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Hunting is a male activity and occurs near the villages, on frequently-used trails, in claypits, at a distance of approximately 3 to 5 kilometers. Groups are also formed for hunting expeditions in more distant places.

In diverse points of the forest there are places where the animals and birds go to dig up and lick the soil to extract the salt that exists in larger concentrations. The Amazonian people call these places claypits or suckers and the Indians call them Itiwawa. In the time of the dry season (Kuaripé) it is easier to find game than in the time of the rains for various reasons: it is the fruit season when the streams are lower and without the inconvenience of the rains. The game is divided amongst all members of the community.

Inventory of the techniques of hunting:

• They make traps (tukai) with babaçu thatch mainly to catch the partridge (various kinds) near the villages, in places where fruits are dropping and in the vicinity of claypits.
• They imitate the sound of the animals to attract them (tapir, peccary), and in some cases, they imitate the young of the species (deer and peccary).
• Tracking is a technique which consists of walking, following peccary or tapir tracks for hours. When the animal has been hit and is bleeding, the Indians follow the trail of blood drops on the forest floor.
• The bow and arrow were the most important hunting and war instruments of the  Jupaú, but today they use shotguns of various calibers. The old men, however, continue to use bow and arrow.  Different types of arrows are used: Uywa – with a bamboo point to bring down larger size animals;  Miarakanga – jaguar bone tip mainly for birds and occasionally for fish; Um´ywa -  peach-palm tip for hunting fish.
• The use of the Tikyguywa on the arrowpoint is another technique, that causes bleeding in the animals hunted.

Fishing is an activity that is realized both by the men and the women. The men use bow and arrow, harpoon and threshing nets when fishing. The time of greater abundance of fish is the dry season, when the rivers are lower. Even with the introduction of new techniques, traditional fishing is still done with bow and arrow. The appropriate arrow has a peach-palm tip or jaguar bone. The use of "timbó" (a method which involves the poisoning of the fish) is quite frequent, principally at times of the year when fishing becomes difficult.

There is a selection of the fish that can be eaten and smoked over the grill, or cooked in the pot, or even rolled up in pacova leaves and placed directly in  the fire (mpoquiga). They make a mixture (pirakuia) pounding the smoked meat of the fish in the mortar. They are accustomed to taking out and storing the fat of the dogfish to eat with manioc flour.

Their favorite fish was the jatuarana (piawuhua), which disappeared from the Jamari River after the construction of the Samuel hydroelectric dam. The fish Cuiucuiu and Jandia, on the other hand, appeared after the construction of this hydroelectric.

Agriculture

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The whole family is involved in subsistence activities. During the year, agricultural activities are intercalated with extractivist activities, hunting, fishing and vigilance of the borders of the Indigenous Land.

They cultivate manioc and sweet manioc. Sweet manioc can be eaten roasted, or, after being roasted, transformed into an unfermented porridge. They also produced manioc flour by grinding the manioc, which later was put on a woven mat under the sun for several days to dry and later, to be eaten. But, presently, the stages in making of manioc cereal are the following: scraping the shells off the roots, using knives, machetes, grating with the manual grater; maceration and fermentation; a mixture made in a wooden trough; squeezing, done in wooden presses; toasting is done on metal pans and heated with firewood. It is an activity that is done by the men and women. After toasting, it is put in bags for internal consumption and the surplus is sold with the support of the Funai. They also produce corn flour (watikuia) in the mortar; they consume green or dry corn; they also make porridge (Kaminha), which is consumed with no fermentation.

They know several varieties of yams (cara), which are planted in new gardens and in the trunks of fallen trees. In part of the garden or to the side of the malocas, they plant a variety of sweet potato (ytyga). They even cultivate a variety of taioba (mabaé), and consume its cooked leaves with meat and manioc flour which they call mbotawa. Near the dwellings they also plant a variety of cotton (amanjiju) and urucum [vegetal dye]. Cotton is used in the making of string. The urucum is used for body painting and as an insect repellent.

The papaya is a plant cultivated since the time of the ancestors, often it sprouts in old gardens that are re-utilized.

The space utilized for the garden is a place near the villages, chosen in the forest to be cut down and burnt in the system of slash and burn, or "coivara". This technique is still what prevails up to the present day among the Indians and also among the regional population, although today they utilize metal cutting tools.

Before  contact they used the stone axe as a tool for cutting trees, which was really difficult in the task of cutting down the forest to make a garden. They would also do the cutting and burning in the dry season. This type of forest management is called “pioneer agriculture".

After the planting and harvesting of the garden, it is abandoned and left to fallow, forming low forest, which can be re-utilized for a garden several years later. The work of cutting the garden is done by the men. Planting, weeding, and harvesting are done by the whole community of the village.

The Diet

It is up to the men to hunt, clean the animal, build the roasting platform(in the case of larger sized animals) and make the fire. The women prepare the other types of food, fish and take care of the children, which are treated with affection by their parents.

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In preparing the animal that has been killed, the skin is not removed and placed in the fire to singe the fur. The caêes [?] of the animals are roasted (mokaen) on roasting platforms [moquéns], thus staying conserved for several days if placed in the heat of the fire and wrapped in  straw and baskets to avoid blowfly eggs from being deposited in the meat.

When they make toasted manioc flour (mbiarakuia), they pound the roasted meat of various animals in the mortar. Tapir fat is extracted and stored for consumption with manioc flour. When they kill a tapir with fetus, they eat the fetus generally roasted in the pacova leaf.

Besides the animals mentioned above, their diet is enriched by the consumption of honey and several insects.

The gathering of fruits to be consumed in natura is an activity that is highly appreciated and complements the diet. The Indigenous Land is rich in fruit trees, and in this entry we discuss those which are especially utilized by the Indians.

The Jupaú and Amondawa have various food taboos, among which are:

*The parents of a newborn cannot consume hot food, otherwise the child’s hair will fall out and it will tremble;

*Red deer: they consider it like people. If it is eaten, the person gets dizzy spells and will slowly die;

*Monkey: makes the child cry and not sleep;

*Jacu: same situation as the red deer;

*Jacamim: if the person has two small children, they will cry all the time;

*Curimba and Urumará: produce itching on the body;

*Paca: produces black spots on the body.

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Both groups have the custom of raising birds and animals, which are utilized by the families as raw material for their production of artwork and as pets for the children. Macaws and harpy eagles are raised for their feathers which are used for arrows and adornments.

Other village pets, which are raised above all as playmates for the children are : chicken partridge (Namburawa); Tona partridge (Nambuteua); Jacamim (Gwyryao); Curassow (Mutun´a); Saracura (Arakuria); Parakeet (Kykykyia); Curica (Karainha); Parrot (Airuia Airuua); young peccary (Taitetua); young wild pig (taiahu).