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The
cultural similarity among the peoples of the Upper
Xingu, cultivated by trading, marriages, and intergroup
rituals, is also present in a series of other aspects,
such as the predominance of fish as a source of
protein over meat and the same ideal of behavior
which places a high value on generosity (the willingness
to give) and self-restraint in temperament. |
Beyond the specializations of each of the peoples,
there are items produced in all of the villages of the
Upper Xingu, such as zoomorphic benches which are sculpted
out of a single piece of wood; the dart-throwers for
use in the Jawari ritual; the use of the uluri,
a female piece of clothing consisting of a small triangle
of liber placed over the púbis and tied to the waist
with a string of buriti fibre; the hair cut short and
oval-shaped for the men and worn long with bangs for
the women; the same body ornaments and painting; the
composition of circular villages, with large oval malocas,
a harpy-eagle cage and house of the sacred flutes (prohibited
to the women) on the central plaza. This uniformity,
however, is not complete: the languages are different,
there are cultural peculiarities which differentiate
each people and, above all, the identity of each ethnic
group is cultivated in such a way as not be diluted
into the society of the upper Xingu.
It is mainly when they are contrasted with the
peoples to the north of the Park that the homogeneity
of the upper Xingu takes on more definite shapes, since
from the time they came to the region, these ethnic
groups have maintained hostile or friendly contact with
the Upper Xingu, but never actually were part of the
same socio-politico-ritual system with them. The peoples
of the upper Xingu, in turn, have set aside a separate
place in their cosmologies for these groups, putting
them into the category of “wild Indians”.
There exists, however, an effort at articulation
among all the peoples who dwell in the Park to discuss
common problems, and which has as a mediating agent
the Atix (Indigenous Land Association of the Xingu),
which organizes meetings of leaders of all the ethnic
groups (in this regard, see the item indigenous
associations)
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