TRAVEL

Romantic Journeys: Gorotire, Brazil’s Indian reserve

by Chalerm Raksanti

Smack in the middle of north central Brazil lays the preserve of the forest dwelling tribe of Kayapo Indians. As a Stone Age society, they are facing the dilemma of the temptations of the white mans’ riches and their own traditional way of life.

The ceremonial headdress is worn by village chiefs during the dry season festival.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Brazilian government relocated the Kayapos to Gorotire. At one time there were several thousand Kaypao established in one community; however, internal strife and diseases introduced from the outside decimated their numbers. Today, about 4,000 Kayapo live in 13 villages, Gorotire being the largest with about 800 residents. It lies in a parcel of land the size of the American state of Maryland, and the reserve is protected by the government’s department for Indian protection, FUNAI.

Like so many tribes, the Kayapo are trying to fathom the mystery of the bedazzling wealth of the white man’s world, the source of wondrous products like coca cola, cookies, firearms and tape recorders.

Mothers spend hours every day body painting their children with geometric patterns.

Nonetheless, in the world of the Kayapo, tradition and ritual is the stuff of life. Village leaders rattle gourd instruments and chanting men in body paint perform circle dances during their annual festivals. They have a rich repertoire of song and it is stirring to hear a large chorus of voices ringing out under the vast star spangled sky of the forest night.

The traditional symbol of Kayapo manhood was a pens sheath and a light wooden disk inserted into the bottom lip. But the sheath was uncomfortable and the lip disk made it impossible to speak Portuguese. They now wear shorts. A village chief treasures his headdress of matched parrot feathers and the lengths of beads he and his family wear. These headdresses and kilos of beads establish the wealth of each household and are considered family heirlooms. The dry season festival is called Bemp, after a local fish. This is the time for initiation rites, marriages and the presentation of ancestral names to little boys.

The fairest in the village, these young ladies are prime marriage material

Elaborate headdresses are worn by village leaders. They are made from beeswax and from the center is woven a radiating sun of feathers. These headdress patterns represent the universe. The shaft symbolizes the cotton rope from which it is believed the first Kayapo descended from the sky.

Despite the encroachment of the outside world, Gorotire maintains much of its highly developed ceremonial life. Body painting, equally cosmetic and symbolic, is part of traditional attire. Adults paint each other in group sessions and women spend hours decorating their children. With palm brushes and using various fruit dyes, they paint striking geometric designs of body and face, and often animal markings, mostly bees and wasps. Kayapo women bedeck their children lavishly with beads.

The future of Brazil’s Indians hinges on the continuing struggle for their rights and their stand against developers. The Kayapo feel the outside pressures, and are striving to keep alive a way of life which is not only fragile, but in many places, being replaced by white intruders.