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The Yawalapiti, like other peoples of the upper
Xingu, live basically by agriculture and fishing. Hunting
is reduced to a few birds that are considered edible
(jacu, curassow, macuco, dove), monkeys that are occasionally
eaten, and to the acquisition of feathers for ornaments;
certain birds are also raised as pets. Agriculture is
focused on the cultivation of wild manioc (maniot
utilissima), but other varieties of manioc are planted
in lesser quantity. Corn, bananas, several species of
beans, pepper, tobacco and urucum are among the several
other cultivated species.
Fishing is a masculine activity par excelence;
the rivers of the region are abundant in fish and, during
the dry season, when the rivers are low, the Yawalapiti
use nets (which are not indigenous in origin), hooks,
arrows and fish poison (a liana the pulp of which asphyxiates
the fish) to obtain this food. The fish can be roasted
directly in the fire, grilled (placed on grills over
a slow fire) or cooked.
The region and its resources are used to good
advantage by the Yawalapiti for most of their needs:
buriti fibres for hammocks and baskets; sapé,
a kind of thatch for the covering of the houses; taquara,
a kind of bamboo for arrows, roots, and leaves as remedies,
among other things. Salt traditionally used in the preparation
of food is provided principally by the Mehinako, and
derives from the cooking of the ashes of an aquatic
plant. The large pans for preparing manioc come from
the Mehinako and Wauja, who dominate the technology
for their fabrication.
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Manioc is planted by the men who cut down the
forest, burn and clean the gardens. Gardens are individual
property, belonging to the men, and are assumed as soon
as a young man enters into seclusion (14-17 years).
These property rights do not apply to the land as such,
but only to the manioc plantation. The women pull up
the roots, carry them, scrape them and squeeze out their
poisonous juice. Manioc is basically consumed in the
form of bread (beiju, ulári) " toasted
flour, flatcakes, toasted in circular pans -, porridge
made with beiju dissolved in water (uluni), and
a porridge which is produced by boiling the poisonous
juice (nukaya). The flour that remains at the
bottom of the pans for squeezing, as well as part of
the mass, is stored in silos in the center of the houses.
As for fish, cooking is done by both men and
women; the processing of the manioc after it is planted,
however, is entirely female work. The women are also
in charge of fetching water for the village. It is they
who spin cotton " also planted - , weave the hammocks
and the mats for squeezing manioc, and prepare the urucum
(red vegetal dye) paste, piquí oil and jenipapo
dye, used in body ornaments. The men make the baskets,
the cerimonial instruments (flutes and rattles), and
take care of all the work in wood (benches, bows, mortars,
scoops for turning over the beiju etc.). It is also
the men who build the houses.
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