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partly a synthesis of various researches done among the
Xerente over the past century. The most inclusive ethnographic
monographs on the group are those by Curt Nimuendajú
(in the 1930s) and Agenor Farias (in the 1980s). The researches
undertaken by the North American anthropologist David
Maybury-Lewis (1956, 1963 and 1984) are focused on the
study of political relations and their articulation with
the social structure of the group and are published in
the volume Dialectical Societies (1979). In his
book The Savage and the Innocent, Maybury-Lewis
presents a personal account of his field experiences among
the Xerente and Xavante, a very accessible reading for
the non-specialized public. The article "Pintura
corporal e sociedade, os partidos Xerente" (1992)
[Body painting and society, Xerente parties], by Aracy
Lopes da Silva and Agenor Farias, highlights, as the title
indicates, the importance of the use of body painting
in various contexts of Xerente social life, as well as
succinctly presenting the main ideas contained in the
works of Curt Nimuendajú, David Maybury-Lewis and
Agenor Farias. More recently, Suzana Guimarães
(1996), in her Master's thesis, performed a detailed analysis
on the use of writing and orality among the Xerente. There
is a vast amount of documents on various questions involving
these people (environmental impact reports, legal processes,
anthropological reports, newspaper reports etc.) which
can be found in the Regional Administration of FUNAI of
Tocantins, the Regional Attorney General of the Republic
(TO) and the Regional CIMI. Besides the author of this
entry, two students of the University of Brasília
are presently developing research among the Xerente. |
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Luís Roberto de Paula
Doctoral student in Anthropology - Universidade de São
Paulo
Researcher of MARI - Indigenous Education Group
lrpaula@usp.br
August, 1999
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