The Kalapalo Indians Essay Research Paper The

The Kalapalo Indians Essay, Research Paper

The Kalapalo Indians

The Kalapalo Indians of Central Brazil are one of a few surviving indigenous

cultures that is uniquely protected by a national reserve in lowland South

America. Through no effort of there own, they have been isolated artificially

from Brazilian social and economic influences that reach almost every other

Indian tribe in Brazil. This unusual situation has made it possible for the

Kalapalo.s culture to be undisturbed by the outside world and the surrounding

tribes. Much of Kalapalo life is run through a central concept or an ideal of

behavior, called ifutisu. This is an infinite ideological concept that is

represented in many ways in social life and ideal organization among the

Kalapalo.

The area in which the Kalapalo live is in the northeastern Mato Grosso state

called Upper Xingu Basin. There are four unintelligible languages by groups in

this region. This makes the Upper Xingu Basin linguistically diverse, but with

many of the groups still sharing the same social and ideological features. It is

very difficult to trace back the origins of Kalapalo life because of the

integration of the many different and culturally diverse groups in the Upper

Xingu Basin. So, many of systems of kinship classification, marriage practices,

ceremonial organizations, status allocation, and religious beliefs are

consistent with cultural rules and social practices and not with the original

system. Many of the modern local groups can only reconstruct their own history

which is in limited detail, these systems can.t be isolated completely from the

existing society.

The two most important social units in Upper Xingu society are the village and

the household groups. Both the village and household can be considered corporate

in that both control rights to territorial resources, acts as a unit when

performing certain economic and ceremonial activities. Members of a household

group are obligated to pass out food which they collect amongst themselves. Even

when one cannot supply food a Kalapalo is assured of a share because everyone is

treated with the same kind of respect. Despite this corporate organization,

membership in villages and households is constantly changing, and there is much

movement of people between group to group.

The Kalapalo society is a system wherein social units, such as the village

groups and households exist only because of the individual who decides to live

in these systems and choose to cooperate with one another. This is very

different from other non-western societies whereas the individual acquire the

responsibility to join in social units, by birth or other means of relationship

to and with each other regardless of the identity of the individual themselves.

The Kalapalo social organization is characterized by a flexible group membership

and significant differences in the classification of individuals with certain

groups. The choices for the Kalapalo to join groups is based on the personal

relationship between one another instead of certain clan membership, religious

beliefs, or ancestry.

The Kalapalo have an attitude towards cleanliness which encompasses all aspects

of life such as; food, houses, belongings, and physical appearance. During the

time of the year when manioc is being ready to be planted or when it is

harvesting time, it is not uncommon to find them bathing three or four times a

daily. The Kalapalo.s attitude towards cleanliness approaches the excessive

side.

The Kalapalo believe in generosity and peaceful behavior toward every one they

encounter. They reject all acts of aggression and violent expression and find it

inappropriate for human beings. Instead the Kalapalo embrace an ideal of non-

violence which includes suppression of anger and a passive tolerance of behavior.

In Kalapalo society people are incorporated into a cycle of reciprocity and

generosity . The idea of sharing takes place only along the lines of prior

relations; such as kinship, friendship, or membership of the same household.

The residence of the Upper Xingu Basin are settled agriculturists, fisherman and

hunting. The Upper Xingu Basin is characterized by it.s two seasons: The dry

season which falls on the months of May and September, where intensive

subsistence activity begins. New gardens are prepared and manioc is harvested.

Also fishing is done at this time for the rivers are low and the water is clear.

The rainy season occurs during the months of October through early April, where

a decrease subsistence activities begins. The rainy season welcomes the ripening

of new various species of wild fruits. During this time river are flooded and

the Kalapalo must depend on little game hunted, stored food and insects

collected. Kalapalo technology is very primitive. With the restricted absence of

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