many species of animals consume these
fruits as their staple food and are therefore attracted
to these regions. In turn, these herbivores attract
many carnivores and scavengers. As a result, life along
the important rivers usually offers excellent hunting
and fishing, in addition to fertile conditions for agriculture.
We can ask, then, why the so-called ‘forest’
Indians, such as the Kayapó, withdrew to the
upper courses of smaller rivers and went to live so
far from the more fertile regions. How do these Indians
manage still today to provide themselves with the food
types necessary for their physical well-being?
Traditionally, the Kayapó economy is
based on hunting and slash-burn agriculture. The society
recognizes a division of tasks based on sex.
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